Climate Culture
All Stories
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English Beat
U.K. Sets Ambitious CO2 Reduction Goals The British government yesterday announced a plan to not only meet but beat Kyoto Protocol requirements for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The nation will aim to cut its carbon dioxide emissions 20 percent by 2010 through a combination of regulations and pollution credit trading systems. Industry groups in the […]
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Umbra on intransigent non-recyclers
Dear Umbra, I am a completely eco-friendly person and strive to have my family follow in those footsteps. We have a recycling system — one my canned-beer-drinking dad refuses to abide by. (Not that I’m criticizing canned beer or my father. Both are good.) He refuses to recycle his cans, and I’m a little tired […]
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Umbra on recycling widgets
Dear Umbra, I am a huge fan of Guinness, often referring to it as Nectar of the Gods. Question is, are the cans with the cool nitrous plastic doohickeys in them recyclable? I’ve got a bet riding on this with the significant other. Thanks for enlightenment. MelissaDenver, Colo. Dearest Melissa, Yes. Guinness recycling is good […]
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Umbra on beer containers
Dear Umbra, My friends and I consume a fair amount of beer, and we’re wondering: What’s worse for the environment, buying beer in cans or in bottles? KellyManitoba, Canada Dearest Kelly, Thank you for giving me a reason to look up the Earth’s mineral-reserves map in my atlas. I’ve learned fascinating things about aluminum and […]
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Oh, Yes! It’s Mr. Bill!
Mr. Bill to Serve as Spokesperson for Louisiana Coastal Campaign With a $14 billion, 30-year restoration plan — potentially the largest public works project in American history — at stake, an educational campaign meant to raise awareness about Louisiana’s eroding coastal marshes has turned to the one voice capable of spanning generations, articulating the scope […]
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Endless Summer
Climate Scientists Predict More Hot Summers for Europe Thanks to global warming, summer heat waves like the one that killed close to 20,000 people in Europe in 2003 could recur up to once every two years by the end of the century. So claims a study conducted by a group of scientists from Swiss Federal […]
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Just Stick to Tofu
Farmed Salmon Contaminated With PCBs, Other Nasties Consumers, still struggling with the news that bovine spongiform encephalopathy-laden beef will make your brain melt and mercury-laden tuna will make your children stupid, were met today with more bad news: A new study in the journal Science claims that fish-farmed salmon contain enough contaminants (primarily PCBs and […]
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Homeocidal
Herbal Medicine Trade Threatens Thousands of Plant Species The booming worldwide market for herbal medicines threatens between 8 and 20 percent of the 50,000 known wild medicinal plant species with extinction, according to a forthcoming study by the World Wildlife Fund. Having risen by10 percent per year for the past decade, the herbal medicine trade […]
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Terror Error
Top British Scientist Calls Global Warming Bigger Threat Than Terrorism Which menacing global problem should be keeping you up at night: terrorism or climate change? Britain’s top government scientist is creating a bit of a stir by arguing that it’s the latter, and lambasting President Bush for having his priorities all out of whack. In […]
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Umbra on water heaters
Dear Umbra, I have a question that’s been nagging at me for some time. Since I have a water heater inside my house, any waste heat from the water heater contributes to heating the house. Does it still make sense in terms of energy savings to put an insulating blanket on the water heater? KurtLittleton, […]
