Japan
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What exactly is happening with the Japanese nuclear reactors?
The nuke plant in Fukushima, Japan.Photo: Beacon RadioThe Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, currently has three boiling water reactors in danger of “meltdown.” Here are the basics on what’s happening and what that means. How does a boiling water reactor work? The nuclear core transfers energy to water by heating it. This cools […]
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Will Japan be hit with multiple nuclear meltdowns in wake of tsunami?
The AP reports that 180,000 Japanese are fleeing amid fears of “multiple reactor meltdowns.” In the U.S., Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) says we should “put the brakes” on new nuclear power plants. The estimated death toll from Japan’s disasters climbed past 10,000 Sunday as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns […]
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Does climate change mean more tsunamis?
March 11 tsunami leads to an explosion at Chiba Works, an industrial (chemical, steel, etc.) facility in Ichihara, Japan.Photo: @odyssey Update: The intent of this piece isn’t to attribute today’s tragedy to climate change. Apologies to those whom I misled with the headline. It was meant literally, as in: Tsunamis are inundations of shorelines and […]
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The Cancun compromise
The consensus reached at 3:00 a.m. last Saturday to forge the “Cancun Agreements” was a critical step forward in forging an effective global compact to fight global warming. It was the best possible outcome from a meeting that was often teetering on the edge of disaster. Nonetheless, these agreements will not solve the problem, and some of the hardest issues in forging a climate treaty are still waiting to be addressed.
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The Climate Post: Some progress in Cancun climate talks, but mostly a morass of competing interests
Cancun climate talks negotiators got down to brass tacks. There were comic relief moments, like the removal of climate skeptic Christopher Monckton from a luncheon
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Has Japan killed the Kyoto Protocol? Does it really matter?
Japan won't renew its Kyoto Protocol commitment unless China and the US join. Greens and developing countries condemn them but can we really blame them?
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A Tokyo house built on a piece of land the size of a parking space
In Japan, the trend toward tiny homes is driven by harsh economic reality more than any desire to live "sustainably." It's a good example of how people can adapt to a world of diminishing resources -- the same world we all live in.
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Biodiversity is an urban concern
Biodiversity doesn't get as much attention as it should now that climate change has become preeminent among environmental quandaries. But it's important!
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A small venture that could generate big results
Imagine a program that turns a relatively small initial investment into billions of dollars of U.S. economic growth, thousands of new Americans jobs, and groundbreaking technologies that change the way we use energy in this country and around the world. It's called the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy and it is about to be given the bureaucratic equivalent of a death sentence.
