Time for change

When Chu Chose BP

Energy Secretary-designate Steven Chu "seems about as climate friendly as they come," writes Josh Harkinson, but "more industry friendly than his rhetoric suggests." As the director of the Energy Department-funded Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Chu helped broker "the largest university-industry alliance in U.S. history, the $500 million Energy Biosciences Institute." The biofuels research institute involves the Berkeley lab, two public universities and oil giant BP. Chu pitched BP's deal to the UC-Berkeley Academic Senate, one-third of whose members voted against it. Chu also promoted the institute on campus, saying "money" was the only reason more biofuels research wasn't already underway. The university's compromise agreement gave BP half of the seats on the board governing the institute. As Energy Secretary, Chu will likely "face pressure to partner with corporations in pursuing technological solutions to climate change," notes Harkinson. "As the incoming Obama administration prepares to spend liberally to develop cleaner sources of energy, the structure of corporate-government partnerships will determine how the profits of that research return to taxpayers, and how rigorously scientists evaluate the downsides of controversial technologies such as biofuels."

UN body calls for better farm, forestry practices

Business Standard: Holding the agriculture and forestry sectors responsible for contributing nearly one-third of the total green house gas (GHG) emissions, a United Nations body has suggested greater allocation of resources for promoting better practices in these sectors to combat climate change. Also Read News Now Paper Specials - Wkly Tech: Short-term trend positive, but no break-out yet - Short term uptrend visible - DoT working on number portability to meet June timeline - HDFC Bank pips ICICI in ...
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Insurance giant warns of rising natural disaster risk

Business Green: Reinsurance giant Munich Re is calling for more concerted action on climate change this year after singling out 2008 as the third worst year on record for losses from natural disasters. Overall losses from natural disasters soared to $200bn (£138bn) from $82bn last year, the company said in a statement last week. Insured losses in 2008 were $45bn, up roughly 50 per cent from last year. Munich Re spokesman Robert Kinsella said that the company did not adjust premiums based on ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Soot tops NASA's climate blacklist

Canberra Times: Governments could slow global warming dramatically, and buy time to avert disastrous climate change, by slashing emissions of one of humanity's most familiar pollutants soot according to NASA scientists. A study by the space agency shows that cutting down on the pollutant can have an immediate cooling effect and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from air pollution at the same time. At the beginning of the make-or-break year in international attempts to negotiate a treaty ...
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Global Warming Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Washington Post: The Cold War shaped world politics for half a century. But global warming may shape the patterns of global conflict for much longer than that -- and help spark clashes that will be, in every sense of the word, hot wars. We're used to thinking of climate change as an environmental problem, not a military one, but it's long past time to alter that mindset. Climate change may mean changes in Western lifestyles, but in some parts of the world, it will mean far more. Living in Washington, ...
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Climate change report proposes $4.8 billion in programs

Des Moines Register: Iowans would spend almost $4.8 billion over the next decade if lawmakers implemented all 56 environmental policy options recommended today by a 23-member governor appointed council. At least one member of the council said enacting all options would raise utility rates and, possibly, set Iowa into an economic disadvantage if energy costs were higher than other states. Others, however, said the proposals are necessary and could ultimately create thousands of jobs. "This is ...
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Soot reduction 'could help to stop global warming'

Independent: Governments could slow global warming dramatically, and buy time to avert disastrous climate change, by slashing emissions of one of humanity's most familiar pollutants -- soot -- according to Nasa scientists.
Read more [EarthWire]

Lack of a national climate policy nothing to sneeze at

Salt Lake Tribune: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu each year. Of those, about 200,000 people require hospitalization and 36,000 ultimately die. But imagine if, in addition to the stresses of cold and flu season, American health providers were annually confronted with widespread outbreaks of malaria or a host of other diseases that could spread into the United States due to global warming. If this sounds like a ...
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Australia: Warming could kill reef in 40 years

Canberra Times: Australia's iconic and beloved Great Barrier Reef will be destroyed by erosion and swamped by invading algal slime within 40 years if current global warming trends continue, new research suggests. The research shows climate change has dramatically slowed growth rates of Porites or brain corals one of the biggest corals forming the reef's structure sparking fears the reef will ''stop growing altogether'' by 2050. Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science in ...
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Mass. launches effort to protect coast residents

Boston Globe: Massachusetts is kicking off an innovative pilot program to defend the state's 78 coastal communities against rising sea levels and fiercer storms brought on by global warming. The state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs announced yesterday that seven communities have been selected to learn how best to adapt to climate change, by doing such things as elevating buildings in flood-prone areas, developing disaster plans for more frequent storms, and prohibiting ...
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In Obama's Team, 2 Camps on Climate

New York Times: In the fall of 1997, when the Clinton administration was forming its position for the Kyoto climate treaty talks, Lawrence H. Summers argued that the United States would risk damaging the domestic economy if it set overly ambitious goals for reducing carbon emissions. Mr. Summers, then the deputy Treasury secretary, said at the time that there was a compelling scientific case for action on global warming but that a too-rapid move against emissions of greenhouse gases risked dire and ...
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Climate change threatens livelihoods along Zambezi basin

Inter Press Service: Increased floods, drought and increased levels of disease threaten lives and livelihoods all along the Zambezi River basin more severely than any other river system in the world, according to Kenneth Msibi, water policy and strategy expert for the Southern African Development Community (SADC). "Frequent floods and intense droughts are becoming more frequent occurrences in our region. We need to use our existing water resources as a catalyst for development so that we don't get ...
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New California Cars Display Smog, Global Warming Scores

Environment News Service: As of January 1, every 2009 model year and newer car built for sale in California will be required to carry a label that clearly ranks the vehicle's environmental impact. A vehicle's certification level can be found under the hood on the vehicle emissions control information label. The label will show a simple ranking system that provides consumers with practical information that can help them choose the most environmentally friendly vehicle that still meets their transportation ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Cold Carbon Sink: Slowing Global Warming with Antarctic Iron

Spiegel: Recent research shows that melting icebergs in the ocean around Antarctica may actually slow global warming. The iron particles they carry feed algae blooms that suck up CO2. Could man-made algae blooms in the frigid waters help combat climate change? The catch was cold and lifeless, there wasn't a single fish flopping in the net. When the haul came to rest on the deck of the HMS Endurance in southern Atlantic off the coast of Antarctica, the only sound was a dull creak. Then ...
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Climate scientists: it's time for 'Plan B'

Independent: An emergency "Plan B" using the latest technology is needed to save the world from dangerous climate change, according to a poll of leading scientists carried out by The Independent. The collective international failure to curb the growing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has meant that an alternative to merely curbing emissions may become necessary. The plan would involve highly controversial proposals to lower global temperatures artificially through daringly ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

As red gum forests turn green

Age: THIS week, Premier John Brumby announced that his Government had "taken action to protect the Murray and the ancient red gum forests that exist along its stretches" by creating four new national parks in northern Victoria. Mr Brumby said climate change and drought meant the river red gums were in trouble and "we have to take action to protect this precious heritage". To put this announcement into perspective, it is impossible to "protect" either the Murray or its associated ...
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Strangers on our shores this year

Independent: Since many people this weekend will doubtless be thinking about what 2009 may bring, as they prepare to return to work on Monday, perhaps we may ask the same question for the natural world, not least because one of the fascinating aspects of living in a time of changing climate in Britain is changing wildlife. Of course, it may soon seem more damaging than fascinating, as the changes brought about by global warming may by no means all be beneficial: species may disappear, and other ...
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Australia: Great Barrier Reef decline blamed on global warming

Courier-Mail: CORALS on the Great Barrier Reef are growing slower than at any time in at least 400 years and leading scientists are blaming climate change. As a major study is being published in the US, scientists fear the reef is showing signs of mass coral bleaching, last seen in 2002. Glenn De'ath, co-author of the research published in Science magazine, said the corals would stop growing altogether by 2050 if the trend identified in the study continued. "When you disturb an ...
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Canada's forests, once absorbers of greenhouse gas, now add to it

Hartford Courant: As relentlessly bad as the news about global warming seems to be, with ice at the poles melting faster than scientists had predicted and world temperatures rising higher than expected, there was at least a reservoir of hope stored here in Canada's vast forests. The country's 1.2 million square miles of trees have been dubbed the "lungs of the planet" by ecologists because they account for more than 7 percent of Earth's total forest lands. They could always be depended upon to suck in ...
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Australia: Coral study finds slowest growth in 400 years

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: ELEANOR HALL: The tipping point for catastrophic climate change is an issue of dispute between politicians and environmentalists. But on the climate vulnerable Great Barrier Reef, researchers have been surprised to discover that a tipping point for coral growth has already been reached. In the journal Science this morning they reveal that it was reached 18 years ago, as Nonee Walsh reports. NONEE WALSH: At The Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville, ...
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United Kingdom: 'Pay as you throw' household waste trial shunned by councils

Guardian: Councils are intending to shun a "pay-as-you-throw" trial for household waste that would see residents rewarded for recycling or charged for producing too much rubbish, according to research released yesterday. None of more than 100 councils in England that responded to a survey said they were planning to apply to take part in a pilot of incentive schemes, which forms part of the Climate Change Act. Many were worried about the impact of bin charges while others believed it would ...
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Nasa climate expert makes personal appeal to Obama

Guardian: One of the world's top climate scientists has written a personal new year appeal to Barack and Michelle Obama, warning of the "profound disconnect" between public policy on climate change and the magnitude of the problem. With less than three weeks to go until Obama's inauguration, Professor James Hansen, who heads Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, asked the recently appointed White House science adviser Professor John Holdren to pass the missive directly to the ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Philippines: 'Whale's death in Manila Bay indicates grim problem'

GMA News: The death of a whale in Manila Bay earlier this week may not be an isolated case but a sign of serious environmental problems, according to a leader of an ecological group. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Philippines vice chairman Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan said the death shows the urgency to address climate change that was blamed for the whale's death. "Uncommon as it may seem, the event may not be an isolated occurrence ... The world is changing. Maybe, these dead whales in Manila Bay ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Climate scientists: it's time for 'Plan B'

An emergency "Plan B" using the latest technology is needed to save the world from dangerous climate change, according to a poll of leading scientists carried out by The Independent. The collective international failure to curb the growing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has meant that an alternative to merely curbing emissions may become necessary.
Read more [EarthWire]

Nasa climate expert makes personal appeal to Obama

One of the world's top climate scientists has written a personal new year appeal to Barack and Michelle Obama, warning of the "profound disconnect" between public policy on climate change and the magnitude of the problem.
Read more [EarthWire]

Nasa's James Hansen warns Barack Obama on climate change

Guardian: Current approaches to deal with climate change are ineffectual, one of the world's top climate scientists said today in a personal new year appeal to Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on the urgent need to tackle global warming. With less than three weeks to go until Obama's inauguration, Prof James Hansen, head of Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, asked the recently appointed White House science adviser Prof John Holdren to pass the missive directly to the ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

United States: Session may be tinted green

Express-News: Green issues have never dominated Texas politics, but this legislative session promises to be a busy one for environmental organizations who see support building for action on key issues ranging from global warming and solar power to air quality regulation and green jobs. Topping the agenda for most environmental lobbyists is reducing Texans' appetite for energy and jumpstarting the state's fledgling solar industry. Such topics have often been battled on party lines in a ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Indonesia: One million trees planted in Aceh in 2008

Antara: Around one million trees were planted in Aceh Province during 2008 to help mitigate the impact of climate change, a local official said. "Various regreening programs were carried out in 2008, and about one million trees have been planted," Hanifah Affan, head of the Aceh forestry and plantation office, said here on Wednesday. The central government provided 500,000 tree seedlings to support the tree planting program, she said. Each district and city in Aceh Province got ...
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Greenhouse gases could have caused an ice age, claim scientists

Telegraph: Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that 630 million years ago the earth had a warm atmosphere full of carbon dioxide but was completely covered with ice. The scientists studied limestone rocks and found evidence that large amounts of greenhouse gas coincided with a prolonged period of freezing temperatures. Such glaciation could happen again if global warming is not curbed, the university's school of geography, earth and environmental sciences ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

United States: Climate change action plan to be revealed in 2009

Sierra Sun: As California Attorney General and climate change crusader Jerry Brown increases the pressure on local planners to consider future projections for the effects of global warming, more and more government agencies in the Tahoe Basin are integrating climate change into their agendas for the coming years. "The bottom line of climate change for the Lake Tahoe region," says Dennis Oliver, community Affairs Officer for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, "means more precipitation of rain ...
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President Bush may be giving Obama breathing room to fight global warming

LA Times: President Bush could be forcing President-elect Barack Obama to act almost immediately to curb global warming, after years of the Bush administration fighting attempts to crack down on greenhouse gas emissions. Or, depending on which interpretation prevails, Bush could be giving his successor much-needed breathing room on a volatile issue. In its final weeks, his administration has moved to close what it calls "back doors" to regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse ...
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95 months and counting to save the planet

Guardian: From today, based on the best estimates available, we have eight years to head-off potentially uncontrollable climatic upheaval. What can happen in eight years? Quite a lot, actually. A world war can begin, and end. Two, in fact. Last month there was a lacklustre meeting on climate change in Poznan, Poland. It was talks about more talks set to come later this year in Copenhagen. But that's all it was, talks. Now, on New Year's Day, hangovers and environmental ennui could prove a ...
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Ocean acidification, global warming, and the Great Barrier Reef

Christian Science Monitor: Perhaps it`s time to begin talking about global warming and acidifying oceans in the same breath, rather than as related-but-separate issues. In mid-December, The Monitor ran a story on research showing that some areas of the world`s oceans are acidifying faster than marine scientists had predicted even three years ago. The culprit: the excess carbon dioxide that human industrial activity and deforestation are pumping into the atmosphere -- and that the oceans are absorbing. (That ...
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Nasa's James Hansen warns Barack Obama on climate change

Current approaches to deal with climate change are ineffectual, one of the world's top climate scientists said today in a personal new year appeal to Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on the urgent need to tackle global warming.
Read more [EarthWire]

Supply costs to rise as water levels drop

Evening Telegraph: THOUSANDS of householders across the city face a £13 hike in their water bills to foot the costs of the battle to protect supplies. The warning has come in after the publication of a new report by the Environment Agency that warns the East of England and other parts of the country could be left high and dry as estuaries, lakes, and rivers are drained too quickly to provide fresh water for the growing population. And it is feared global warming means there will be less rain to ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

China: Bacteria In Ice May Record Climate Change

ScienceDaily: To many people, bacteria and climate change are like chalk and cheese: the smallest creature versus one of the biggest phenomena on earth. Not really. Scientists with the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (ITP), Chinese Academy of Sciences and coworkers recently reported that small bugs deposited in ice and snow might tell how our climate has been changing. The discovery might bring about a new indicator for climate change, which is by nature different from all previous physical ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

India: 5% energy to come from renewable sources from 2009-10

Times of India: Underlining the importance of electricity regulator in implementation of a national action plan on climate change, Pramod Deo, chairman of the central electricity regulatory commission (Cerc), on Saturday said that all power utilities in the country will have to buy at least five per cent of their grid purchase from renewable energy sources from 2009-10 onwards. The Cerc will fix the dynamic minimum purchase standard for renewal energy which will help reduce emission from the ...
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Climate change increases problems for Florida reefs

Miami Herald: The last, largest stands of ancient elkhorn coral survive in shallow waters off North Key Largo, where rough seas sometimes expose thick golden branches reaching toward the sunlit surface. Forty years ago, elkhorn grew in dense forests that would cover parking lots. Now, the biggest clump would barely fill one space. In another 40 years, elkhorn could disappear altogether -- along with just about every other hard coral forming South Florida's once-vibrant barrier ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Climate Change Forcing Penguins North?

Inter Press Service: Warm ocean currents may have confused some 2,500 penguins from Argentina's Patagonia region that washed up -- dead and alive -- on Brazil's northern coast. About half the penguins that were found on Brazilian beaches in October were dead, and the others were starving and in very bad shape, said Valeria Ruoppolo, an emergency veterinarian with the International Federation for Animal Welfare (IFAW), in Sao Paulo, who coordinated the rescue of many of the penguins. "Of the live ...
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Stern hope over US climate deal

BBC: Economist Lord Stern has said he is optimistic that a global deal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will be struck under the US presidency of Barak Obama. Lord Stern, who was behind the first detailed economic assessment of the impact of climate change, said US and Chinese agreement to a cut was crucial. President George W Bush's climate views were "prehistoric" and had been seen as an obstacle, Lord Stern told the BBC. But many now believed the new president could take ...
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United Kingdom: Plants 'more important than ever'

BBC: Plants have never been as important to the environment, the director of Kew Gardens has said, ahead of the London conservation site's 250th anniversary. They were vital to reduce the impact of climate change and "vast numbers of humans" needed them for medicine and food, Professor Stephen Hopper added. Several major events will be held in 2009 to celebrate Kew's role as a world leader in plant science. The first of these sees free public entry to the gardens on New ...
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2009 to be one of warmest ever

Telegraph: Next year is forecast to be one of the five warmest on record. As Brtain shivered in frosty conditions, climate change scientists said 2009 will be a record breaker. The average global temperature for 2009 is expected to be more than 0.4C above the long term average, making next year warmer than this year and the hottest since 2005, the Met Office and University of East Anglia researchers said. Next year is expected to be in the top five warmest on record despite the ...
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Climate deal possible under Obama presidency, says Lord Stern

Telegraph: The author of the Government's 2006 report on the economic impact of climate change said that Mr Obama, the US President-Elect, would revolutionise Washington's approach to the subject. He said an Obama administration gives hope that a new global agreement could be formulated to take over after the expiration of the Kyoto protocol in 2012. "He's night and day on this issue relative to his prehistoric predecessor George Bush," Lord Stern told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "That ...
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Available water many not meet Oregon's needs

Associated Press: The words "Oregon" and "rain" often appear together, but results of round-table talks indicate Oregonians doubt there will be enough water for everyone as the state's population grows and summers become drier with climate change. The five sessions were held in September and October. Two-thirds of those surveyed at the roundtables across the state doubt whether Oregon will have enough water to cover all its needs 20 years from now. Oregon and Alaska are the only two Western ...
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Global warming affecting migratory birds, says Indian ornithologist

Asian News International: Indian ornithologist has said that global warming and the rising temperatures have brought about an imbalance in the timing of the winter arrival of migratory birds and the food stock available to them. World over experts have been saying that rising temperatures could wipe out more than half of the earth's species in the next few centuries, linking climate change to past mass extinctions. Unchecked climate change could force up to 72 per cent of bird species in some areas into ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Choosing the Right Investments: Fast, Fair, & Future Value

16 members of the US Climate Action Partnership (US-CAP), including WRI, sent this letter to Congress and the incoming Obama Administration last week.

Download PDF (46 Kb, 3 pages)

Alcoa ● The Dow Chemical Company ● Duke Energy ● DuPont ● Environmental Defense Fund ● FPL Group, Inc. ● General Electric ● General Motors ● NRG Energy, Inc. ● Pew Center on Global Climate Change ● PG&E Corporation ● PNM Resources ● Rio Tinto ● Siemens Corporation ● The Nature Conservancy ● World Resources Institute 

December 24, 2008

Dear Senator:

The United States faces an urgent need to transform our economy, make the country more energy secure, and take meaningful action to slow, stop and reverse emissions of greenhouse gases. We believe that a financial stimulus package currently being discussed by President- Elect Obama and the U.S. Congress is urgently needed and can offer a critical boost to restoring the financial health of our economy while also addressing our need for climate protection. A well crafted stimulus package can simultaneously advance President-Elect Obama’s stated climate and economic goals for our nation.

We cannot overstate the importance, however, of choosing the right investments: those that are fast, fair and that build future value.

Our economy needs a package that sets the nation on a new course immediately to deliver economic and climate results, provide benefits to all, and prepare us for the next generation of technological competitiveness. As members of USCAP, we recommend prompt action on policies to:

1. promote energy efficiency in buildings and homes,
2. modernize the nation’s electric grid, making it “smarter” and allowing it to facilitate new, more efficient technologies and renewable energy,
3. stimulate a variety of low-carbon sources of electricity including extending the production tax credit for renewable energy,
4. demonstrate and deploy carbon capture and storage for coal-fired power plants and other large stationary sources,
5. encourage greater use of less carbon-intensive forms of transportation and fuel, and
6. improve the efficiency of our transportation system.

It is possible to move fast and make investments in energy efficiency that can immediately put people to work on transit projects and existing building retrofits. These include weatherization, insulation, HVAC upgrades, and use of waste heat in industrial processes and facilities.

By jumpstarting our economy in a way that is fair, we can ensure that all Americans benefit from this transformative effort. Critical efficiency programs, especially for residential buildings, will lower energy bills and allow families to keep more money in their pockets—which is essential in a time of economic uncertainty. Rural and urban homes and businesses alike can take advantage of renewable technologies such as solar photovoltaic systems, hot water heaters or small wind turbines, and communities can benefit from development of local renewable energy resources. And smart infrastructure like broadband and green transit options can revitalize our communities and improve the quality of our lives by decreasing pollution and congestion and creating new livelihoods.

Equally important, we need to ensure that our investments build future value. If the United States is to achieve real, substantial, and lasting reductions in GHG emissions while growing the economy we must commit to developing and deploying a wide range of new and improved technologies. This includes fully funding programs to support “smart grid” development and plug-in electric vehicles fueled by wind and other low carbon and renewable energy sources. The United States should lead this technological innovation and create a significant competitive advantage in tomorrow’s markets.

A stimulus package should also address the thousands of green projects that may be imperiled as access to credit tightens and energy prices decline. We must create a strong, long term price signal for clean technology in the form of a carbon market. Whether a cap-and-trade bill is alongside a stimulus package or shortly afterward, it is a critical piece of our shift to a lowcarbon technological trajectory. This new ‘carbon market’ will support investments in clean energy and energy efficiency, reduce inefficient energy use, and establish America as the leading manufacturer of the technologies of tomorrow.

Investments in energy efficiency now decrease consumer and business energy costs, making our economy more competitive and energy independent while freeing up capital to spur new economic growth. The market will also jump start American innovation to create and increase our security by reducing our dependence on volatile foreign fossil fuels.

Only by connecting the dots between economic, energy, security, technology innovation and climate policy can we succeed in building competitive markets and training the workforce of the future. These critical investments must begin today.

Sincerely,

Alain Belda
Chairman and CEO
Alcoa

Andrew Liveris
Chairman and CEO
The Dow Chemical Company

Jim Rogers
Chairman, President, and CEO
Duke Energy

Charles Holliday, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
DuPont

Fred Krupp
President
Environmental Defense Fund

Lewis Hay III
Chairman and CEO
FPL Group

Jeffrey Immelt
Chairman and CEO
General Electric

Richard Wagoner, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
General Motors

David Crane
President and CEO
NRG Energy, Inc.

Eileen Claussen
President
Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Peter Darbee
Chairman, CEO and President
PG&E Corporation

Jeffry Sterba
Chairman, President and CEO
PNM Resources

Preston Chiaro
Chief Executive Energy & Minerals
Rio Tinto

George Nolen
President and CEO
Siemens Corporation

Mark Tercek
President and CEO
The Nature Conservancy

Jonathan Lash
President
World Resources Institute

Bacteria In Ice May Record Climate Change

To many people, bacteria and climate change are like chalk and cheese: the smallest creature versus one of the biggest phenomena on earth. Not really. Scientists with the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences and coworkers recently reported that small bugs deposited in ice and snow might tell how our climate has been changing.
Read more [EarthWire]

Can an Ancient Charcoal Put the Brakes on Global Warming?

Popular Mechanics: When pre-Columbian natives in the Amazon Basin first began to use biochar--a fine-grained, carbon-rich type of charcoal made from burning bone fragments and other food remains--some 7,000 years ago, they knew that it helped their crops grow. But they didn't realize that this charred biomass was extraordinarily good at absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, and that the process that made it released chemicals that could be used as fuel. (At the time, chemistry was still a few thousand years ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Climate change threatening turtles

Radio Netherlands: A report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says that some species are more threatened by climate change than others sea turtles, already an endangered species, are under serious threat. The warming of the earth is having a disastrous effect on turtle reproduction. Turtles lay their eggs in underground nests; the increased temperature in the nests is changing the sex of the embryos and far too few males are being born. The number of beaches where Turtles lay their eggs has also been ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Philippines: House panels approve creation of climate change body

GMA News: A government body that is specifically tasked to address climate change may soon be created with two House panels' approval of a bill seeking to establish a Climate Change Commission. An article posted on the House of Representatives website on Tuesday said the House committees on Government Reorganization and Appropriations have jointly approved a substitute bill consolidating House Bills No. 400, 1775, 3291, 4051, and 4853 which propose to create the country's climate change ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]