Sub-Topics 2007 Also Try Earth Day Ecology Environment Current Events Archives Multimedia -09-10-09 From Landfills to Landscapes (Time.com) Describes a model program to reclaim a landfill for a park. 09-09 -09-10-09 Saving Bees: What We Know (New York Times) "The first alarms about the sudden widespread disappearance of honeybees came in late 2006, and the phenomenon soon had a name: colony collapse disorder. In the two years that followed, about one-third of bee colonies vanished, while researchers toiled to figure out what was causing the collapse." "Honeybees are just one of the many species we depend on that are struggling mightily to withstand a steady stream of novel parasites and pathogens they have never encountered before, and have no tools to defend against." 09-09 News -001 Report: Carbon Pollution to Grow by 40 Percent (MSNBC News) "The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide seeping into the atmosphere will increase by nearly 40 percent worldwide by 2030 if ways are not found to require mandatory emission reductions, a U.S. government report said Wednesday." "The EIA report said that "much of the increases in carbon dioxide emissions is projected to occur among the developing nations" including China and India." "It said 94 percent of the world's expected increase in industrial energy use between now and 2030 is expected in the economically developing countries, with Brazil, Russia, India and China expected to account for two-thirds of that growth." 05-09 -001 Report: Threat from Melting Permafrost (MSNBC News) "Eventually, in between 15 and 50 years, those plants [absorbing the carbon from the melting permafrost] 'can't keep up' and get overwhelmed, said study lead author Ted Schuur, a University of Florida ecologist." "At that point, a billion tons of carbon a year can be released into an atmosphere that is already warming because of carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, cars, and other industrial activities, Schuur said. That would contribute the same amount to global warming as the deforestation of the tropics, he said." "Making matters worse is that much of the gas trapped in permafrost is methane, which is more than 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide." 05-09 -01-06-09 Largest Marine Conservation Site Ever Established (CNN News) "Nine sites in the central Pacific will be set as sanctuaries for marine life and bases of research for scientists, President Bush said Tuesday." "The sites, designated in three regions of the central Pacific, will make up the largest expanse of ocean set aside for marine conservation in the world: 195,280 square miles." 01-09 -01-10-09 Exposing the Myth of Clean Coal (Time.com) "If you paid any attention to last year's Presidential campaign, you'll remember ads touting the benefits of "clean coal" power, sponsored by the industry group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. (The ads featured lumps of coal plugged into an electrical cord.) Designed in part to respond to the growing green campaign against coal power — which accounts for about 30% of U.S. carbon emissions — the ads promised high-tech and eventually carbon-free power, emphasizing coal's low cost compared to alternatives, its abundance in America and its cleanliness." 01-09 -01-11-09 Stimulus Debate on "Clean Coal" (U.S. News) "Steven Chu, President-elect Barack Obama's pick for energy secretary, met this week with several Illinois lawmakers to hear their pitch for a stimulus-related project: the revival of a $1.9 billion advanced coal plant in Mattoon, Ill. The project had its funding revoked last year by the Bush administration, which at the time cited "restructuring" as the cause. Chu, according to one congressional aide, listened intently during the meeting but made no promises about restoring the project, which is arguably the world's most ambitious 'clean coal' effort, at least in conception." 01-09 -01-14-09 TVA Ordered to Clean Up Coal-Fired Plants (CNN News) "A federal judge has ordered the Tennessee Valley Authority to clean up four coal-fired plants that he said were engulfing parts of North Carolina with air pollution -- emissions that fouled the region's health, economy and natural resources." 01-09 -01-26-09 Climatologist: 450, the CO2 Red Line? (ForeignPolicy.com) "Twenty years ago, when global warming first came to public consciousness, no one knew precisely how much carbon dioxide was too much. The early computer climate models made a number of predictions about what would happen if we doubled the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere to 550 parts per million. But, in recent years, as the science has gotten more robust, scientists have tended to put the red line right around 450 parts per million. That’s where NASA’s James Hansen, America’s foremost climatologist, has said we need to stop if we want to avoid a temperature rise greater than two degrees Celsius. Why would two degrees be a magic number? Because as best we can tell, it’s where the melting of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets would become rapid and irrevocable. The ice above Greenland alone contains about 23 feet of sea-level rise, which is more than enough to alter the Earth almost beyond recognition." 01-09 -01-26-09 Study: Reducing Emissions Not Enough (MSNBC News) " 'People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide the climate would go back to normal in 100 years, 200 years; that's not true,' lead author Susan Solomon told reporters." "Instead, the team concluded, warming tied to higher CO2 'is largely irreversible for 1,000 years after emissions stop.' " "Before the industrial revolution the air contained about 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide. That has risen to 385 ppm today, and politicians and scientists have debated at what level it could be stabilized." 01-09 -01-27-09 Study: Global Warming Is Irreversible (TruthOut.org) "As carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption. The damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author Susan Solomon, who is among the world's top climate scientists." 01-09 -011-02-09 Snows of Kilimanjaro Melting Fast (Time.com) "For the first time in almost 12,000 years, based on ice-core analysis, Africa's highest peak probably will be ice-free as early as 2022 or as late as 2033, says glaciologist Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University, who led the study." 11-09 -02-18-09 Editorial: An $80 Billion Start (New York Times) "Money invested in a modern electricity grid, for instance, will have been badly spent if it is used merely to build transmission towers to move energy from old coal-fired power plants. It will be well spent if it helps move clean energy, such as wind and solar power, from, say, Texas, to distant cities that need it." 02-09 -03-25-09 United Nations Climate Change Conference (CBS News) The United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Copenhagen on December 7 - 18, 2009. 03-09 -04-18-08 Green Websites (Time.com) Provides Websites dedicated to the greening of the planet. 04-08 -04-21-09 Editorial: We Are Not Ready for a Solar Storm (ABC News) "Severe weather in the sun's outer atmosphere could knock out much of the country's power grid, incapacitate navigational systems and jeopardize spacecraft, scientists say." 04-09 -04-23-09 Microbe-Powered Electricity Storage (MSNBC News) "The technique won't combat global warming directly, since both CO2 and methane are potent greenhouse gases, but it could help store alternative energies such as wind and solar more efficiently." "It works like this: giving small jolts of electricity to single-celled microorganisms known as archea prompts them to remove C02 from the air and turn it into methane, released as tiny 'farts.' The methane, in turn, can be used to power fuel cells or to store the electrical energy chemically until its needed." 04-09 -04-26-09 California Regulators Push for Low Carbon Intensity Fuels (SciTech.com) "The California Air Resources Board (CARB) late Thursday approved the controversial Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which would force fuel producers to lower their 'carbon intensity' of their products by 10 percent by 2020." "Makers of ethanol said the rating system unfairly ties their U.S.-made corn-based fuel to mass deforestation – not in the United States – but in developing nations. Ethanol critics say the entire biofuel industry should bear global responsibility for clearing of trees to make farmland to grow crops that will be used to make the fuel." 04-09 -04-26-09 Future Internet Trends (SciTech.com) "ere are a few fun/interesting tech trends of the day." 04-09 -05-08-09 Editorial: The Climate Debate (New York Times) "Earlier this week, and not a moment too soon, President Obama put the weight of his office behind a bill that aims to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, tackle the rise in greenhouse gases and create millions of clean-energy jobs." 05-09 -05-08-09 Study: Bioelectricity Better than Ethanol (Time.com) "For every acre of land planted with an energy crop — like corn or switchgrass — turning that biomass into electricity gives you more 'miles per acre' than converting it to liquid ethanol, which is how biomass is used today, according to the study. A small SUV powered by bioelectricity could travel nearly 14,000 miles on the energy produced by an acre of switchgrass, while an ethanol-powered SUV could go only 9,000 miles." "On carbon, too, bioelectricity was a winner. On average, the carbon offset from using bioelectricity is 100% bigger than the offset for using ethanol." 05-09 -05-12-09 Stress Testing Biofuels: A Rigged Game (Time.com) "The draft conclusions announced by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lisa Jackson were that cellulosic ethanol and other next-generation renewables will dramatically reduce greenhouse-gas emissions over their entire life cycle, but that in some scenarios, corn ethanol (as well as lesser-used soy biodiesel) can produce even more emissions than gasoline." "Maybe there's nothing EPA officials can do to stop the renewable-fuels steamroller, but it would nice if they suggested slowing it down." 05-09 -05-17-09 Most Voters Support the Fight Against Global Warming (U.S. News) "The poll, conducted by the Mellman Group, a Democratic firm, and released by the Pew Environmental Group, finds that 77 percent of voters favor action 'to reduce global warming emissions' and that only 22 percent of voters say they would view members of Congress less favorably 'if they support a comprehensive plan to create clean energy jobs and fight global warming.' " 05-09 -05-17-09 Study: Summer Arctic Ice May Be Gone by 2013 (BBC News) "The most extreme scenario was for the ice to retreat as soon as 2013, but that was dismissed by many as far too soon." "Now Professor Wadhams, who has studied the Arctic for the past 40 years, says that there is 'almost a breakdown' in the ice-cover." "Over most of the Arctic, there has been a massive decline in the amount of so-called multi-year ice - ice that is tough enough to withstand the summer warmth." 05-09 -05-21-09 How Much Carbon Is Too Much? (Scientific American) "To avoid catastrophic climate change, the world will need to emit less than one trillion metric tons of carbon between now and 2050, according to two new papers published in Nature today. In other words, there is only room in the atmosphere to burn or vent less than one quarter of known oil, natural gas and coal reserves." Editor's Note: One alternative is to "pull carbon from the air and store it in the soil. See biochar. 05-09 -05-28-09 Cash for Grass (KCRA) "The program helps homeowners with everything from landscape design to plant selection and irrigation systems." "The program allows $1 per square foot and up to $1,000 per site, but the real incentive is saving water." 05-09 -05-29-09 Forestry Officials on Urgent Beetle Mission (ABC News) "The Asian longhorned beetle is particularly troublesome because, unlike most insects that feed on one or two types of trees, it eats virtually all hardwoods. In New England, that puts a major part of the economy at risk: from lumber, to the cherished and very lucrative fall foliage that attracts visitors from around the world, to the maple trees that produce maple syrup." "So severe is the threat, that forestry officials in all six New England states, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as USDA, are studying camper registrations to find out where Worcester-area residents have been. Then, assuming that many brought their own potentially infested firewood, observers will head into the woods this summer to look for signs of the beetle." 05-09 -05-29-09 Schwarzenegger Plan to Close 220 California Parks (ABC News) "California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed closing up to 220 state parks to help cut the state's $24.3 billion deficit, including popular attractions for millions of visitors each year, such as a park that is home to some of the tallest trees on Earth." " 'When you cut that much, you have to let go highly trained teams of biologists that you can't get back in a year or two,' Huffman said of the park cuts. 'It's a myth to think you can mothball the entire system. These cuts will cripple the park system for a decade or more.' " 05-09 -06-07-08 "Carbon-Neutral" Won't Be Enough (SoilCarbonCoalition.org) "What this means is that our current widespread advocacy of CO2 emissions reduction has little leverage on what most scientists regard as the cause of global warming—the highest atmospheric CO2 levels in hundreds of thousands of years. The assumption that CO2 emissions reductions will do the trick has become popular groupthink, not subject to scrutiny because it's what we all know, and may seem like the only available option. Once again, we are goading ourselves into a gallant cavalry charge into the barbed wire." "Carbon-neutral won't be enough. We have to be carbon-negative, to be pulling carbon out of the atmosphere into some safe, stable place. Various technologies have been proposed for this, but so far they haven't succeeded in solving the immense storage or disposal issues, and they require energy. The oxidation or burning of carbon compounds yields energy, and the reverse reactions require energy. Reversing the Keeling curve will require enormous amounts of energy." 06-08 -06-08-09 Solar Soon to Become Competitive with Fossil Fuels (CNN News) "But another reason Homan cites is his optimism for the solar industry's U.S. future." " 'The electricity, without incentives, will be cost competitive with nuclear or fossil fuel technology' by 2014 or 2015, he said, repeating a belief widely held by those in the solar industry. 'Long term, the world's largest market will be the United States.' " 06-09 -06-17-09 Study on Future Climate: From Bad to Worse (Time.com) "Even as Congress belatedly tackles legislation that would cut U.S. carbon emissions and international negotiators bickered over a global climate deal in Bonn, Germany, a new report by several federal agencies underscores the truths that too often risk getting lost in politics: global warming is real, it's happening now, and if we don't act soon, the consequences are likely to be catastrophic." "Produced by 13 federal agencies and several major universities and research centers, the climate report found that if carbon emissions continued growing unabated, the mainland U.S. would heat up anywhere from 7 degrees Fahrenheit to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2090, with some margin of error." Editor's Note: Secretary of Energy Steven Chu as stated that an increase of 5 degrees will be catastrophic. 06-09 -06-26-09 Controversial Provisions in the Proposed Climate Bill (MSNBC News) "Concessions to farmers and lawmakers from rural areas erased a major obstacle facing a massive climate bill before the House but divided environmentalists, some of whom now oppose the legislation." 06-09 -06-26-09 House Passes Comprehensive Climate Bill (CBS News) "In a triumph for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed sweeping legislation Friday that calls for the nation's first limits on pollution linked to global warming and aims to usher in a new era of cleaner, yet more costly energy." 06-09 -06-28-09 Africa Could Almost Feed the World (NewScientist.com) "DOOM-MONGERS have got it wrong - there is enough space in the world to produce the extra food needed to feed a growing population. And contrary to expectation, most of it can be grown in Africa, say two international reports published this week." 06-09 -07-04-09 America's New Dependency on China's Metals for New Energy (U.S. News) "They are in iPods, Blackberrys, and plasma TVs. They are powerful and compact; they are exceedingly efficient. In many cases, there are no substitutes. On the periodic table, they have their own section, 17 metals in all, reflecting their unique atomic structure." "Fifty years ago, the world's economy was built on steel, aluminum, and iron. Today, rare-earth metals are reshaping it. But they are not easy to acquire, not anymore. In the 1970s and 1980s, the United States was the world's leading producer. Today, China provides nearly 97 percent of the world's supply. It has a near monopoly, and it is cutting exports." 07-09 -07-07-09 Pickens Gives Up on Largest Wind Farm (Time.com) "Plans for the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle have been scrapped, energy baron T. Boone Pickens said Tuesday, and he's looking for a home for 687 giant wind turbines." 07-09 -07-22-09 Texas Drought Takes Toll on Farmers (CBS News) " It's been a tough summer in the Lone Star State. In Austin, nearly every day this month has seen triple-digit temperatures." "But the damage is really being done outside the cities, with a drought that could mean near-record losses for people who make their living off the land, as CBS News correspondent Don Teague reports." 07-09 -07-26-09 Gulf Stream Energy (CNN News) " 'The predictions at this point estimate that the strength of the Gulf Stream could generate anywhere between four to 10 gigawatts of power, the equivalent of four to 10 nuclear power plants,' said Skemp." "Before a project like this can go forward, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have to look at a whole range of factors, from the effects it will have on wild and marine life to recreation activities and shipping, said an environmental specialist with the commission." "If the pilot program is successful, it could take another five to 10 years before the technology can be implemented." 07-09 -08-05-09 Helping Trash Pickers Hurt Badly by the Global Recession (New York Times)) "Informal junk shops should have to apply for licenses, and governments should create or expand doorstep waste collection programs to employ trash pickers. Instead of sorting through haphazard trash heaps and landfills, the pickers would have access to the cleaner scrap that comes straight from households and often brings a higher price. Employing the trash pickers at this step would ensure that recyclables wouldn’t have to be lugged to landfills in the first place." "Experienced trash pickers, once incorporated into the formal economy, would recycle as efficiently as they always have, but they’d gain access to information on global scrap prices and would be better able to bargain for fair compensation. Governments should charge households a service fee, which would also supplement the trash pickers’ income, and provide them with an extra measure of insurance against future crises." 08-09 -08-06-09 Beware of Asian Longhorn Beetle (WTNH.com) "If Connecticut's parks and forests had a most wanted list, the Asian Longhorned Beetle would be at the top, and politicians and scientists want you to be on the lookout for this dangerous killer." 08-09 -08-08-09 Glaciers Are "A Canary in the Coal Mine" (CNN News) "A 50-year government study found that the world's glaciers are melting at a rapid and alarming rate. The ongoing study is the latest in a series of reports that found glaciers worldwide are melting faster than anyone had predicted they would just a few years ago. It offers a clear indication of an accelerating climate change and warming earth, according to the authors." 08-09 -08-22-09 Can the Energy Secretary Get Americans to Care? (Time.com) " 'In the U.S., rock stars and sports stars are the glamour people. In China, it's scholars,' Chu told me during his trip to Beijing. 'Here, Nobel laureates are the equivalent of Britney Spears." "That's one reason Chu's message doesn't resonate all that well with Americans. They ranked global warming last in a national survey of 20 top priorities; in a global poll, only 44% of them wanted action to be taken on the issue, vs. 94% of Chinese." 08-09 -09-03-09 Study: Arctic Warming But Should Be Cooling (MSNBC News) "The Arctic is warmer than it's been in 2,000 years, according to a new study, even though it should be cooling because of changes in the Earth's orbit that cause the region to get less direct sunlight." 09-09 -09-12-09 City Water Pollution in the U.S. (MSNBC News) "In the last five years alone, chemical factories, manufacturing plants and other workplaces have violated water pollution laws more than half a million times. The violations range from failing to report emissions to dumping toxins at concentrations regulators say might contribute to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses." "However, the vast majority of those polluters have escaped punishment. State officials have repeatedly ignored obvious illegal dumping, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which can prosecute polluters when states fail to act, has often declined to intervene." "But an estimated 19.5 million Americans fall ill each year from drinking water contaminated with parasites, bacteria or viruses, according to a study published last year in the scientific journal Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. That figure does not include illnesses caused by other chemicals and toxins." 09-09 -09-15-09 Heinz Awards Go to Environmental Champions (Time.com) "But this year Heinz decided to focus the awards on a single issue rather than recognize many. The winners of each $100,000 award, announced on Sept. 15, were acknowledged for their work toward one cause: protecting the environment." 09-09 -09-16-09 Doctors Urge Action to Avoid Catastrophic Health Consequences (Time.com) "A weak response to climate change could be catastrophic for international health, leading doctors said in two British medical journals Wednesday." "In a letter jointly published in The Lancet and BMJ, presidents from 18 medical organizations worldwide called on doctors to pressure politicians meeting in Copenhagen in December to take decisive action on global warming." "In an accompanying editorial, Lord Michael Jay of the medical charity Merlin and Michael Marmot of University College London wrote that 'a successful outcome at Copenhagen is vital for our future as a species and for our civilization.' " 09-09 -09-24-09 Is China the "Good Guy" on Climate Change? (Time.com) "Now the world's fastest growing big economy is ready to move into one of the world's fastest growing financial markets: carbon-trading. The China-Beijing Environmental Exchange (CBEEX) and the French emissions exchange BlueNext announced on Sept. 23 that they were putting together a carbon market standard for China." 09-09 -09-28-09 Exxon Invests in Algae-Based Fuel (MSNBC News) "Exxon Mobil Corp. said Tuesday it will make its first major investment in greenhouse-gas reducing biofuels in a $600 million partnership with biotech company Synthetic Genomics Inc. to develop transportation fuels from algae." 09-09 -10-13-09 Giant, Mucus-Like Blobs Form in the Oceans (NationalGeographic.com) "As sea temperatures have risen in recent decades, enormous sheets of a mucus-like material have begun forming more often, oozing into new regions, and lasting longer, a new Mediterranean Sea study says...." 10-09 -10-14-09 Solar House Contest (U.S. News) "What might look like a quirky 20-home subdivision that has sprung up on the National Mall between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument is actually the Solar Decathlon, a college competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy every two years." 10-09 -10-16-09 Small Clean-Energy Producers Get a Boost (Green Inc.) "One bill requires utilities to buy power from a larger pool of small solar generators for above-market prices. The idea, modeled after similar programs in Germany, is to increase market access for small-scale producers of solar power — to 3 megawatts from 1.5 megawatts." "The other bill would require utilities to pay homeowners for excess energy they generate from their wind turbines or solar panels over the course of a year. Homeowners previously were not compensated for extra energy they sent back to the grid." 10-09 -10-22-09 Poll: Fewer Now Believe in Global Warming (CBS News) "Andrew Weaver, a professor of climate analysis at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, said politics could be drowning out scientific awareness." " 'It's a combination of poor communication by scientists, a lousy summer in the Eastern United States, people mixing up weather and climate and a full-court press by public relations firms and lobby groups trying to instill a sense of uncertainty and confusion in the public,' he said." "Despite misgivings about the science, half the respondents still say they support limits on greenhouse gases, even if they could lead to higher energy prices, and a majority - 56 percent - feel the United States should join other countries in setting standards to address global climate change." 10-09 -10-28-09 Energy Secretary Pushes Legislation (ABC News) "At the Senate hearing, Chu stressed that the United States should capitalize on the global need to cut emissions by taking the lead in renewable energy technology." 10-09 -11-07-09 California's Water Plan (Time.com) "For 50 years, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has funneled the Sierra Nevada snow runoff from the Sacramento Valley in the north to the giant farms in California's central valley and the now nearly 20 million people who live in Southern California. Both the economy and population of California are growing, but the amount of available water remains the same, or declines, as is currently the case with the state's worst drought in two decades. The legislation creates a new seven-member council to oversee and restore the fragile Delta, imposes a 20% conservation mandate for cities by 2020 and requires the monitoring of groundwater levels throughout the state. It also places a $11.1 billion bond on next November's ballot to pay for overhauling the water system. The bond measure is larded with water projects statewide in an attempt to encourage passage." 11-09 -11-10-09 An Energy Crisis Looms (Time.com) "If the world continues to guzzle oil and gas at its present pace, global temperatures will rise by an average of 6°C by 2030, causing 'irreparable damage to the planet.' " 11-09 -11-15-09 World Leaders Agree to Delay Agreement on Climate Change (New York Times) "President Obama and other world leaders have decided to put off the difficult task of reaching a climate change agreement at a global climate conference scheduled for next month, agreeing instead to make it the mission of the Copenhagen conference to reach a less specific 'politically binding' agreement that would punt the most difficult issues into the future." 11-09 -11-16-09 A Jellyfish Explosion from Warming Oceans (CBS News) "Hearing fishermen's pleas, Uye, who had been studying zooplankton, became obsessed with the little-studied Nomura's jellyfish, scientifically known as Nemopilema nomurai, which at its biggest looks like a giant mushroom trailing dozens of noodle-like tentacles." "He concluded China's coastal waters offered a perfect breeding ground: Agricultural and sewage runoff are spurring plankton growth, and fish catches are declining. The waters of the Yellow Sea, meanwhile, have warmed as much as 1.7 degrees C (3 degrees F) over the past quarter-century." "Scientists believe climate change - the warming of oceans - has allowed some of the almost 2,000 jellyfish species to expand their ranges, appear earlier in the year and increase overall numbers, much as warming has helped ticks, bark beetles and other pests to spread to new latitudes." "The gelatinous seaborne creatures are blamed for decimating fishing industries in the Bering and Black Seas, forcing the shutdown of seaside power and desalination plants in Japan, the Middle East and Africa, and terrorizing beachgoers worldwide, the U.S. National Science Foundation says. " 11-09 -11-19-09 We Could Be Hitting the Limit of Oceans to Absorb CO2 (Time.com) "Like the vast forests of the world, which continually suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen, the planet's oceans serve as vital carbon sinks. Last year the oceans absorbed as much as 2.3 billion tons of carbon, or about one-fourth of all manmade carbon emissions. Without the action of the oceans, the CO2 we emit into the atmosphere would have flame-broiled the planet by now." "But a new paper published in the Nov. 19 issue of Nature demonstrates that the oceans' ability to absorb man-made carbon may be dwindling — and that has worrying ramifications for future climate change. While the ocean is now absorbing more carbon in total than ever before, the waters are sucking up a smaller percentage of the CO2 emitted by humans. That could mean that there's a physical limit to the oceans' capacity — and we could be hitting it." 11-09 -Editorial: Is Obama Green Enough? (Time.com) " 'The world was hopeful that Obama would care about global warming, but he has been completely missing in action on this,' says Phil Radford, executive director of Greenpeace USA." "Radford is not being entirely fair: Obama has increased alternative-energy funding to record levels and assembled a green team of advisers. They include his Energy Secretary, the Nobel Prize — winning Steven Chu, who told me recently that 'the climate-change problem is at least equal in magnitude' to World War II. He's right. And if Obama wants to win this war, he's going to have to fight, not just make peace." 05-09 -Environment News (MSNBC.com) Provides news on methods to improve the environment, such as alternative fuels. 6-05 Carbon Emissions Need to Go "Negative" by 2050 (Planet2025News.net) "A chapter by climate scientist W. L. Hare concludes that in order to avoid a catastrophic climate tipping point, global greenhouse gas emissions will need to peak before 2020 and drop 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, with further reductions beyond that date. Emissions of carbon dioxide would actually need to ‘go negative’—with more being absorbed than emitted—during the second half of this century. Hare’s research finds that even a warming of 2 degrees Celsius poses unacceptable risks to key natural and human systems, including significant loss of species, major reductions in food-production capacity in developing countries, severe water stress for hundreds of millions of people, and significant sea-level rise and coastal flooding." 01-09 Compare Cars by MPG (FuelEconomy.gov) Provides a comparison of vehicles their miles per gallon rating by EPA. Current Health and Science Issues in Depth (NOW with Bill Moyers) "When PBS and Bill Moyers launched NOW, it was to illuminate stories that weren't being covered on any other public affairs broadcast, and under Moyers' leadership, NOW has pursued the truth behind the headlines. 'We are continuing to take a thoughtful look at the events shaping our world,' says Moyers, who has received every major broadcast journalisim award including more than 30 Emmy Awards." 12-03 Papers "The Future Is Drying Up" (New York Times) "When I met with [Secretary of Energy] Chu last summer in Berkeley, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, which provides most of the water for Northern California, was at its lowest level in 20 years. Chu noted that even the most optimistic climate models for the second half of this century suggest that 30 to 70 percent of the snowpack will disappear. 'There’s a two-thirds chance there will be a disaster,' Chu said, 'and that’s in the best scenario.' " 10-07 -001 Lovelock: One Last Chance to Save Humanity (NewScientist.com) "There is one way we could save ourselves and that is through the massive burial of charcoal. It would mean farmers turning all their agricultural waste - which contains carbon that the plants have spent the summer sequestering - into non-biodegradable charcoal, and burying it in the soil. Then you can start shifting really hefty quantities of carbon out of the system and pull the CO2 down quite fast." "Would it make enough of a difference?" "Yes. The biosphere pumps out 550 gigatonnes of carbon yearly; we put in only 30 gigatonnes. Ninety-nine per cent of the carbon that is fixed by plants is released back into the atmosphere within a year or so by consumers like bacteria, nematodes and worms. What we can do is cheat those consumers by getting farmers to burn their crop waste at very low oxygen levels to turn it into charcoal, which the farmer then ploughs into the field. A little CO2 is released but the bulk of it gets converted to carbon. You get a few per cent of biofuel as a by-product of the combustion process, which the farmer can sell. This scheme would need no subsidy: the farmer would make a profit. This is the one thing we can do that will make a difference, but I bet they won't do it." 05-09 -01-23-09 Obama's Green Energy Portion of Stimulus Package (UK.Reuters.com) "The $825 billion economic stimulus package unveiled by Democrats in the House of Representatives on Thursday contains billions of dollars in tax breaks for renewable energy as well as spending for energy efficiency and transmission." 01-09 -09-12-07 The World's Most Polluted Places (Time.com) "China's State Environmental Protection Agency says that Linfen has the worst air in the country, which is saying something, considering that the World Bank has reported that 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are Chinese." 09-07 -09-12-07 Water Crisis Squeezes California's Economy (Christian Science Monitor) "A recent federal ruling to reduce the amount of water that flows through the delta is likely to boost food prices and trim jobs in agriculture." 09-07 -10-02-08 Green Investment to Create Jobs (AmericanProgress.org) "Today, the Center for American Progress releases a new report by Dr. Robert Pollin and University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute economists. This report demonstrates how a new Green Recovery program that spends $100 billion over two years would create 2 million new jobs, with a significant proportion in the struggling construction and manufacturing sectors. It is clear from this research that a strategy to invest in the greening of our economy will create more jobs, and better jobs, compared to continuing to pursue a path of inaction marked by rising dependence on energy imports alongside billowing pollution." 10-08 -A Glossary of Earth Terms (MSNBC News) Provides a glossary of terms related to global warming. 04-07 -Editorial: Is the Press Misreporting the Environment Story? (Time.com) "Rather than a stenographer, Pooley would prefer to see the media adopt the position of an "honest referee — keeping score, throwing flags when a team plays fast and loose with the facts, explaining to the audience what's happening on the field and why." In an issue as complex as climate change, the country badly needs smart, fair umpires, and the media can play that role. But the wave of cutbacks and closings that have hit the American media could make that all but impossible. Referees need to know the game cold, and climate change demands day-in, day-out experience from dedicated reporters. But a dwindling few media outlets are willing to pay for that kind of coverage at a time when the economy is crashing — Time's corporate cousin CNN has eliminated its entire full-time science section." 03-09 -Editorial: Vested Interests Are Hijacking Our Energy Future (Christian Science Monitor) "MMS fears the inevitable lawsuits. Opponents have filed at least 20 project-related lawsuits and other actions. Some of these exhibit an extremely impressive imagination. These suits have ultimately failed – but that's not the point. The point is to create a high-stakes game of chicken and see who blinks first. 'Endless litigation – nothing will get done!' threatened Rep. Bill Delahunt (D) of Massachusetts in a December 2004 public hearing." "The Cape Wind battle matters to the whole world. We must encourage the development of new technologies and begin to revamp the world's energy infrastructure." "We need a serious and responsible conversation about the future of energy in America. As we have it, we cannot allow the public discussion to be hijacked by those with hidden agendas. There's simply too much at stake." 10-07 -Editorial: We Can't Drill Our Way Out of Our Fuel Crisis (Time.com) "The reality is that whether the U.S. drills or not, it really doesn't make a difference — not against the sheer scale of the energy and climate crisis facing America and the rest of the world. (Indeed, the other 6.3 billion people factor into this equation too.) The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently estimated that under a business-as-usual scenario — which the U.S. seems intent on abiding — global oil demand would rise 70% by 2050. That increase represents five times as much oil as Saudi Arabia produces annually. You could drill America with exploratory wells until it looked like Swiss cheese and still not make much of a dent in that figure." 08-08 -Editorial: Where Is the Tipping Point for Disaster? (Time.com) "When asked to quantify the impact of climate change, scientists come up with a lot of interesting answers, no two of them quite the same. For the lay person, then, perhaps the simplest way to understand it is to imagine a distant asteroid, somewhere out in space, on a collision course with Earth. It's not clear when or where the asteroid will hit, or exactly how severe the consequences will be. But it is clear that when it happens, the consequences will be far worse — and last far longer — than any natural disaster humanity has ever known." 03-09 -Editorials: 16 Ideas for the Planet (MSNBC News) "The way I see it, the next 50 years will be the eye of the needle through which we need to pass. That will not be easy." 04-07 -How Much Carbon Is Too Much? (Nature.com) "More than 100 countries have adopted a global warming limit of 2 °C or below (relative to pre-industrial levels) as a guiding principle for mitigation efforts to reduce climate change risks, impacts and damages1, 2." 05-09 -How Vulnerable Is the Power Grid? (Time.com) "The electricity-distribution system is highly decentralized, and there's no central control system; at worst, cyberattackers may be able to damage sections of the grid." 04-09 -Protecting Ocean Life - Executive Summary (PewTrusts.org) "The root cause of this crisis [with our oceans] is a failure of both perspective and governance. We have failed to conceive of the oceans as our largest public domain, to be managed holistically for the greater public good in perpetuity." 04-06 -Protecting Ocean Life - Full Report (PewTrusts.org) "Ocean currents circulate the energy and water that regulate the Earth’s climate and weather and, thus, affect every aspect of the human experience. Without reform, our daily actions will increasingly jeopardize a valuable natural resource and an invaluable aspect of our national heritage." 04-06 -Report: Carbon Pollution to Grow by 40 Percent (MSNBC News) "The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide seeping into the atmosphere will increase by nearly 40 percent worldwide by 2030 if ways are not found to require mandatory emission reductions, a U.S. government report said Wednesday." "The EIA report said that "much of the increases in carbon dioxide emissions is projected to occur among the developing nations" including China and India." "It said 94 percent of the world's expected increase in industrial energy use between now and 2030 is expected in the economically developing countries, with Brazil, Russia, India and China expected to account for two-thirds of that growth." 05-09 -Report: Climate Change "Catastrophic" (CNN News) "More than 300 million people are already seriously affected by the gradual warming of the earth and that number is set to double by 2030, the report from the Global Humanitarian Forum warns." "The report's startling numbers are based on calculations by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the Earth's atmosphere warmed by 0.74 degrees Celsius (1.33 degrees Fahrenheit) from 1906 to 2005, with much of that increase coming in recent decades. The panel predicts that by 2100 temperatures will have increased a minimum of two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels regardless of what's agreed in Copenhagen." 05-09 -Report: Global Warming May Be Twice as Bad as Expected (USA Today) "Global warming will be twice as severe as previous estimates indicate, according to a new study published this month in the Journal of Climate, a publication of the American Meteorological Society." "The research, conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), predicts a 90% probability that worldwide surface temperatures will rise more than 9 degrees (F) by 2100, compared to a previous 2003 MIT study that forecast a rise of just over 4 degrees." "The projections in the MIT study were done using 400 applications of a computer model, which MIT says is the most comprehensive and sophisticated climate model to date." Editor's Note: See catastrophic climate change. 05-09 -Seven Policies to Slow Climate Change (Union of Concerned Scientists) "Over the years, state and federal governments have taken a number of policy actions to encourage renewable energy production. In states committed to seeing them through, the policies have been very successful. New policies are needed if renewables are to compete successfully in deregulated electricity generation markets." 09-09 -Sources of Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the USA (EIA.doe.gov) Shows the sources of carbon dioxide emissions in the USA with the primary two causes shown to be: 1) coal-fired electricity plants (81 percent of 2343.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from energy-generation plants) and 2) use of petroleum in the transportation sector (98 percent of 1,990.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions). 06-08 -Study: Fish Found With Pharmaceuticals in Them (CBS News) "Fish caught near wastewater treatment plants serving five major U.S. cities had residues of pharmaceuticals in them, including medicines used to treat high cholesterol, allergies, high blood pressure, bipolar disorder and depression, researchers reported Wednesday." "Findings from this first nationwide study of human drugs in fish tissue have prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to significantly expand similar ongoing research to more than 150 different locations." 03-09 -Study: Spammers Sourge to Environment (USA Today) "A report being released Wednesday by security company McAfee Inc. finds that spammers are a scourge to your inbox and the environment, generating an astounding 62 trillion junk e-mails in 2008 that wasted enough electricity to power 2.4 million U.S. homes for a year." 04-09 -Sustainable Planet (Awesome Library - Adams) Describes a few of the most important things we can do to reduce pollution and global warming, as well as improve the availability of drinkable water for the future. 11-00 Air Quality Today - Where You Live (Environmental Protection Agency) Provides a forecast for the day on the EPA Air Quality Index for pollution levels where you live. 8-01 Air Quality for Schools, a National Problem (USA Today) "Using the government's most up-to-date model for tracking toxic chemicals, USA TODAY spent eight months examining the impact of industrial pollution on the air outside schools across the nation. The model is a computer simulation that predicts the path of toxic chemicals released by thousands of companies." "USA TODAY used it to identify schools in toxic hot spots — a task the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had never undertaken." "The result: a ranking of 127,800 public, private and parochial schools based on the concentrations and health hazards of chemicals likely to be in the air outside. The model's most recent version used emissions reports filed by 20,000 industrial sites in 2005, the year Hitchens closed." "The potential problems that emerged were widespread, insidious and largely unaddressed:" 12-08 America's Water Infrastructure Crisis (USNews.com) "Rep. Earl Blumenauer called for a Clean Water Trust Fund at a rally today in support of buttressing America's aging infrastructure." "Organized by Food & Water Watch, the rally highlighted a number of ills facing the country's water and sanitation systems. The average American pipe is 33 years old, while 72,000 miles of pipe are 80 years or older. Holding up today's Washington Post with a story detailing how a failed water main impeded efforts to fight a fire in a city neighborhood, group President Wenonah Hauter announced that it's 'time Congress does something about the water infrastructure crisis we're facing.' " 10-07 As Cars Use Ethanol, Prices for Food Will Jump (ABC News) " 'Almost everything in our refrigerator contains corn,' says Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute. 'Whether it's milk or eggs or chicken, pork, beef, ice cream, yogurt — these are all corn products.' " "And consider this: The price of wheat, soybeans and other crops will go up because farmers will be planting less of each." "Brown says the nation needs a 'timeout' in building ethanol distilleries so people can consider the direction in which they are heading." 04-07 Autos - Fuel Cell Cars (Awesome Library) Provides a summary of options for current and near future transportation that avoids pollution, yet is convenient, uses inexpensive fuel, and is safe. 6-01 Autos - Fuel Cell Power (Awesome Library) Provides sources of information on fuel cells for powering automobiles and homes. Fuel cells do not pollute, are inexpensive to operate, and should provide as much convenience as traditional sources of power, such as internal combustion engines. 5-01 Biggest Offenders in Global Warming (BBC News) "The US emits more, absolutely and per head, than any other country - although it also produces more wealth. When Kyoto was agreed, the US signed and committed to reducing its emissions by 6%. But since then it has pulled out of the agreement and its carbon dioxide emissions have increased to more than 15% above 1990 levels." 03-06 Carbon Emissions for the Future (Time.com) "About 97% of the world's new carbon emissions will come from outside the United States and Europe, largely from China, India and the Middle East, who will consume about half the world's energy by the year 2030. Before global habits begin to change permanently, greenhouse gas output will keep rising, probably at least until 2020. By which time the financial crisis of 2008 might seem like ancient history." 11-08 Carbon Offsets a Solution? (ABC News) "People worried about global warming increasingly are trying to 'offset' the carbon dioxide the leading greenhouse gas they spew into the atmosphere when they drive, fly or flick on a light. One idea popular with the eco-conscious is to have trees planted for them. You get to keep driving and flying, but those trees are supposed to suck in your trail of carbon." 05-07 Cardboard Boxes Make Solar Oven (CNN News) "When Jon Bohmer sat down with his two little girls for a simple project they could work on together, he didn't realize they'd hit upon a solution to one of the world's biggest problems for just $5: A solar-powered oven." 04-09 China's Coal-Fired Plants Suggest a Dim Future for All (Christian Science Monitor) "Fossil-fuel power plants produce about a third of all the heat-trapping man-made carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. And the 1,300 new coal-fired plants expected to be built over the next quarter-century will pump an extra 145 billion tons out by 2030 - and much more over their 40- to 50-year life spans." David Hawkins, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's climate center in Britain, says that "a far better approach would be for the US to lead by example and implement IGCC [integrated gasification combined] widely in the US. Since China pays close attention to power-generation trends, especially in the US, it could follow suit if IGCC were demonstrated in America." 01-07 City Passes the Nation's First "Carbon" Tax (MSNBC News) "Voters in a Colorado university town nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains have passed the country’s first municipal carbon tax to fight global warming." 11-06 Climate Change Basics (BBC News) "Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main greenhouse gas of concern. A finite amount of carbon is stored in fossil fuels, the sea, living matter and the atmosphere." "Without human influence, transfers between these stores roughly balance each other – for example, plants absorb carbon as they grow, but release it as they decay." "But when humans cut down trees or burn fossil fuels, they release extra carbon into the atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect." 05-07 Climate Change Puts Mediterranian Sea at Risk (Time.com) "Climate change is affecting Europe faster than the rest of the world and rising temperatures could transform the Mediterranean into a salty and stagnant sea, Italian experts said Wednesday. Warmer waters and increased salinity could doom many of the sea's plant and animal species and ravage the fishing industry, warned participants at a two-day climate change conference that brought together some 2,000 scientists and officials in Rome." 09-07 Climate Report: Massive Extinctions Expected (MSNBC News) "A key element of the second major report on climate change being released Friday in Belgium is a chart that maps out the effects of global warming with every degree of temperature rise, most of them bad." "There’s one bright spot: A minimal heat rise means more food production in northern regions of the world." "However, the number of species going extinct rises with the heat, as does the number of people who may starve, or face water shortages, or floods, according to the projections in the draft report obtained by The Associated Press." "The final document will be the product of a United Nations network of 2,000 scientists as authors and reviewers, along with representatives of more than 120 governments as last-minute editors. It will be the second of a four-volume authoritative assessment of Earth’s climate released this year. The last such effort was in 2001." 03-07 Climate in the U.S. Headed for Extremes (Scientific American) "The latest and most detailed climate model of the continental U.S. predicts temperatures so extreme by the end of the century they could substantially disrupt the country's economy and infrastructure. The climate simulation, churned out by supercomputers at Purdue University, factors in dynamic environmental variables previously unaccounted for and analyzes them at a resolution twice as fine as previous models. The results indicate an increase in heat, heavier rainfalls and shorter winters, which could strain water resources for people and crops and cause a catastrophic loss of life and property, among other things." "To confirm the model's accuracy, Diffenbaugh ran it using weather data from between 1961 and 1985 and compared the prediction with what actually occurred. 'The model performed admirably, which tells us we've got a good understanding of how to represent the physical world in terms of computer code,' he comments." 11-05 Climbers Witnessing Global Warming (Time Magazine) "Mountaineers are bringing back firsthand accounts of vanishing glaciers, melting ice routes, crumbling rock formations and flood-prone lakes where glaciers once rose." 04-07 Coal Gasification: FutureGen Plant to Open in 2013 (Christian Science Monitor) "A government-industry alliance announced Tuesday that it would put a $1.76 billion "clean coal" power plant in Mattoon, Ill. By 2013, the plant is expected to start cranking out 275 megawatts of electricity from gasified coal while emitting almost no pollutants and only 10 percent of the carbon dioxide from today's coal-fired plants. The taxpayer-supported project, called FutureGen, joins a global race to develop clean-coal technology." 12-07 Companies Working to "Green" the Earth (Time.com) "The steady deterioration of the very climate of our very planet is becoming a war of the first order, and by any measure, the U.S. is losing. Indeed, if we're fighting at all—and by most accounts, we're not—we're fighting on the wrong side. The U.S. produces nearly a quarter of the world's greenhouse gases each year and has stubbornly made it clear that it doesn't intend to do a whole lot about it. Although 174 nations ratified the admittedly flawed Kyoto accords to reduce carbon levels, the U.S. walked away from them. While even developing China has boosted its mileage standards to 35 m.p.g., the U.S. remains the land of the Hummer." 04-08 Consequences of Global Warming (BBC News) Provides a graphic of the earth, showing how much sustainable development can reduce global warming in different parts of the world. 03-06 Current Events Related to the Environment (The Tides Center - EcoNet) Provides articles on current events related to achieving a healthier environment. EPA May Move to Regulate Carbon (Time.com) "On Feb. 17, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson announced that the agency would reconsider a Bush Administration decision not to regulate CO2 emissions from new coal power plants." 03-09 EPA: Greenhouse Gases Pose a Threat to Health (Time.com) "So the possibility that in the face of Congressional inaction the EPA might take matters into its own hands and directly regulate greenhouse gases can be seen as a not so subtle threat. Either act on your own, or let an EPA bureaucrat do it for you. Said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch: 'If business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce continue to oppose Congressional action, they ought to ask themselves, in the immortal words of Clint Eastwood: Do you feel lucky?' " "The EPA's move on Friday was characterized by the top global warming analyst for the National Wildlife Federation as the 'single largest step the federal government had taken to fight climate change.' " 04-09 Earth Participated in Earth Hour (MSNBC News) "From an Antarctic research base to the Great Pyramids of Egypt and beyond, the world switched off the lights on Saturday for Earth Hour, dimming skyscrapers, city streets and some of the world's most recognizable monuments for 60 minutes to highlight the threat of climate change." Editor's Note: Building lights were turned off at 8:30 pm (local time) on March 28th, 2009, to show solidarity with efforts to reduce human contributions to climate change. 03-09 Editorial: How Denmark Became Energy Independent (New York Time) "Unlike America, Denmark, which was so badly hammered by the 1973 Arab oil embargo that it banned all Sunday driving for a while, responded to that crisis in such a sustained, focused and systematic way that today it is energy independent. (And it didn’t happen by Danish politicians making their people stupid by telling them the solution was simply more offshore drilling.)" "...Danes imposed on themselves a set of gasoline taxes, CO2 taxes and building-and-appliance efficiency standards that allowed them to grow their economy — while barely growing their energy consumption — and gave birth to a Danish clean-power industry that is one of the most competitive in the world today." "Frankly, when you compare how America has responded to the 1973 oil shock and how Denmark has responded, we look pathetic." 08-08 Editorial: It's Too Late for "Later" (New York Times) "There was a chilling essay in The Jakarta Post last week by Andrio Adiwibowo, a lecturer in environmental management at the University of Indonesia. It was about how a smart plan to protect the mangrove forests around coastal Jakarta was never carried out, leading to widespread tidal flooding last month." "This line jumped out at me: 'The plan was not implemented. Instead of providing a buffer zone, development encroached into the core zone, which was covered over by concrete.' " "You could read that story in a hundred different developing countries today. But the fact that you read it here is one of the most important reasons that later has become extinct. Indonesia is second only to Brazil in terrestrial biodiversity and is No. 1 in the world in marine biodiversity. Just one and a half acres in Borneo contains more different tree species than all of North America — not to mention animals that don’t exist anywhere else on earth. If we lose them, there will be no later for some of the rarest plants and animals on the planet." "Indonesia is now losing tropical forests the size of Maryland every year, and the carbon released by the cutting and clearing — much of it from illegal logging — has made Indonesia the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, after the United States and China. Deforestation actually accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars and trucks in the world, an issue the Bali conference finally addressed." 12-07 Editorial: Public Finally "Getting" Global Warming (ABC News) "The difference between nuclear holocaust and global warming is that the former hasn't happened. The latter (according to all but a tiny handful of scientists) is well under way and is caused either substantially or solely by man-made greenhouse gas emissions." 04-06 Editorial: Schwarzenegger Effectively Promoting "Green" (MSNBC News - Newsweek) "If Gore is the nation's environmental conscience, Schwarzenegger is its environmental pitchman, making the fight against global warming accessible, palatable and relatively painless to big-living Americans, who generate more greenhouse gases than any citizenry on earth." "California's Hummer-loving governor is turning the Golden State into the greenest in the land, a place where environmentalism and hedonism can coexist. How a star turned pol's become the muscle behind saving the planet." 04-07 Endangered Species Act Provisions Opposed (Time.com) Reports that the Bush administration seeks to "eliminate a provision of the Endangered Species Act that allows private groups to sue the Department of the Interior to add plants and animals to the official 'endangered' list...." 5-01 Energy Alternative Suggested by Business Council for Sustainable Energy (Environmental News Network) Describes measures that could reduce the need for over 1000 power plants. Notes that wind energy has become over 80 percent more efficient. 5-01 Environmental Advocacy News (GreenPeace.org) Provides news related to pollution, sustainability, global warming, and other key environmental issues. See key words at the bottom of the page for information by topic. 6-02 Experts Warn: Oceans Becoming Too Acidic (MSNBC News) "The world's oceans are becoming more acidic, which poses a threat to sea life and Earth's fragile food chain, German researchers told delegates at a U.N. conference on climate change." 11-06 Experts: Seafood Could Collapse by 2050 (MSNBC News) "If current trends of overfishing and pollution continue, by 2050 the populations of just about all seafood face collapse, defined as 90 percent depletion, a team of ecologists and economists warns in a study published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science." 10-06 Farmers Want More Wind Power (EV World) Provides news that the association of corn farmers wants more support from the federal government for wind energy generation. The Bush administration has proposed a reduction in support., according to the news release. 6-01 Fate of the Oceans (MotherJones.com) "In 2005, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found the first clear evidence that the world ocean is growing warmer. In a novel study combining computer modeling and field observations, and screening for natural weather effects and the impact of volcanic gases, they discovered the top half-mile of the ocean has warmed dramatically in the past 40 years as a result, clearly and simply, of human-induced, rising greenhouse gases. 'The statistical significance of these results is far too strong to be merely dismissed and should wipe out much of the uncertainty about the reality of global warming,' reported researcher Tim Barnett of Scripps, who suggests the Bush administration convene a Manhattan-style Project to figure out what mitigations might still be possible." 04-06 Fertilizers Creating a Huge "Dead Zone" in the Gulf (MSNBC News) "The nation's corn crop is fertilized with millions of pounds of nitrogen-based fertilizer. And when that nitrogen runs off fields in Corn Belt states, it makes its way to the Mississippi River and eventually pours into the Gulf, where it contributes to a growing "dead zone" — a 7,900-square-mile patch so depleted of oxygen that fish, crabs and shrimp suffocate." 12-07 Few Utilities Produce Majority of Polluting Emissions (Lycos - Lazaroff) Summarizes the results of a report on pollution from utilities. "The study by a coalition of environmental and public interest groups found that between four and six companies account for 25 percent of the emissions of each pollutant." 3-02 Five Uncommon Tips for Expecting Parents (MSNBC News) "According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, babies under six months should NEVER be under direct sun. To shield that virgin skin without blocking the breeze, dress baby in thin, loose, light colored clothing, and cover as much skin as possible." 07-07 Glaciers Melting Faster Than Thought (CBS News) "Glaciers in Antarctica are melting faster and across a much wider area than previously thought, a development that threatens to raise sea levels worldwide and force millions of people to flee low-lying areas, scientists said Wednesday." "By the end of the century, the accelerated melting could cause sea levels to climb by 3 to 5 feet - levels substantially higher than predicted by a major scientific group just two years ago." "Making matters worse, scientists said, the ice shelves that hold the glaciers back from the sea are also weakening." "The big surprise was exactly how much glaciers are melting in western Antarctica, a vast land mass on the Pacific Ocean side of the continent that is next to the South Pole and includes the Antarctic Peninsula." 02-09 Glaciers Melting Faster Than Thought (PBS.org) "Seventy-five percent of the world's fresh water is stored in glaciers, but scientists predict climate change will cause some of the world's largest glaciers to completely melt by 2030. What effect will this have on our daily lives? With global warming falling low on a national list of American concerns, it's time to take a deeper look at what could be a global calamity in the making." 07-09 Global Dimming (Awesome Library) Provides links to information on global dimming, the darkening of the Earth. 04-06 Global Warming Real According to Satellite Pictures (Environmental News Network) Summarizes the results of a 27-year study of the earth's greenhouse gases and shows that there has been a significant increase as a result of human activity. The conclusions are based on pictures of the earth taken by satellites over the past 27 years. 3-01 Honda to Offer Fuel Cell Car in 2008 (Honda.com) "Honda Debuts All-New FCX Clarity Advanced Fuel Cell Vehicle Dynamic styling and performance herald major advances for fuel cell vehicles; limited marketing to begin next summer." 11-07 Hope for Coral as Oceans Warm (BBC News) "Some coral reefs may be able to adapt to rising ocean temperatures, a consequence of global climate change." 06-06 Huge Offshore Wind Farm Approved (New York Times) "Regulators in New Jersey on Friday awarded rights to build a huge offshore wind farm in the southern part of the state to Garden State Offshore Energy, a joint venture that includes P.S.E.G. Renewable Generation, a subsidiary of P.S.E.G. Global, a sister company of the state’s largest utility." 10-08 Hybrid Car Getting 80 Miles per Gallon (CNN News) "It looks like a typical Toyota Prius hybrid, but in the trunk sits an 80-miles-per-gallon secret -- a stack of 18 brick-sized batteries that boosts the car's high mileage with an extra electrical charge so it can burn even less fuel." 8-05 Hybrid Plug-in Car to Get Over 100 MPG (CNN News) "The EDrive system replaces the existing Prius NiMH battery and Toyota battery control computer with a larger Valence Saphion lithium-ion battery and a proprietary battery monitoring and control system developed by EnergyCS. The new system allows the Prius to be charged at home using a standard 110/120V home outlet. With the larger battery, the Prius can run in electric only 'EV' mode at lower speeds or when less power is needed. The result is EV driving and electrically boosted gasoline driving for the first 50 to 60 miles with a gasoline efficiency of 100 to 150mpg." 8-05 Industry Leader in Coal Refuses to Use New Technology (New York Times) "Many scientists say that sharply reducing emissions of these gases [from coal processing] could make more difference in slowing climate change than any other move worldwide. And they point out that American companies are best positioned to set an example for other nations in adopting a new technique that could limit the environmental impact of the more than 1,000 coal-fired power projects on drawing boards around the world." "But most in the industry are not making that bet. Among them is Gregory H. Boyce, chief executive of Peabody Energy, the largest private-sector coal producer in the world thanks in part to its growing operations here in Wyoming and with aspirations to operate coal-fired plants of its own. Mr. Boyce's company alone controls reserves with more energy potential than the oil and gas reserves of Exxon Mobil." 05-06 Is Natural Gas Our Next Clean Energy Source? (MSNBC News) Fareed Zakaria tells Robert Hefner: "Natural gas is plentiful and clean, but when you add up the costs of exploration, storage and delivery, it's also expensive." "Could you use the grid that pipes gas into people's homes to deliver natural gas as fuel for cars?" "America has a very undervalued asset in the million-mile pipeline grid that delivers natural gas to towns and cities, and directly to over 60 million American homes. You can put a small compressor appliance in your garage and fuel your automobile every night from the natural gas that is already connected to your house. Natural gas is also an excellent fuel to generate electricity. Prior to the Fuel Use Act in 1978 that prohibited the use of natural gas for power generation, Oklahoma generated over 80 percent of its electricity with natural gas. Today about 85 percent of Singapore's electricity is generated by natural gas, and they are headed toward 100 percent." 09-07 Key Issues on the Environment (SpeakOut.com) Provides indepth coverage of both sides of key issues. 2-01 Mercury and Flourescent Bulbs (theBostonChannel.com) "Consumers were cautioned to avoid using the energy-saving bulbs on tables or in other places where they can be easily broken. Even so, the reports said, the bulbs, which use 75 percent less energy and last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, are still the best way for homeowners to try to save on electricity, adding that the benefits of using them outweigh the risks." 02-08 Micro-CHP Units Heat and Provide Electricity (Christian Science Monitor) "Since Malin changed his home heating system to micro-CHP in February, 18 other families in the Boston area also have adopted the technology, which squeezes about 90 percent of the useful energy from the fuel. That's triple the efficiency of power delivered over the grid." "Factories and other industrial facilities have used large CHP systems for years. But until the US debut of micro-systems in greater Boston, the units had not been small enough, cheap enough, and quiet enough for American homes." 11-06 More Than Half in China Have Sewage Not Treated (ChinaDaily.com) "More than half of the population is living in an environment where sewage is not treated, an expert said." "By the end of 2005, 278 cities across the country had no sewage treatment facilities, including eight with a population of more than 500,000, Zhao Baojiang, chairman of the China association of city planning, told a recent conference on sustainable sanitation held in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region." "About 5,000 administrative towns and 20,000 market towns also had no sewage treatment facilities, he was quoted as saying by www.xinhuanet.com." " 'Water pollution is deteriorating, but orders of the State Environmental Protection Administration to reduce the pollution are being disregarded in some cities, Zhao said.' " 08-07 New Chinese Coal Plants Will Make Climate Change Almost Certain (BBC News) "Coal built China - and fuels its relentless growth today. Eighty per cent of China's electricity comes from coal, and there are plans for 544 new coal-fired power stations to meet an insatiable demand for energy." "Yet coal is a prime source of carbon dioxide - the global warming gas. If the power plants go ahead, it will be all but impossible to avoid dangerous climate change." 05-06 New Energy Secretary: Change Before Its Too Late (ABC News) "Chu, a Chinese-American who currently is director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, has in recent years campaigned to bring together a cross-section of scientific disciplines to find ways to counter climate change." "If action is not taken now to stop global warming, it may be too late, he argues." 12-08 New Rule Freezes Out Coal Plants (Time.com) "Dirty, cheap coal provides 49% of the electricity in the U.S. and 30% of the country's carbon emissions — which means that if the more than 100 new coal plants currently in the development pipeline get built, the planet is doomed to get warmer. That's what made a decision on Nov. 13 by an obscure appeals board at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) so important. Responding to a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club over a new coal plant being built in Utah, the board ruled that the EPA had no grounds to refuse to regulate the CO2 emitted by new coal plants. Immediately, that made it virtually impossible for the EPA to certify any new coal plant, freezing development. In the long term, it gives the incoming Obama Administration an opening to force the coal industry to clean up — or shut down." 02-09 Ocean Debris Expected to Get Worse (CNN News) "A new report has determined current measures to prevent and reduce ocean debris are inadequate and the problem will likely worsen." 09-08 Oversight for the Environment (The White House) "The Council on Environmental Quality coordinates federal environmental efforts and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental policies and initiatives. The Council's Chair, James L. Connaughton who was appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, serves as the principal environmental policy adviser to the President. In addition, CEQ reports annually to the President on the state of the environment, oversees federal agency implementation of the environmental impact assessment process, and acts as a referee when agencies disagree over the adequacy of such assessments." The Council on Environmental Quality is led by James L. Connaughton. "Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Mr. Connaughton was a partner in the law firm Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, in its Environmental Practice Group. His work covered a wide range of environmental policy issues, including environmental management and compliance assurance systems, legislation, regulation, international trade and standards, and ecological risk and natural resource damages assessment." According to the Sidley Austin Brown and Wood LLP Web site, the company represents the fossil fuel industry in the arena of regulation. "Most of our clients are natural gas pipelines and producers, crude oil and petroleum products pipelines or electric utilities." In other words, Connaughton represented the fossil fuel industry in legal conflicts against federal and state regulators. Appointing a lobbyist for the fossil fuel industry to guide the U.S. government policies on protection of the environment appears to be the same as appointing a fox to watch over the henhouse. It appears to be a gross conflict of interest. Since the Council on Environmental Quality has oversight over the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal regulators for the environment, is such an appointment a corruption of the role of the federal government in regulating the fossil fuel industry? Christine Todd Whitman, who recently resigned as head of the EPA under President Bush, stated on PBS's NOW program aired on September 20, 2003, that Connaughton did, in fact, restrict the EPA's findings, especially on global warming issues, while she was the head of the EPA. 9-03 Permanent Drought Predicted for the Southwest (LATimes.com) "The driest periods of the last century — the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and the droughts of the 1950s — may become the norm in the Southwest United States within decades because of global warming, according to a study released Thursday." 04-07 Plastics Endanger Life in the Oceans (MSNBC News) "In a new report, Greenpeace said at least 267 species -- including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish -- are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris." 11-06 Polar Bears Going Extinct (CBS News) "More than two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be killed off by 2050 - including the entire population in Alaska - because of thinning sea ice from global warming in the Arctic, government scientists forecast Friday." 09-07 Polar Ocean Soaking Up Less CO2 (BBC News) "One of Earth's most important absorbers of carbon dioxide (CO2) is failing to soak up as much of the greenhouse gas as it was expected to, scientists say." "This effect had been predicted by climate scientists, and is taken into account - to some extent - by climate models. But it appears to be happening 40 years ahead of schedule." 05-07 President-Elect's Environmental Plan Not Enough (Time.com) "President-elect Obama campaigned on the promise to spend $150 billion over the next 10 years to support alternative energy, like wind and solar, as well as the green jobs that the sector has the potential to create." "The problem is, it won't be enough. As ambitious as Obama's campaign promises were — at least compared to his predecessor's — the future state of global energy will demand government policies with a much longer reach, according to alternative-energy leaders. The International Energy Agency's (IEA) annual World Energy Outlook, released Nov. 12, projects that global energy demand will increase by 45% between 2006 and 2030 — and that $26 trillion in power-supply investments will be necessary simply to meet those needs. Barring radical changes in our energy policy — beyond what Obama has pledged — greenhouse gas emissions will rise 45% by 2030, and extreme global warming would be virtually unavoidable." 11-08 Putting Your Home on an Energy Diet (US News) "Putting your house on an energy diet is simple: airtight construction, smart heating and cooling design, and high-efficiency appliances." For example, make sure that your duct work does not leak and is not exposed to the attic or outside air. 04-08 RMI Study: Efficiency Could Cut Electricity Use by 30 Percent (GreenerBuildings.com) "If states were brought up to the range of productivity rates attained by the top 10 performers, which the report contends could be achieved through energy efficiency alone, then more than 60 percent of the country's coal-fired generation could be avoided, the study says." 02-09 Reducing the Use of Gasoline (Oregonian - Yaden and Durning) Suggests ways that the use of gasoline can be reduced. "Feebates are point-of-purchase incentives. Consumers pay a fee when buying vehicles with low gas mileage and collect rebates for buying more efficient ones. Such a program could quickly push the market toward more economic designs. With the nation's automobile fuel efficiency at a 20-year low, this is an especially important step." 2-02 Research: Amazon Forest Crisis Can Create "Incalculable Consequences" for Earth (The Independent) "The vast Amazon rainforest is on the brink of being turned into desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate, alarming research suggests. And the process, which would be irreversible, could begin as early as next year." "Scientists say that this would spread drought into the northern hemisphere, including Britain, and could massively accelerate global warming with incalculable consequences, spinning out of control, a process that might end in the world becoming uninhabitable." 07-06 Rivers in Endangered (CNN News) " 'Our nation is at a transformational moment when it comes to rivers and clean water,' said Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers. 'Water is life, yet our nation's water infrastructure is so outdated that our clean drinking water, flood protection and river health face unprecedented threats.' " "American Rivers has released its annual endangered rivers report since 1986. The report is not a list of the nation's most polluted waterways, but highlights 10 rivers facing decisions in the coming year that could determine their future." 04-09 Running Out of Water (CNN News) "Federal researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque predict that the fresh water supplies of more than half of the nations in the world will be stressed in less than 20 years and that by 2050, three-quarters of the world could face fresh water scarcity." "The U.S. is no exception, said Michael Hightower of the lab's Energy Systems Analysis Department. Groundwater pumping probably will have to be reduced in the next five to 10 years to prevent the depletion of many of the nation's aquifers, he said." 04-08 Scientist: We Are on the Path to a Catastrophe (CBS News) According to Michael MacCracken, chief scientist of the Climate Institute, " 'We're on a path to exceeding levels of global warming that will cause catastrophic consequences, and we really need to be seriously reducing emissions, not just reducing the growth rate as the president is doing.' " 03-07 Scientists: BPA Chemical May Be a Problem for Humans (PBS.org) "The chemical bisphenol A, known as BPA, is used to make many common plastic products used in U.S. homes, including baby bottles. Scientists and expert panels have been tasked with determining whether BPA has adverse effects on human health." 10-07 Seed Bank in Case of an Apocalypse (NYTimes.com) "The project, run by the Royal Botanical Garden, at Kew, England, aims to collect seeds from 10 percent of the world’s flowering plant species and to stow them in a sort of climate-controlled Noah’s Ark against the possibility of depletion, whether by climate change, alien-species invasion, overdevelopment or apocalypse." 08-07 Seed Project to Preserve Species (PlanetArk.org) Describes the British project to save many species of plants from extinction by development of a huge seed bank. 11-00 Simulation Results: Temperature Rise Caused a Mass Extinction (BBC News) "A computer simulation of the Earth's climate 250 million years ago suggests that global warming triggered the so-called 'great dying'." "A dramatic rise in carbon dioxide caused temperatures to soar to 10 to 30 degrees Celsius higher than today, say US researchers." "Some 95% of lifeforms in the oceans became extinct, along with about three-quarters of land species." 8-05 Smog Strong in Half of USA (MSNBC) Reports on a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "A coalition of business groups led by the American Trucking Association filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the EPA’s 1997 pollution standards...." A federal appeals court rejected their argument. "The process is now under way to adopt the standards, which the EPA estimates would prevent 15,000 premature deaths, 350,000 cases of asthma and 1 million cases of decreased lung function in children." 5-02 Stopping Municipal Water Leaks (Christian Science Monitor) "Though finally solved, the mystery of the creek that was a leak is an example of how utility districts in the US can't account for 6 billion gallons of drinking water each day. If all that lost water were collected over the course of a year, it would fill Gatun Lake, the huge reservoir that feeds the Panama Canal." "Georgia recently began requiring counties seeking water-withdrawal permits to first check their waterworks for leaks. Three other states, including Tennessee, are tightening water audit requirements, and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) has persuaded 300 communities to take part in a public-service campaign called 'Only Tap Water Delivers,' in part prompted by mounting water losses." 10-07 Student Discovers Microbes that Degrade Plastics (TheRecord.com) "Getting ordinary plastic bags to rot away like banana peels would be an environmental dream come true." "After all, we produce 500 billion a year worldwide and they take up to 1,000 years to decompose. They take up space in landfills, litter our streets and parks, pollute the oceans and kill the animals that eat them." "Now a Waterloo teenager has found a way to make plastic bags degrade faster -- in three months, he figures." 06-08 Study: Arctic Was Once Tropical (Washington Times) "First-of-its-kind core samples dug up from deep beneath the Arctic Ocean floor show that 55 million years ago an area near the North Pole was practically a subtropical paradise, three new studies show." "Millions of years ago the Earth experienced an extended period of natural global warming. But about 55 million years ago there was a sudden supercharged spike of carbon dioxide that accelerated the greenhouse effect." "Scientists already knew this 'thermal event' happened but are not sure what caused it. Perhaps massive releases of methane from the ocean, the continent-sized burning of trees, numerous volcanic eruptions." 05-06 Study: Carbon Trading Has Not Worked (MSNBC News) " 'A responsible approach to solving this crisis [of global warming],' Al Gore said recently at New York University's Law School, would be 'to authorize the trading of emissions ... globally.' Emissions trading, also called carbon trading, is being expanded in the European Union and Japan." "The scale of the inefficiency of emissions trading was revealed in a study published in the scientific journal Nature last month. The nearly $6 billion already spent on projects to curb emissions of HFC-23, a potent greenhouse gas, had the same impact on the environment as would $132 million worth of equipment upgrades." 03-07 Study: Global Warming Makes Hurricanes Stronger (ABC News) "Is global warming making hurricanes more ferocious? New research suggests the answer is yes. Scientists call the findings both surprising and "alarming" because they suggest global warming is influencing storms now rather than in the distant future." "The analysis by climatologist Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows for the first time that major storms spinning in both the Atlantic and the Pacific since the 1970s have increased in duration and intensity by about 50 percent." "These trends are closely linked to increases in the average temperatures of the ocean surface and also correspond to increases in global average atmospheric temperatures during the same period." 7-05 Surprising Effects of Global Warming (MSNBC News) "You’ve probably heard about the global warming song and dance: rising temperatures, melting ice caps and rising sea levels in the near future. But Earth’s changing climate is already wreaking havoc in some very weird ways. So gird yourself for such strange effects as savage wildfires, disappearing lakes, and freak allergies." 01-07 The Greening of America's Youth (MSNBC News) "It was a demonstration the likes of which haven't been seen in 40 years — this weekend's national pro environmental statement called 'Step It Up.' " "It's part of a growing number of teens and college students who are picking up the banner of global warming, and running with it." 04-07 The Need for Carbon Sequestration of Coal-Fired Energy Plants (CNN News) "Burning coal contributes half of the excess carbon dioxide (CO2) polluting the earth's atmosphere, a statistic not lost on the hundreds of climate change protesters camping in a grassy field near Kingsnorth power station in Kent, England this week." 08-08 The Perfect Storm (ABC News) "Not one scientist of any credibility on this subject [of global warming] has presented any evidence for some years now that counters the massive and repeated evidence — gathered over decades and come at in dozens of ways by all kinds of professional scientists around the world — that the burning of fossil fuels is raising the world's average temperature." "Or that counters the findings that the burning of these fuels is doing so in a way that is very dangerous for mankind, that will almost certainly bring increasingly devastating effects in the coming decades." "One small group of special interest businesses leaders — those of some fossil fuel companies — have been well documented by journalist Ross Gelbspan and others to have been fighting a PR campaign for 15 years to keep the American public confused about the wide and deep scientific consensus on this." "They've aimed, as Gelbspan explains, to keep us thinking that (to borrow the president's words this morning) 'There's a debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused' — though no open and thorough journalism this reporter knows of can find any such thing." 06-06 The Toxic Consequences of the Green Revolution (U.S. News) "Four decades after the so-called Green Revolution enabled this vast nation to feed itself, some farmers are turning their backs on modern agricultural methods—the use of modified seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides—in favor of organic farming." 07-08 Tire-Gauge Solution (Time.com) "The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030. We use about 20 million bbl. per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone did, we could immediately reduce demand several percentage points. In other words: Obama is right." "In fact, Obama's actual energy plan is much more than a tire gauge. But that's not what's so pernicious about the tire-gauge attacks. Politics ain't beanbag, and Obama has defended himself against worse smears. The real problem with the attacks on his tire-gauge plan is that efforts to improve conservation and efficiency happen to be the best approaches to dealing with the energy crisis — the cheapest, cleanest, quickest and easiest ways to ease our addiction to oil, reduce our pain at the pump and address global warming. It's a pretty simple concept: if our use of fossil fuels is increasing our reliance on Middle Eastern dictators while destroying the planet, maybe we ought to use less." 08-08 Tree Loss Responsible for Carbon Emissions (Time.com) "Tree loss accounts for at least 20% of global carbon emissions. What would help cap that output is an international market — similar to that in the power industry or manufacturing — that allows tropical nations to preserve their rainforests in exchange for selling the carbon emissions contained within them. That doesn't exist, in part because major tropical countries like Brazil and Indonesia have been reluctant to accept international carbon finance, for fear of losing control over their natural resources. But Indonesia — the world's third biggest carbon emitter, thanks chiefly to its high deforestation rates — now seems ready to open up. At California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's climate summit in November, Indonesian officials announced their government would set up a regulatory framework for carbon forestry programs, and signed an agreement with California to help shepherd those projects. Translation: Indonesia appears ready to help wealthy California help Indonesia preserve its rapidly dwindling rainforests — and the climate will benefit." 02-09 U.N. Report: Evidence for Global Warming Is "Unequivocal" (PBS News) "The evidence for global warming is 'unequivocal' and it is 'very likely' that human actions are to blame for rising temperatures, an international panel of climate experts said Friday.” 01-07 Ultra Low Emissions Device Developed for Burning Fuel (GaTech.edu) "Georgia Tech researchers have created a new combustor (combustion chamber where fuel is burned to power an engine or gas turbine) designed to burn fuel in a wide range of devices -- with next to no emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO), two of the primary causes of air pollution. The device has a simpler design than existing state-of-the-art combustors and could be manufactured and maintained at a much lower cost, making it more affordable in everything from jet engines and power plants to home water heaters." The device is called a Stagnation-Point Reverse-Flow Combustor. 11-06 World Water Shortage Has Started (Boston Globe - Rothfeder) Provides facts about the current and growing shortage of drinkable water. "But the reality we face is sobering: water -- nature's most essential element -- is becoming dangerously scarce. A freshwater crisis has already begun that threatens to leave much of the world dry in the next 20 years, without enough water for a minimum quality of life." "Nearly 2.2 billion people in more than 62 countries, one-third of the world's population, are starved for water." 1-02 Projects -01-10-06 BioGems: Navy Sonar Testing Kills Whales (SaveBiogems.org) Provides a project to oppose the testing of lethal sonar equipment in the path of migrating whales. 01-06 Campaigning Guides (BBC News) "Here on Action Network, we want you to be able to take action on problems that affect to you." "We've written guides to help you get to grips with organising a campaign. Find out about everything from setting up a group and organising a petition, to fundraising and becoming a charity." 07-07 Lease Solar Energy Without Extra Costs (Renu.Citizenre.com) "Plainly put, the Citizenre- Corporation pays for, installs, owns and operates the solar installation. You don’t have to worry about maintaining the equipment or any of the other concerns that come with making an investment into solar power. All you are required to do is pay for the electricity generated from these panels, at a fixed rate that is at or below your current electricity price, for up to twenty-five years." Awesome Library does not endorse this product but provides it as an example. 01-07

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