Climate Change

A combination of rising costs, shrinking supplies, and concerns about global climate change are spurring the development of alternatives to the burning of fossil fuels to meet our transportation energy needs. Scientific studies have shown the most promising of possible alternatives to be liquid fuels derived from cellulosic biomass. These advanced new biofuels have the potential to be clean-burning, carbon-neutral and renewable.

In 1995, a severe heat wave struck Chicago, killing more than 700 people. The disaster hit some neighborhoods much harder than others. For the most part, its devastation closely traced the city's economic and ethnic segregation. More people died in places like Englewood, a South Side neighborhood with a history of poverty and crime, and a largely African-American population; yet some neighborhoods with this same demographic fared remarkably well.

"A policy narrative that continues to frame this target as the sole metric of success or failure to constrain climate change risk is now itself becoming dangerous," wrote Todd Sanford and Peter Frumhoff of UCS in the commentary published Wednesday in Nature Climate Change. "[It] ill-prepares society to confront and manage the risks of a world that is increasingly likely to experience warming well in excess of 2°C this century," said the piece, co-authored by Amy Luers of the San Francisco-based Skoll Global Threats Fund, and Jay Gulledge, of the U.S.

Palm oil is used in a huge range of consumer products, from food and fuel to beauty products and cleaning agents, meaning that demand for palm oil has risen fast. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), growing demand is driving increases in deforestation, which accounts for 10 percent of the emissions that cause global warming. Clearing forest for plantations also destroys trees that are home to endangered species and a resource for forest communities, the U.S.-based UCS said.

The amount of methane leaking from natural gas emissions is far higher than previously estimated, a new study shows, more evidence, as one expert says, that urgent action must be taken to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions. ... "The study by Brandt et al. adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that EPA's estimates of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector are too low," Sarah Uhl, Senior Project Director at the Clean Air Task Force, a Boston-based public health and environment advocacy group, said in a statement sent to Common Dreams.

Land managers from Montana, Alberta and British Columbia are gathering in Missoula this week to talk about managing the Crown of the Continent ecosystem for climate change. Participants include government agencies, non-profit organizations, academics and tribal representatives. The executive director of the Seattle-based nonprofit organization known as "EcoAdapt", Lara Hansen, is one of the forum's featured speakers. Hansen is an ecologist who formed EcoAdapt six years ago, to offer training and assistance for people learning how to adapt to climate change.

by Luther Turmelle, New Haven Register If Robert Klee is daunted by the challenge that lies ahead as the state’s next Department of Energy and Environmental Protection commissioner, he doesn’t show it.

Audiences around the world were captivated by March of the Penguins, a 2005 film that grippingly depicted the almost unfathomable hardships the emperor penguin endures to nurture each new generation. In darkness and extreme cold, the males protect their mates' eggs as they fast for months through the world's harshest winter weather.

As countries negotiate a new international climate agreement for the post-2020 period—including at this week’s intersessional meeting in Bonn, Germany—the key choices for putting the world on a secure pathway to a low-carbon future should be front-of-mind. The new agreement will be essential for putting in place the policies beyond 2020 that ensure a shift from high-carbon to low-carbon and climate-resilient investments. To do this, the agreement will have to send the right signals to governments and businesses about the trajectory we need to be on.