In The News

Rising temperatures and climate change have put the Central American coffee industry into crisis mode with economic repercussions for the region, reports the Associated Press. A fungus called “coffee rust” is destroying coffee plants. So far, there is no known cure. Farmers manage harvests by spraying or replacing infected trees. Disease-resistant plants have been developed, but planting new...

It is a bitter irony that rising seas, severe drought and violent storms associated with climate change will slam the world’s poorest nations that consume the least energy per capita. Changing weather patterns will also hit national credit ratings, raising borrowing costs for investment in infrastructure like dams or post-disaster rebuilding, notes a report from Standard & Poor’s. “S&P...

Coal provides about a third of the globe’s primary energy needs, according to the World Coal Association, and India ranks third in coal production and consumption, after China and the United States. China produced six times as much coal than India in 2012, but is acting to reduce its reliance and develop alternatives. “It is ironic that while global public discussion is increasingly about ways to...