In The News

UN Report Ties Climate Change to Extreme Weather

Marlowe Hood November 4, 2011
The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change of the United Nations has released a draft report that anticipates a rise in record-setting storms, floods and temperatures. The report’s release is Nov 18, reports AFP, but “the overall picture that emerges is one of enhanced volatility and frequency of dangerous weather, leading in turn to a sharply increased risk for large swathes of humanity in...

Where Did Global Warming Go?

Elisabeth Rosenthal October 31, 2011
As a political issue, climate change has fallen off the US policy agenda due to an economic downturn and dogged insistence by climate-change naysayers that science has not produced enough evidence on whether human activity contributes to global warming. The United States stands as the “one significant outlier” on responding to climate change, suggests an HSBC global research report, while other...

The Heat Is On

October 28, 2011
For more than a century, weather stations and ships have kept temperature records, and three major compilations of mean global temperatures have suggested that steady warming is underway. The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature group, physicists and others new to climate science, with support from the conservative Koch Foundation, set out in early 2010 to review the science. Skeptics have long...

Companies Call for Tougher Climate Action

Richard Black October 26, 2011
Climate change and its many disruptions are not good for business – and corporate leaders are calling on governments to move quickly to stem climate change. Leaders of nearly 200 major companies are calling for a tougher response from nations convening in Durham for the annual global climate meeting, reports BBC News. The initiative’s name, 2C Challenges, refers to the effort to prevent average...

Floods Threaten Global Trade Hub

Pavin Chachavalpongpun October 24, 2011
Monsoon rains and typhoons have contributed to record flooding that saturates Thailand. Bangkok is under threat even as authorities try to relieve pressure by reinforcing levees, draining fields and releasing floodwaters into the sea. Most of Thailand is affected with rice fields submerged, food prices climbing, and supply-chain operations of multinational firms like Western Digital and Toyota...

Economic Fixes Should Not Worsen Environmental Crisis

Dodo J. Thampapillai October 19, 2011
During economic crises, political leaders often urge suspension of environmental protections to save jobs. That is a mistake, argues economist Dodo J. Thampapillai, with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, because the economy ultimately depends on a healthy environment and sustainable use of resources. The current financial crisis presents an opportunity...

The New Geopolitics of Food

Lester R. Brown October 18, 2011
“Prices [of food] are climbing, but the impact is not at all being felt equally,” argues Lester Brown in Foreign Policy. Temperature increases, drying wells, mismanagement of soils, and ever-increasing population growth, with an additional 80 million of people to feed per year, are behind the price hikes. As a result, the gap between food supply and demand is widening, carrying political...