In The News

The Last Days of Paradise

Jon Henley November 11, 2008
Rising seas threaten to overwhelm the Maldives, and the first democratically elected president plans to put together a sovereign wealth fund directed at finding a new, environmentally secure home for a population of more than 350,000. President Mohamed Nasheed is looking at Sri Lanka, India, Australia and other nations with climates similar to that of the Maldives, known for its beautiful...

A Need to Master the Tyranny of the Urgent

Strobe Talbott November 7, 2008
The number of issues awaiting President-elect Barack Obama and his administration lengthens as storm clouds of recession form worldwide. Obama and his team have stressed that quick fixes won't magically erase the many financial problems. Strobe Talbott, former deputy secretary of state under President Clinton, would agree with the Obama camp's cautionary tone, while also stressing that...

Calling for a Green Revolution: An Interview with Tom Friedman

October 31, 2008
Developing alternatives to fossil fuels – solar, wind or other energy technologies yet undiscovered – is the most pressing task confronting the globe, presenting a new frontier of opportunity. Tom Friedman, best-selling author and columnist with the New York Times, decries a planet being destroyed by climate change in his latest book, “Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How...

Green Energy Is Not a Middle-Class Conceit, More the Only Way Forward

Geoffrey Lean October 22, 2008
Despite a global credit crisis, environmental protection and development of alternative energy sources by no means should be pushed to the back burner, argues Geoffrey Lean for the Independent. The current financial crisis could be quite mild compared with future crises, as supplies of natural energy decline and climate change causes raging storms, rising seas and fluctuating temperatures. The...

Thirsty Giant

Somini Sengupta October 7, 2008
In India's capital city, explains journalist Somini Sengupta, increasing demand and weak public water and sanitation systems have left even middle-class people "foraging" daily for water, testifying to "the government's astonishing inability to deliver the most basic services to its citizens at a time when India asserts itself as a global power." When water rushes...

Massive Canada Arctic Ice Shelf Breaks Away

David Ljunggren September 8, 2008
A huge Arctic ice shelf breaking away in Canada signals rapid ice melt in the region. Arctic temperatures have risen faster than the global average in recent decades, report researchers. Researchers express alarm about the speed and irreversibility of melting ice. “The rapid melting of ice in the Canadian Arctic archipelago worries Ottawa, which fears foreign ships might try to sail through the...

Power-Sector Emissions of China to Top US

Steven Mufson August 28, 2008
China and India view development and growth as a path to eliminating poverty and raising living standards, and that means more power generation in both nations. This year, China’s carbon emissions will surpass those of the US for the first time, reports the Center for Global Development, a think tank based in the US that examines how policies in developed nations impact the developing world....