In The News

'Global warming real' say new studies

Reuters February 18, 2005
The Kyoto Protocol, part of an international effort to protect the earth’s climate, came into force this past Wednesday. A day later, a team led by Tim Barnett of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography unveiled fresh evidence detailing the very real effects of global warming. By focusing on ocean temperatures rather than the atmosphere, scientists have found what they claim is indisputable...

The Kyoto No-Show Can Still Go Green

James Gustave Speth February 16, 2005
The Kyoto Protocol to combat global climate change goes into effect today, February 16. This treaty, signed on December 11, 1997, is an international effort to protect the earth's climate and slow down global warming. Today, 141 countries have ratified the agreement, and 34 economically advanced countries have accepted the Protocol's targets on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions....

Kyoto Protocol Misplaced Priorities

Bjorn Lomborg February 15, 2005
On Wednesday, the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change enters force, marking a milestone for environmentalism. But making climate change "a central moral test of our time" was wrong, writes Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist. Lomborg points to existing climate models that predict that even universal acceptance of the Kyoto rules would postpone warming by a mere...

Local Tricks to Tackle Climate Shifts

Mustak Hossain February 4, 2005
Though the recent Indian Ocean tsunami had little do with climate change, it highlighted the vulnerability of the coastal areas of the region. As scientists anticipate rising sea levels in the coming decades, new strategies are needed to protect low-lying countries and small island states across the world. At the "Community Level Adaptation to Climate Change" in the Bangladeshi capital...

Can the World Deliver for Africa?

Larry Elliott February 2, 2005
2005 may be the year of Africa, if UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and other officials have anything to do with it. Britain, charged this year with the coinciding presidencies of both the EU and the G8, has vowed to make African economic revival a priority. The poorest continent in the world is steadily growing poorer, as standards of living, health, education, and economic productivity are far...

G8 "Must Lead Climate Control"

Matthew Tempest January 25, 2005
With much of Europe angered by President Bush's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, Prime Minister Tony Blair will go over the president's head this week to appeal directly to US business leaders. The chief executives of most of the biggest corporations in the world - some of them notorious polluters - will be meeting this week at the World Economic Forum in...

Japan's Nuclear Nightmare

Eric Johnston January 19, 2005
A recent fatal accident in a nuclear power plant in Mihama highlighted many often neglected aspects of nuclear plant safety and power regulation in Japan. Plants are now older and inspections less thorough, as utility companies seek to maximize operations and minimize costs in an age of deregulation. Scandals and accidents throughout Japan's nuclear history have been serious problems that...