In The News

How Walmart Is Changing China

Orville Schell November 23, 2011
Walmart is working with China to identify and reduce waste in packaging, shipping and energy use, explains China expert Orville Schell in an article for the Atlantic. Any cost-saving idea can be multiplied among thousands of suppliers, thousands of stores, millions of employees and shoppers. Since 2005, Walmart and China “are engaging in a bold experiment in consumer behavior modification, market...

Green Costs Go Global

Nayan Chanda November 22, 2011
Recovery from natural disasters is costly, and climate change, combined with ongoing reliance on fossil fuels, promises more crises and expenditures. Extreme weather events are disrupting the global supply chain with consequences for corporations. Flooding in Thailand is just one example: The country “quietly emerged as a key player in the production and distribution of automobile and consumer...

Darkening Skies on the Road to Durban – Part I

J.R. McNeill November 21, 2011
The discomfort over record floods, droughts and wildfires is merging views around the globe – with many hoping for decisive action from the more than 200 nations gathering for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban. This YaleGlobal series focuses on the challenges confronting decision-makers. Climate change, as the dominant issue of our time, demands global cooperation, writes J....

German Automakers Embrace Car-Sharing

Christian Wüst November 14, 2011
Austerity is a science in Germany, and youthful Germans no longer yearn for cars. Attuned to such sensibilities, BMW and other automakers are developing car-sharing programs that allow members to reserve cars online and then drive a new vehicle, as needed, for few euros. “[M]embers get an electronically readable driver's license sticker, which opens the doors of hundreds of BMWs or Minis...

How Space Technology Aids a Flood Response

November 4, 2011
Increasing accuracy of weather predictions has saved countless lives, and now satellite mapping that monitors flooding is doing the same, reports IRIN, a United Nations news service. During disasters, countries without technology can obtain access to satellite programs free of charge. Since 2000, such access has been requested more than 130 times, most often for flooding. UN agencies provide...

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...

Why Is This Cargo Container Emitting So Much Radiation?

Andrew Curry October 27, 2011
Screening thousands of cargo containers that arrive daily in any global port is nonstop work. Sealed containers can have false walls and doors or removable hinges to carry illegal drugs, immigrants or difficult-to-detect nuclear weapons. In Italy, inspectors routinely check containers carrying scrap metal, efficiently gathered into groups, for radiation. A maximum radiation reading, a million...