In The News

America and the World Into a New Era – Part I

Bruce Stokes September 2, 2008
The US and Europe – firm allies throughout the 20th century – now differ on many issues, global security in particular. This YaleGlobal series analyzes the European-American relationship and points to areas of fracture. In the first article, journalist and author Bruce Stokes describes the world’s expectations for the next US president and cautions that regardless of who wins the post-Bush...

Carry On China

Nayan Chanda August 30, 2008
The decoupling theory suggests that China, in a league of its own, will expand voraciously on its own terms despite the beleaguered world economy. Although the Beijing Olympics demonstrated a superiority that supports this theory, China remains immutably linked with the world. Though China may want to remain the top global manufacturer, the nation cannot control foreign demand for manufactured...

Salmon Fishers Demand a Seal Cull

Henry McDonald August 29, 2008
Seals are a protected species in Ireland, and some fishermen blame them and even cormorants and other birds for a decline in salmon populations. Salmon swim the oceans and then return to the rivers where their own lives began to reproduce. There, humans and other predators wait to pick off the fish. Ecologists dismiss fishermen’s complaints, pointing to over-fishing by humans as the leading...

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....

Millions Forfeit Water to Olympic Games

Michael Sheridan August 27, 2008
Many Chinese sacrificed to put on a great show for the Olympics, but perhaps none as much as more than 30,000 people in Baoding who lost homes or land, according to Michael Sheridan, reporting for the London Times. In planning for the Games, Chinese officials worried about Beijing’s water supply and hastily made plans for diverting water from the agricultural area of Hebei province to the capital...

Japan to Launch Carbon Footprint Labeling Scheme

Justin McCurry August 22, 2008
Japanese consumers take environmental protection into account while choosing products, even suggesting in surveys that they don’t mind spending extra to purchase environmentally-friendly products. So the Japanese government has devised an intricate system to calculate and inform consumers on labels the level of carbon emissions associated with each product. Companies quickly supported the plan to...

Stark Warning on Britain's Shrinking Coast

Nigel Morris August 21, 2008
Some stretches of British coastline are doomed because of rising seas, climate change and erosion and are not worth inhabiting, insuring or developing, suggests the head of Britain’s Environment Agency. The British agency is drawing up a series of maps that assess coastal erosion over the next 100 years and identify priority areas. The agency will then work with the public to achieve consensus on...