In The News

Jeff Goodell June 7, 2006
Recognizing limited energy supplies, the world turns to coal for fuel. Coal meets about half of US energy needs, about 70 percent for China. Anticipating strict regulatory limits, countries like the US have stepped up coal mining and construction of coal-burning power plants. But Author Jeff Goodell suggests that relying on coal is dangerous, from mining accidents to air and ground pollution....
Jonathan Watts June 6, 2006
The Yangtze River cuts a horizontal swath across the middle of China, supporting 400 million people, or one out of every fifteen on earth. Long thought to be immune to acute pollution because of its size, a report by the state-sponsored Xinhua news agency has shown that poisonous water threatens marine life and drinking supplies. Despite regulations, sewage from factories, cities and ships has...
Saleem H. Ali June 1, 2006
China and Taiwan’s economies have benefited immensely from growth in the manufacturing sector and produce all sorts of goods used both domestically and abroad. But the two countries’ have vastly different ranks in an environmental performance index created by Yale University, with Taiwan ranking two places above the US and China ranking 70 places below Taiwan. Before outsourcing work, foreign...
Scott Barrett May 25, 2006
Climate change grabs international attention, but spurs little action. In this article, environmental economist Scott Barrett urges governments to confront the inevitability of global warming and points to key shortcomings in global climate-control policy. To slow climate change, experts generally argue for stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Such progress, however,...
Beat Balzli May 15, 2006
After a year of natural disasters, the international community may shrug about the possibility of 6 million Kenyans, Ethiopians and Somalis facing drought and possible starvation. In response, the World Food Program and the World Bank have developed a new plan to replace aid: famine insurance. The new model of relief shifts emphasis from donations to arrangements with international financial...
Don Melnick May 5, 2006
Forests are an essential part of the earth’s delicate ecosystem. But corporations and governments promote rapid cutting for profits, and more than a billion acres of forestland have been lost since 1970. Forests not only provide fuel and building products, but also protect water supplies and mitigate the effects of global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide. Biology Professor Don Melnick and...
Doug Struck May 5, 2006
Politicians tend to procrastinate when it comes to long-term problems. But rising temperatures are causing immediate problems, as diseases like malaria, cholera, Dengue fever, Lyme disease and West Nile virus make inroads into new territory, including the US, Europe and Canada. Common insects like ticks and mosquitoes live through mild winters and find new habitats, thus transforming from...