In The News

California Drought: Almond Growers Fight Back Over Reports They Are Causing Chronic Water Shortages

Tim Walker May 15, 2015
The almond – and popular products like almond milk and almond butter – have become a target of austerity measure as California officials scramble for ways to conserve water and ease the state’s severe drought. Tim Walker reports for the Independent: “California grows 80 per cent of the world’s almonds, but it is two other widely reported statistics that have caused controversy: cultivating a...

World's Oceans Value at $24T a Gross Underestimation?

Roman Kilisek May 11, 2015
The world’s oceans, as “lifelines of the global economy with about 70 percent of global trade being seaborne,” are priceless, but also taken for granted. The WWF report estimates the raw economic value of the oceans at US$24 trillion – about equal to the seventh largest economy in the world. The oceans could be undervalued, notes Roman Kilisek for Breaking Energy. That assigned value does not...

High Costs of Cheap Oil

Deepak Gopinath May 7, 2015
Consumers are delighted by low oil prices and economists anticipate increased global growth. But the low prices are locking many industries into infrastructure that relies on fossil fuels. “High-carbon infrastructure – power plants, pipelines, factories, inefficient buildings, roads and transport vehicles – built now will last and pollute for decades to come,” writes Deepak Gopinath, a writer and...

Megacities Might Not Save the Planet After All

Lizzie Wade April 29, 2015
Large cities are described as the “economic and cultural beating heart” for countries, attracting those seeking jobs, economic markets and entertainment. “In 2010, 6.7 percent of the human beings on Earth lived in a megacity,” reports Lizzie Wade for Wired, writing about research from engineer Christopher Kennedy with the University of Toronto, assisted by 28 researchers in 19 countries. “That...

The Moral Issue of Our Time

Jeff Nesbit April 24, 2015
Taking steps to reduce climate change is shaping into a moral cause. For his first major encyclical, Pope Francis will address climate change, prior to the UN Climate Change Conference later this year: “People of all ages, from all demographics and all corners of the planet, are beginning to recognize that significant changes are occurring in our ecosystem, and they’d like to see someone, anyone...

Yale Study Maps US Climate Opinion in Unprecedented Geographic Detail

Kevin Dennehy April 22, 2015
More than half of Americans are concerned about climate change. Americans represent about 5 percent of the world’s population yet uses nearly a quarter of the world’s energy. A team of Yale and University of Utah researchers developed a statistical model that maps public opinion and policy support on climate change in the world’s leading economy. The model was originally published in Nature...

Mozambique Will Be Stripped of Its Forests “in Just a Few Years”

Andrea Dijkstra April 8, 2015
Exportation of exotic hardwood timber from Mozambique to China is rapidly eliminating Mozambique’s forests. Chinese businesses have adopted the practice of lending money for equipment like chainsaws to individual villagers in poor rural areas of Mozambique. These Mozambicans, who are often former farmers, subsequently participate in logging to pay off their debts and support their families. The...