In The News

America's Energy Edge

Robert D. Blackwill and Meghan L. O'Sullivan February 26, 2014
Discoveries of shale energy throughout the Americas and beyond will upend geopolitics. “The fracking revolution required more than just favorable geology; it also took financiers with a tolerance for risk, a property-rights regime that let landowners claim underground resources, a network of service providers and delivery infrastructure, and an industry structure characterized by thousands of...

Wavier Jet Stream “May Drive Weather Shift”

Pallab Ghosh February 18, 2014
Politicians have long assumed that they have plenty of time to cope with the onslaught of climate change, and scientists claim it is too early to link a wavering jet stream with this winter’s extreme weather in the northern hemisphere. Yet ordinary people should consider that climate change attributed to the burning of coal and other fossil fuels may be less gradual than once thought. A study...

China’s Environmental Concerns Could Be GM Problem

Emanuele Berry February 14, 2014
Cars and other fossil fuel-using vehicles contribute to smog, and regulations to reduce notorious urban pollution in China could put a dent in GM and other foreign auto sales there. In recent years, GM has sold more cars in China than were sold in the United States during any years, notes Bruce M. Belzowski of the Transportation Research Institute at the University of Michigan, in the report....

Danger to Cities by the Sea

Aditi Sen January 28, 2014
Asia’s coastal megacities are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, in particular the risk of coastal flooding. What makes cities like Jakarta, Manila or Bangkok so vulnerable is that they are heavily populated and among the least prepared, suggests Aditi Sen of Verified Carbon Standard. The organization aims to reduce greenhouse emissions and encourage quality assurance...

China Exports Pollution to US, Study Finds

Edward Wongjan January 27, 2014
Pollution knows no borders. A study by nine researchers in three nations quantifies “how air pollution in the United States is affected by China’s production of goods for export and by global consumer demand for those goods,” reports Edward Wongjan for the New York Times: “The scientists wrote that ‘outsourcing production to China does not always relieve consumers in the United States – or for...

Incredible Edible Todmorden

Julian Dobson January 23, 2014
Todmorden in Yorkshire, England, has taken community gardening to a new level. Every patch of once unused land and space in the town of about 15,000 is now used for vegetable gardens, with crops available for the picking by passersby; schools teach horticulture; families share recipes and meals. It’s “the beginning of a survival strategy for towns and neighbourhoods in the 21st century,” writes...

If You See Something, Say Something

Michael E. Mann January 21, 2014
Climate scientists are in 97 percent agreement that rapid climate change is underway and immediate response could stem the effects of warming temperatures and rising seas. The media often suggest the issue remains under debate. “If one is looking for real differences among mainstream scientists, they can be found on two fronts: the precise implications of those higher temperatures, and which...