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Environmental News Network / Climate



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Gulf Environment Forum 2011
01 08 2010 ENN is proud to be a media sponsor of the The Gulf Environment Forum. Environmental issues in the middle east are taken very seriously, and there are challenges to living and operating industries in an area with limited water and cooling capacity for industry. The Gulf Environment Forum (GEF) is Saudi Arabia’s official environment event, spearheaded by the presidency of Meteorology & Environment. Combining an international exhibition and conference, GEF provides a unique business platform for industry experts to demonstrate their expertise and play an active part in establishing a sustainable and environmentally responsible region for generations to come.

First-of-Its-Kind Map Details the Height of the Globe's Forests
30 07 2010 ScienceDaily (July 21, 2010) — Using NASA satellite data, scientists have produced a first-of-its kind map that details the height of the world's forests. Although there are other local- and regional-scale forest canopy maps, the new map is the first that spans the entire globe based on one uniform method.

What to do with the CO2
30 07 2010 Burning fuel releases a lot of carbon dioxide. For more is emitted than any other air emission. What can we do with it all? A basic reuse of carbon dioxide or CO2 is to have plants and trees use it to make new plants and trees. Recently, the U.S. government has been funding more than $100 million to six research projects that will turn carbon dioxide into fuel, plastics, cement and more. Though the US is spending some money even more comes from private investors.

Climate bill in doubt as Democrats delay action
28 07 2010 U.S. Senate Democrats said on Thursday they will wait until September at the earliest to take up broad climate-change legislation, a potentially fatal blow to the White House push to curb greenhouse gases. The delay means Democrats have little time to advance the complex legislation amid intense political pressure in the weeks before November congressional elections. It also could derail global climate change initiatives, as the world's major economies and greenhouse gas emitters insist the United States play a leading role.

Air Products and Chemicals
27 07 2010 Environmentalism has done a tremendous job of awakening the American public over the last ten years to many of the fundamental issues of our times. It is now apparent that, with the explosion of emerging market economies, the energy needs of the world are going to exponentially grow over the next 20 years. Along with the topic of energy, atmospheric gases have come into central focus in the American public. The issue of global warming, whether one believes completely in its claims or not, has raised American awareness to level where it's now clear that we cannot continue to release emissions and pollutants into the atmosphere in uncontrolled amounts and expect it to not affect our world. One such company in the U.S. industrial gases sector that is heavily involved in renewable energy is Air Products and Chemicals(NYSE: AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS). AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS specializes in supplying atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, and equipment and services worldwide.

Exporting Pollution
26 07 2010 America has been getting rid of its industrial base and as a result pollution will tend to decrease in America. Where does it all go? Other countries should know the bitter lessons of pollution should they not? Maybe yes and maybe no. Industry has gone to many other nations including China especially in the last decade. According to the People's Republic of China's own evaluation, two-thirds of the 338 cities for which air quality data are available are considered polluted. Respiratory, cancer and heart diseases related to air pollution are the leading cause of death in China. Meanwhile in Tehran, which is one of the most polluted cities of the world, there is a similar situation. Air pollution in the Iranian city of Tehran is not new. Ever since 1950 population and automobile ownership has risen dramatically.

Transitioning to Cool Roofs
23 07 2010 In the effort to slow the pace of global warming, researchers and policy makers are encouraging the use of lighter colors for rooftops and streets worldwide. Dark, non-reflective surfaces which are common for asphalt and asphalt shingles, absorb heat from the sun and create a "heat-island" effect, plus a greater need for air conditioning. Lighter surfaces would reflect the sun’s rays back to outer space, reducing ground-surface temperatures and overall energy requirements.

Spotlight on Air Products and Chemicals
23 07 2010 Environmentalism has done a tremendous job of awakening the American public over the last ten years to many of the fundamental issues of our times. It is now apparent that, with the explosion of emerging market economies, the energy needs of the world are going to exponentially grow over the next 20 years. Along with the topic of energy, atmospheric gases have come into central focus in the American public. The issue of global warming, whether one believes completely in its claims or not, has raised American awareness to level where it's now clear that we cannot continue to release emissions and pollutants into the atmosphere in uncontrolled amounts and expect it to not affect our world. One such company in the U.S. industrial gases sector that is heavily involved in renewable energy is Air Products and Chemicals(NYSE: AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS). AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS specializes in supplying atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, and equipment and services worldwide.

Floating Glaciers
22 07 2010 Glaciers are massive sheets of ice, sliding slowly down a mountain and carving enormous grooves in the land. They flow down to the lowest point where gravity can take them, often into the ocean. The normal school of thought for these "tidewater glaciers" said that due to their weight and compaction to the earth's surface, they were grounded on the sea floor, only to arise once disintegrated. However, there is one glacier that extends into the water, floating intact on the ocean waves.

Nations pledge global support for clean energy
22 07 2010 The United States and dozens of other countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars toward clean energy initiatives to help battle climate change, U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said on Tuesday. Meeting in Washington, D.C., for a two-day conference, delegations from 24 countries representing 80 percent of global energy consumption promised 11 initiatives that would mean building fewer power plants and using more clean energy. "We know the clean energy challenge won't wait, and we won't wait either," Chu said. With the U.S. Senate virtually gridlocked on passing an energy and climate change package this year, the Obama administration is under pressure to provide leadership in global climate talks that are making little progress.

EPA Requires 800 million Gallons of Biodiesel in the U.S. Domestic Market in 2011
21 07 2010 WASHINGTON, DC – - Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would require the domestic use of 800 million gallons of biodiesel in 2011. This is consistent with the renewable goals established in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), which expanded the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) and specifically requires a renewable component in U.S. diesel fuel.

Russia swelters in heatwave, many crops destroyed
21 07 2010 Soaring temperatures across large swathes of Russia have destroyed nearly 10 million hectares of crops and prompted a state of emergency to be declared in 17 regions. On Friday the state-run Moscow region weather bureau said it expected the heatwave, which has gripped the country since late June and is estimated to have already cost the agricultural sector about $1 billion, to continue into next week. Saturday could see temperatures in Moscow hit 37 Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit), which would break the previous record of 36.6C. set in 1936. "It looks like tomorrow could just break the record," the weather bureau's Moscow head Yelena Timakina said.

President Obama Focuses on Advanced Battery and Electric Vehicle Manufacturing
21 07 2010 As part of the Economic Recovery Act, Obama administration officials fanned out across the nation this week in a series of ribbon-cutting and ground-breaking ceremonies to highlight their commitment to renewable energy, especially projects that are creating jobs in advanced battery manufacture. Senior Administration officials will travel to eight Recovery Act advanced battery and vehicle project sites nationwide where work has begun constructing new manufacturing plants, adding new manufacturing lines, building electric vehicles, and installing electric vehicle charging stations. This series of events was emphasized by President Obama on Thursday, July 15th, at Compact Power, Inc. where he officially "broke ground" on a new advanced battery manufacturing factory in Holland, Michigan. After brief introductions by Peter Ban-Suk Kim, Chief Executive Officer of LG Chem Ltd., Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, and Holland Mayor Kurt Dykstra, the president spoke for about fifteen minutes reiterating his progress in advance battery manufacturing and job creation.

Lakes on Titan
18 07 2010 Titan, is the largest moon of Saturn, the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found. On Earth, lake levels rise and fall with the seasons and with longer term climate changes, as precipitation, evaporation, and runoff add and remove liquid. Now, for the first time, scientists have found compelling evidence for similar lake level changes on Saturn's largest moon showing that is possesses a similar change cycle

US Climate bill sparks opposition from business groups
17 07 2010 Two U.S. business groups opposed on Wednesday the latest version of a climate change proposal circulating in the U.S. Senate, saying it was unfair to power companies and would hurt energy-intensive industries. Senators John Kerry, a Democrat, and Joe Lieberman, an independent, have crafted a draft bill focusing on capping greenhouse gas pollution from electric power utilities first. It scales back previous ambitions for a broad attack on emissions. The plan would launch a "cap-and-trade" market in which utilities that cut pollution could sell credits to companies that do not. It expects overall emissions limits would be achieved because the cap on all utilities toughens over time.

The Rising Indian Ocean
17 07 2010 Changing sea levels have happened before and will happen again in a dynamic world. Newly detected rising sea levels in parts of the Indian Ocean, including the coastlines of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java, appear to be at least partly a result of human induced increases of atmospheric greenhouse gases, says a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The study, which combined sea surface measurements going back to the 1960s and satellite observations, will threaten inhabitants of some coastal areas and islands.

June Heat in the US
15 07 2010 It is summer and it is traditional to complain about how warm it is. Weather also is always a popular subject. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) State of the Climate report shows the June 2010 average temperature for the contiguous United States was 71.4 degrees F, which is 2.2 degrees F above the long-term average (1901-2000). The average precipitation for June was 3.33 inches, 0.44 inch above the long-term average.

Ten Nations at 'Extreme Risk' Because of Water Shortages, Report Says
15 07 2010 Ten countries worldwide, including five African nations, are at "extreme risk" because of limited access to clean, fresh water, according to a new global water security index. And the effects of climate change and population growth will exacerbate the stress on these water supplies, potentially threatening stability in many regions, according to the analysis by Maplecroft , a UK-based consulting group.

Rising sea drives Panama islanders to mainland
14 07 2010 Rising seas from global warming, coming after years of coral reef destruction, are forcing thousands of indigenous Panamanians to leave their ancestral homes on low-lying Caribbean islands. Seasonal winds, storms and high tides combine to submerge the tiny islands, crowded with huts of yellow cane and faded palm fronds, leaving them ankle-deep in emerald water for days on end. Pablo Preciado, leader of the island of Carti Sugdub, remembers that in his childhood floods were rare, brief and barely wetted his toes. "Now it's something else. It's serious," he said.

For Hudson Bay Polar Bears, The End is Already in Sight
13 07 2010 The polar bear has long been a symbol of the damage wrought by global warming, but now biologist Andrew Derocher and his colleagues have calculated how long one southerly population can hold out. Their answer? No more than a few decades, as the bears' decline closely tracks that of the Arctic's disappearing sea ice.

High Above the Earth, Satellites Track Melting Ice
12 07 2010 The surest sign of a warming Earth is the steady melting of its ice zones, from disappearing sea ice in the Arctic to shrinking glaciers worldwide. Now, scientists are using increasingly sophisticated satellite technology to measure the extent, thickness, and height of ice, assembling an essential picture of a planet in transition.

Elves and Sprites
12 07 2010 Upper atmospheric lightning or upper atmospheric discharge are terms sometimes used by researchers to refer to a family of electrical breakdown phenomena that occur well above the altitudes of normal lightning. The preferred current usage is transient luminous events (TLEs) to refer to the various types of electrical discharge phenomena in the upper atmosphere, because they lack several characteristics of the more familiar lower atmospheric lightning. TLEs include red sprites, sprite halos, blue jets, gigantic jets, and elves.

British report clears climate scientists of exaggeration
09 07 2010 Leading climate scientists on Thursday welcomed a British report that cleared researchers of exaggerating the effects of global warming and said they hoped it would restore faith in the fight against climate change. The University of East Anglia, in eastern England, launched an inquiry after more than 1,000 emails hacked from its climate research unit were put on the Internet. Climate change skeptics leaped on the "climategate" emails as evidence scientists had exaggerated or lied about man's role in global warming, leading to a surge in cyber and media attacks on climate scientists. The emails were leaked just before last December's major U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen and helped sour the public's belief in the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions blamed for heating up the planet.

Really High Pressures
09 07 2010 Deep down in the earth are tremendously high pressures. What happens under high pressure is not the same as what happens at lower pressures. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory physicists are using an ultra fast laser based technique they dubbed nanoshocks for something entirely different. In fact, the nanoshocks have such a small spatial scale that scientists can use them to study shock behavior in tiny samples such as thin films or other systems with microscopic dimensions (a few tens of micrometers). In particular they have used the technique to shock materials under high static pressure in a diamond anvil cell.

Understanding Carbon Offsetting
08 07 2010 Most of us know about carbon emissions and understand the idea of our own individual "carbon footprint," but here is a new concept that seems to be catching on: carbon offsetting. Carbon offsetting seems to be an indirect way to "reduce" one's carbon footprint - by paying someone else to support eco-friendly projects. Below is a fantastic article from Sierra Club Green Home that helps explain what carbon offsetting is, the projects it supports and other useful information, such as how to make a smart pick of company if you do want to support carbon-offseting. Win-win or pay to sin? To read more of this story, and to comment on it, visit the ENN Community Blog at http://blog.enn.com/

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