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 Global warming could cause severe municipal water shortages, says Nobel Prize winnerBy M. T. Whitney, March 4 2007
(NewsTarget) The rise of global warming could cause cities run out of water, says Steven Chu, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics a decade ago. Decreases in snow and glacier melt - major sources for water - have some wondering about global warming's impact and has spurred an increase in pushing for ocean desalinization technology.
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What you need to know - Conventional View
• The effects of global warming already...
 American Enterprise Institute allegedly offers bribes to scientists for disputing UN climate change reportBy Ben Kage, February 15 2007
(NewsTarget) According to the Guardian, the ExxonMobil-funded think tank known as the American Enterprise Institute sent letters to scientists and economists offering them $10,000 to undermine a major climate change report from the United Nations.
The fourth UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was released Feb. 2, and experts say it is the most complete report on climate change so far. However, before the report was released, the AEI sent letters to scientists in the United States...
 Arctic seed vault to ensure safety of not losing seeds for food crops in case of global catastropheBy M. T. Whitney, February 14 2007
(NewsTarget) A new seed vault to be constructed in an Arctic archipelago aims to prevent the loss of important crop species, locking away seed samples in case of world catastrophe.
The genebank, run by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, will operate differently than other genebanks: it will only allow seeds to be taken out if the original seed sources have been exhausted or destroyed. It will contain more than a million different seed varieties, stored away for safety.
The seed vault will be...
 EPA tightens tailpipe emissions of cancer-causing chemicalsBy David Gutierrez, February 14 2007
(NewsTarget) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new regulations on February 9 intended to reduce emissions of the toxic chemical benzene from a variety of gasoline sources.
The new standards do not take full effect until 2030, at which point they are expected to cut annual benzene emissions by 61,000 tons and overall toxic emissions by 330,000 tons.
Starting in 2009, the regulations require that fuel cans be tightened to reduce the escape of toxic fumes. The EPA said that it...
 Livestock ranching a leading contributor to CO2 emissions, global warmingBy David Gutierrez, February 13 2007
(NewsTarget) According to a United Nations report published last month, raising animals for food is one of the single biggest causes of global warming, in addition to land degradation and pollution of air and water.
"The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale," said "Livestock’s Long Shadow," the report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
According to the report, nearly one-fifth...
 Virgin Group CEO offers $25 million prize to solve global warming challengeBy M.T. Whitney, February 12 2007
(NewsTarget) British billionaire Richard Branson revealed on Friday that he is offering $25 million to anyone who can create a technology that will clean out greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.
The news conference had Branson flanked by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and British ex-diplomat Crispin Tickell. The goal of the prize is to tackle one of man's greatest issues – global warming – by spurring development of new technology.
"Man created the problem and therefore man should solve...
 Wire clothes hangers now have eco-friendly, recyclable alternative: Eco-HangerBy David Gutierrez, February 9 2007
(NewsTarget) The New York-based company HangerNetwork is taking its product — a disposable, biodegradable clothes hanger made from recycled paper — national. HangerNetwork has announced that its hangers will soon begin appearing in dry cleaners in San Francisco and other major cities, with the goal of expanding nationwide.
HangerNetwork's "Eco-Hanger" is made entirely out of thick recycled paper, which is folded into a clothes hanger shape then glued and laminated. The company bills the hangers...
 Air pollution increases risk of heart disease and stroke, study saysBy David Gutierrez, February 8 2007
(NewsTarget) A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has discovered a significant correlation between the air pollution around a woman's home and her risk of heart disease.
While only women were studied, researchers believe that air pollution has the same effects on men. However, women are at greater risk for heart disease in general, because their arteries are narrower and thus more easily blocked.
Researchers in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study studied...
 UN report: global warming caused by human activityBy Beau Hodai, February 6 2007
(NewsTarget) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) met Friday to unveil the first in a series of long anticipated reports on global climate change.
Following the IPCC Working Group I report’s unveiling at the Paris headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, representatives of the global scientific community declared their report to contain unequivocal evidence that humans are the driving force behind global warming.
The report specifically...
 U.S. wants to block the sun to prevent global warmingBy David Gutierrez, February 1 2007
(NewsTarget) The U.S. government has officially recommended that scientists research ways to block out the sun's light as a way to halt global warming without reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
"The level of environmental insanity among US policymakers reaches new heights with this proposal," charged Mike Adams, a consumer health advocate and coauthor of "The Real Safety Guide to Protecting Your Environment ."
"Blocking the sun would devastate global ecosystems, reduce solar power efficiency...
UN panel set to release anticipated report on global climate changeBy Beau Hodai, January 31 2007
(NewsTarget) Representatives of the international scientific community met Monday in Paris to commence a weeklong conference on global climate change, the climax of which will be reached Friday when a comprehensive United Nations report will be released.
The report, authored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is the product of more than six years of research, and the combined effort of more than 500 scientists.
“At no time in the past has there been such an appetite” for information...
 High levels of DDT still present in fishBy M.T. Whitney, January 30 2007
(NewsTarget) The waters off the Los Angeles County coast still possess high levels of DDT contamination, according to a recent report.
The report, released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, shows that the pesticide, which companies dumped into the water soon after it was banned from use in the United States, is still found with high levels in fish caught near the Los Angeles area.
DDT, banned from use in the United States at the end of 1972, is considered a toxic substance by the EPA...
 Exxon breaks financial ties to anti-global warming groupsBy David Gutierrez, January 24 2007
(NewsTarget) Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. has cut its funding to a number of anti-global warming groups, and is participating industry talks on the potential regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.
According to Exxon spokesperson Mark Boudreaux, the company's position on global warming has been "widely misunderstood."
As a result, Exxon is taking part in talks sponsored by the Washington-based nonprofit organization Resources for the Future. Approximately 20 companies are discussing different...
 Rumors of reversal in White House's climate change policy false, say officialsBy Beau Hodai, January 22 2007
(NewsTarget) President Bush issued a statement that has made many heads turn, sparking conjecture that the White House was poised for an about-face in their deregulatory energy and emissions policy. The White House has since fervently insisted that no such changes are being considered.
The statement came Saturday following German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s inaugural visit to the White House. Merkel, along with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso...
 Scientists find evidence that global warming could be causing an "evolution explosion"By Ben Kage, January 22 2007
(NewsTarget) If a species of weed that has adapted to climate change within just a few generations is any indicator, the hotly debated phenomenon of global warming could be causing rapid evolutionary shifts, according to a study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Ecology professor and evolutionary biologist Arthur Weis and colleagues from the University of California, Irvine cultivated two sets of seeds from the fast-growing weed known as field mustard in a greenhouse...
 Brazilian government authorizes controlled logging in Amazon rain forestBy Ben Kage, January 19 2007
(NewsTarget) The Brazilian government is hoping that new monitoring efforts of logging means that its decision to auction off the rights to large-scale logging in the middle of the Amazon rain forest will not result in greater devastation.
More than 70 percent of the Amazon rain forest is public land officially, but areas that are not monitored are often used by miners, ranchers and loggers, who use up all the resources before moving along the eastern and southern outskirts of the land. Roughly...
 Survey finds Europeans more concerned about climate change than AmericansBy Ben Kage, January 17 2007
(NewsTarget) According to a poll conducted by news channel France 24 for the television show, "Le Talk of Paris," more Europeans reported being concerned with climate change than Americans.
In the survey, about 2,000 people were surveyed in six countries, reported polling agency Novatris. The agency also reported the views were extrapolated from a quota-based selection of national populations. Fifty-four percent of French respondents said that global warming was one of the top two challenges...
 Radical weather patterns devastate California crops, endanger residents with rare freezeBy Ben Kage, January 16 2007
(NewsTarget) Millions of dollars worth of California crops were devastated Friday when an arctic cold snap hit the state, even in areas where such weather is rare, such as Montclair and Chino.
A freeze watch was issued by the National Weather Service for the Santa Monica mountains and the San Fernando, San Gabriel and Santa Clarita valleys, where residents were told to keep both pets and plants indoors. The record low temperatures spurred Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency...
 CO2 emissions to cause catastrophic rise in sea levels, warns top NASA climatologistBy Ben Kage, January 15 2007
(NewsTarget) Dr. Jim Hansen, a NASA climatologist, announced in an interview with The Independent that the world is turning into a different planet due to manmade greenhouse gas emissions.
Hansen stated that the Earth's population has less than a decade to stop global warming from changing the world forever, and noted that the effects on the climate were already observable.
"We just cannot burn all the fossil fuels in the ground," he said. "If we do, we will end up with a different planet....
 2006 hottest year on record for U.S., climate experts sayBy Jessica Fraser, January 15 2007
(NewsTarget) The year 2006 was the hottest the continental United States has seen in the past 112 years, according to climate experts from the National Climatic Data Center, who say drastic action must be taken in the next 10 years to halt catastrophic global warming damage in the coming century.
Last year topped off a nine-year streak of global warming "unprecedented in the historical record" and largely driven by burning fossil fuels, the NCDC reported Tuesday. According to the report, average...
Chinese dynasty brought to its knees by climate changes affecting cropsBy Ben Kage, January 11 2007
(NewsTarget) Shifts in the monsoon cycle decimated the prosperous Tang dynasty, reports a study published in the journal Nature.
From AD 618 to 907, the Tang dynasty was considered a high point in art, literature and economy through trade with India and the Middle East, but was weakened by revolts and natural causes before the last Tang emperor was eventually overthrown by one of his own military governors.
Evidence of nature's hand in the dynasty's fall came from sedimentary core samples...
 Report: Soap and water as effective as environment-damaging antibacterial cleanersBy Ben Kage, January 8 2007
(NewsTarget) According to a report in the January issue of the Harvard Health Letter, regular soap and water is just as effective as hand sanitizers and antibacterial soap when used correctly and frequently.
Past studies have revealed that 15 seconds of hand washing with regular soap and water eliminates 90 percent of bacteria, said Harvard Health Letter editor Dr. Anthony Komaroff, but he noted that a large number of people failed to wash their hands regularly and dry them properly. The report...
 Bush Administration agrees to protect polar bears as global warming destroys habitatBy Ben Kage, January 5 2007
(NewsTarget) The stance of the Bush administration is that global warming does not have an effect on the world environment, but on Dec. 28, the administration agreed that protection was needed for polar bears, whose habitat is in peril from rapidly melting Arctic sea ice.
"Polar bears are one of nature's ultimate survivors, able to live and thrive in one of the world's harshest environments," said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne in a news release. "But we are concerned the polar...
 Coal emissions blanket China with pollutionBy Ben Kage, January 4 2007
(NewsTarget) China is enjoying dynamic growth of late, but the coal-fired economic boom has severe environmental consequences, including massive toxic clouds visible even from space.
The great coal rush in China -- brought on by its voracious power needs -- is the biggest since the 19th century. Coal seems the natural answer as oil is considered too expensive at $60 a barrel, and alternative power sources such as hydroelectric power and wind power compensate for only a fraction of the country's...
 States sue the EPA over air quality standardsBy Jerome Douglas, December 29 2006
(NewsTarget) The state-based lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and it states as a main argument that the EPA has ignored the advice of its own scientists. The suit suggests that the EPA should lower the acceptable level for airborne soot -- known as fine particulate matter -- to 13 or 14 micrograms per cubic meter of air -- down from the current 15-microgram level that took effect just this week. The states claim that the federal agency failed to...
EU concerned over climate changesBy Jerome Douglas, December 23 2006
(NewsTarget) Commercial flights across Europe have many EU environment ministers concerned due to the large amount of emissions these planes are giving off, and the possible environmental concerns that are brought along with those emissions.
An EU-wide emissions target is on the table for a January proposal, and Mr. Dimas said that there had been good progress in a number of areas, including measures aimed at improving energy security and efficiency. Dimas stated that the EU had to "practice what...
 Bush Administration to screen all scientific research by US Geological SurveyBy Jerome Douglas, December 22 2006
(NewsTarget) The U.S. Geological Survey is the latest government agency that is feeling the heat from the Bush administration, which appears to be clamping down on research that may go against official policy.
New government rules now require screening of all facts and interpretations by agency scientists. The scientists under this new requirement study everything from caribou mating to global warming, but the new rules apply to all scientific papers and other public documents.
In fact, even...
Air pollution causing steady decline in India's rice productionBy Ben Kage, December 22 2006
(NewsTarget) A U.S. research team has found evidence suggesting that India's shrinking rice harvests -- which have been declining since the 1980s -- have been caused by the polluted clouds that are shrouding a large portion of South Asia and reducing sunlight and rainfall.
In the study, reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers used climate models and historical data concerning Indian rice harvests.
"We found if there had been no atmospheric brown clouds between...
India claims its emissions cause no harm to world's atmosphereBy Jerome Douglas, December 21 2006
(NewsTarget) India is considered to be one of the world's top polluters in terms of emissions, but this week the country said this week that it's not doing any harm to the world's atmosphere, despite increasing emissions of greenhouse gases.
Global temperature rises of 2 to 3 degrees Celsius are predicted in the next 50 years by experts if greenhouse gas emissions are not kept under control. If this happens, scientists agree that a devastating effect on the world's climate would be the end result...
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