The USGS estimates that 10 million tons of CO2 was released over the 9 hour eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. That’s a pretty huge number, but passenger vehicles in the USA alone emit as much CO2 as a Mt St. Helens eruption happening somewhere in America every 3 days.
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has issued aggressive targets for New York City electricity storage and solar capacity, totaling 100MWh of storage by 2020 and 1GW of solar capacity by 2030. Tracking the development of NYC solar capacity PVTech reports the city will issue permits for more than 3,000 solar panel installations this
Roughly two-thirds (63%) of all industrial greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane) since the year 1854 are tied to a relatively small group of only 90 entities, according to research from Richard Heede of the Climate Accountability Institute. The entities in question are/were all involved in fossil fuel extraction and cement production, as one would
Many people find global warming an overwhelming issue, and have no idea how to contribute to a solution. But now, combating climate change can be as easy as a credit card purchase. Every time a Sustain:Green biodegradable card is used, a tangible contribution to the fight against global warming is made through carbon offsets, and
It isn’t official yet, but 2014 appears to have been the hottest year on the world temperature record. In December, during the U.N. climate talks in Lima, Peru (COP20), the World Meteorological Organization announced in a provisional statement that this conclusion about 2014 weather and climate was virtually certain. WMO bases its report on datasets
Arctic methane emissions this month were recorded at historic-high levels, causing great concern among climatologists, who cite rapidly melting Arctic sea-ice and warming oceans as the main causes. As reported in the blog Arctic News, “huge amounts of methane are now escaping from the seabed of the Arctic Ocean, penetrating the sea ice, and entering the
During a ten-day period last month, two very different views about climate change were presented to the public from two very different bodies of influence. The two conflicting perspectives illustrate well the chasm which now exists between mainstream science and mainstream US politics regarding one of the most important issues facing society today. Leading policy makers,
Everyday, multiple times a day, you make an important choice that will determine your personal carbon footprint. It’s not necessarily the car you drive or even the fuel you burn (although these are important sources as well) — rather, it is the food you choose to consume. When it comes to your personal carbon
A new software system has been developed that is able to estimate specific greenhouse gas emissions throughout entire urban landscapes, all the way down to specific buildings and roads. Thanks to this new creation from researchers at Arizona Stare University, it’s now possible at a much broader level to quantify carbon dioxide emissions. Named
It’s too late! We’re all going to die! So says the latest research to be published in the respected journal Environmental Research Letters. OK. I might be jumping to a bit of a dramatic conclusion there. In fact, the study in question has shown that the levels of greenhouse gasses we have already pumped into the
In what some enviro groups are calling a ‘nice gesture’, but others, such as Greenpeace, are calling ‘green washing’, twelve Alberta Tar Sands developers — the largest oil sands producers in the world — including Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Cenovus Energy Inc. and ConocoPhillips Co., have joined up to form Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance
In a briefing paper released January 19 by Oxfam.org entitled, “Left behind by the G20? How inequality and environmental degradation threaten to exclude poor people from the benefits of economic growth,” the standard mantra of pro-growth policy — a rising tide lifts all boats — appears to be an economic myth (like “trickle down”) and
The EPA release a cool new interactive map yesterday that lets you check out who are the biggest greenhouse gas polluters in your neighborhood (or anyone’s neighborhood in the U.S.). It’s pretty awesome… if you’re really into protecting our climate and/or maps. I just checked out my home town of Sarasota and some neighboring
2011 was a big year for the environment, in some good ways and some bad ways. Here’s a quick run-down of the top 10 stories of the year, in my opinion: 1. Tremendously high levels of carbon emissions continue to warm Earth. Despite efforts to switch to clean energy, increase energy efficiency, and use more
With approximately 80% of companies expressing interest in green travel initiatives and many of those companies implementing programs to help tackle global warming by cutting their own carbon emissions, sustainability leader Brighter Planet and MasterCard have teamed up to provide a first-of-its-kind service for these businesses.
On the whole, a lot of people agree that something needs to be done to stop global warming. Whether they believe it is happening or not, is sometimes not the issue; simply in case it is happening is enough to warrant action, many believe. Governments are debating what to do, NPO’s are telling them what
Someone recently contacted me to see if I wanted to feature a couple of environmentally-related infographics on Planetsave. Of course, I love infographics (as most people seem to), and I said yes. Here is the second one, on cap & trade. A pretty good summary of the system. Enjoy. Created By WellHome Energy Audit Related Posts:
This is clearly one of the best Christmas presents future generations could have asked for. The EPA announced, yesterday, a two-year plan to come up with clean air standards for power plants and oil refineries that will considerably cut global warming pollution. Here’s more from our sister site Cleantechnica: With the defeat of the Democrats’
The measurement and verification of greenhouse gas emissions underpins any workable solution or enforceable treaty addressing climate change. Accomplishing that task requires a skilled and trustworthy workforce able to accommodate measure and verify emissions data and manage disclosure requirements for organizations ranging from small business to global corporations and governments. Without it, nothing worthwhile can
Climate Counts has a Striding Shoppers Campaign going that is clearly worth a shout out. The company does extensive analyses of many of the world’s biggest companies to see how they are dealing with climate change and then creates scores (from 0-100) for them that consumers can use to help them in their shopping choices.
Climate Progress recently put together a piece on the top 10 climate science news stories of 2010 (so far). A lot of news that doesn’t hit the mainstream media. Here’s are a few of the stories: 1. Nature: “Global warming blamed for 40% decline in the ocean’s phytoplankton”: “Microscopic life crucial to the marine food
Going Green Tip #4 — Green your transport, not only for the environment, but for your health, happiness, personal finances, and time.
What are the greenest cell phone companies in the world. Dan Harding of CalFinder Home Solar Power tells us n this great guest post.
Since its inception in 2000, some 2500 companies from 60 countries have joined in on the Carbon Disclosure Project and begun reporting their estimated carbon emissions and other climate change related policies. This also provides a strong public relations incentive for said companies to set reduction targets and implement improvements such as stronger energy efficiency standards.
The last major section from the EPA’s new Climate Change Indicators in the US report is society and ecosystems. Below are key summary points. Clear changes in growing seasons, bird migration leaf growth and blooming dates have occurred and the trends suggest that they will continue. Heat-related deaths show much more variability, despite clear heating trends,
The US EPA just released an excellent report on climate change indicators in the US. In this first of a series of Planetsave posts summarizing the report, we look at greenhouse gases. [social_buttons] The US Environmental Protection Agency just released Climate Change Indicators in the U.S., a report showing “compelling evidence that the composition of
Timberland has announced a new policy agreement with Greenpeace to ensure that leather used in new boots and shoes won’t contribute to deforestation in the Amazon. The policy will issue a moratorium on purchasing any cattle raised in newly deforested areas within the Amazon Rainforest, and it will force all of its suppliers to do
Power plants play a huge role in emitting pollutants that make up the ozone. This pollution browns and blackens our horizons. We call it smog. Smog has been linked to premature deaths, thousands of emergency room visits, and tens of thousands of asthma attacks each year. Pollution in the ozone is particularly dangerous to small children and the elderly, who are often warned to stay indoors on days with poor air quality due to pollutants.
For the first time, the World Trade Organization (WTO) teamed up with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to release a report outlining the relationship between trade and climate change. The report describes the multitude of ways in which climate change and trade intersect.
