The winning projects of a global competition for innovative carbon-free and resilient urban projects were announced in Oslo and sent to us by C40 CITIES. Have a look.
This year, we have seen the largest-ever outpouring of reporting and planning for inevitable climate change in the Anthropocene. One of the latest studies, REthinking Energy, draws on worldwide research and financial analysis to form some conclusions about changing our mix of energy, one of the major drivers of the phenomenon, as earth’s population continues to
Great Lakes waterspouts (NOAA file photo of Lake Huron) Very common over the warm water in September, when water temperatures peak after summer months and cooler air temps start moving in, Great Lakes waterspouts are cropping up early this year because of odd cool weather this July. (We won’t mention possible climate change links here.) A waterspout
Owing to the fact that it is far easier for a chunk of Mars to travel to Earth than the other way around, it is likely that certain elements necessary to catalyze the formation of biological molecules (like RNA and DNA) came from our neighboring Red Planet. The vehicle for this interplanetary catalytic “seeding” was
Originally published on Solar Love. Generally speaking, I don’t think solar-powered cars are very practical. They are fun and do highlight how far we’ve come. They may help to advance certain electric car technologies and designs. However, except for certain niche situations (like a hospital car for rural Zimbabwe), they have serious limitations. For one,
Howard Steven Friedman is a statistician and health economist for the United Nations and an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He also has a new book out called The Measure of a Nation: How to Regain America’s Competitive Edge and Boost Our Global Standing, which is sure to provoke
The global solar power industry has experienced remarkable growth since the 2009 recession. The growth rate each year between 2007 to 2011 was around 70%. At the end of 2011, the total GW of solar panels installed worldwide was 62, divided between residential roofs, commercial buildings, and utility plants. With increasing pressure for the
A powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck northern Italy just after 4am today. The epicenter was about 22 miles north of Bologna. It was felt throughout northern Italy, and aftershocks have been continuing. At least 6 people are reported dead, with at least another 60 reported injured. The same area had previously been struck by a
Using solar energy has numerous advantages, and that’s why many countries have decided to use more renewable energy rather than rely on other forms of energy that are running out. Not only is solar energy much cheaper but it’s not as harmful to the environment since it doesn’t produce pollution like other forms of
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
Researchers have retrieved four ice cores from a glacier high atop Mount Ortles in northeastern Italy, and hope to extract a record of past climate and environmental changes in the region dating back several centuries, and hopefully as far back as a thousand years. These ice cores mark the first successful ice cores drilled to
One of the tallest and one of the most active volcanoes in the world, Mount Etnain in Sicily is erupting again, spewing lava and ash into the air.
Previous theoretical predictions by solar scientists have asserted that the Earth’s geo-magnetic field, or magnetosphere, should be capable of trapping or containing anti-matter. Now comes confirmation, via the international PAMELA satellite mission, of a narrow band of anti-protons trapped between the inner and outer Van Allen radiation belts, part of the Earth’s magnetosphere. The discovery constitutes “the most abundant source of antiprotons near the Earth.” The trapped anti-matter may one day provide a fuel source for spacecraft.
Taken aboard the International Space Station, this beautiful photo shows the boot of Italy lit up at night, outlining what would otherwise have been indistinguishable from the black sea around it.
As reported in the June 30 on-line edition of Le Monde, the French Parliament has voted to ban hydraulic fracturing — the natural gas extracting technique known popularly as ‘fracking’. The law had passed the National Assembly nine days earlier and then moved on to the Senate, where the measure passed by a small majority of 176 (yes) to 151 (no). This makes France the first nation to ban the controversial extraction technique.
One of the big news stories of the day is a bright one for those concerned about nuclear power. In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi’s nuclear power plans got crushed by a public referendum when well over 90% of voters voted “Heck No!” (but yeah, not in those words).
Check that out! Some Greenpeace activists in Italy dropped a huge anti-nuclear banner 20 minutes into a huge Italian soccer match (and you know Italians are huge soccer fans). Furthermore, the banner stayed up for the whole game!
The game was apparently the Italian league finals for the Coppa Italia — the Italian Cup. The two teams playing were renowned Palermo and Internazionale (Inter) Milan.
Located between the French island of Corsica and the Italian island of Sardinia, the Strait of Bonifacio is pictured here thanks to the European Space Agency’s Envisat.
On the 11th of January, Mount Etna, in Sicily, Italy, Europe’s largest volcano, erupted briefly, spewing flames, ash and smoke into the atmosphere and lava down its slopes. The ESA’s Envisat MERIS captured an image of the volcano from above, a trail of smoke drifting to the east. And below is an image found on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAzrSl0ztsQ Foie gras is a “luxury food” or delicacy. However, if you watched the video above, I imagine you’d rather not pay anything for it. Completely horrifying. It is nice to see Kate Winslet joining the Pope, world-renowned chef Wolfgang Puck, PETA, and others trying to bring an end to the consumption and commercial sale
Lester R. Brown After several decades of rapid rise in world grain yields, it is now becoming more difficult to raise land productivity fast enough to keep up with the demands of a growing, increasingly affluent, population. From 1950 to 1990, world grainland productivity increased by 2.2 percent per year, but from 1990 until 2009
[UPDATED: Sept. 27, 2013; see addendum at bottom] In the spirit of both Halloween and Environmental Awareness, I hereby offer thirteen environmental horror stories of anthropogenic origin. I have chosen to narrow my sample field to the post World War II time period. I have also excluded nuclear weapons tests and chemical weapons usage (such
Greenpeace recently found genetically engineered maize from Monsanto, MON810, illegally growing in Italy. Now, activists from Italy, Austria, Germany and Hungary are quarantining this GE maize. “Greenpeace has taken action today to prevent any further contamination from these hazardous and illegal GE crops,” said Federica Ferrario, Greenpeace Italy Agriculture campaigner. “For days these crops will
Here is our latest “greencast’ of green news from around the internet. Check out our summary of these 10 green news stories in high-definition via screenr or on YouTube below.
[social_buttons] Enjoy this week’s 10 Friday Photos post with ten photos of beautiful mountain and lake combinations. Mountains and lakes are beautiful on their own and I’m sure we will have to do a post for mountain photos and lake photos individually, but this post captures the great beauty of the two combined. From Lake
The European Union (EU) and MTV are working together to get young people involved in the climate debate. The major entities started their “Play to Stop – Europe for Climate” campaign this month. Working with international music artists and other international celebrities, this is a major campaign to mobilize the youth around the topic of
A syndicated news story made its way into multiple English papers earlier this week claiming that arsonists with the Animal Liberation Front inadvertently killed dozens of birds in an attack on a zoo in Italy. Now the New York Times has reported that this may not be the case: [social_buttons] “A recent such protest in
