Global emissions have been essentially flat for the past three years even though total global economic activity has increased in each of those three years. That is about to change as Donald Trump wreaks havoc on US emissions policies.
Advertisements have a way of persuading us about larger social issues. What can a Budweiser commercial tell us about sustainability and society?
Solar energy in Massachusetts has grown from 10 megawatts in 2009 to more than 1,050 megawatts in 2016. The state enacted much legislation to usher in solar as a renewable energy source.
The United States, Mexico, and Canada have inked a new climate pact to produce 50% of their electricity by 2025 from clean energy sources. The clean electricity pact includes wind, solar, nuclear, and hydropower. The deal is set to be announced Wednesday at a summit of the three nations. As reported by Reuters, this agreement builds
Originally published on Cost of Solar. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to go solar, you might want to rethink that and start exploring your solar options right now, because there’s never been a better time to install solar in the US. The number of options available for choosing a solar installer is
14 US mayors made a historic commitment last week to take action to reduce climate risks and protect the future of their communities. The Midwestern mayors, from St. Louis to St. Paul, Dubuque, and others, signed the The Path to Positive Proclamation to pledge their leadership, prepare for climate change, and promote solutions that advance
By now, many of us have heard that the President spent a little time this morning at a Wal-Mart store in in Mountain View, California, near San Jose. Solar deployment and energy efficiency were the two main thrusts of his speech. He spoke about more than 300 recent private and public sector commitments to create
President Obama meets with Kenguru CEO Stacy Zoern (photo: kenguru.com). More than three million Americans can celebrate when they hear this story. Made in the USA but in demand worldwide, the Kenguru—a driver-only electric vehicle with no seats—promises mobility-challenged people unprecedented access to the everyday world the rest of us take for granted. Imagine you
On his blog “I see a change,” Nigerian Youth Development Expert Olumide Idowu presents the elements of sustainable development (source: olumideidowu.blog.com). Not all online courses provide all they promise you, but here’s one that should answer all your questions about environmentally sustainable, socially inclusive economic development. It will also challenge you to find out more.
At the late November meeting of UN climate delegates in Warsaw, negotiators from Canada–once a strong supporter of fast-start financing to limit greenhouse gas emissions from developing countries–and Australia, now led by a rashly conservative government, sat on their hands. Reeling from the costs of mitigation at Fukushima and a stopgap return to fossil fuels,
Preparing to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, TEPCO recently dismantled the damaged roof parapet of Unit 4 and removed debris there. (Screenshot source: Enformable.com/Lucas W. Hixson.) As early as next Friday (November 8), the scariest decommissioning work at the ruined nuclear power complex may begin. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the largest electrical utility in
President Obama’s Plan to Fight Climate Change has an initial Congressional hearing (whitehouse.gov). Here’s what happened: Perhaps the second great step the Obama Administration has made this year with respect to climate change–after the President’s June 25 iteration of his sketchy but essentially solid outline for a new climate plan–happened this past week. The House
Understanding the implications of climate change is a tricky business at best, as each year we see how far and wide it’s scope has grown as we continue researching: the further we study and investigate, the more we begin to realise just how little we know and how complex our planet’s climate really is. However,
New research on trees in the continental United States has found that new spring leaves might start to bud up to 17 days earlier in the coming century then they did prior to the current anthropogenic climate change. The research is behind a new study by Princeton University researchers who used a new model that
A new report authored by leading scientists and experts explains that the effects of climate change are going to continue threatening the health of coastal communities throughout the United States. The report emphasises the need for increased coordination and planning to protect US coastal communities in the face of a continually changing climate. “[Hurricane] Sandy
Although it has taken more than twenty years, Oklahoma City is making progress in its attempts to offer its citizens a variety of ways to get around town. It has been almost seventy years since the last streetcar was in operation, and automobiles have naturally become the dominant method of transportation in the area. However,
Not only was 2011 another active hurricane season – producing a total of 19 tropical storms – but it also broke the ‘hurricane amnesia’ and reminded residents in the Northeast of America that the too should be prepared. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a summary of the 2011 hurricane season which also served
Despite the fact that the scientific community is in almost unanimous agreement on the subject of anthropogenic climate change, the public believe there is a lot of disagreement and therefore are less likely to be supportive of climate policy. This new albeit unsurprising news comes from researchers at George Mason University, San Diego State
In what life was probably like prior to the coming of the year 2000, every man and his dog is coming up with a theory for how the Earth will end come 2012. After already curbing fears that a giant “killer solar flare” will wipe out planet Earth next year, NASA has again weighed in, this time explaining that a supervolcano will not have a supereruption during 2012.
Probably. Let’s get to that later.
Storm chasers are usually depicted as high-octane meteorologists chasing tornadoes across tornado valley in the United States, but a truck-mounted radar dish that is often used to chase these tornadoes is doing duty in Utah, providing meteorologists from the University of Utah an opportunity to get inside snow and rain storms over the Salt Lake
According to statistics compiled by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, American energy usage and fossil fuel usage started climbing again in 2010 after it had been decreased to a 12-year low the year before. In a press release full of statistics and lessons learned from the latest flow chart produced by the LLNL, it was
The ginger root can be used for so much more than just cooking. It can be used for medicinal purposes such as helping to relieve nausea and pain, aid in digestion, and act as an anti-inflammatory.
October provided below-normal, above-normal and normal temperatures across the United States, as detailed as part of the monthly analysis provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. During the last month, a persistent upper-level weather pattern created below average temperatures throughout the southeast of the United States and above-normal temperatures throughout the vast majority of
There’s no denying it — reports of massive earthquakes have been rocking the news lately. All this recent seismic activity has caused many to wonder: has the earth always been this shaky? Or is human activity causing some of these earthquakes? While some earthquakes are due to the shifting of tectonic plates above the earth’s
With the world’s population approaching 7 billion people, we are encountering a threat of a lack of clean drinking water. Now is the time to start conserving water and considering processes to alleviate the lack of clean drinking water.
More than three million megawatts of green power are waiting underground if the United States are willing to go looking for it, says a new study. The new research was funded by Google.org and conducted by scientists from the Southern Methodist University and showed there is 10 times the installed capacity of coal power plants
‘Global warming is real’ says a new study released by researchers from the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature group, which finds ‘reliable evidence’ of a global increase in the average land temperature of approximately 1°C since the mid-1950s.
Greenpeace’s new custom-built “crowd-funded, hyper-efficient, purpose-built environmental activist sailing ship” has set sail from its harbour in Bremen and is on its way to Hamburg on its first voyage after being launched.
Greenpeace launched their third Rainbow Warrior vessel at a ceremony in Berne-Motzen, Germany, last week. The Rainbow Warrior III carries state of the art communications equipment, two boats and has room to carry a helicopter, all allowing the vessel to be first on the oceanic protest lines.
A new study from a team of French researchers from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (CNRS/IPGP/Université Paris Diderot) working on conjunction with scientists from Brazil and the United States has challenged the belief that Earth was completely covered in ice 635 million years ago, creating what is now colloquially known as the Snowball Earth hypothesis.
In a statement released on Thursday the United States has expressed their deep “regrets that Japan has decided to continue its controversial whaling in the Southern Ocean.”
The statement also went on to state that “the United States also expresses its deep concern about the possibility of violence in connection with such whaling.”
This sort of nonaction and pussy-footing around an issue such as this is one of the reasons why individual nutjobs like Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society are out on the seas trying to protect animals who have as much right to live as anything else, especially given how close to endangered many species of whale are getting.
We are all a movement for change for the better, whether that be towards a sustainable future, or whether it’s towards ending corporate rule over our economy. We must stand together for change, change that happens, change that makes sense, change that is in our hands, not in the hands of the 1% and not in the hands of people who put religion and their personal morals over our freedom.
For those of you not living in North America or are stereotypically American and aren’t aware of the world beyond your own three metre personal space, Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes of North America, and can be seen beautifully surrounded by the beginnings of autumn colour.
Movements have broken out all across the US (and even across the world) with their subjects ranging from war to corporate greed. Kicking off the start of protests was (in my opinion) the Tar Sands action in DC, where 1,252 people got arrested. Then it was Occupy Wall Street. Now it’s Occupy EVERYWHERE.
In a report entitled “Long-term trend in global CO2 emissions” prepared by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, it has been found that global emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased by 45% between 1990 and 2010 and reached an all-time high of 33 billion tonnes by 2010, all despite increased energy efficiency, nuclear energy and a growing renewable energy industry.
A few weeks ago we were sorely reminded of the extremism of the majority of the current Republican candidates. Among many other alarming things said, Republicans suggested eliminating or privatizing: FEMA, NASA, the EPA, the Federal Labor Relations Board, Medicaid and food stamps. Herman Cain promised not to appoint any Muslims who want to kill Americans to his cabinet. Michele Bachmann supports states’ rights on gay marriage, but also supports a constitutional amendment outlawing it. Rick Santorum wants to “a system of discipline” to “punish” gay soldiers, which suggests that his problem with pornographic Google results is not likely to abate. Tim Pawlenty views Iraq as “one of the shiniest examples of success in the Middle East.”
ForestEthics board member Michael Uehara is on his way to row 26 miles through coastal waters of British Columbia in an attempt to raise awareness about the dangers of a pipeline that energy giant Enbridge wants to install along the route.
President Obama in a report to Congress on Thursday announced his intention to follow the suggestions of then Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to discourage Iceland from its whaling policy.
August was a month of extremes across the whole of our planet, with tornadoes, droughts and La Niña conditions reemerging despite having only disappeared a few months earlier. For a picture of much of what happened across the planet this past August, browse the image below provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
According to America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2011’s August was the eighth warmest since record keeping began back in 1880 and the period of June to August was the seventh warmest such period as well.
Researchers from Boston University have estimated the effects near-term increases in global average temperatures will have on summertime temperatures across the globe, based on current warming trends and a desire to minimise overall warming to 2°C.
First and foremost, I would like to mention September 24, 2011 and Moving Planet! It’s time to get away from dirty energy. Join in on an already organized event or start one of your own! More info can be found including the events nearest you, at the Moving Planet website.
September 11, 2001 is a day that will always live in Americans minds. 2, 996 people died in the attacks on that horrific day, including an estimated 500 foreign nationals from 91 Nations.
As climate experts had already predicted, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced that La Niña – which was the cause behind so much of the extreme weather towards the end of 2010 and into 2011 – has re-emerged in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to gradually strengthen and continue into the Northern Hemisphere’s winter.
Over the past few days Hurricane Irene has been making landfall off the Eastern Coast of America, in North Carolina and Virginia, New Jersey, and New York. The whole time, scientists from various institutions across the country have been monitoring, tracking, and investigating the hurricane.
This amazing video shows the Virginia earthquake ripple west across the United States, thanks to an array of detectors that are part of the USArray/EarthScope facility.
Ending only September the 3rd, a group is planned to protest every day for two weeks, and more than 2100 people have signed up. Already, an estimated 222 people have been arrested, 65 on Saturday, 45 on Sunday, 52 on Monday and 60 on Tuesday, including Canadian actors Margot Kidder (best known as Lois Lane in four of the original Superman movies) and Tantoo Cardinal (indigenous actor best known for her roles in Legends of the Fall, Dances with Wolves, and Smoke Signals).
