The UN Environment Program released a report ahead of the upcoming international climate meetings in Lima, Peru that finds global carbon neutrality should be attained by mid-to-late century. “Countries are giving increasing attention to where they realistically need to be by 2025, 2030 and beyond in order to limit a global temperature rise to below… Keep reading →
Two cyclists might seem unlikely candidates for climate ambassadors, but that’s exactly what Lindsey Fransen and David Kroodsma are doing. Traversing Asia on roads, big and small, paved and not, the two have come up against some of the harsh realities of climate change and the difficulties in properly communicating its impacts. The ride is… Keep reading →
One of the most difficult tasks among climate scientists is predicting how climate change will play out over the longer term and how anthropogenic contributions will further impact those climatic shifts. There is widespread agreement that carbon emissions have significantly increased since the industrial revolution and these emissions are playing a climate-changing role, but the… Keep reading →
An ancient fern whose growth was influential in cooling the planet after an earlier runaway warming period is being studied around the world for everything from a food source to a filter to a possible climate change mitigation agent. Scientists believe a fern called Azolla sucked up about half the available CO2 in the atmosphere… Keep reading →
This is the first in a series of posts about leading women in the power, environmental science, advocacy, policy, and business sectors. Pull back the curtain on climate leadership, and you’ll see women in power. From the author of the country’s leading clean car standards, to the top administrator of the most ambitious climate policy in the nation (California’s AB32), to… Keep reading →
In a hearing about the Keystone XL Pipeline on Capitol Hill last week, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune provided testimony that argued against building the pipeline. Brune’s statements were immediately disputed by pipeline supporters. One of the main issues that has emerged as part of the pipeline debate is whether the oil transport system… Keep reading →
Climate Activist Bill McKibben says that a campaign to encourage divestment from fossil fuels is gaining momentum. If effective, it could have a huge impact on the oil, gas and coal industries, but it remains unclear how far-reaching it will prove to be. Brown University refused to divest from the 15 largest US coal companies,… Keep reading →
Over the past 18 months, renewable energy has often been the subject of regular attacks in the media, on often shaky grounds, arguing that renewables are and will always be too expensive, they don’t work and people don’t like renewable energy anyway. However, these attacks are at odds with what’s actually happening on the ground.
Not only do the results of the Global Consumer Wind Survey that has just been released by Vestas and TNS show that an increasing number of consumers want renewable energy, there have also been some very positive developments of late on the costs of these technologies. Whilst the cost of many renewable technologies are still high, several technologies like onshore wind and solar PV are rapidly reducing in costs (by 50% alone in 2011 for solar PV according to the Pew Centre) and many other less mature technologies like offshore wind could soon follow this trend. Keep reading →
Editorial: Australian-Japanese Coal ‘Partnership’ and Why Global Coal is Here to Stay
By Roman KilisekRecently, the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott warned at the opening of the Caval Ridge coal mine in Queensland against the “demonization of coal.” According to the Sydney Morning Herald, PM Abbott stressed that “coal is good for humanity, coal is good for prosperity, coal is an essential part of our economic future, here in… Keep reading →