The desert Southwest will be the hardest hit. The effects of climate change could hamper electric generating capacity in the Western U.S. during peak summertime energy use by about 3 percent on average, and up to nearly 9 percent if there is ongoing drought. A new study from Arizona State University looked at the effects… Keep reading →
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently called for “climate proofing” – to borrow a term used by Preety Bhandari, who heads ADB’s Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Unit – low-lying or coastal cities in Asia requiring the trifecta of sound integrated planning, adequate resources and political commitment. “The battle against climate change is likely… Keep reading →
A new Thomson Reuters/BSD Consulting “Global 500 Greenhouse Gas Report: The Fossil Fuel Energy Sector” shows that energy companies emitted 31 per cent of total GHG emissions globally from their operations as well as the use of the products further down the value chain on an annual basis. As the title of this study indicates,… Keep reading →
A quarter of the nation’s electricity would still come from coal in 2030, so it’s hard to view the Obama administration’s proposed Clean Power Plan as the wholesale remaking of the U.S. power sector that the increasingly dire science on global warming would seemingly compel. Nevertheless, a new U.S. Energy Information Administration analysis shows the… Keep reading →
Global investment in renewable energy sources in 2014 rose almost 17 percent year-on-year to $270.2 billion with investments in developing countries growing by 36 percent, finds a new UNEP Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015 report prepared by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Centre in collaboration with Bloomberg (BNEF). Overall, the research underscores the positive role… Keep reading →
Voters go to the polls in the U.K. on Thursday after a campaign that, by many accounts, has failed to engage the electorate, despite the many weighty issues in play – such as climate change. Perhaps that’s because on the surface, there’s not much space between the leading parties on climate policy – nothing like in the U.S.… Keep reading →
The world’s oceans cover about 71 percent of the earth’s surface and their value is incalculable for both the planet and mankind. They are a vital, complex and all-encompassing natural resource ranging from a vital food resource in many parts of the world, renewable energy resource, and potential water supply reservoir. Additionally, many still unexplored… Keep reading →
Why the US should strive for a Holistic Regional Framework on Sustainable Offshore Natural Resource Development Over the weekend, the US assumed the two-year rotating chairmanship of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum, at the conclusion of the 2015 ministerial meeting in Iqaluit (Canada). The US has outlined a policy agenda with a focus on… Keep reading →
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just released its US Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report for the time period of 1990-2013. In this report the EPA tracks total annual US emissions and removals by source, economic sector, as well as greenhouse gas using national energy data, data on national agricultural activities, et alia in order… Keep reading →
Mark Lynas has spent the last decade or so researching and writing about global warming, and his work has been especially important in detailing the real dangers posed by rising temperatures. His 2007 book Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet won the Royal Society’s Science Book Prize. But Lynas has become a controversial figure among greens for his support… Keep reading →
