Prairie Climate Stewardship Network: Archived News

News Articles on Climate Change

Challenges and Solutions

Worries About Water as Chinese Glacier Retreats NPR (December 17, 2007) "The Tibetan plateau has been called 'the roof of the world' and 'the third pole' for its ice-covered peaks. There, global warming is happening faster than at other, lower altitudes, with serious consequences for hundreds of millions of people."

Senate energy bill: first skirmish over US greenhouse-gas regulation Christian Science Monitor (December 14, 2007) "This week's Senate battle over the energy bill heralds a longer fight on climate change, some analysts say."

Climate talks near end amid row BBC News (December 14, 2007)"World climate talks in Bali have gone into their last scheduled day amid fierce disagreement over targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions."

Climate Talks Urge Hasty Cut to Global Warming NPR (December 12, 2007) "High-level U.N. climate talks opened in Bali Wednesday with pleas for quick action to tackle global warming. The hero of the day was Australia's new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who signed his country on to the Kyoto treaty. By contrast, the United States was the subject of quiet scorn. . . .With Australia's assent, that leaves the United States as the only major industrialized nation not to have agreed to Kyoto emissions targets. Rudd did not criticize the United States directly, but he expressed a sentiment that is shared by many of those attending the climate talks. 'The world expects us to have binding targets,' he said. 'The world expects us to pull together. The world expects us to do our fair share.' "

Climate talks progressing despite US opposition to targets, Benn says Guardian Unlimited (December 12, 2007) "A stand-off between the United States and Europe over carbon reduction targets should not overshadow the 'significant' progress made on a new climate deal, Hilary Benn said today. . . .The US is trying to remove a reference to 25-40% target cuts in carbon pollution by 2020 for developed nations, which remained in the latest draft roadmap released by the UN today."

Midwest governors sign pacts to cut greenhouse gas and boost renewable energy Pioneer Press (November 16, 2007) "A pledge to cut greenhouse gas Midwest governors sign pacts to cut polluting emissions and boost renewable energy." Link to Midwestern Governors Association Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Summit

In new take on carbon-trading, Indonesia may get paid to save trees Christian Science Monitor (November 14, 2007) "An environmental summit in Bali next month will probe incentives for countries to preserve forests."

In big U.S. energy bill, who will pay? Christian Science Monitor (November 7, 2007) "Conservation measures may lead to most fuel savings since 1970s."

Most ready for 'green sacrifices' BBC News (November 5, 2007) "Most people are ready to make personal sacrifices to address climate change, according to a BBC poll of 22,000 people in 21 countries."

Food & Climate: A Complicated but Optimistic View NPR (October 30, 2007)

World Bank Chief Targets Climate Change NPR (October 23,2007)

Carbon output rising faster than forecast, says study Guardian Unlimited (October 23,2007) "Global warming 'will come sooner and be stronger.' Chinese growth and loss of natural 'sinks' highlighted."

Many biofuels have more climate impact than oil Reuters AlertNet (September 28, 2007) "Most crops grown in the United States and Europe to make "green" transport fuels actually speed up global warming because of industrial farming methods, says a report by Nobel prize winning chemist Paul J. Crutzen. The findings could spell particular concern for alternative fuels derived from rapeseed, used in Europe, which the study concluded could produce up to 70 percent more planet-warming greenhouse gases than conventional diesel. The study suggested scientists and farmers focused on crops, which required less intensive farming methods, to produce better benefits for the environment. Biofuels are derived from plants which absorb the planet-warming greenhouse gas carbon dioxide as they grow, and so are meant as a climate-friendly alternative to fossil fuels. But the new study shows that some biofuels actually release more greenhouse gases than they save, because of the fertiliser used in modern farming practices."

Big carbon cuts: scary, but doable Christian Science Monitor (September 27, 3007) "As the 2006 landmark Stern Review has underlined, it is climate change itself, not action to prevent it, that risks crippling our economies. And here's the good news. The European Union has already demonstrating the effectiveness of a cap-andtrade program. The United States should see its appeal – after all, America developed it to tackle sulfur dioxide pollution."

Climate Change Conference Opens New York Times (September 27, 2007); At Its Session on Warming, U.S. Is Seen to Stand Apart New York Times (September 28, 2007); Bush struggles to stay relevant in climate debate Reuters (September 30, 2007)

Jane Goodall says biofuel crops hurt rain forests Reuters AlertNet (September 26, 2007) "Primate scientist Jane Goodall said on Wednesday the race to grow crops for vehicle fuels is damaging rain forests in Asia, Africa and South America and adding to the emissions blamed for global warming."

Making EU climate goal 'unlikely' BBC News (September 18, 2007) "The European Union's goal of keeping the global temperature rise to 2C is unlikely to be met, a leading climate researcher has warned."

ANALYSIS-Cost, safety fears threaten climate change remedy Reuters AlertNet (September 18, 2007) "[N]o commercial-scale power plant uses the technology yet, and a lack of public funding plus legal doubts and safety worries are casting a shadow over mooted projects. 'Carbon capture and storage is very far from being a done deal,' said European Commission CCS expert Derek Taylor. 'The barriers...are huge. Without much greater political will and much more public funding it won't happen,' he told a Euromoney coal conference in London."

Climate-change paradox: Greenhouse gas is Big Oil boon Christian Science Monitor (September 11, 2007) "With enough CO2 injected into declining oil fields, the US could see its petroleum reserves quadruple. . . .Capturing carbon dioxide at plants and factories – rather than spewing it into the atmosphere – is one of the few near-term solutions to global warming that's receiving serious consideration. Under this scenario, companies would bury the greenhouse gases they produce in deep saline aquifers – a process called sequestration. Some environmentalists say EOR could speed the move to sequestration."

Dirt Isn't So Cheap After All IPS News (August 30, 2007) "Soil erosion is the 'silent global crisis' that is undermining food production and water availability, as well as being responsible for 30 percent of the greenhouse gases driving climate change."

The looming food crisis The Guardian (August 29, 2007) "Land that was once used to grow food is increasingly being turned over to biofuels. This may help us to fight global warming - but it is driving up food prices throughout the world and making life increasingly hard in developing countries. Add in water shortages, natural disasters and an everrising population, and what you have is a recipe for disaster."

Earth too warm? Bury the CO2. Christian Science Monitor (July 31, 2007) "Texas alone could hold 40 years' worth of US emissions."

UN climate change meeting aims at rich countries Reuters AlertNet (July 31, 2007) "The first U.N. special session on climate change focused on the world's rich countries on Tuesday, as policy-makers urged long-standing polluters to shoulder much of the burden for cutting greenhouse gases."

A dark side to the ethanol boom? Christian Science Monitor (July 26, 2007)"A backlash to fuel made from corn is emerging among environmentalists, economists, and antipoverty activists."

Accidents dim hopes for green nuclear option Christian Science Monitor (July 19, 2007) "The recent earthquake in Japan and accidents at two German power plants raise questions on the safety of nuclear energy as a cleaner alternative."

Global warming threatens alternative-oil projects Christian Science Monitor (July 6, 2007) "Development of oil-sand, oil-shale, and coal-to-oil projects could be slowed by a new California law."

In Congress, a boost for alternative energy Christian Science Monitor (June 25, 2007)"Congress is a big step closer to its goal of tipping national energy policy away from oil and gas development and toward alternative energy sources such as wind, geothermal, and biomass."

Researchers examine carbon capture and storage to combat global warming Stanford News Service (June 13, 2007) ''The notion is that the sooner we wean ourselves off fossil fuels, the sooner we'll be able to tackle the climate problem, . . .But the idea that we can take fossil fuels out of the mix very quickly is unrealistic. We're reliant on fossil fuels, and a good pathway is to find ways to use them that don't create a problem for the climate. Carbon capture has the potential to reduce more than 90 percent of an individual plant's carbon emission. . . .Stationary facilities that burn fossil fuels-such as power plants or cement factories-would be candidates for the technology, he said. . . . But with power plants comprising 40 percent of the world's fossil fuel-derived carbon emissions, . . . the potential for reductions is significant. Not only can a lot of carbon dioxide be captured, but the Earth's capacity to store it is also vast . . . . Estimates of worldwide storage capacity range from 2 trillion to 10 trillion tons of carbon dioxide, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its report on carbon capture and storage. Global emissions in 2004 totaled 27 billion tons, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. If all human-induced emissions were sequestered, enough capacity would exist to accommodate more than 100 years' worth of emission . . . With fossil fuels already comprising 85 percent of the world's energy consumption, and their use rapidly increasing due to the growth of developing countries, such as China and India, the need to find solutions to curb carbon emissions becomes even more crucial . . . ."

Conserving biodiversity is key to tackling climate change say scientists The Royal Society (June 12, 2007) "Protecting biodiversity and natural resources will be crucial to tackling and adapting to climate change, top scientists will say at an international meeting today."

First zero-emission home unveiled BBC News (June 11, 2007) "The UK has unveiled its first zero emission home that will set the environmental standard for all new homes in the future."

Bush agrees to CO2 cut, with strings attached Guardian Unlimited (June 8, 2007) "US will consider deal to cut emissions by 50%. China and India must be included, says president"

News coverage on US' announcement on new greenhouse gas goals: Mixed reaction to Bush call for 'global goal' on emissions International Herald Tribune (June 1, 2007); Action plan or stalling tactic? Key questions in global crisis Guardian Unlimited (June 1, 2007); Audio: Julian Borger on George Bush's climate change plans Guardian Unlimited (June 1, 2007)

US seeks new greenhouse gas goals BBC News (May 31, 2007)

G-8 to take up climate change Christian Science Monitor (May 31, 2007) "Europe, Japan, US, and developing nations are divided over how to handle greenhouse-gas emissions."

US 'opposes' G8 climate proposals BBC News (May 26, 2007) "The US appears to have rejected draft proposals by Germany for G8 members to agree tough measures in greenhouse gas emissions, leaked documents have shown."

Federal government slow to act on climate, so US states do Christian Science Monitor (May 24, 2007) "Governors of both parties are taking the lead on finding ways to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions."

Special Report: Inspired by Ancient Amazonians, a Plan to Convert Trash into Environmental Treasure by Anne Casselman, Scientific American (May 15, 2007) on "pioneering the use of pyrolysis, a process in which biomass is burned at a high temperature in the absence of oxygen. The process yields both a charcoal by-product that can be used as a fertilizer, and bio-oil, which is a mix of oxygenated hydrocarbons that can be used to generate heat or electricity. Because the charcoal by-product, or "agrichar," does not readily break down, it could sequester for thousands of years nearly all the carbon it contains, rather than releasing it into the atmosphere as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Along the way, it would boost agricultural productivity through its ability to retain nutrients and moisture."

'Clean coal" possible, experts say, but needs federal help Neal St. Anthony, Start Tribune (May 11, 2007) "Xcel Energy and others are embracing coal gasification, but government spending on crucial research has declined. . . .'We're first going after conservation from residential and business customers because we need to slow the growth in electricity usage,' [Dick Kelly, Xcel Energy CEO ] said in an interview this week. 'Then we're going after carbon-free sources of energy such as wind, hydro, solar and natural gas. But we've got to eventually get to 'clean coal.' And we can't do it alone.'"

Biofuels show promise, but also present problems Christian Science Monitor (May 10, 2007) "Less than a week after a UN report touted them as part of a global warming solution, another has raised alarms about their viability."

Beating global warmining need not cost the Earth Reuters (May 4, 2007) "Humans need to make sweeping cuts in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 50 years to keep global warming in check, but it need cost only a tiny fraction of world output, a major U.N. climate report said on Friday. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in the third of a series of reports, said keeping the rise in temperatures to within 2 degrees Celsius would cost only 0.12 percent of annual gross domestic product. . ..To keep within the 2-degree threshold scientists say is needed to stave off disastrous changes to the world's climate, emissions of carbon dioxide need to drop between 50 and 85 percent by 2050, the report said."

Asia has few plans yet to deal with rising seas Reuters (May 4, 2007) "Asia's population is most at risk from rising sea levels and more powerful storms, but few countries in the region have made detailed plans to deal with the hazards their coastlines and ports would face. Scientists have predicted a dire future of human-induced global warming causing rising sea-levels that could drown low-lying areas and hit Asia hard, though experts agreed in a U.N. report on Friday fighting climate change was affordable."

Nature's carbon 'sink' smaller than expected Christian Science Monitor (May 3, 2007) "Earth in 2100 could be up to 2.7 degrees F. hotter than previously predicted, studies say. While the continents and oceans have absorbed much of the carbon dioxide that humanity has pumped into the atmosphere so far, they won't be able to keep up with the expected rise in greenhouse-gas emissions over the next several decades."

China climate offensive has eye on growth Reuters (May 1, 2007) "China, poised to become the world's biggest greenhouse gas polluter, has gone on the offensive in global warming politics, opposing emissions caps likely to shape contentious negotiations about solutions."

States take lead in cutting carbon emissions Christian Science Monitor (April 27, 2007) "At least 21 states and the District of Columbia are on track to trim 108 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year."

China speeds towards 'biggest greenhouse gas producer' title Guardian Unlimited (April 24, 2007)

Hard choices, sacrifices ahead on global warming -- including higher costs San Jose Mercury News (April 22, 2007)

Key climate question: What's the cost of carbon? Christian Science Monitor (April 12, 2007) "Current offset prices vary from 50 cents to $30 a ton. But the US Congress will have to find the optimum rate."

Global boom in coal power - and emissions Christian Science Monitor (March 22, 2007) "A Monitor analysis shows the potential for an extra 1.2 billions tons of carbon released into the atmosphere per year."

The challenge: "at least 37 nations plan to add coal-fired capacity in the next five years – up from the 26 nations that added capacity during the past five years. . . . [T]he world faces the prospect five years from now of having 7,474 coal-fired power plants in 79 countries pumping out 9 billion tons of CO2 emissions annually – out of 31 billion tons from all sources in 2012. This rapid building of global-warming machines – which is what coal-power plants are – should be a wakeup call to politicians that we're driving ever faster toward the edge of the cliff."

Solution: "the cliff can be avoided, some researchers say, without having to reduce the world's energy consumption -- If carbon dioxide gas could be captured at power plants and then pumped underground and permanently "sequestered" in layers of rock, then coal might continue to be used without damaging the climate, concluded a major report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology released last week. . . . In that light, whether or not China decides to build power plants that sequester carbon dioxide underground will be a central question."

Report: Burying greenhouses gases will be key Christian Science Monitor (March 15, 2007) on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) report "Coal is key to America's energy future. But burning it is one of the biggest factors in climate change. So the solution is to capture the carbon dioxide it produces and store it underground. Here's the challenge: To begin to curb climate change, the US needs to learn in less than a decade how to capture, compress, and then pump the carbon dioxide miles underground. " Includes recommendations from MIT.

Bye-Bye, incandescent bulb? Christian Science Monitor (February 28, 2007) "Global warming concerns are pushing bulbmakers and environmentalists to talk about phasing out the common light bulb."

At-a-glance: The Stern Review BBC News (October 30, 2006), outlines environmental and economic impacts of climate change and options for change and government response.

Tackle climate change of face deep recession, world's leaders warned Guardian (October 26, 2006) on Sir Nicholas Stern's analysis of the financial implication of climate change.