UFO science key to halting climate change: former Canadian defense minister
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: A former Canadian defense minister is demanding governments worldwide disclose and use secret alien technologies obtained in alleged UFO crashes to stem climate change, a local paper said Wednesday.
The 12 greenest cars of 2007
CNET brings you here at News.com: The 12 greenest cars of 2007, Energy watchdog group tallies emissions, mileage and curb weight to come up with the least dirty dozen.
London announces plan to cut emissions
AP reports here at Yahoo News: LONDON - The mayor of London on Tuesday announced the city's first comprehensive plan to cut carbon emissions, stressing that global warming must be tackled locally.
Island on Alert as Stromboli Erupts
Spiegel Online reports here: The volcano on the Sicilian island of Stromboli regularly attracts visitors keen to catch a glimpse of flowing molten lava. Now the island is on general alert after the volcano started erupting more violently than usual. Authorities fear a tidal wave.
Cuba opens experimental wind farm
AP reports here at Yahoo News: HAVANA - Cuba has opened an experimental wind farm, hoping alternative energy sources can one day ease occasional power shortages while reducing the island's dependence on oil, state news media reported Sunday.
Banning new coal power plants will slow warming: NASA scientist
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: A moratorium on coal-fired power plants is key to cutting carbon dioxide emissions that promote global warming, NASA's top climatologist said Monday.
Western States Agree to Cut Greenhouse Gases
The Washington Post reports here: Five Western governors agreed yesterday on a plan to cut their states' emissions of gases linked to global warming and to establish a regional carbon-trading system, though they stopped short of saying how drastically they will seek to reduce greenhouse gases.
Bee vanishing act baffles keepers
BBC News reports here: Honeybees have been vanishing at an alarming rate from 24 American states, threatening crops. Bees pollinate more than $14bn (£7bn) worth of US seeds and crops each year, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts.
Building sector sets green goals
BBC News reports here: Some of the UK's top building firms join forces to reduce the environmental impact of the nation's homes and offices.
New Sea Life Species Discovered in Antarctica
Spiegel Online reports here: Fan-finned ice fish, spindley orange sea stars, and roving sea cucumbers -- an unknown underwater world full of new species and exotic sealife has been discovered by an international team of scientists in Antarctica.
Poland Faces EU Fines for Highway Through Nature Reserve
Spiegel Online reports here: A planned stretch of highway through a sensitive peat bog has brought Poland into conflict with the European Union. The Polish government could face huge fines if it goes ahead with the controversial project.
Huge polar study about to begin
BBC News reports here: The largest polar research programme for 50 years, by thousands of scientists, gets under way this week.
New Satellite Hunts the Beauties of the Night
Spiegel Onlinereports here : Scientists have been puzzling over the origins of illuminated night clouds for more than a century. Now a special satellite may be able to determine whether they're a symptom of climate change.
Al Gore at the Academy Awards
Washington Post writes here: "An Inconvenient Truth," the 100-minute movie that is essentially Gore giving a slide show about global warming, is the third-highest-grossing documentary ever, with a worldwide box office of $45 million, right behind blockbusters "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "March of the Penguins."
Coastal Brits fret about climate change
AP reports here at Yahoo News: Predictions of rising sea levels usually envision the low-lying islands of the south seas, or cyclone-prone Bangladesh, as the most vulnerable victims. But Britain is part of a growing club of rich countries whose coastal populations feel threatened.
The battle of the bulbs
The LATimes reports here: Low-energy fluorescent bulbs have won over conservationists and Wal-Marts alike. But makers of the old kind have some bright ideas of their own.
Gore may cap hot year with "Inconvenient" Oscar
Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: BEVERLY HILLS, California - Al Gore narrowly missed becoming president of the United States, but Hollywood may anoint him "King of the Greens" on Sunday with an Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary about his slideshow on global warming.
Electric cars get White House showcase
AP reports here at Yahoo News: WASHINGTON - President Bush peered under the hood of an all-electric sport utility truck parked at the White House Friday and said his goal of reducing gasoline use by 20 percent over the next decade is realistic.
Rush for eco-friendly fair trade fabrics
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: PARIS - As consumers wake up to global warming and globalisation, ethical issues are gaining ground and spinning more and more hard cash in the competitive world of international textiles.
Smuggling of endangered species is surging
Spiegel Online reports here: Why keep a tabby cat if you can have a bearded dragon as a pet? The world market in exotic animals is soaring. But the boom has a dark side -- smuggling of endangered species is surging, and discarded piranha fish have even appeared in a German river.
Bush touts energy plan in North Carolina
AP reports here at Yahoo News: FRANKLINTON, N.C. - Trying to draw attention to his domestic agenda, President Bush on Thursday extolled the science of turning grasses and wood chips into ethanol to lessen the U.S. thirst for foreign oil.
Threat to ocean sharks increases
BBC News reports here: Several species of ocean-going shark are more threatened than previously thought, scientists conclude and say over-fishing is a principal reason for the decline.
Forests Hold Clues to Climate
The Washington Post writes here: Changing northern woodlands may free vast stores of greenhouse gases, spurring global warming.
Experts: Warming may harm Tuscan wines
AP reports here at Yahoo News: ROME - Imagine a world where Scandinavia produces wines to rival Italy's fabled Chianti region. It could come to just that by the end of the century, experts in Italy warn, if global warming continues unchecked.
Burning the World's Waste
Spiegel Online reports here: A booming new industry has quietly emerged in Germany. Waste incineration firms are importing massive amounts of toxic waste. Now public opposition is mounting against the burning of highly contaminated waste from Australia.
Greenpeace asks India to ban common lightbulb
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: BANGALORE, India - Environmental group Greenpeace asked India Wednesday to follow Australia and ban the common lightbulb to cut greenhouse gas emissions, fight climate change and conserve energy.
Business 3.0 - Eco-Innovation Revolution
Fast Company writes in this recommended article: It's official: Government isn't going to cure the world's ills, but business just might. A look at how the profit motive--turbocharged by a little Darwinian unease--is driving people to help themselves.
China's investment curbs face test of steel
Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: LUANXIAN, China - The fate of a campaign by China to curb headlong investment and start cleaning up its polluted environment turns on businessmen like Cai Nianguang.
A Europe Divided over Climate Policy
Spiegel Online reports here: Earlier this month, the European Union announced ambitious environmental goals and current EU President Angela Merkel has made the issue of climate change a priority. But even as Germany forges ahead, many EU countries are lagging. EU environmental policy could suffer.
Comeback for systems that heat water with solar energy
CNET News.com reports here: Systems that heat water with solar energy are catching on--again. Could they insulate you from fluctuating utility bills?
Australia aiming for more energy efficient fluorescent bulbs
BBC News reports here: Australia has announced plans to ban incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy efficient fluorescent bulbs. The environment minister said the move could cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tonnes by 2012.
Last Month Warmest January on Record by Far
AP reports here at Fox News: The broken record was fueled by a waning El Nino and a gradually warming world, according to U.S. scientists who reported the data Thursday. (more)
'Now or never' for climate action
BBC News reports here: EU nations must back plans to cut emissions by 30% by 2020 or risk jeopardising future global climate efforts, ministers warn.
American Association for the Advancement of Science: Warming a mounting threat
AP SAN FRANCISCO - The world's largest general scientific society ( American Association for the Advancement of Science ) on Sunday joined the concern over global climate change, calling it a "growing threat to society."
Wild grass could hold key to clean fuels of the future
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: A wild grass found in Asia and Africa could hold the key to dreams of providing an alternative to fossil fuels blamed for global warming, experts said.
Robot watches out for rare bird
BBC News reports here: A robot ornithologist has been installed in a wildlife refuge to look for the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker.
Rising sea levels present China with 'unimaginable challenges'
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: Shanghai, Guangzhou and other large coastal cities in China could face "unimaginable challenges" if global warming continues and the oceans keep rising, state media said.
Greenhouse gases hit new high
Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: Greenhouse gases widely blamed for causing global warming have jumped to record highs in the atmosphere, apparently stoked by rising emissions from Asian industry, a researcher said on Friday.
Sachs warns of global warming disaster
AP reports here at Yahoo News: The world faces a global warming disaster if the United States and China do not take decisive action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, a leading economist said at the U.N. Friday.
Wind shifts devastate ocean life
BBC News reports here: San Francisco - The delicate interplay between the oceans and atmosphere is changing with catastrophic consequences.
Termites could play a significant role in the ethanol industry
CNET News.com reports here: Researchers are figuring out how the bugs turn wood into food to see if the same processes could be applied to make transportation fuel.Termites, the dread of homeowners worldwide, could play a significant role in the ethanol industry.
EU Can't Agree on Warming Targets
Spiegel Online reports here: In the wake of a UN report last month about global warming, EU member states failed to agree on a Europe-wide goal to dramatically increase their use of green energy sources by 2020. Meanwhile, with time on the Kyoto protocol running out, a forum in Washington discusses the shape of things to come.
US industry warming to climate change fight
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: Saving the planet is a worthy goal, but corporate America also sees money to be made in the fight against global warming.
NY students imagine city plan after global warming
Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: While the world's top scientists recently warned governments to take urgent action on global warming, a small group of Brooklyn students have designed their own plan for living with climate change.
Hope for end of climate deadlock
BBC News reports here: Leading US politicians are meeting legislators from the EU, China, Japan and India to seek a breakthrough in the international climate deadlock.
Groups sue to protect marine mammals
AP reports here at Yahoo News: ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Two conservation groups sued the federal government Tuesday claiming marine mammal regulators are not doing enough to protect polar bears and walruses against the combined threat of oil and gas exploration and global warming.
Sea level rise could hit poor countries hard: study
Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: Even a small rise in the world's sea levels, predicted as a result of global warming, could make environmental refugees of some 56 million people in developing countries, a World Bank economist said on Tuesday.
Mobile networks powered by wind
BBC News reports here: Wind and solar energy could be used to set up mobile phone networks in rural areas without power.
Time to begin 'adapting' to climate change?
The Christian Science Monitor reports here at Yahoo News: At the World Bank in Washington, officials have posted some new "help wanted" signs. The bank is looking for a few good specialists (two, to be precise) to focus on adapting to global warming.
German Minister Calls For Emissions Labeling Scheme for New Cars
Spiegel Online reports here: Germany's transport minister has called for a new labeling scheme for German cars: environmentally friendly cars would earn a green 'traffic light' symbol while CO2 belchers would be damned with a red traffic light. A leading Green Party politician has reacted by telling Germans to buy Toyota hybrids instead.
Japan whale ship in protest clash
BBC News reports here: A Japanese whaling ship sends up a distress signal after colliding with a protest boat in the Antarctic.
Pollution worsens as curbs fail in China
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: China has missed government-set targets to cut pollution by two percent last year as fast-paced economic growth produced more rather than less environmental contamination.
Melting Glaciers endangering Peru's future water supplies
The Associated Press reports here at Yahoo News: The ice atop Cordillera Blanca, the largest glacier chain in the tropics, is melting fast because of rising temperatures, and peaks are turning brown. The trend is highlighting fears of global warming and, scientists say, is endangering future water supplies to the arid coast where most Peruvians live.
Tokyo sets snowless record
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: Tokyo has set a record for its longest snowless winter amid growing worldwide concerns about global warming, according to meteorologists.
G7 finance ministers make little headway on climate: Germany
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: Group of Seven finance chiefs made little headway here on energy and global warming questions, the German finance minister disclosed at the end of a meeting that closely followed a major warning on climate change from the United Nations.
Cloudy outlook for China's solar industry
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: Solar power has the potential to be a growth industry in China but the nation's government does not seem keen on providing the support the sector needs, according to observers.
Scientists to vie for $25M climate prize
AP reports here at Yahoo News: LONDON - British tycoon Sir Richard Branson on Friday announced a $25 million prize for the first scientist to come up with a way to extract greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
UK wind power hits key milestone
BBC News reports here: The UK is to become only one of seven nations to have over two gigawatts of operational wind power capacity.
CO2 can be stored in aquifers for years: study
Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: Injecting carbon dioxide emissions from electric power plants into deep underground aquifers may be a suitable long-term disposal method for the greenhouse gas, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said on Wednesday.
Bush Ripped on Global Warming
Wired News reports here: Senators from both parties tee off on the White House as evidence mounts indicating it suppressed evidence of climate change.
Mobiles switch on with biofuels
BBC News reports here: Mobile firms turn to biodiesel to generate power for their networks in unconnected, rural India.
Fast-food fat: Future fuel?
CNET News.com reports here: Alternative-fuel advocates say waste oil from America's fast-food restaurants and food processing plants could be a major source of biodiesel fuel for trucks and cars.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs
Compact fluorescent light bulbs provide the same light as a standard bulb on two-thirds of the energy. Replacing one standard light bulb in every U.S. home would prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars. Source: this article from the LA Times.
Lawmakers Reach Deal On Climate Committee
The Washington Post reports here: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has agreed to a compromise that ends a three-week turf battle with one of her most powerful and senior committee chairmen over a special panel on climate change.
UN warns of natural disasters linked to global warming
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: Global warming is likely to result in more typhoons and hurricanes and more severe and frequent droughts, a United Nations agency has said, underlining the need for preparatory action by governments.
Car firms attack pollution plans
BBC News reports here: "European car makers describe EU plans to force them to cut back on exhaust emissions as "unbalanced"." And Spiegel Online writes here: The European Commission has watered down its proposed binding limits for CO2 emissions from cars. The car industry and the German government have led the resistance to the measures. But ultimately it will be the customers who decide whether gas guzzlers become a thing of the past.
Can fish farming save depleted cod?
Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: Cod, a mainstay food from Britain to Brazil, all but disappeared from Canadian waters in the 1990s after years of overfishing, and scientists say a similar fate awaits the shoals of the North Sea.
Thieves stealing pollution devices
AP reports here at Yahoo News: Thieves have long targeted car stereos, air bags, high-intensity headlights, even pocket change from the ashtrays. But now they are slithering under vehicles and cutting away the catalytic converters.
Climate change 'affecting' China
BBC News reports here: At least 300,000 people in north-west China are short of drinking water because of unseasonably warm weather, which officials link to climate change.
Europe Close to Emissions Agreement
Spiegel Online reports here: European Union Commissioner for the Environment Stavros Dimas has reportedly backed off from his hardline position on auto emissions. Technology will share the burden for reductions with European carmakers.
3.5 billion wire hangers go into U.S. landfills every year
CNET News.com reports here: Company hopes to clean up--in more ways than one--by replacing dry cleaners' wire hangers with ones made of recycled paper and best of all for free.
Germany Under Fire for Climate Change Hypocrisy
Spiegel Online reports here: The new UN report on climate change has increased pressure on governments around the world to act on global warming. However the German government is being criticized for resisting EU moves to reduce car emissions.
Car industry facing 18% CO2 cut
BBC News reports here: The European Commission is to propose forcing carmakers to make an 18% cut in CO2 emissions from the average new car by 2012, Reuters news agency reports.
No peace dividend for Nepal's wildlife
BBC News reports here: Nepal's political transition marks sharp increases in poaching and trafficking of endangered species.
Photos: As the world warms
Who loses as global warming increases? CNet News.com takes a look here at plants, animals and land masses that could be severely affected.
U.N. lifts ban on exports of beluga caviar
Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: The United Nations on Monday lifted a ban on exports of beluga caviar, the most expensive type of the delicacy, after Caspian Sea states agreed to limit catches in view of concerns over declining fish stocks.
Your electricity choices revealed
Not new but still relevant: BBC News.com writes here: Renewables are the form of electricity generation favoured by users of the BBC News website's Electricity Calculator. Your ideal mix of generation methods to meet demand in 2020, projected to be 381 billion kilowatt hours (bn kWh), is:
fossil fuels - 85bn kWh or 21%
nuclear - 113bn kWh or 28%
renewables - 143bn kWh or 36%
imports - 17bn kWh or 4%
reducing demand - 39bn kWh or 10%
(NB figures rounded according to the resolution of the calculator)
UN chief says climate change has driven world to 'critical stage'
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has warned that climate change had driven the world to a "critical stage," directly affecting human health and the environment.
Australia leader touts emissions trading
AP reports here: CANBERRA, Australia - Australia must place a price on carbon emissions to fight climate change, Prime Minister John Howard said Monday in an apparent softening on his refusal to join in global emissions trading.
Swiss ready to pay for fight against climate change
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: More than 80 percent of Swiss people are ready to use their car less and to pay more for alternative energy to fight climate change.
We cannot let the Kyoto debacle happen again
David King writes here at the Guardian.co.uk website: The government's chief scientific adviser calls for genuine international action on climate change.
Light bulb moment in California: Should it ban the common bulb?
NC Times reports here: Decrying the inefficiency of the common light bulb, a Democratic Assemblyman from Los Angeles wants California to become the first state to ban it -- by 2012. Assemblyman Lloyd Levine says compact fluorescent light bulbs, which often have a spiral shape and are being promoted by Wal-Mart, are so efficient that consumers should be forced to use them. The compact bulbs use a quarter the energy of a conventional light.
Global Warming Poses Health Threats
HealthDay News writes here at the Washington Post website: Global warming not only poses significant threats to the Earth's ecology, it may also unleash unprecedented health risks, experts say.
European lawmakers say Commission car emission plan fails
New Europe reports here: A watered-down European Commission directive on fuel quality aimed at controlling carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from cars can not work because it doesn’t go far enough in reducing the gases, a group of European Parliament lawmakers, primarily the Greens Party, has said. (more)
46 nations back new environmental body
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: PARIS - Forty-five nations answered France's call Saturday for a new environmental body to slow inevitable global warming and protect the planet, perhaps with policing powers to punish violators.
China media downplays UN climate change report
AFP reports here: China's state-run media has played down fresh warnings on climate change issued by a UN scientific panel, while Australia's Prime Minister John Howard said the report bolstered the case for using nuclear energy as an alternative fuel source.
Support grows for new environmental body
AP reports here: PARIS - Fear of runaway global warming pushed more than 40 countries to line up Saturday behind France's bid for a new environmental body that could single out — and perhaps police — nations that abuse the Earth.
Gore to Silicon Valley: You can save this civilization
CNET News.com reports here: Speaking at an economic forum in San Jose, Calif., former vice president says climate crisis is a business opportunity for technology pioneers.
The Main Findings on Global Warming
The report released on Friday by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides the clearest look yet at our planet's changing climate. Only 21 pages long, the report has a number of low points. SPIEGEL ONLINE has put together here some of the most concerning statistics and projections mentioned in the report by the UN Panel.
BP gives green fuel research 500 million dollars
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: British oil giant BP announced an award of 500 million dollars for "Big Science" research into green energy.
A Tropical Germany by 2100 ?
Spiegel Online writes here: Tropical nights in Bavaria, torrential rains elsewhere? Scientists have now come up with the most detailed predictions ever of the expected consequences of climate change in Germany.
U.N. Climate Panel Says Warming Is Man-Made
The Washington Post reports here: There is no longer any reasonable doubt that human activities are warming the planet at a dangerous rate, according to a new worldwide assessment of climate science released today by the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Portable, trash-powered generator ready for deployment
CNET News.com reports here: Purdue scientists build eco-friendly generator for military; device is fueled by waste, including paper, plastic, cardboard and food.
Climate report says India vulnerable, but is Delhi listening?
Indian Express reports here: NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 2: Just before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was being hammered out in Paris, the Chinese government experts were in full force at the meeting while New Delhi was conspicuous by its absence.
Environmental Guru Lovelock Urges Expansion of Nuclear Energy
Spiegel Online reports here: James Lovelock is attracting attention again with his provocative ideas. The former hero of the environmental movement has called for an end to "green romanticism." The only way to delay climate catastrophe, says the environmental guru, is through the massive expansion of nuclear energy.
Humans Responsible For Climate Change
Spiegel Online reports here: A new United Nations report on climate change makes for sobering reading. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, humans are almost certainly responsible for global warming. And the consequences could be worst than previously thought.
Top multinationals pledge to cut carbon pollution
AFP reports here at Yahoo News: Some of the very corporations once vilified by environmentalists promised to reduce by 10 million tons annually their collective output of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming, the World Wildlife Fund announced.
China's Poison for the Planet
Spiegel Online reports here: Can the environment withstand China's growing economic might? As one of the planet's worst polluters, Beijing's ecological sins are creating problems on a global scale. Many countries are now feeling the consequences.
Norwegian MPs nominate Gore for Nobel Peace Prize
Reuters reports here at Yahoo News: Two Norwegian parliamentarians have nominated former U.S. Vice President Al Gore for the Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness of climate change.
EU Environment Minister Plans to Buy Japanese Car to Spite Germans
Spiegel Online reports here: Under pressure from Germany, Brussels says it will water down a proposal to force car-makers to cut greenhouse gas emissions in new models. But the European Union's environment commissioner plans to strike back by replacing his gas-guzzling Mercedes -- with a Japanese hybrid.