Studies: Offshore Wind Potential is Huge
The U.S. has lagged behind European countries in capturing offshore wind for electricity, but a spate of recent studies suggest that a bigger push might be in order. The latest, from Stanford civil & environmental engineer Mark Jacobson concludes that off the East Coast alone is enough moving air to meet a third of the entire nation’s energy needs.… Read More
Global Carbon Trading System Has ‘Essentially Collapsed’
The world's only global system of carbon trading, designed to give poor countries access to new green technologies, has "essentially collapsed", jeopardising future flows of finance to the developing world. Billions of dollars have been raised in the past seven years through theUnited Nations' system to set up greenhouse gas-cutting projects, such… Read More
The Rare Earth Riches Buried Beneath Greenland’s Vast Ice
Inside every wind turbine, inside computers, phones and other high-tech equipment from medical scanners to electric cars, are materials known as "rare earths". This small group of 17 elements are in extraordinary demand — but their supply is limited, and most of the existing sources have already been snapped up by China in its quest for ever more r… Read More
Motorcycle is a Complete ‘Zero’: Emissions, Noise & Heat
It’s not easy to impress the hipsters of Brooklyn, but I managed to do it more than once a few days ago during a visit to the borough’s Greenpoint neighborhood. Or to be completely honest, I didn’t impress anyone. It was my vehicle that did. I was in Brooklyn to test drive an all-electric, battery-powered motorcycle built by a California-based … Read More
Times Review: ‘Global Weirdness’ is a Winner
“That is, it’s a book, written in the kind of plain English of which Strunk and White would approve, that lays out what we know about climate change while hewing to the facts and taking great care to avoid bias and hysteria,… Read More
‘Global Weirdness,’ Climate Central’s Book Debut
There’s a lot of debate about climate change, but not in the scientific community. People who actually study the climate overwhelmingly agree that greenhouse gases generated by human activity are pushing Earth’s climate into a state the world hasn’t seen for many tens of thousands of years. These experts don’t know to the last detail what will … Read More
Reinventing Transportation by Day, Making Music By Night
Joan Ogden is pretty satisfied with her life these days, except that she doesn’t get out much to perform. Ogden is a musician with a wildly eclectic range: she has, during a decades-long career as a serious amateur, played guitar, mandolin, bouzouki and oud (a sort of Middle Eastern flute) in bands devoted to rock, blues, international folk music, … Read More
Lemonick Takes On the Weather Channel: The Sequel
Climate Central senior science writer Michael Lemonick's Wednesday appearance on The Weather Channel's "Wake Up With Al" show just wasn't enough to satisfy the audience, so he was back Thursday for an interview with Al Roker's co-anchor Stephanie Abrams. The topic, as before: Global Weirdness, our new book.… Read More
