IMF Rejects Fossil Fuel Subsidies, Calls for Reform
Fossil fuel subsidies provided by both rich and poor countries to keep their citizens happy are holding back the world economy, accelerating climate change and damaging the health of current and future generations, according to the International Monetary Fund. The worst offender of all is the United States, which allows annual subsidies of $502 … Read More
Scientists Raise Questions on Drought and Climate
When the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a report on April 11 that seemed to exonerate global warming as a cause of last summer’s historic drought, a reasonable person might conclude that global warming had been exonerated. After all, NOAA is a highly respected organization, and the report’s lead author, meteorologist Martin … Read More
Links to Solar May Forge New Ties Across Mediterranean
The world’s largest concentrated solar power plant opened in March in the middle of Abu Dhabi’s western region, amid the country’s giant oil fields. The $600 million plant’s hundreds of mirrors direct sunlight towards towers full of water. These are heated to drive steam turbines that provide enough electricity for thousands of homes. In a … Read More
Andes’ Tropical Glaciers Going Fast, May Soon Be Gone
The glaciers of the tropical Andes have shrunk by between 30 and 50 percent in 30 years and many will soon disappear altogether, cutting off the summer water supply for millions of people, according to scientists studying the region’s climate. Their findings are particularly significant because glaciers in the tropics, 99 percent of which are in … Read More
Margaret Thatcher’s Strong Stance on Climate Change
Margaret Thatcher, the "Iron Lady" of British politics who died Monday at the age of 87, is being lionized as the woman who tilted British domestic and economic policy to the right. Less noted is how seriously she viewed the threat of climate change and the robustness, more than 20 years ago, of climate science and United Nations body tasked with … Read More
Geoengineering Could Trigger Disaster in Parts of Africa
Less than three weeks after two US researchers called for global agreement on the governance of geo-engineering research, British meteorologists have provided a case study in potential geo-engineering disaster. Jim Haywood from the Met Office Hadley Centre and colleagues report in Nature Climate Change that fine particles concentrated in the … Read More
Six to See: Slideshow on Week’s Top Climate News
Toxic algae blooms, binding emissions cuts, policy changes and more in in a slideshow of the week's top climate news … Read More
Antarctic Sea Ice Grows as Result of Warming
The Arctic may be shrinking as the world warms but Antarctic sea ice is expanding. Blame global warming for that, too, say Dutch scientists. The paradox is that increasing temperatures have set in motion a chain of events in the southern seas that have the opposite effect. Engineers call this negative feedback. So do Richard Bintanja and colleague… Read More
