Environment

(Ira Chernus) For those of us of a certain age, it seems as if the world has always been ending. It’s easy now to forget just how deep fears and fantasies about a nuclear apocalypse went in the “golden” 1950s. And I’m not just thinking about kids like me “ducking and covering” at the advice of Bert the […]

Climate Change

Darkening of Melting Arctic Amplifying Global Warming from CO2

contributors

(By Jacob Chamberlain) One of nature's key defenses against global warming—the reflection of the sun's rays away from Earth by Arctic sea ice—has fallen victim to… global warming. And according to a study published Monday, the vicious feedback loop is worse than previously thought. The new research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy […]

Books

Wind Turbines don’t decline in Efficiency for 25 Years, contrary to Myth

contributors

(By James Ayre) Wind Farms Blow Away Old Criticism — Research Shows That Wind Turbines Remain Productive For Up To 25 Years (via Clean Technica) While wind energy has become an increasingly common development choice in recent years, there has been some criticism of the technology — of particular interest in that regard was a […]

Climate Change

A Bridge to Nowhere: Up to 75% more Deadly Methane emitted by Natural Gas Drilling than Estimated

contributors

(By Andrea Germanos) The amount of methane leaking from natural gas emissions is far higher than previously estimated, a new study shows, more evidence, as one expert says, that urgent action must be taken to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions. The findings, based on a review of over 200 previous studies, was published Friday in […]

Climate Change

Bill Nye Science Guy to Debate GOP Rep Gohmert on Gravity

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Satire David Gregory’s Meet the Press today hosted a debate between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on whether gravity is just a theory. “Sure,” Gohmert said, “things fall down all the time. But that doesn’t mean gravity is a law. Look at the Leaning Tower of […]

Climate Change

Kerry Blasts Climate Denialists, equates Climate Change with Terrorism, WMDs

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Secretary of State John Kerry was in Asia this weekend, and one of his emphases in China and Indonesia was the urgency of dealing with the climate disruption caused by carbon dioxide emissions/a>, which he said is as great a threat as terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: “When […]

Climate Change

More Solar Workers in US than Coal Miners, and Solar doesn’t Poison Drinking Water

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) By the end of 2013, the number of workers in the solar energy industry in the US had grown to 143,000. About a third of them are in California, followed by Arizona, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. the wind power industry employed another 80,000 or so workers directly, and many more in transportation […]

Climate Change

Game Over for Earth: Big Carbon’s Fatal, Scorching Triumph over Greens

contributors

(By Michael T. Klare) Listening to President Obama’s State of the Union address, it would have been easy to conclude that we were slowly but surely gaining in the war on climate change. “Our energy policy is creating jobs and leading to a cleaner, safer planet,” the president said. “Over the past eight years, the […]

Climate Change

Planet, Oceans Burning Up: There is no “Pause” in Global Warming

contributors

(By Jon Queally) Climate change has not hit a "speed bump." The planet's temperature is not remaining steady and it certainly isn't cooling. Earth, especially its ocean, are heating up… and rapidly. Those are the findings and the consensus of the global scientific community. And a new study shows that the detectable slowdown of global […]