Is global warming unstoppable?
In a provocative new study, a University of Utah scientist argues that rising carbon dioxide emissions - the major cause of global warming - cannot be stabilized unless the world's economy collapses or society builds the equivalent of one new nuclear power plant each day. view more (2009-11-23)
Oceans' uptake of manmade carbon may be slowing
The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. view more (2009-11-19)
Hidden threat: Elevated pollution levels near regional airports
Scientists are reporting evidence that air pollution - a well-recognized problem at major airports - may pose an important but largely overlooked health concern for people living near smaller regional airports. view more (2009-11-19)
Record highs far outpace record lows across US
Spurred by a warming climate, daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record lows over the last decade across the continental United States, new research shows. view more (2009-11-13)
Health care accounts for 8 percent of US carbon footprint
The American health care sector accounts for nearly a tenth of the country's carbon dioxide emissions, according to a first-of-its-kind calculation of health care's carbon footprint. view more (2009-11-11)
Climate studies to benefit from 12 years of satellite aerosol data
Aerosols, very small particles suspended in the air, play an important role in the global climate balance and in regulating climate change. view more (2009-11-11)
Controversial new climate change results
New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of carbon dioxide having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now. view more (2009-11-11)
Reducing greenhouse gases may not be enough to slow climate change
Because land use changes are responsible for 50 percent of warming in the US, policymakers need to address the influence of global deforestation and urbanization on climate change, in addition to greenhouse gas emissions. view more (2009-11-11)
Boat tail reduces truck fuel consumption by 7.5 percent
An articulated lorry was driven for a period of one year with a boat tail (of varying length) and one year without a boat tail. The improved aerodynamics, depending on the length of the boat tail, resulted in reduced fuel consumption (and emissions!) of up to 7.5 percent. The optimum boat tail length proved to be two metres. view more (2009-11-06)
USC study finds big air pollution impacts on local communities
Heavy traffic corridors in the cities of Long Beach and Riverside are responsible for a significant proportion of preventable childhood asthma, and the true impact of air pollution and ship emissions on the disease has likely been underestimated, according to researchers at the University of Southern California (USC). view more (2009-11-05)
Researchers discover links between city walkability and air pollution exposure
A new study compares neighborhoods' walkability (degree of ease for walking) with local levels of air pollution and finds that some neighborhoods might be good for walking, but have poor air quality. view more (2009-11-03)
North America automobile sector bottom of 'world sustainability league'
The study, entitled Sustainable Value in Automobile Manufacturing, looks at the sustainability performance of 17 leading car manufacturers worldwide between 1999 and 2007. view more (2009-10-30)
Interactions with aerosols boost warming potential of some gases
For decades, climate scientists have worked to identify and measure key substances -- notably greenhouse gases and aerosol particles -- that affect Earth's climate. view more (2009-10-30)
Plugging into an electric vehicle revolution
A road trial of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which could one day end up in every Australian driveway, is underway. view more (2009-10-28)
Simple measures can yield big greenhouse gas cuts, scientists say
New technologies and policies that save energy, remove atmospheric carbon and limit greenhouse gas emissions are needed to fight global climate change - but face daunting technological, economic and political hurdles, a Michigan State University scientist said. view more (2009-10-27)
Miscounting bioenergy benefits may increase greenhouse gas release
A fixable error in the way carbon is counted in current U.S. climate legislation and in the Kyoto Protocol could undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using biofuels, says a premier group of national environmental and land use scientists. view more (2009-10-23)
Report examines hidden costs of energy production and use
A new report from the National Research Council examines and, when possible, estimates "hidden" costs of energy production and use -- such as the damage air pollution imposes on human health -- that are not reflected in market prices of coal, oil, other energy sources, or the electricity and gasoline produced from them. view more (2009-10-20)
Improving China's acid rain control strategy
Scientists are reporting the first evidence that China's sharp focus on reducing widespread damage to soil by acid rain by restricting sulfur dioxide air pollution may have an unexpected consequence: Gains from that pollution control program will be largely offset by increases in nitrogen emissions, which the country's current policy largely... view more... (2009-10-15)
Growth versus global warming
Houses on stilts, small scale energy generation and recycling our dishwater are just some of the measures that are being proposed to prepare our cities for the effects of global warming. view more (2009-10-14)
Tracing ultra-fine dust
Fine particle emissions have been the subject of heated debate for years. People who live near industrial plants see the smoke being discharged into the atmosphere and wonder how harmful it is. view more (2009-10-06)
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