Earth
- Climate
Warming has already boosted insect breeding
Museum records, publications suggest extra generations at same time as temperature increases
- Earth
Tides in Earth’s crust trigger small, deep quakes
Study of one portion of the San Andreas fault finds that just a little added stress from crustal tides makes a quake more likely.
- Earth
Mistletoe leaves a big carbon footprint in Yellowstone
Earth sciences reporter Sid Perkins blogs on new research from the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
- Chemistry
Climate deal reached, importance debated
“Finally, we sealed the deal. And it is a real deal,” said United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon this morning at an 11:15 press briefing. He was referring to a new climate accord – one aimed at reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions and setting up a green trust fund for mitigation and adaptation programs in the world’s poorest countries, ones that are already being hammered by a changing climate.
- Climate
Climate: Deal or no deal?
We’ve got a climate accord, President Barack Obama said at a parting press conference tonight (at about 11 to 11:30 p.m. local time, before leaving Denmark). Not so fast, argue a number of other negotiating blocs...like the G77.
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- Earth
Cameras catch underwater volcano in the act
Seafloor eruption in the South Pacific is the deepest and most violent yet seen.
- Earth
2009 Science News of the Year: Environment
Recent monitoring (from a gondola in Washington state, shown) reveals that rates of tree death are up. Credit: Univ. of Washington Routine tree deaths doubled Small background rates of everyday tree death have doubled in old-growth, western forests since 1955, possibly because of climate change, researchers report (SN: 2/14/09, p. 8). In 76 plots with […]
- Climate
Carbon dioxide: Blame where blame is due?
Blog: Measuring outsourcing of greenhouse gases. From the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
- Climate
Climate: China defends its reputation
Over the past few days, a number of national delegations – not least the United States’ – have criticized implicitly, if not explicitly, China’s unwillingness to accept binding limits on its greenhouse-gas emissions and the measurement of emissions by outside auditors. This morning, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao addressed a plenary meeting of the United Nations climate-change conference – populated by more than 100 heads of heads of state – to make his case that China has embarked on an earnest step toward substantive climate protection.
- Climate
Obama: Climate’s rock star
A little over a half-hour ago, President Barack Obama wrapped up a stirring pep talk to his fellow world leaders attending the United Nations climate change meeting. He didn’t promise the world. Only that the United States could be depended upon to do its part in helping stem global greenhouse gas emissions and to fund measures that would help fund the world’s poorest and climate-beleaguered nations adapt. But what was especially interesting was to watch how the whole climate conference has waited with baited breath to learn what Obama would say: Could our President make promises that would at last galvanize action in the United States and accord among countries whose views, even yesterday, seemed poles apart?
- Climate
Climate emissions mandates: What role China and India?
One major schism between negotiating blocs at the United Nations climate change meeting is over which nations should face a mandate to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions. Just the industrial powers that have historically spewed most of the carbon dioxide responsible for today’s climate troubles? Or that group and the newly emerging industrial leaders – especially China, who for several years has reigned as the world’s greenhouse-gas king? The deadline for resolving this dilemma is ostensibly quite imminent. As in today.
