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An University of California - Riverside led team has identified black carbon and tropospheric ozone as the most likely drivers of large-scale atmospheric circulation change in the Northern Hemisphere tropics zone. While stratospheric ozone depletion has already been shown to be the primary driver of the expansion of the tropics in the Southern Hemisphere, the researchers are the first to report that black carbon and tropospheric ozone are the most likely primary drivers of the tropical expansion observed in the Northern Hemisphere.
What's needed to cure the world's ills is real culture change, led by better communication about environmental issues and by the innovators Volans executive chairman John Elkington calls "zeronauts."
Earth’s ecosystems keep soaking up more carbon as greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, new measurements find. The research contradicts several recent studies suggesting that “carbon sinks” have reached or passed their capacity. By looking at global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the new work calculates instead that total sinks have increased roughly in line with rising emissions.
The food producers honored by NRDC's Growing Green Awards are pioneers in the ways they produce food that nourishes our families and restores our water, air, and soil at the same time.
British households are individually throwing away £800 worth of electrical appliances every year that could be reused or recycled according to new research.
Nestlé Waters claims to have developed the UK’s lightest bottled water product with the opening of its new £35m production factory in Buxton last week.
Commercial waste arisings are falling at a faster rate than household waste across Scotland according to official figures released yesterday (May 17).
Conservation groups have condemned a move by European agricultural ministers to tone down some of the most controversial environmental proposals in the next phase of the EU’s farm support programme.
Agricultural and fisheries ministers from the 27 EU countries called yesterday (15 May) for replacing conservation measures recommended by the European Commission with a more flexible system.
The decision was not a surprise — ministers have indicated in the past that there was little political appetite for creating requirements in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that tie direct payments to farmers to measures aimed at cutting carbon emissions and reducing other pollutants.
Measuring glass surfaces using infrared (IR) thermometers helps ensure higher performance windows.
Typically heavily reliant on the cost of high and volatile diesel and fossil fuel imports, small island developing states are also on the front line when it comes to having to cope with climate change. Now they’re realizing there’s a lot in the way of cleaner, more efficient and less costly power and fuel resources right at home. They’re increasingly, if belatedly, establishing ambitious renewable energy programs and setting aggressive targets to employ local renewable energy resources to reduce CO2 and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, working with a range of international development agencies, public and private sector partners domestic and foreign, in doing so.
The plug-load threat is emerging like a monster against building energy-efficiency efforts. Here are some easy-to-implement, cost-effective ways to tame loads.
The new duty to cooperate may not be sufficient to deliver the UK’s urgently needed waste infrastructure, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned.
Fulham Football Club has teamed up with Veolia to engage with young people on the importance of green issues through a ‘carbon boot print’ initiative.
An increasingly common fallback position once climate change “skeptics” accept that the planet is warming and humans are the dominant cause is the myth that climate change won’t be bad. In fact, this particular myth comes in at #3 on our list of most used climate myths. It’s an ideal fallback position because it allows those who reject the body of scientific evidence to believe that if they are wrong on the science, it’s okay, because the consequences won’t be dire anyway.
One of my colleagues, Molly Henderson recently completed a Masters Degree program class on scientific research which focused on climate change, which she aced (way to go, Molly!). For her final research paper, she examined the consequences of climate change on the prevalence of water-borne diseases in the US Great Lakes region.
There are now water processing devices (aka, atmospheric water generators) that enable capturing and purifying drinking water from moisture in the air.
Tesco has raised the stakes on the supermarket food waste front by announcing its second wave of packaging designed to keep produce fresher for longer.
Three-month series of virtual and live events featuring the likes of Bill McKibben, Van Jones and Marc Le Menestrel in free daily teleseminars. www.springofsustainability.com
New rules from the GSA require federal agencies to take immediate action to improve management of electronic waste (e-waste). To support the National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship in protecting human health and the environment, key provisions require agencies to:
- Use only certified recyclers or refurbishers for disposition of laptop computers, cell phones, copiers, telephones, digital cameras, televisions and various other e-waste
- Submit an annual report of personal property furnished to non-Federal recipients
- Develop consistent data security practices to protect sensitive data and maximize reuse potential using the least-destructive sanitization process
Johnson Controls says the retrofit business is heating up, thanks to new financing via PACE and performance contracting.
With a startup mentality, Boeing Energy is working to drive innovation by leveraging its own internal resources and tapping into key partnerships.
When it comes to organic foods' benefits, there's more to consider than just yields, but as demand for food increases on a planet with limited resources, it's also an important topic to consider.
The doctor told me that I should implement an allergen reduction and environmental control strategy in my home…what should I do next?
The London Borough of Bexley is embarking on a marketing drive to promote its trade recycling and waste services to local businesses.
Unilever has entered into a cross-industry partnership pilot to boost teabag recycling in the UK in a bid to recover energy from the nation’s favourite hot drink.
Earth Day is the supreme occasion for positioning what it means to be green. Unfortunately, the rest of the year, NGOs are in a losing battle to define what green means in the minds of consumers.
The quality of plastic bottles sent for reprocessing in recent years has deteriorated due to the “rampant” rise of mixed plastics in the waste stream, according to an industry expert.
New guidance launched by WRAP yesterday (10 May) provides local authorities with practical advice on how best to collect non-bottle rigid plastics in a drive to push up recycling and reduce contamination at reprocessing plants.
For algae to power our cars and planes, production needs to be low carbon and cost effective, which means working with natural processes, not against them, say scientists.
Algae could become an important source of sustainable biofuel, as production doesn’t compete with food crops for land. But we may need to change the way we grow algae from closed systems to open ponds if it is to be low-carbon and cost-effective.
This is because current algae production in closed systems — usually for cosmetic ingredients — uses too much energy keeping the ecosystem isolated from the surrounding environment.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's new headquarters is not only ultra green, it's smart too.
Quick-charging stations are seen as gateway to large-scale electric-vehicle adoption. Here's a look at some of the infrastructure players who are ready to pounce on the growing EV market.
