Today’s post is by John Balbus, M.D., the Chief Health Scientist at Environmental Defense.
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” That saying may work for part-time chefs, but it doesn’t do much for the victims of recent heat waves. They couldn’t escape the unusually severe temperatures.
A warmer world is likely to bring two different types of heat: warmer average temperatures, especially at night, and more frequent extremes. What do higher temperatures mean for us? Read More
The author of today’s post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.
When you talk about the consequences of global warming, people can feel overwhelmed and fear there’s no solution. But there is! And a new game illustrates it.
It’s based on work by Princeton University’s Stephen Pacala and Robert Socolow, which they describe in their paper “Wedges”: Early Mitigation with Familiar Techology [PDF]. Their study showed that existing technologies can lower emissions sufficiently to stop global warming. (Bill discussed their work in his post on green technologies.)
Pacala and Socolow identified 15 existing technologies that they refer to as “wedges”. Only seven are needed to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions, so we can choose what combination to use.
To help people, particularly students, understand wedges and explore different scenarios, Princeton University has created the Stabilization Wedge Game, where teams of players can “build a portfolio of stabilization strategies and assess their impacts and costs.”
Try it with your friends or family — you’ll come away understanding better how we can stop global warming. Here’s the background page, and here are the instructions and the game [PDF] – you set it up by printing out and cutting up colored wedges.
The author of today’s post, Lisa Moore, Ph.D., is a scientist in the Climate and Air program.
Last weekend’s Mercury News ran a news story about vehicle emissions harming native species in California. The excess nitrogen from vehicle emissions caused invasive species to displace the plants that feed the bay checkerspot butterfly, which is threatened with extinction. My friend and colleague Dr. Stuart Weiss, the scientist who uncovered the link, calls this "drive-by extinction".
Nitrogen pollution has profound effects on life, health, and climate, yet these go mostly unnoticed by policymakers and the public.
The author of today’s post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.
Carbon offsets are a good idea that, unfortunately, without guidelines, can be implemented badly. The basic idea is to reduce and then offset the carbon emissions produced by your lifestyle by funding projects that reduce carbon emissions elsewhere. This works because, from a global warming perspective, it doesn’t matter where the carbon comes from. A reduction anywhere reduces the global total.
But how do you know a given offset is truly reducing carbon emissions?
The author of today’s post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.
When we think about climate change and the burning of fossil fuels, the discussion often centers around alternative sources of energy. But another key element is energy efficiency – simply using less power. A recent report published titled "The Twin Pillars of Sustainable Energy" says the two should be considered together.
When public policy takes both energy efficiency and renewable energy into account, there can be significant synergies. The report is over 50 pages long with many detailed case studies, but you can find a good summary of the findings on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Web site.
This is Part 2 of a three-part series on Vehicle Fuels and Technology.
1. Plug-in Cars: The Lowdown
2. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles
3. Fossil Fuels and Biofuels
The author of today’s post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles got a big boost when President Bush made them part of his 2003 State of the Union address:
Tonight I’m proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles… With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to showroom, so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free.
That generated a lot of interest in hydrogen cars! So what are they, and can they become mainstream in the next 20 years?
Honda FCX fuel-cell car.
