Yesterday, President Bush stated that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2006 declined 1.3 percent, "putting us well ahead of what is needed annually to meet my greenhouse gas intensity reduction goal of 18% by 2012." There are two problems with what he said:
Our guest blogger, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.
If you have a garden, you know the climate is warming. In temperate zones, the last frost in spring comes earlier, and the first frost in fall comes later. The longer growing season may allow you to grow vegetables you never could grow before. But you also may have noticed your weeds are more aggressive, insect pests are more of a problem, and pollen plagues you all summer long. You’re not imagining things!
In 2005, California petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for permission to establish its own, stricter tailpipe emissions standards. Nearly two years have passed, and EPA still has not ruled on the request – despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that EPA has the authority to regulate tailpipe emissions.
Today, Environmental Defense and NRDC sent a letter to EPA warning that they will join California to in a lawsuit to compel "EPA’s unreasonably delayed and unlawfully withheld final action on California’s waiver request" if the agency does not make a decision within 180 days.
In large cities such as New York, buildings account for most of the greenhouse gas emissions. The William J. Clinton Foundation has developed a plan to reduce energy usage in buildings, and organized an international coalition of banks and 16 of the world’s largest cities to implement it. Billions of dollars have been pledged to address the problem. For details, read the story in the International Herald Tribune.
Today’s Guest Blogger, Lisa Moore, is a scientist in the Climate and Air Program.
The fiery centers of volcanoes burn carbon-containing rocks from deep within the earth, and thus emit the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). There are a fair number of volcanoes in this world, all emitting CO2, so couldn’t this be the cause of global warming?
In a word, no. Here’s how scientists know that climate change is not from volcanic activity.
In browsing around the internet this week I found some sites with good information about global warming:
Reporting on Climate Change: Understanding the Science – A 100-page book, free to download or $30 in print form, that does an excellent job summarizing the science behind climate change.
Celsias (Blog) – Great background essays on climate science, also some very funny posts.
Woods Hole Research Center – Excellent resource with background articles, links for further reading, and more.
MarketWatch Special Report: An Investor Guide to Global Warming – A five-part series that ran each day this week covering everything from green investments to the role of insurers.
Do you have favorite sites for information on climate change? Post the links!
