Jul 12, 2011
Heat waves clearly can destroy crop harvests. The world saw high heat decimate Russian wheat in 2010. Crop ecologists have found that each 1-degree-Celsius rise in temperature above the optimum can reduce grain harvests by 10 percent. But the indirect effects of higher temperatures on our food supply are no less...
Jul 12, 2011
During the years when governments and the media were focused on
preparations for the 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations, a
powerful climate movement was emerging in the United States: the
movement opposing the construction of new coal-fired power
plants.
Environmental groups, both national and local, are
opposing...
Jul 12, 2011
After the earth was created, soil formed slowly over geological time from the weathering of rocks. It began to support early plant life, which protected and enriched it until it became the topsoil that sustains the diversity of plants and animals we know today. Now the world’s ever-growing herds of cattle, sheep, and...
Jun 11, 2011
One key component of the Plan B climate
stabilization strategy is solar
energy. Solar is even more ubiquitous than wind
energy and can be harnessed with both solar photovoltaics (PV)
and solar thermal collectors.
Solar PV—both silicon-based and thin film—converts sunlight
directly into electricity. The growth in...
May 10, 2011
For many years, a small handful of countries dominated growth in wind power, but this is changing as the industry goes global, with more than 70 countries now developing wind resources. Between 2000 and 2010,world wind electric generating capacity increased at a frenetic pace from 17,000 megawatts to nearly 200,000...