| Report Predicts Urban Meltdown from Heat Waves Global warming will bring increased summer heat waves nationwide that are especially harmful to low-income and minority populations in urban areas and the elderly, according to a new report by environmental and public health groups."This is another reason why we must take steps to curb global warming pollution as much and as quickly as possible," said Amanda Staudt, a climate scientist with the National Wildlife Federation , which released the report today with Physicians for Social Responsibility . [More] rss.sciam.com |
A Clunker of a Climate Policy The Cash for Clunkers program offers a cautionarytale for the future of climate change control. The federal program paid individuals up to $4,500 to replace their “clunker” automobiles with new, higher-mileage vehicles. Part of the purpose was to give a lift to the ailing auto industry. Another part, at least it was claimed, was to mitigate climate change by getting old high-carbon-emissions vehicles off the road. But billions of dollars were spent quickly without clear answers on what we were getting for our money.The broad principle of climate change mitigation is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the combustion of fossil fuels, to target levels at the minimum net cost to society. There are many ways to reduce emissions: drive more efficient or electrically powered vehicles; produce electricity with renewable energy sources; capture CO 2 from power plants and store it geologically; restart the nuclear power sector; weatherproof homes to reduce energy for heating and cooling.... The list is long, with different time horizons, costs and uncertainties. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Hale and Harmful: Are the Healthful Effects of Riding a Bike on City Streets Ruined by Inhaled Pollutants? Dear EarthTalk: I ride my bike to work along busy urban streets. Should I be worried about inhaling pollutants from vehicle emissions and other sources? --J. Kaufman, San Francisco [More] rss.sciam.com |
Coastal California City Turns to Desalination to Quench Its Thirst When Sand City, Calif., officially opens the spigot to the state's first full-scale seawater desalination facility Wednesday, residents throughout the city will begin tapping into the Pacific Ocean as a source of drinking water. The city's goal is to provide a seamless transition so that consumers do not recognize any difference in quality or taste compared with the reservoir water that used to provide their potable water. [More] rss.sciam.com |
The Deepening Crisis: When Will We Face the Planet's Environmental Problems? With this final column I will transition Sustainable Developments from Scientific American to the home page of the Earth Institute ( www.earth.columbia.edu ). Although I will continue to contribute occasional essays to the magazine, I will use this last regular column to say thank you and take stock of the deepening crisis of sustainable development.During the four years of this column, the world’s inability to face up to the reality of the growing environmental crisis has become even more palpable. Every major goal that international bodies have established for global environmental policy as of 2010 has been postponed, ignored or defeated. Sadly, this year will quite possibly become the warmest on record, yet another testimony to human-induced environmental catastrophes running out of control. [More] Sustainable development - Environment - Earth - The Earth Institute - Environmental policy rss.sciam.com |