TOP 100 CAMPING SITES
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| Bold Strokes Needed Now to Save Climate The climate challenge just became a lot more challenging. We know that man-made carbon dioxide emissions are accelerating global warming. But intrepid research has revealed an additional sinister threat: methane. As Sarah Simpson reports, the warming of the Arctic is releasing vast quantities of methane that has been locked away for centuries in formerly frozen soil. Once released, methane traps 25 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide does. So it is more imperative than ever to slash greenhouse gases quickly, to slow the venting of methane.The single boldest stroke must come from Congress. The House and Senate are debating legislation that would impose either a cap-and-trade system or a tax on carbon emissions (for updates see www.ScientificAmerican.com/Earth3). Certain politicians and CEOs are trying to talk Congress out of it. Our representatives should dismiss the detractors and pass legislation, before November. That deadline is crucial: nations will meet in December in Copenhagen to hammer out new international agreements to limit emissions. The U.S., shamefully, has never signed such a protocol, and leaders worldwide have said, plainly, that the Copenhagen talks will fail if the U.S. does not enact legislation to clean up its own backyard. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Hurricane Protection for New Orleans Debated The Army Corps of Engineers' road map for protecting coastal Louisiana from a Category 5 hurricane is substantially flawed because it fails to recommend a clear plan that can be adopted quickly, according to a National Research Council review released today.The corps' long-overdue Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Program report, congressionally mandated after 2005's Hurricane Katrina and finalized this month, instead lays out 27 alternatives, highlighting none as preferred. [More] rss.sciam.com |
"Green" propellant could give rockets--and environment--a boost A team from NASA, the military and academia has developed and tested a simple rocket fuel of fine-grained aluminum and water ice that the researchers say could provide a cleaner alternative to propellants now in use. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Is the World Outsourcing Its Greenhouse Emissions to China? Dear EarthTalk: Has China been making any progress reducing its output of global warming gases, and/or in tackling other environmental problems? --Bill W., Saugus, MA [More] rss.sciam.com |
Farming Fuel in Middle Eastern Salt Marshes A new biofuels project at Abu Dhabi's Masdar Institute of Science and Technology will unite Boeing , Honeywell and others in search of a system to produce fuel and other useful products from biomass and seawater.The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Project is focused on integrating aquaculture and farming to create a closed-loop system that thrives in areas where fresh water is scarce. [More] rss.sciam.com |