Footprint Friday: Worst Case Fears

Heat-trapping carbon dioxide jumped by the largest amount on record according to the U.S. Department of Energy. These numbers that the Department came up with are much higher than climate experts predicted they’d be at 4 years ago. According to these studies the world created 564 million more tons of carbon into the air then we did in 2009. China and the United States are responsible for more than half of this extra pollution amongst all the countries of the world.   More...

EPA Global Warming Report Released

by Deb Powers

The environmental world is buzzing this morning with the news that the Obama administration has released a 2007 EPA report on global warming. The report was sequestered by the Bush administration, apparently because its findings were in opposition to the Bush administration's environmental policies regarding global warming and greenhouse gasses.

More on EPA Global Warming Report.

Utilities Quit Chamber of Commerce

by Deb Powers

Utility companies have traditionally favored energy policies that encourage conservation of energy rather than those that represent a fundamental change in the way that energy is produced and distributed. And yet last week, three major US utility companies very publicly canceled their memberships in the US Chamber of Commerce to protest the Chamber's "embarrassing" position on climage change and global warming science.

More on utilities revolting against Chamber of Commerce global warming stance.

UN Climate Change Summit

by Deb Powers

Yesterday, world leaders met at the UN in New York for a one day climate change summit. There were some promising signs, a lot of high-flown rhetoric and a lovely closing from UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, who praised the nations for coming together to address and discuss changes that must be made in order to meet climate change goals. Overall, though, the Summit did little to further any goals or make any changes. Instead, it was reflective of some of the biggest stumbling blocks and concerns regarding global warming and climate change.

More on the UN Climate Change Summit.

Global Warming for the Birds

by Deb Powers

A lot of folks out there seem to think that global warming is for the birds, but a group of researchers in California have taken a serious look at how global warming is actually affecting their local birds. Morgan Tingley, a doctoral student at University of California at Berkeley, headed up a study that traced the migration patterns of local birds over the past century. Their discovery? Birds will move if the climate becomes unfavorable to them.

More on how global warming affects birds.