Tag archives for warming
Hurricane Resurfaces Forgotten Election Issue: Climate Change
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on November 1, 2012 As Hurricane Sandy made landfall this week, bringing blizzards to West Virginia and flooding to the northeast, some debated the storm’s connection to climate change. Scientists took to Twitter to share their opinions on how warming has made Sandy worse with Texas Tech University’s Katharine Hayhoe tweeting that sea level is 7 inches higher now compared to 100 years ago and about 15 percent of the…
Romney, Obama Make History with Failure to Mention Climate Change in Last Debate
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on October 25, 2012 The final foreign-policy-focused presidential debate made history Monday when candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama failed to mention climate change. Despite historic drought and record melting of Arctic sea ice, failure to visit the topic marked the first time since the 1980s climate change hasn’t come up in a presidential debate. Some argued the climate should have come up, as almost every major international issue—food prices, military operations and…
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Unbeknownst to most scientists until a few days ago, two hundred thousand pounds of iron sulphate were dumped into North Pacific Ocean in July, with the aim to trigger a large plankton bloom. This experiment was conducted by the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation, under the direction of businessman Russ George. Why dump this dirty brown powder…
Heated Discussion about Energy in Second Presidential Debate, but No Mention of Climate
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on October 18, 2012 Next to jobs and the economy, the National Journal reports, no other issue has dominated this year’s election as much as energy because it’s a proxy for many other things (subscription). “Energy has not been this big an issue in a presidential campaign since the tumultuous years of the 1970s,” when the Arab oil embargo raised gasoline prices and had…
Experts Debate a Link between Climate Change and Extreme Weather
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on October 11, 2012 As the 2012 harvest season comes to a close, pumpkins appear to be one of the few successes for farmers following the severe drought felt across many parts of the United States. Damage to the nation’s two largest crops, corn and soybeans, puts these staples below demand for the first time since 1974, while the rising cost to feed cattle drives up…
Continuing Carbon Emissions Could Have Devastating Impacts on Poor Countries
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on September 27, 2012 Populations and livelihoods—mostly in developing countries—will suffer as average global temperatures continue to rise. This is according to a study, conducted by the humanitarian organization DARA, which found climate change could cost the world more than $1.2 trillion annually and contribute to the deaths of more than 100 million people if action against climate change isn’t taken.…
What Is the True Social Cost of Carbon?
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on September 20, 2012 A new study in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences contends that the U.S. government significantly underestimated the social cost of carbon in 2010 in its effort to establish a unified cost of carbon for various agencies to use when formulating policy. The government arrived at a cost at $21 per ton of carbon, but the new study argues the…
Deep-Sea Methane, Wind that Could Power World?
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on September 13, 2012 The U.S. Energy Department announced plans to spend more than $5 million researching the potential to produce natural gas from deep-sea methane hydrates—ice-like formations that contain natural gas and are stable at depths of more than 300 feet. The Energy Department calls them “the world’s largest untapped fossil energy resource”—some estimate they are twice as abundant as all remaining…
Presidential Candidates, Studies Dissect Climate Change
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on September 6, 2012 As campaigning for the November presidential election moves forward, President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney spelled out their interpretations on one issue in a bit more detail than usual. To Science Debate, Obama identifies climate change as one of the most pressing concerns of the era and lists the steps he has taken during his…
Federal Court Tosses EPA’s ‘Good Neighbor’ Pollution Rule
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on August 23, 2012 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this week threw out the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), which set stricter limits on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from coal-burning power plants in 28 states and the District of Columbia. In a 2–1 ruling, the panel held the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exceeded its authority under the…
Crop Damage Sparks Fuel Versus Food Debate
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on August 16, 2012 Dry conditions that continue to grip Midwestern states, damaging crops and threatening to push up food prices, stirred new debate this week after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released crop yield projections capturing the severity of the drought. Though the U.S. is the largest producer of corn and soybeans, the report puts corn production at 10.8 billion bushels, down 13…
Scientists: Mars Rover Can Help Us Better Understand Climate Change on Earth
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on August 9, 2012 NASA’s rover, Curiosity, made a successful landing on Mars earlier this week. Some scientists say the car-sized rover, the most high-tech ever designed by the space agency, could have a lot to tell us about our own climate. As Mother Jones reports, scientists have made great strides in predicting what will happen to our climate, but we only have one climate to…
U.S. Makes Strides on Climate Change
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University in Road to Rio+20 on July 19, 2012 As Grist puts it, contrary to popular belief, the U.S. is making progress on climate change. Overall, the country’s carbon emissions fell 1.7 percent last year—in part because of the explosive growth of natural gas and the Great Recession. Looking at energy-related carbon emissions in the last five years, the U.S. has experienced a roughly…
As Country Breaks Heat Record, Studies Analyze Climate Connection
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on July 12, 2012 The same week the continental United States broke its record for the hottest six months in a calendar year, the United Nations announced 2011 was among the 15 warmest so far. Climate change may have increased the chances of the types of extreme weather seen in 2011, and may have been heavily influenced by a weather pattern called La Niña. The odds…
Climate Change Concern Slipping as Scientists Ponder Link between Recent Events
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on July 5, 2012 A new poll says climate change is no longer first on Americans’ list of the most critical environmental problems. About three in 10 people, or 29 percent, believe water and air pollution to be the top issue. Meanwhile, 19 percent saw climate change as a threat, down from 33 percent in 2007. Even with the decline, three-quarters of those polled thought…
Rio+20 Pushes on with Weak Text, Mixed Predictions
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University in Road to Rio+20 on June 21, 2012 
Delegates from around the world are meeting in Rio de Janeiro to discuss how to make the planet more sustainable, despite a rapidly growing population. The reprise of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit dubbed “Rio+20” has so far drawn mixed reactions: some call it an “opportunity”; others say it is another step on a long, complicated road to realizing a…
Reach of BP Oil Spill Still Strong Two Years Later
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on June 14, 2012 BP has made headlines again, two years after the Gulf oil spill. For the spill, the company stands to pay billions of dollars in environmental fines under the Clean Water Act; a new study indicates thousands of jobs could be created along the coast if those funds were used for coastal restoration. Specifically, if $1.5 billion per…
North Carolina Legislature Mulls Ban on Sea Level Rise Projections
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on June 7, 2012 The link between climate change and sea level rise, already well established, has been reinforced by recent studies. But sea level rise also made headlines in a more unusual way recently after some North Carolina legislators introduced a bill that would call into question some of the scientific projections related to sea level rise in the state. Specifically, their draft legislation would…
U.S. Energy Department: Peak Travel Season Could Cost Drivers 6% More
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on April 12, 2012 Gasoline prices have edged off the pedal in recent days, but the Energy Information Administration this week released new data showing motorists will pay about a quarter more per gallon during peak travel season—April through September. Prices will top out at $4.01, on average, in May. The last time gasoline spiked to such levels was…
Obama Moves Ahead with Oil Sanctions as Gas Prices Climb
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on April 5, 2012 Before Congress headed home for spring recess, the Senate, with a rate vote of 100, approved President Obama’s new round of sanctions designed to deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The president’s decision was based on an analysis of current oil supply and the likely effect of further sanctions on prices. The Senate also shot down the president’s bid to reduce subsidies to oil producers. Oil…
EPA Makes Historic Announcement: First Greenhouse Gas Rule for New Power Plants
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on March 29, 2012 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released long-awaited greenhouse gas rules for new power plants this week. Using the Clean Air Act, the agency standard would set the first national limits on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions new power plants can emit. The EPA proposed the rule after delaying it several times since July 2011. Power plants are the largest…
Record Temperatures May Bring More Than Just Early Spring Flowers
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on March 22, 2012 Washington, D.C.’s famed cherry blossoms—now celebrating their centennial—decided to spring one on visitors, peaking well before the arrival of most Cherry Blossom Festival–goers. Spring’s forward leap is also causing coupling confusion among flowers and pollinators. Above-average temperatures are responsible for these early blooms, marking this the fourth warmest winter on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric…
More than 100 Coal Plants Shutting—But How Much Difference Will It Make?
Posted by Mason Inman on March 8, 2012 After public pressure, Chicago will shut two aging coal-fired power plants, and the owner of one of the power plants, Midwest Generation, may shut its other four coal plants in Illinois. Since the start of 2010, more than 100 coal plants have been slated for early retirement. A major reason for coal plants shutting has been public opposition to…
Rising Oil, Gasoline Prices Push Politicians and Reporters to Utter “Nonsense”
Posted by Mason Inman on March 1, 2012 In a major speech on energy at the University of Miami, President Obama said rising gasoline prices are a “painful reminder” of the need for alternatives. He was on the offensive, trying to counter criticisms of the GOP presidential candidates—including Newt Gingrich, who promised he’d get gasoline down to $2.50 a gallon. Countering calls to “drill, baby,…
Leaked Documents Describe Plan to Push Climate Change Denial in Schools
Posted by Mason Inman on February 16, 2012 Leaked documents purportedly from the nonprofit Heartland Institute include efforts to cast doubt on climate science. The site DeSmog Blog received the documents from an anonymous informant calling himself “Heartland Insider.” The Heartland Institute gave mixed responses to the documents, calling them both “stolen” and “fake,” but only specifically calling one document, titled “2012 Heartland…
