The savannah habitat that sustains African lions has shrunk by 75 percent over the past half-century, according to a study published in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation, a dramatic loss that could threaten the species’ survival. The new analysis by American, African and British researchers — which suggests the continent’s lion population has declined from…
Rich countries spend five times more on fossil-fuel subsidies than on aid to help developing nations cut their emissions and protect against the effects of climate change, the Oil Change International campaign group said. In 2011, 22 industrialized nations paid $58.7 billion in subsidies to the oil, coal and gas industries and to consumers of…
The reluctance of industrialized countries to accept binding emission targets will dry up demand for carbon credits and reduce their prices further, experts said at the climate talks in Doha, where 200 countries are trying to negotiate an agreement on climate issues. Russia, Japan, New Zealand have made it clear that they will not accept…
Two major organizations released climate change reports this month warning of doom and gloom if we stick to our current course and fail to take more aggressive measures. A World Bank report imagines a world 4 degrees warmer, the temperature predicted by century’s end barring changes, and says it aims to shock people into action…
The EU’s debt crisis has sapped its ability to lead the way in ongoing global climate talks in Doha, and build on a fragile victory it clinched a year ago. The European Union is one of the few to have promised to sign up to a second emissions-cutting period under the Kyoto process, the only…
Finding a good alternative energy stock isn’t easy, investors are finding. One problem is that is that the market in general has dropped since the election. Also, alternative-energy stocks tend to lag when the price of oil falls. Another problem is that some alternative-energy companies are start-ups with little in the way of earnings.
China, India, South Africa and Brazil said a climate deal planned for 2020 won’t be a “new regime,” threatening confrontation with the U.S. which wants to eliminate a firewall between developed and developing nations. The four nations reined in expectations for the Durban Platform, a mandate agreed last December at United Nations treaty talks in…
The World Bank is urging stepped-up efforts to meet world carbon reduction goals after looking at what it says would be the catastrophic consequences if average world temperatures rise more than 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century. In what World Bank President Jim Yong Kim acknowledged was a “doomsday…
An ambitious plan to provide 15% of Europe’s power needs from solar plants in North Africa has run into trouble. The Desertec initiative hoped to deliver electricity from a network of renewable energy sources to Europe via cables under the sea. But in recent weeks, two big industrial backers have pulled out. And the Spanish…
For years, scientists and engineers have been juggling various combinations of acids, steam, bacteria, catalysts and the digestive juices of microorganisms to convert agricultural waste and even household garbage into motor fuel. So far, such alternative fuels have not moved beyond small pilot plants, despite federal incentives to encourage companies to develop them. But that…