Bloomberg (August 2)
“Earth’s atmosphere seems to have found a way to get back at the human race. For almost three centuries, we humans have been filling the air with carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases. Now, it turns out, the climate change these emissions have wrought is turning people against one another.” Researchers have found “a surprisingly close link between climate change and civil wars, riots, invasions and even personal violence such as murder, assault and rape.”
Tags: Air, Atmosphere, Civil wars, Climate change, CO2, Earth, Emissions, Greenhouse gases, Human race, Methane, Researchers, Violence
Washington Post (June 12)
“The world is wildly off-target in its effort—if you can call it that—to limit global temperature rise to only 2 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels. Last year saw the highest level of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions ever, and the Earth is on a path to warm between 3.6 and 5.3 degrees, an outcome the World Bank recently warned would be very disruptive to human civilization.”
Tags: CO2, Earth, Emissions, Energy, Global warming, Temperature, World Bank
Washington Post (February 15)
“The United States sits atop seas of natural gas, a fuel that drives electric turbines, warms homes, heats water and even powers some big trucks. Much of this gas is in unconventional deposits that drillers have only begun to tap. Now that they have, the price of the fuel has plummeted and the United States has gone from a gas importer to a potential exporter, with decades of supply left…. The country can’t use natural gas forever, because it still produces some carbon dioxide. But gas can, for a time, serve as a low-cost alternative to dirtier fossil fuels in a program to steadily green the economy.”
Tags: CO2, Economy, Environment, Fossil fuels, Green, Natural gas, Supply, U.S.
Time (October 23)
“We’re in the final few months of what’s shaping up to be the hottest year on record. In September, Arctic sea ice melted to its smallest extent in satellite records, while the Midwest was rocked by a once-in-a-generation level drought. Global carbon dioxide emissions hit a record high in 2011 of 34.83 billion tons, and they will almost certainly be higher this year….Given all that, it might seem reasonable to think that climate change —and how the U.S. should respond to it — would be among the top issues of the 2012 presidential election.” Instead, climate change has gone largely unmentioned.
Tags: Arctic, Climate change, CO2, Drought, Presidential election, U.S.
The Independent (August 31)
2010 “has been the hottest in recorded history…yet the world dithers and looks away.” Since the “deep disappointment” of Copenhagen, the momentum to stop climate change has been lost. The Independent supports an EU agreement to “raise the levels of cuts in CO2 emissions by 2020 from the 20% already agreed to 30%.” By doing so, European leaders may help refocus world attention in preparation for the Cancun climate summit.
Tags: Cancun, Climate change, CO2, Copenhagen, EU
