Something scary is lurking in the melting Arctic permafrost, write Tim Radford & Oliver Tickell: 1,700 Gt of carbon. That's 53 years worth of current emissions, and if we let it melt the impact would cost the world $43 tn. Or act now, and we could preserve the Arctic ice for a seventh as much.
Mammoth Arctic carbon thaw would cost us $43 trillion Tim Radford | 23rd September 2015 News Arctic Climate Change Water Emissions Science mammoth-cut.jpg Something scary is lurking in the melting …
For the second year running CO2 emissions flatlined even as the global economy was growing at around 3%, writes Alex Kirby. But sharply rising temperatures show the need for further massive renewable energy deployment to actually bring emissions down.
… Climate Change Emissions Energy Renewables Economics USA China Un Science …
In an open letter to the UK's political party leaders, Scientists for Global Responsibility urge those politicians to take the global threat of climate change seriously and to exploit science and technology to create jobs, tackle fuel poverty, and reduce local air pollution
Open letter to party leaders on climate change and the UK economy Dr Stuart Parkinson Dr Philip Webber Scientists for Global Responsibility | 13th June 2017 News Climate Change Politics Science …
Published in Nature today, a new cattle herd model shows how bTB infects cattle and how to halt its spread, writes Matt Keeling. Most effective is the slaughter of entire herds with even a single TB infection detected. Culling badgers has very little impact.
Culling badgers is no way to stop the spread of bovine TB Matt Keeling | 3rd July 2014 News Badgers Health Farming UK Science btb-graph-cut.jpg Published in Nature today, a new cattle herd model …
A wholesale corruption of science underlies the UK Government's insistence that gas from fracking offers a 'low carbon', low cost route to energy abundance, writes Paul Mobbs. On the contrary: it's expensive, over-hyped - and just as bad for climate change as coal.
Fracking 'as bad for climate as coal' - UK's dodgy dossier exposed Paul Mobbs | 30th May 2014 News Energy Fossil Fuels Fracking UK Climate Change Science fracking-bakken-ndakota-cut.jpg A wholesale …
The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa had everything to do with logging, deforestation and the disruption of traditional agro-forestry by large scale industrial agriculture, writes Rob Wallace. The only long term solution to this terrible disease may lie in forest conservation, the restoration of agroecological farming systems, and the exclusion of agribusiness investment.
… documenting the ways and means by which the economics of the egg sector is driving … disease dynamics, land use and global economics, routinely suffers at the expense of …
We must begin a deep and profound transformation towards a progressive, sustainable and zero-carbon future.
Beyond a climate of comfortable ignorance Kevin Anderson Isak Stoddard | 8th June 2020 News Climate Science And Systems Zero Carbon Systems Science 46669336332_5fe6764d18_k.jpg We must begin a deep …
A new report from leading physicians published today reveals the excess mortality caused by UK air pollution, writes Vanessa Amaral-Rogers. The Government has already been found in breach of the EU's Air Quality Directive, but its policies remain weak. Will it finally step up to prevent early deaths from this silent killer?
40,000 air pollution deaths a year, say doctors Vanessa Amaral-Rogers | 23rd January 2016 News Health Pollution UK EU Law Science pollution-london-cut.jpg A new report from leading physicians …
The first ever global life-cycle assessment of clean energy sources shows that a renewable system could supply the world's entire electricity needs by mid-century, writes Tim Radford.
Renewables can supply 100% of world's power by 2050 Tim Radford | 15th October 2014 News Energy Renewables Science Mining hydropower_site_at_holbuvatnet_sunndal_2013-cut.jpg The first ever global …
Nanotechnology has the power to affect every aspect of life on the planet. Here, the Ecologist presents the many claims of its promoters and outlines some of the major developments taking place now or in the near future. In response, some of it’s leading critics analyse the risks that nanotechnology poses in their various fields of expertise.
Promising the World, or Costing the Earth? The Ecologist | 1st May 2003 News Nanotechnology Science Technology Military Nanotechnology Science And Technology investigates.jpg Nanotechnology has the …
Lord Lawson was invited onto the BBC Radio 4 Today programme to debate the risk of climate change. Scientists, former BBC journalists and politicians have all questioned the wisdom of this decision. BRENDAN MONTAGUE reports
Lawson's climate denial met with 'rapid, referenced and robust' debunking Brendan Montague | 14th August 2017 News Climate Change Denial Science BBC Today unknown.jpeg Lord Lawson was invited onto …
Those who dare suggest that pesticides might be implicated in Brazil's microcephaly outbreak are being furiously attacked as irrational, nonsense-spouting 'conspiracy theorists', writes Claire Robinson. But the attackers have an uncanny ability to get their own facts in a twist. And among them are writers linked to industries with huge economic interests in the matter.
Zika, microcephaly, and pesticides: half-truths, hysteria, and vested interests Claire Robinson GMWatch | 26th February 2016 News Health Toxics GMOs Corporations Regulation Brazil Argentina Science …
The link between nuclear power and cancer is real, writes Chris Busby, and revealed in the UK's cancer statistics - if only you look for it. Previous approaches have focused on rare cancers over large, poorly selected populations. But look at common cancers among those most exposed to nuclear radiation, and the statistical evidence is overwhelming.
… own specific nemesis. You can argue about the economics of nuclear till you are blue in the …
The Grizzly bear hunting season is under way in British Columbia, Canada. The government claims that the decision to open the hunt and the kill quotas are 'science-based' but as Kyle Artelle writes, science doesn't get a look in - and the Grizzlies' are in serious danger.
Renewed hunting imperils Canada's Grizzlies Kyle Artelle | 10th April 2014 News Natural World Hunting Canada Politics Science grizzly-fish.png The Grizzly bear hunting season is under way in British …
The world is warming up. We face ecological, social and economic meltdown, famine, drought, disease and turf wars. For real?
The Stern Review: The Science of Climate Change Anna da Costa | 1st December 2006 News Climate Change Science Stern Review Stern Report Global Warming Climate Science Stern Report UK Climate Change …
The nuclear industry and its supporters have contrived a variety of narratives to justify and explain away nuclear catastrophes, writes John Downer. None of them actually hold water, yet they serve their purpose - to command political and media heights, and reassure public sentiment on 'safety'. But if it's so safe, why the low limits on nuclear liabilities?
… Cooper, the author of a 2012 report on the economics of nuclear disaster has put it: "If … Risk and Regulation at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This version …
Of all the impacts of climate change, one stands out for its inexorable menace, writes Pete Dolack: rising oceans. And it's not just for distant future generations to deal with: new scientific studies show that people alive today may face 6-9 metres of sea level rise flooding well over a million sq.km including many of the world's biggest cities. So where's the emergency response?
No planet for optimists: coastal flooding may come sooner and bigger than we think Pete Dolack | 8th April 2016 News Oceans Climate Change Emissions COP21 Science Arctic Antarctica big-wave-cut.jpg …
Semi-wild 'Dartmoor Hillies' have a unique genetic signature which allows it to survive in challenging habitats. But the ponies are now under threat due to their human neighbours, reports GILLY SMITH
Scientists find endangered Dartmoor Hill Ponies have rare genetic signature Gilly Smith | 17th August 2017 News Dartmoor 'Hillies' Hill Ponies Conservation Science home2.jpg Semi-wild 'Dartmoor …
The climate change discourse rarely looks beyond 2100, writes Pete Dolack. Maybe that's because even at current levels of CO2, we are committed to thousands of years of warming and polar ice melt that will raise sea levels by at least six meters. However the implacable imperatives of capitalism mean there's little prospect of change for a long time to come.
The world is already committed to a six meter sea level rise Pete Dolack Systemic Disorder | 24th July 2015 News Climate Change Oceans Science Emissions Arctic Antarctic antarctic-icefront.jpg …
The chemical industry and the European Food Safety Authority are refusing to disclose key scientific evidence about glyphosate's risks, citing 'trade secrets' protection, writes Corporate Europe Observatory. They must be compelled to publish the 'mysterious three' scientific studies EFSA used to assess glyphosate as 'unlikely' to cause cancer to humans - contradicting the IARC's view.
Key evidence in EU's risk assessment of glyphosate must not remain 'trade secret' Corporate Europe Observatory | 22nd February 2016 News Health Law Regulation Corporations EU Science Toxics Farming …