http://www.enn.com/ ENN RSS News http://www.enn.com/climate/article/37691 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under fire for apparently discounting the impact of climate change, on Thursday said global warming poses real risk to human health and the American way of life. Risks include more heat-related deaths, more heart and lung diseases due to increased ozone and health problems related to hurricanes, extreme precipitation and wildfires, the agency said in a new report. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/37689 On Thursday, politician-turned-activist Al Gore called for the United States to rely 100 percent on zero-carbon sources of electricity by 2018. Regardless of the logistical practicality of the goal or of the existence of political will to achieve this target in a single decade, Gore's statements made it clear: the U.S. environmental movement finally has a leader. http://www.enn.com/lifestyle/article/37688 After 26 years as an enduring symbol of the B.C. Summer and Winter Games, a torch that was traditionally lit 100 days before each event began has been snuffed out because of global warming. http://www.enn.com/agriculture/article/37687 At least 1.5 million people in 19 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces - mostly farming communities in the north - have been severely affected by drought and are in need of urgent humanitarian relief, an Afghan minister told IRIN. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/37680 Station “North Pole-35”� consists of 21 researchers and two dogs living in huts on an ice flow in the western Arctic Ocean, or at least it did until the project was cut short by about six weeks due to the unexpected extent of the sea ice melt. http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/37673 Norway's government said on Wednesday it has received the go ahead from the European Union to pump more state funds into an experimental project to capture carbon dioxide emissions from a gas-fired power plant. http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/37668 The United States unveiled plans on Tuesday to bury climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions deep underground to keep the greenhouse gas from further heating up the atmosphere. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/37663 The British government's record in cutting its own emissions of planet-warming gases was "extremely poor", a cross-party panel of politicians said on Monday. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/37661 Protocols for corporate greenhouse gas accounting that are based on the ISO 14064 standards, such as the WBCSD/WRI GHG Protocol, use the term "scope" to distinguish between different greenhouse gas emissions sources. There are three categories; Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3. For most registry’s or reporting agencies Scopes 1 and 2 are considered mandatory while Scope 3 is considered optional. http://www.enn.com/health/article/37655 One more unwanted consequence of global warming may be an increase in cases of kidney stones in areas with rising temperatures, U.S. researchers said on Monday. http://www.enn.com/lifestyle/article/37651 The European Commission will launch a raft of proposals on Wednesday to curb the environmental impact of consumerism in the 27-nation EU by supporting eco-friendly products and technology. The plan comes as the European Union moves to cut energy consumption amid soaring fuel and power prices and as part of its ambitious mid-term goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by one fifth by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. "This will mainly be targeted at products that use a lot of energy, such as computers, televisions, water heaters and industrial fans," a source at the Commission, the bloc's executive arm, said on Monday. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/37644 A US appeals court struck down landmark air-pollution regulations on Friday, shocking both environmental and industry groups with a decision that could severely hamper efforts to curb smog and acid rain. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/37640 The trend of more frequent global natural disasters continues, due to an onslaught of weather-related crises in the first half of 2008. The total number of disasters as of June 30, 2008 already exceeds the average number of disasters recorded at mid-year over the past decade. Although 2008 is not on pace to eclipse 2007 as registering the most natural disasters ever, an especially active Atlantic hurricane season is expected. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/37637 California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Sunday the Bush administration did not believe it should do anything about global warming and that any last-minute action before leaving office would be "bogus." http://www.enn.com/climate/article/37636 New evidence has emerged that a large plate of floating ice shelf attached to Antarctica is breaking up, in a troubling sign of global warming, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Thursday. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/37624 The world's biggest polluters agreed on Wednesday on the need for "deep cuts" in greenhouse gas emissions, but differences between developed and emerging economies kept them from setting specific targets. Climate change has been the most contentious topic at this year's Group of Eight summit in Japan, which the heads of big emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil were invited to join on the third and final day. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/37622 Dubbed the "missing greenhouse gas," nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) was found by a recent study to have a global climate impact 17,000 times greater than carbon dioxide. The chemical is found in the LCD panels of cell phones, televisions, and computer monitors, as well as in semiconductors and synthetic diamonds. http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/37619 A small startup based in Santa Barbara, California is testing an alternative to carbon sequestration that, in a sense (perhaps more poetic than scientific), turns the second law of thermodynamics — entropy — on its head by taking waste CO2 and tailings from mining operations and turning the mix into materials of a “higher order”� for use in a variety of industrial, agricultural, and environmental applications. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/37617 Ports authorities from around the world gathered in Rotterdam Wednesday to adopt a plan to cut CO2 emissions from the activities of some 100,000 large ships sailing global waters. http://www.enn.com/lifestyle/article/37615 The government of British Columbia has released details on its Climate Action Plan that will take BC three quarters of the way to the stated goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33% by 2020. BC Premier Gordon Campbell calls it the most aggressive environmental plan in North America. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/37613 So the next climate deal is another watered down soapy substance now that China and India pulled the plug at the G8 meeting held in Japan. The stalemate that’s visible was exactly what was feared by everybody; diametrically opposed parties over the emissions by the world’s largest energy consuming countries. Time for a change in approach? Perhaps it's time for a change in accounting methods. Take China for instance. At least 23% of this country’s carbon emissions are from goods that are exported to industrialized countries. So is it fair that the country is held responsible for all of its emissions in the new climate deal? http://www.enn.com/climate/article/37610 One difference between Renewable Energy Credits and Carbon Offsets is the way they are measured. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/37603 Vice President Dick Cheney's office pushed for major deletions in congressional testimony on the public health consequences of climate change, fearing the presentation by a leading health official might make it harder to avoid regulating greenhouse gases, a former EPA official maintains. http://www.enn.com/business/article/37594 G8 nations, papering over deep differences on how to set goals to combat global warming, said on Tuesday they would work toward a target of at least halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 with other participants in U.N. talks. In a communique released during a summit in northern Japan, the Group of Eight leaders agreed that they would need to set mid-term goals to achieve the "shared vision" for 2050, but gave no numerical targets. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/37591 Washington, D.C The U.S,. Senate passed (June 27,2008), by unanimous consent, legislation that will allow the U.S. to join an international treaty that could dramatically cut ocean ship pollution that causes tens of thousands of global deaths annually. “The Marine Pollution Prevention Act of 2008”� (H.R. 802), was passed overwhelmingly by the U.S. House of Representatives last year.