Global Environmental Change Report articles from June 2003

Global Environmental Change Report archives from June 2003

A common sense on climate change.(Focus Report)
June 1, 2003... Despite the withdrawal of the US from participation in the Kyoto Protocol (an international treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions), momentum appears to be building across the US in support of reducing GHG emissions in an...

US EPA to change hands.(Policy and Economics)
June 1, 2003... On 20 May 2003, the Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Christine Todd Whitman, resigned her post, effective 27 June 2003. Whitman served as Governor of the state of New Jersey prior to her appointment as chief of...

Drought forecasting can save money.(Policy and Economics)
June 1, 2003... Every year, parts of the US suffer from the effects of drought. Droughts cost the US approximately US $6 to $8 billion every year, more than flooding or hurricanes ($5.9 and $5.1 billion, respectively). Can more accurate drought predictions...

International fossil fuel emissions tallied.(Policy and Economics)
June 1, 2003... According to a March 2003 US Department of Energy (DOE) report, International Energy Annual 2001, the US, China, Russia, Japan, and India were the world's five largest sources of carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]) emissions from the consumption and...

Soot cited for global warming.(Science Update)
June 1, 2003... Recent research by scientists at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Columbia University (New York, USA) shows that microscopic, airborne black carbon (soot) particles are more abundant and contribute more to...

Summer lightning influences atmospheric chemistry.(Science Update)
June 1, 2003... Astudy by scientists at Texas A & M University (College Station, Texas, USA) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR; Boulder, Colorado, USA), reports that lightning has a profound influence on tropospheric chemistry over the...

Good ozone, bad ozone.(Science Update)
June 1, 2003... Depending on where ozone occurs, it can be either beneficial or harmful to life on Earth. About 90% of the ozone in the Earth's atmosphere exists in the stratosphere (between 8 and 25 miles high), where it shields the Earth from the sun's...

Fuel cell buses--wheels in motion.(Industry Watch)
June 1, 2003... In early May, DaimlerChrysler delivered the first of 30 zero-emission Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses to Spain, launching a two-year field trial of the Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) program. Nine European cities are participating in the...

"Filthy Five" followup votes.(Industry Watch)
June 1, 2003... As reported in the May 2003 issue of GECR (see "AEP: Global Warming Friend or Foe?" p. 8), 26.7% of American Electric Power (AEP) shareholders backed a global warming proxy resolution submitted by the Interfaith Center on Corporate...

New Zealand refinery negotiates carbon tax exemption.(Industry Watch)
June 1, 2003... Last month, the New Zealand Refining Company (NZRC) successfully negotiated an exemption from a planned carbon tax, allowing upgrades to its Marsden Point Refinery to proceed. The NZ $180 million upgrades are necessary to meet new fuel...

Shell finds greenhouse gas reductions only prudent.(Industry Watch)
June 1, 2003... In 1998, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies (Shell) committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 10% from 1990 levels by 2002. Speaking at the inaugural conference of the Shell Center for Sustainability at Rice University in...

Fuel cell caravan.(Industry Watch)
June 1, 2003... On 14 May 2003, six fuel-cell vehicles headed off through the central valley of California (USA) to promote the new, less-polluting technology. Visiting several cities in the area noted for their poor air quality, the California Fuel Cell...

European Commission issues GHG allowance guidance.(Emissions Trading)
June 1, 2003... In early April 2003, the European Commission (EC) released a preliminary "non-paper" regarding the distribution, by European Union (EU) member states, of greenhouse gas (GHG) allowances to firms partici-pating in the emission-trading scheme...

Cap and trade 101.(Emissions Trading)
June 1, 2003... Market-based means of reducing pollution include a variety of economic incentives and disincentives, such as the three emission reduction mechanisms allowable under the Kyoto Protocol: joint implementation, the clean development mechanism,...

Carbon market courses available at virtual campus.(Emissions Trading)
June 1, 2003... The Earth Council Institute Geneva--Learning Center for Sustainable Development (LearnSD) is offering free, online classes on various aspects of the developing carbon market. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)...

PROBASE evaluates JI and CDM candidates.(In Brief ...)
June 1, 2003... PROBASE Evaluates JI and CDM Candidates: The European research consortium PROBASE has released their final report, Procedures for Accounting and Baselines for JI and CDM Projects (www.northsea.nl/jiq/probase). The main objective of...