World Environment News
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Latest News (256 stories)
Pet Python Kills Florida Toddler
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Jim Loney
MIAMI - A Florida toddler was strangled on Wednesday by a 12-foot (3.6-metre) albino Burmese python that escaped from a holding tank in the girl's home, authorities said.
The World's Coolest Utility: Yello Strom's Got Smart Meters That Tweet
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: GERMANY
Author: Katie Fehrenbacher - Earth2Tech
Updated: More than any utility on the planet, Germany's Yello Strom has embraced the intertwining of energy and home broadband connections. The company manages its smart meter service directly via its customers' broadband connection; it's the first European utility to offer its customers access to Google's energy management tool PowerMeter; and it tells us this week that it has developed a prototype application that will enable its smart meters to tweet its customers' energy consumption.
INTERVIEW-Brazil Wants C02 Cuts Based On Historic Emissions
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: BRAZIL
Author: Brian Ellsworth
BRASILIA - Brazil wants historic emissions to be the basis for greenhouse gas pollution targets, slated for discussion during December climate talks in Copenhagen, Brazil's top climate negotiator said in an interview.
Climate Change Shrinks Scotland's Wild Sheep
Photo: Ian Stevenson/Eurekalert/Handout
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: UK
Author: Ben Hirschler
LONDON - Wild sheep on a remote Scottish island are shrinking, and scientists blame global warming.
New Loo Turns Waste Into Energy
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Mary Catherine O'Connor
Industrial designer Virginia Gardiner has designed not just a new toilet, but a new closed-loop management system that will allow individuals to, basically, recycle their poop. Yeah, I just said that.
FACTBOX: Themes And Scenarios For G8 Summit In Italy
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: ITALY
Author: Daniel Flynn
Leaders from the Group of Eight industrial nations and major developing nations will hold talks from July 8-10 in the central Italian city of L'Aquila.
U.S. Vote Boosts Hopes For Australia Carbon Laws
Photo: Mick Tsikas
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: SINGAPORE/AUSTRALIA
Author: David Fogarty and James Grubel - Analysis
SINGAPORE/CANBERRA - Australia's emissions trading laws look more likely to pass a hostile Senate after U.S. Congressional support for a similar climate bill eroded political opposition in Australia to carbon trading.
Food Security Fears Drive Fund Farm Investments
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: UK
Author: Nigel Hunt and Veronica Brown - Analysis
LONDON - Funds are increasingly looking to invest in farmland as a rising global population and changing diets lead to growing demand for food crops.
Green Energy Projects Get $59 Million In Guarantees
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Ayesha Rascoe
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Energy Department on Thursday offered loan guarantees worth $59 million to two renewable energy companies as the agency tries to quickly boost green energy production with a windfall of funding from the economic stimulus package.
Brazil Wants CO2 Cuts Based On Historic Emissions
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: BRAZIL
Author: Brian Ellsworth
BRASILIA - Brazil wants historic emissions to be the basis for greenhouse gas pollution targets, slated for discussion during December climate talks in Copenhagen, Brazil's top climate negotiator said in an interview.
German Study Sees Job Boom From Sahara Solar Project
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: GERMANY
Author: Erik Kirschbaum
BERLIN - A project linking solar power from the Sahara to energy users in Europe and North Africa could create 240,000 German jobs and generate 2 trillion euros ($2,822 billion) worth of power by 2050, a study published on Thursday found.
Obama's Climate Leadership Faces Test At G8 Forum
Photo: Kevin Lamarque
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama, buoyed by a domestic victory on climate policy, faces his first foreign test on the issue next week at a forum that could boost the chances of reaching a U.N. global warming pact this year.
Los Angeles Will End Use Of Coal-Fired Power
Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Bernie Woodall
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles will eliminate the use of electricity made from coal by 2020, replacing it with power from cleaner renewable energy sources, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said.
EPA Extends Comment Period On Biofuel Standard
Photo: Mark Blinch/Files
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Ayesha Rascoe
WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said it was extending the comment period on a draft rule that aims to cut greenhouse gases emitted by biofuels.
Regenerated Legs No Big Trick For Salamanders
Photo: Felipe Leon
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON - Mexican salamanders who can re-grow amputated legs are not pulling off quite as big a biological trick as scientists had first thought, which may help doctors trying to regenerate human limbs.
Loss Of World's Seagrass Beds Seen Accelerating
Photo: Leo Solinap
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Jim Loney
MIAMI - The world's seagrass meadows, a critical habitat for marine life and profit-maker for the fishing industry, are in decline due to coastal development and the losses are accelerating, according to a new study.
More Than 800 Wildlife Species Now Extinct
Photo: Paulo Whitaker/Files
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent
WASHINGTON - More than 800 animal and plant species have gone extinct in the past five centuries with nearly 17,000 now threatened with extinction, the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported on Thursday.
Mosquito Repellent Firm In Dock For Mosquito Breeding
Photo: John Pryke
Date: 03-Jul-09
Country: SRI LANKA
Author: Ranga Sirilal
COLOMBO - A Sri Lankan court threatened a mosquito repellent factory manager with six months in jail for failing to destroy mosquito breeding areas on company premises to stop the spread of dengue fever, an official said Tuesday.
EPA Specs To Bring Energy Efficiency To PCs
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Agam Shah
New power-efficiency specifications being implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday could help consumers purchase energy-efficient electronics while cutting energy costs.
Increase in Renewables Aids Human Rights
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: John Gartner
In recent years the legion of supporters of renewable energy has expanded to include labor unions concerned about jobs, as well as national security and energy independence experts such as George Schultz and James Woolsey.
Rumors, Takeover Bids Boost CO2 Market Stocks
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: UK
Author: Michael Szabo
LONDON - A U.S. climate bill may eventually stoke major investment in the environmental sector, but analysts say a rise in takeover rumors is providing a short-term boost to shares in greenhouse gas emissions trading and offsetting companies. Britain is home to four major, publicly-traded carbon emissions trading companies, all of which have seen a marked rise in their share prices in the past month.
U.S. Gives Up To $408 Million To "Clean Coal" Projects
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Ayesha Rascoe
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Energy Department said on Wednesday it will provide up to $408 million in funding for two projects aimed at developing advanced "clean coal" technologies.
Clean Energy Investment Leaps In Second Quarter
Photo: Hazir Reka
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: UK
Author: Gerard Wynn
LONDON - Global investment in clean energy and climate-friendly technologies leapt in the last three months but full-year levels won't recover until 2010 or 2011, analysts said on Wednesday.
UK Wind Boom Spikes Prices, Threatens Plants: Study
Photo: Nigel Roddis
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: UK
Author: Nigel Roddis
LONDON - The dramatic growth in wind turbines around the British Isles may lead to huge spikes in power prices by 2030 and threaten the viability of backup plants needed for calm periods, according to Poyry Energy Consulting.
U.S. Seen Backing Climate Target At G8
Photo: Francois Lenoir
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: UK
Author: Tim Heritage
LONDON - The United States will agree to a goal to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius at next week's Group of Eight summit, a senior European official involved in preparing the meeting said on Wednesday.
Green Stocks Flourish Despite Demand Concerns
Photo: Nir Elias
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Rachel Chang - Analysis
NEW YORK - While green shoots of economic recovery are appearing only tentatively, green stocks are showing no such hesitation.
Rockers Go Green At Denmark's Roskilde Festival
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: DENMARK
Author: Henriette Jacobsen
ROSKILDE - Music and partying are the main ingredients to a good rock festival, but Denmark's Roskilde Festival also aims to encourage guests to save the planet.
Risk Of Mad Cow Disease From Farmed Fish?
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Reuters Health
NEW YORK - Three U.S. scientists are concern about the potential of people contracting Creutzfeldt Jakob disease -- the human form of "mad cow disease" -- from eating farmed fish who are fed byproducts rendered from cows.
Bird Strikes A Growing Problem At U.S. Airports
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: US
Author: Michelle Nichols
NEW YORK - Despite renewed efforts by New York officials to keep skies around the city's airports clear of wildlife, a passenger plane was damaged after hitting a bird as it landed this week in what is a growing industry problem.
El Nino Seems All But Certain: Australia
Photo: Mick Tsikas
Date: 02-Jul-09
Country: AUSTRALIA
Author: Bruce Hextall and Michael Perry
SYDNEY - An El Nino weather pattern this year appears almost certain, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Wednesday in a revised forecast, raising the prospect of drought in Australia and a even weaker monsoon in India.