NASA is expected to launch this week its newest Earth-observing satellite, Landsat 8, at a time when previous Landsat satellites have either stopped working or have developed serious technical problems.

NASA scientists say the launch of the $855 million satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California (more…)

“The percentage of Americans who think climate change is occurring has rebounded … and is at its highest level since 2006,” according to a new poll conducted by researchers at Duke University. “Whether in response to extreme weather events like mega-storm Sandy or the improved economy, public opinion has clearly rebounded from its low point of a couple years (more…)

I’m fascinated by the dynamics at work in our society that surround climate change. The United States is notably sluggish in its response to the challenge, and, perhaps because of this, certain groups with progressive ideals are getting fairly militant. One example is the Sierra Club, which, after 120 years of law-abiding environmental advocacy, announced recently that it (more…)

The continuing expansion of renewable energy technologies, advances in energy efficiency, and the rapid shift from coal to natural gas for generating electricity combined to bring down U.S. carbon dioxide emissions last year to their lowest levels since 1994, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. (more…)

Heat generated in major metropolitan areas is altering the character of the jet stream and other atmospheric systems, at times affecting the weather thousands of miles away, a new study says.

Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, a team of scientists reports that so-called “waste heat” (more…)

Here’s an article by Peter Lehner, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), who writes on the levels of air pollution in Beijing, which last week reached a level of 755–on a scale of 0 to 500 (the scale on which our Environmental Protection Agency here in the U.S. rates anything over 300 as “hazardous.”) The Internet is littered with (more…)

When global warming is discussed, many will try to predict how much the ice cap will melt and how much the seas will rise. There are many variables in this calculation. A new study by an international team of scientists analyzing ice cores from the Greenland ice sheet going back in time more than 100,000 years indicates the last interglacial period may be a good analog for where (more…)

Here’s an article that’s illustrates what happens when regulators get clever in creating incentives for environmental stewardship and responsibility: smart people work around them, unintended consequences result, and windfall profits occur in random places that have nothing to do with environmental benefit.

If I were doing this, I’d make the whole situation (more…)

President Anote Tong has a problem. He leads a country which is very seriously threatened by climate change. The incursion of sea water into the islands’ drinking water is real and as most of the coral atolls are only a few metres above sea level, a rise in sea level means the end of the country.

So what do you do? Clearly trying to persuade the (more…)

In his second inaugural address, President Obama prominently cited the need to tackle climate change, a vow Democrats say the president will carry out using his executive powers to bypass Congress.

After barely addressing the issue during his reelection campaign, Obama on Monday indicated that climate would be a priority in his second term, saying that failure to address the threat of a changing climate “would betray our children and future generations.” “Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science,” Obama said. “But none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms.”

According to a New York Times report, the president’s new climate strategy will include tougher Environmental Protection Agency rules on emissions from coal plants, as well as stricter energy standards for home appliances and buildings.

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.