National

Obama administration announces $4 billion US clean energy fund

Author: 

Ed King
Loan guarantees aim to boost flagging renewables sectors, under pressure from cheaper fossil fuels
Show

The US government has made $4 billion in clean energy funding available, in support of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan.

The loan guarantees are for US renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that cut, store or reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Geographic Area: 

Category: 

Level: 

US Groundwater Declines More Widespread Than Commonly Thought

Author: 

Lakis Polycarpou
Trends in groundwater levels observed between 1949 and 2009. Negative (red/orange) indicates decline in groundwater level, while positive (blue) indicates a rise in groundwater level. Source: Columbia Water Center
Show

Groundwater levels are dropping across a much wider swath of the United States than is generally discussed, according to a new report from the Columbia Water Center.

Geographic Area: 

Category: 

Level: 

Made in America: Staggering amounts of toxic chemicals

Author: 

Richard Denison
Although concerned about chemicals such as BPA, consumers often don't know what chemicals are present in the products they use.
Show

Recent spills in West Virginia and North Carolina cast a spotlight on toxic hazards in our midst. But as bad as they are, these acute incidents pale in scope compared to the chronic flow of hazardous chemicals coursing through our lives each day with little notice and minimal regulation.

Geographic Area: 

Category: 

Level: 

Africa must work harder to reduce inequality: Annan

Author: 

Matthew Mpoke Bigg
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan attends a news conference with former President of Tanzania Benjamin Mkapa in Nairobi, October 11, 2012.
Show

(Reuters) - African governments should work harder to reduce inequality that has prevented the benefits of a decade of economic growth from being spread equitably, according to a report by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan released on Thursday.

Geographic Area: 

Category: 

Level: 

Research makes desalination cheaper and greener

Author: 

Tim Kevin
The pilot-scale FDFO desalination plant being installed.
Show

A new cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly method of desalination that could use up to 80 per cent less energy has been developed by a team of Sydney researchers.

With an El Nino weather pattern expected to develop in Spring, possibly triggering droughts and bushfires, researchers from the UTS Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater (CTWW) have developed an innovative way of desalinating water for irrigation.

Geographic Area: 

Category: 

Level: 

Temperatures in the Contiguous 48 United States, 1901-2013

Source: 

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/indicators/weather-climate/temperature.html

Image: 

“This figure shows how annual average temperatures in the contiguous 48 states have changed since 1901. Surface data come from land-based weather stations. Satellite measurements cover the lower troposphere, which is the lowest level of the Earth’s atmosphere. “UAH” and “RSS” represent two different methods of analyzing the original satellite measurements. This graph uses the 1901–2000 average as a baseline for depicting change. Choosing a different baseline period would not change the shape of the data over time.” – United States Environmental Protection Agency

Image Type: 

Geographic Area: 

Category: 

Year: 

Level: 

Water Woes: Vast US Aquifer Is Being Tapped Out

Author: 

Denise Chow, Aug 26, 2013
An irrigation system sprays water on a cornfield. Credit: Kansas State University Photo Services
Show

Nearly 70 percent of the groundwater stored in parts of the United States' High Plains Aquifer — a vast underground reservoir that stretches through eight states, from South Dakota to Texas, and supplies 30 percent of the nation's irrigated groundwater — could be used up within 50 years, unless current water use is reduced, a new study finds.

Geographic Area: 

Category: 

Level: 

Pages