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Rising Waters: Can a Massive Barrier Save Venice from Drowning?
It’s tempting to believe that the devastating sequence of hurricanes in the Atlantic this year has blown in a new awareness of the risks of rising waters and increasingly powerful storms on our rapidly warming planet. In a rational world, the destruction wrought by these storms would inspire us to redouble our efforts to cut…
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Top Credit Agency to Cities and States: Prepare for Climate Change or Face Lower Credit Rating
Moody’s Investors Service, one of the top credit rating agencies in the world, warned cities and states in the U.S. that unless they prepare for climate change, the agency could lower their credit ratings, making it harder for them to obtain low-interest bonds.
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Sea Level Rise Threatens Tens of Thousands of U.S. Historic Sites
An estimated 13,000 historic sites could be lost or damaged in the southeastern United States with just 3 feet of sea level rise, according to a new study by a team of archaeologists published in the journal PLOS One. More than 32,000 sites would be at risk if sea levels rise 15 feet.
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As Oceans Warm, the World's Kelp Forests Begin to Disappear
A steady increase in ocean temperatures — nearly 3 degrees Fahrenheit in recent decades — was all it took to doom the once-luxuriant giant kelp forests of eastern Australia and Tasmania: Thick canopies that once covered much of the region’s coastal sea surface have wilted in intolerably warm and nutrient-poor water. Then, a warm-water sea…
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Nebraska Approves Keystone XL, But Requires Different Route Through State
Nebraska regulators have given the final approval for the Keystone XL pipeline to run through their state, eliminating the last major regulatory obstacle preventing the completion of the 1,179-mile pipeline system that would help carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to refineries in Texas.
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How the Alaska Pipeline Is Fueling the Push to Drill in the Arctic Refuge
The war over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) — one of the most contentious and enduring environmental fights in U.S. history — is once again heating up.
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Solar Power Rapidly Expands, But So Does Oil Use, in New World Energy Outlook
Solar power will surge globally in the coming decades, but oil demand will also continue to grow, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.
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In Drive to Cut Emissions, Germany Confronts Its Car Culture
Germans like to think of themselves as the most environmentally friendly people on earth. They see their sophisticated recycling programs, their love of forests, and, most recently, the country’s drive to replace both nuclear and coal-fired power production with renewable sources — the so-called Energiewende, or “energy turn” — as evidence of their strong environmental consciousness, especially…
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In Drive to Cut Emissions, Germany Confronts Its Car Culture
Germans like to think of themselves as the most environmentally friendly people on earth. They see their sophisticated recycling programs, their love of forests, and, most recently, the country’s drive to replace both nuclear and coal-fired power production with renewable sources — the so-called Energiewende, or “energy turn” — as evidence of their strong environmental consciousness, especially…
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China Experiences Sharp Drop in Coal-Related Emissions, Study Says
Emissions of sulfur dioxide, an air pollutant produced primarily by burning coal, have fallen by 75 percent in China since 2007, while SO2 emissions in India have jumped 50 percent, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland.