All Environment
- Cyprus bailout: Russia misses chance for natural gas
Greek Cypriots have shuffled back and forth to Moscow in an attempt to lure Russia into a bailout package that would have given it a stake in the island’s estimated 60 trillion cubic feet of natural gas offshore, Alic writes, but the Cyprus offer wasn’t big enough to tempt the Kremlin.
- Did climate change cause the Syrian uprising?
Climate change played a role in the Syrian uprising, according to a new study. Due to the devastating drought and subsequent lack of food and water in rural areas, hundreds of thousands fled to the cities, where existing problems were only exacerbated by the influx of new mouths to feed, Kennedy writes.
- Why Google is spending billions on renewable energy
Google has already invested around $1 billion in alternative power projects with a combined capacity of more than two gigawatts. These investments have not been just for the benefit of the environment, or to increase Google's sense of wellbeing, Peixe writes, they are investments made with a goal to making a profit in the future.
- Endangered giraffe born in Connecticut center
Endangered Rothschild giraffe 'Petal' gives birth to the first calf born at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center. Two other endangered Rothschild giraffes are pregnant at the Connecticut center.
- Endangered giraffe born in Connecticut center
Endangered Rothschild giraffe 'Petal' gives birth to the first calf born at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center. Two other endangered Rothschild giraffes are pregnant at the Connecticut center.
- Earth Hour 2013: Does it really save energy?
Earth Hour has been criticized for accomplishing little in the way of saving energy and reducing carbon emissions, but those critiques tend to miss the bigger picture. Earth Hour is intended to raise awareness about climate change.
- Winter storm dumps snow on Great Plains, Midwest
More than a foot of snow fell in some places across the Great Plains and Midwest Saturday in an early spring snowstorm. The snow started falling around midnight in northeast Colorado with the snowstorm moving into northwest Kansas and southwest Nebraska.
- Refiners hit 'blend wall' with ethanol. Now what?
Prices of ethanol credits have skyrocketed 1,400 percent as refiners get stuck with ethanol that they can't profitably blend with gasoline. Courts may take up fairness of renewable fuel standard, which has caused the glut.
- Why natural gas will determine the future of Cyprus
Cyprus could be sitting on 60 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The country's enormous natural gas reserves are intricately linked to the potential for bailing out Cyprus, Alic writes.
- Energy firms, environmentalists agree on 'fracking' standards
Rare collaborative effort creates 15 standards to reduce environmental footprint of 'fracking' operations in the Northeast. Agreement suggests new tack by environmentalists on fracking.
- Cyprus gets bailout offer from Russian gas giant Gazprom
Cyprus could get an economic boost from Russia's Gazprom if Cyprus is willing to sell exploration rights to the promising offshore natural gas deposits in the Mediterranean Sea, Kennedy writes.
- Warming Arctic: Receding ice leaves Hudson Bay polar bears less time to eat
Polar bears' territorial tendencies and the diminishing ice season on Hudson Bay are conspiring to leave the animals less time to eat, researchers say. This bodes ill for their ability to reproduce, and survive.
- Is the Keystone XL pipeline a diplomatic nightmare?
President Obama's possible approval of the Keystone XL pipeline is a tale of political calculation gone sadly wrong, King writes. Delaying the pipeline's review offended the country's principal trading partner and gave environmentalists time to mobilize against the Keystone XL pipeline, King adds.
- Suntech Power defaults. Solar troubles reach China.
Suntech Power Holdings, one of the world's largest solar-panel manufacturers, has defaulted on $541 million in bonds. The inability of Suntech Power to make payments on its debt is part of a consolidation of the market's oversupply of cheap solar panels from China.
- Even with high gas prices, will drivers budge from oil?
President Barack Obama hopes to move drivers away from oil, but consumer trends suggest the American economy isn't quite ready to abandon oil completely, Graeber writes.
- US cars in 2050 could be using 80 percent less gasoline
The US could cut oil consumption for light-duty vehicles and greenhouse-gas emissions, if it adopts policies and encourages key technologies, a new National Research Council report says.
- Canadian coal plant retrofit could be a 'game changer'
A 43-year-old Canadian coal plant is being retrofitted to capture roughly 90 percent of its carbon dioxide emissions and store the gas deep underground, Gates writes. It will be the first commercial-scale power plant equipped with a fully integrated carbon capture and storage system, he adds.
- Is the US oil boom coming to an end?
Though US oil production is experiencing steady expansion, Graeber writes, it's starting to slow down and with it potentially goes the revenue on which Paul Ryan's budget plan depends.
- Late snowstorm hits winter-weary Northeast
Snow and sleet delayed the start of school in some areas of the Northeast Tuesday and made the morning commute an icy, slippery mess a day before spring starts. Storm-weary commuters in New England were hoping this would be the last snowstorm until next winter.
- Late snowstorm hits winter-weary Northeast
Snow and sleet delayed the start of school in some areas of the Northeast Tuesday and made the morning commute an icy, slippery mess a day before spring starts. Storm-weary commuters in New England were hoping this would be the last snowstorm until next winter.