Could cosmic rays cause global warming?
The link between cosmic rays and global warming has proved highly controversial in recent years. In 2007, a television documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle claimed that human activity has not caused climate change, giving instead cosmic rays as the cause. Terry Sloan and Arnold Wolfendale discuss their latest research, which indicates that the relationship between cosmic rays and changes in cloud cover – and hence Earth's surface temperature – is limited. More...
The IPCC report: what the lead authors really think
In the final months of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment reporting in 2007, the world’s three leading climate science agencies asked people directly and intimately involved with the report for their views on how the process had gone and some of the key issues it raised. Ann Henderson-Sellers gives the details. More...
Recycling technology: mining the waste resource
In September 1900, a Sanitary Engineers' conference declared that "we should no longer regard sewage as a waste but as a resource from which to derive energy to power local communities". Even after all this time, environmental issues are still at the forefront of mainstream political agendas and society, driven by the combined impacts of climate change, global warming, energy security, the Stern Review, resource conservation and effective waste management. Peter Calliafas of EnviroBusiness gives his views. More...
Boosting efficiency can cut industry’s carbon dioxide emissions
Have you noticed odd changes in the behaviour of your friends and family, such as shunning car purchases in lieu of public transportation and taking action to move to a smaller residence? Probably not. Generally rising incomes translate into demand for bigger homes and more powerful and larger cars. This poses a problem, since it produces direct emissions from consumer use as well as indirect carbon dioxide emissions. Claude Mandil of the International Energy Agency looks at how energy efficiency can help. More...
Carbon offset schemes are of questionable value
At the European Geosciences Union (EGU) meeting, we challenged the scientific community to think about the carbon footprint of academic travel. This action resulted in a healthy debate about the environmental and social benefit of scientific conferences. One of the recurrent suggestions for concrete action was that the EGU should incorporate the cost of buying carbon credits in the meeting registration fee. However, carbon offset schemes are controversial in their own right and may be worth a scientific debate of their own. Wouter Buytaert highlights reasons why we should be cautious. More...