Latest Greenhouse gas Stories

Emissions of carbon dioxide saw their largest ever single-year increase in 2010, with levels of the heat-trapping greenhouse gases surpassing the so-called "worst case scenario" that climate experts described just four years ago, various media outlets reported Friday. According to Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press, the U.S. Department of Energy has determined that global carbon emissions increased 564 million tons from 2009 through 2010. That 6% increase, says Borenstein, is...

The HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observation (HIPPO) project generated an extraordinarily detailed mapping of the global distribution of greenhouse gases, black carbon and related chemical species in the atmosphere Once international agreements demand it, effective, enforceable greenhouse gas reduction will require in-depth information on the fluxes and transports of these and other atmospheric constituents. Researchers know that concentrations of aerosols like black carbon and gases like carbon...

Climate scientists say the world’s target to stay below a global warming of 2 degrees, made at the United Nations conference in Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun 2010 will require decisive action this decade. A comprehensive review of 193 emission scenarios from scientific literature to date has been published in Nature Climate Change today by University of Melbourne and international scientists. This study found the target of 44 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions...

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Picarro, the world's leading provider of instruments for carbon and water cycle measurements, announced today the addition of Professor Beverly Law to the company's Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Law serves as the lead investigator on several key measurement and modeling research initiatives examining variations in terrestrial carbon sources and sinks resulting from climate changes and other disturbances such as wildfires and land use...

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) today announced the purchase of approximately 137,000 tons of greenhouse gas reduction credits from New York's largest non-hazardous solid waste facility. The credits were generated from the capture and destruction of methane, a byproduct of waste decomposition. Seneca Meadows, Inc. owns and operates the waste facility located in Waterloo, N.Y. SMI captures methane emitted from decomposing waste through a collection...

The largest and most comprehensive study yet done on the effect of biofuel production from West Coast forests has concluded that an emphasis on bioenergy would increase carbon dioxide emissions from these forests at least 14 percent, if the efficiency of such operations is optimal. The findings are contrary to assumptions and some previous studies that suggest biofuels from this source would be carbon-neutral or even reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this research, that wasn't true in...

Two research papers, each appearing in the journal Nature Climate Change, have warned that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, global temperatures could exceed “safe” levels of two degrees Celsius in some regions of the world by 2060. Even if the 2C threshold is inevitable, reducing emissions now could delay that rise by up to several decades, giving us much needed time to adapt to climate change. These are the conclusions of new research by scientists from the...

Wildfire, insect outbreaks and hurricanes destroy huge amounts of forest every year and increase the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere, but scientists are now learning more about another force that can significantly affect their climate impact. Researchers conclude in a new study that the albedo effect, which controls the amount of energy reflected back into space, is important in the climatic significance of several types of major forest disturbances. In some cases –...

Cities release more heat to the atmosphere than the rural vegetated areas around them, but how much influence these urban "heat islands" have on global warming has been a matter of debate. Now a study by Stanford researchers has quantified the contribution of the heat islands for the first time, showing that it is modest compared with what greenhouse gases contribute to global warming. "Between 2 and 4 percent of the gross global warming since the Industrial Revolution may be due to urban...

Rising sea levels in the coming centuries is perhaps one of the most catastrophic consequences of rising temperatures. Massive economic costs, social consequences and forced migrations could result from global warming. But how frightening of times are we facing? Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute are part of a team that has calculated the long-term outlook for rising sea levels in relation to the emission of greenhouse gases and pollution of the atmosphere using climate models. The...