News on Earth Science

Climate change cited as Mont. leases suspended

2010-03-18T17:30:15Z

<div id="subtitle">Oil and gas leases on 38,000 acres in Montana suspended over climate change</div><div><p>A federal judge has approved a first-of-its-kind settlement requiring the government to suspend 38,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana so it can gauge how oil field activities contribute to climate change.</p><p>At issue are the greenhouse gases emitted by drilling machinery and industry practices such...

USGS seismologist warns of more Chile aftershocks

2010-03-18T16:00:11Z

<div id="subtitle">USGS seismologist says powerful aftershocks from Chile quake to continue, possibly reach 7.0</div><div><p>A U.S. seismologist says Chileans will continue to feel aftershocks from last month's megaquake for a year or longer.</p><p>Walter Mooney of the U.S. Geological Su...

NOAA head details reforms of fishery enforcement

2010-03-18T15:01:21Z

<div id="subtitle">NOAA head details fishery enforcement reforms, seeks justification of penalties after report</div><div><p>The nation's oceans chief on Thursday detailed reforms on the ways fishermen are policed, including a proposal to force her agency to better justify penalties against them.</p><p>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin...

Polar bear, bluefin tuna trade bans rejected

2010-03-18T14:45:23Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Proposed international trade bans on polar bears and Atlantic bluefin tuna failed to pass on Thursday at a 175-nation meeting aimed at protecting endangered species.</p><p>The United States favored both bans and was disappointed in the vote, but held out hope for passage of a resolution that would make climate change a ...

EU understates emissions from oil: biodiesel lobby

2010-03-18T10:45:14Z

<div><p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is not taking full account of the environmental impact of oil-based road transport fuels, which could undermine the bloc's renewable energy goals, European biodiesel producers said on Thursday.</p><p>The EU uses greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-based...

US ambassador urges China cooperation on Iran

2010-03-18T04:15:23Z

<div id="subtitle">US ambassador urges disputes with China be separated from cooperation on international issues</div><div><p>Beijing needs to take seriously American concerns about the value of the Chinese currency, but bilateral disputes should not impede cooperation on global issues such as climate change and UN meeting</div><div><p>A U.S.-backed proposal to ban the international trade of polar bear skins, teeth and claws was defeated Thursday at a U.N. wildlife meeting over concerns it would hurt indigenous economies and arguments the practice didn't pose a significant ...

More regulation needed for Canada oil sands: report

2010-03-17T15:15:47Z

<div><p>CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Steam-driven projects to extract crude from Canada's oil sands, often held up as more environmentally friendly than mining, have major drawbacks of their own that require more stringent regulation to fix, an environmental think tank said on Wednesda...

The quest for energy solutions

2010-03-17T11:46:02Z

<div id="subtitle">The essential role of private enterprise</div><div><p>After a great deal of hype and hope, the Copenhagen climate summit produced no more than a vague promise to continue to work together. The only real point of consensus was to agree to meet again in November in Mexico to continue the discussions. </p><p>Last month, we noted the lack of measurabl...

Climate debated should be reframed: Malidives president

2010-03-17T09:18:33Z

<div><p>The climate change debate should be reframed in economic and security terms ahead of a year-end UN summit in Mexico seeking a binding climate deal, the president of the Maldives said Wednesday.</p><p>A price tag needs to be put on "the extent to which we destroy the atmosphere, the extent to which we pollute the at...

Govt ads banned over climate change claims

2010-03-17T03:16:01Z

<div><p>Advertising watchdog has banned two government adverts for overstating the threat from climate change, it said on Wednesday.</p><p>The adverts used nursery rhymes including "Jack and Jill" to highlight the impact of global warming, but the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said they exaggerated the risk.</p><p>"Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pai...

Bolivia summit to seek global climate change referendum

2010-03-16T20:17:43Z

<div><p>An alternative "people's conference" on climate change in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba in April will seek to advance an international global warming referendum, organizers said.</p><p>"The only thing that can save mankind from a (climate) tragedy is the exercise of global democracy," said Bolivia's United Nati...

British ads banned over climate change claims

2010-03-16T20:17:42Z

<div><p>Britain's advertising watchdog has banned two government adverts for overstating the threat from climate change, it said.</p><p>The adverts used nursery rhymes including "Jack and Jill" to highlight the impact of global warming, but the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said they exaggerated the risk.</p&g...

Ads banned over climate change claims

2010-03-16T18:15:25Z

NOAA warns of big floods after fierce winter

2010-03-16T10:31:17Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - A huge snowpack from a harsh winter will cause extensive flooding this spring in the upper Midwest and in the major corn-growing state of Iowa, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said on Tuesday.</p><p>"We are looking at potentially historic flooding in some parts of the country this spring," Moorhead, Minn., the government confirmed residents' fears Tuesday, forecasting major flooding in the Midwest following a wetter than normal winter.</p><p>UN climate envoy expects talks to increasingly move away from UN format</div><div><p>Talks on a new global climate change accord, bogged down for years in contested negotiations among nearly 200 countries, will increasingly move outside the sluggish U.N. framework and focus on a streamlined group of countries, special U.N. envoy NASA, taken in Dec. 2009, shows a Lyssianasid amphipod, which is related to a shrimp, where a NASA team lowered a video camera to get the first long look at the underbelly of an ice sheet and a curious shrimp-like creature came swimming by and then even parked itself on the cable attached to the camera. In a surprising discovery that shakes the idea of where higher life can thrive, scientists for the first time foun...

Gov't pledges to improve strained China ties

2010-03-16T04:15:47Z

<div><p>Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi pledged Tuesday to work together to strengthen ties after the two nations clashed over human rights, climate change and Iran's nuclear drive.</p><p>"I come here in the spirit of partnership as we face common challenges together," visiting Miliba...

China, Britain pledge to improve strained ties

2010-03-16T02:22:12Z

<div><p>The British and Chinese foreign ministers pledged Tuesday to work together to strengthen ties after the two nations clashed over human rights, climate change and Iran's nuclear drive.</p><p>"I come here in the spirit of partnership as we face common challenges together," visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said at talks with his Chinese counterpart