Environment

Stopping deforestation by 2020 is nearly possible

To the WWF : “ It’s possible to reduce deforestation to near zero by 2020, but delaying action to save forests by even a decade means double the area of forests lost by 2030 “ ” The report finds that reducing deforestation to near zero would also bring global emissions from forest destruction close to […]

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Global weirding and warming at my doorstep

I wanted to write about how I am witnessing the weirding and warming climate myself. So far, France has seen an incredibly dry spring with dramatic droughts to the point of endangering many cultures. Then, summer came, with rain, a lot of it. It was one of the rainiest summers I had seen. You would

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Coal is the enemy of the human race

The Economist noted as early as 2002 that coal is the environmental enemy number one. Yet, it is still used a lot to generate electricity at cheap prices. But this doesn’t even make economic sense. To Grist : ” Electricity from coal imposes more damages on the U.S. economy than the electricity is worth. That’s

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How the EU could go for 30% emissions reduction

Yesterday I was fortunate to attend a conference given by Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet – known here by her initials, NKM –  the incumbent Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development of France. Green causes are going forward in France as she is at the top of this most important Minister and I am sure that the many achievements

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Global CO2 emissions up by 45% since 1990

CleanTechies gives us some data on something absolutely terrible for a global future : ” Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) increased by 45 % between 1990 and 2010, and reached an all-time high of 33 billion tons in 2010. “ ” Increased energy efficiency, nuclear energy and the growing contribution of renewable energy are

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The legacy of Wangari Maathai

You might not have read this name before, and this despite the six times it has been featured on my blog but Wangari Maathai – who died on Sunday at the age of 71 – was a famous environmentalist, well-known for her Green Belt Movement. This is also why she was awarded the Nobel Peace

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China’s cancer villages

To the Guardian : ” Nationwide, cancer rates have surged since the 1990s to become the nation’s biggest killer. In 2007, the disease was responsible for one in five deaths, up 80% since the start of economic reforms 30 years earlier. ” While the government insists it is cleaning up pollution far faster than other

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Forests are more important on climate change

To Sustainablog : ” It turns out we’ve been underestimating the benefits created by forests in the last case: a new study published in Science shows that “Forests play an even greater role in Earth’s climate system than previously known.” ” According to an AP report on the study, “Wooded areas across the planet soak

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Earth is home of 8.7 million species

Here are some stunning news. To TreeHugger : ” Scientists have just completed the most accurate tally of the planet’s species yet (though the projection still has a pretty healthy margin of error). The magic number?” ” 8.7 million, according to the study, which was recently published in the journal PLoS Biology. But the amazing

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Species moving fast because of climate change

According to Cleantechies : “A new study finds that animal and plant species are responding to the effects of climate change at a rate two to three times faster than previously believed. Researchers in the Department of Biology at the University of York in the United Kingdom found that in more than 2,000 instances, species

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