Climate Change

Legal & Policy Pathways for Energy InnovationApril 24-25, 2013University of Minnesota Watch the video

As recently as 20 years ago, there were an estimated 50,000 rivers in China, each covering a flow area of at least 60 square miles. But now, according to China's First National Census of Water, more than 28,000 of these rivers are missing. To put this number into context, China's lost rivers are almost equivalent, in terms of basin area, to the United States losing the entire Mississippi River. Why have these rivers "vanished" from the maps and national records?

From Indonesia to Mexico, members of indigenous and forest communities have marched in protest against market-based strategies for climate change mitigation in forests. In particular, they have expressed concern about how forest-based carbon offsets associated with REDD+ may affect their land rights and access to resources. REDD+ aims to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) in developing countries, but also includes sustainable forest management, and the conservation and enhancement of carbon stocks (the plus).

In Climate Myths: The Campaign Against Climate Science, Dr. John J. Berger deconstructs the climate change denialists' myths in simple, easy-to-read terms.

Hundreds of billions of dollars in the developing world are funding subsidies for fossil fuel energy, including petroleum, electricity, and natural gas. Joseph Aldy, assistant professor of public policy, is currently research the economic and environmental impacts of these subsidies. He presented a snapshot of his latest research during an Energy Policy Seminar on Monday (March 25).

It was the day the ocean came ashore. We watched in horror as Hurricane Sandy lurched into the East Coast last October. Floodwaters surged into Manhattan and inundated more than 70 percent of Atlantic City. Months later, people in New Jersey and other parts of the East Coast are still trying to pick up the pieces.

"We spend almost all of our time indoors and this can impact public health in a negative way," the University of California's William Nazaroff told environmentalresearchweb. "If we don't pay attention to this issue, the forces of climate change will make things worse."

For those of you adaptation fans out there who couldn’t make it to Denver the first week of April, you missed out on an event that is getting rave reviews.

1999 Switzer Fellow Erika Zavaleta strives to bridge ecological theory and research to sound conservation and management practice in her work and personal life. Between 2008 and 2010, she and husband Bernie Tershy worked with Anni Tilt of Berkeley-based Arkin Tilt Architects and Santa Cruz builder Marc Susskind to design and build a home that did just that.