It’s hard to keep track of all the greenhouse gases that are steadily collecting in the atmosphere – from auto emissions and coal plants to methane emissions from cattle and landfills. Fortunately, Ecofys has created an easy-to-understand infographic that breaks down the source and sector of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters.

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Post tags: carbon emissions, coal, coal power, deforestation, global emissions, green transportation, greenhouse gases, methane emissions, Waste, waste storage

For the first time in up to five million years, the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is about to reach 400 parts per million (ppm). Former NASA scientist James Hansen warned that levels over 350ppm would destabilize the earth’s climate, but now we have far exceeded that figure with a record-breaking weekly average of 398.5ppm recorded on Monday, The Guardian reports. Researchers at the Earth Systems Research Laboratory in Hawaii expect we will hit the 400ppm milestone in May, 2013.

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Post tags: atmospheric concentration of CO2, carbon dioxide, Earth Systems Research Lab, emissions, environmental destruction, fossil fuels, global warming, globalization, greenhouse gases, hawaii, heat trapping greenhouse gases, james hansen, Mauna Loa Station, Meat, nasa, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, usa

Read the rest of Project Nomad: Mobile Skyscrapers Could Terraform Mars for Human Colonization

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Post tags: "skyscraper competition", atmosphere, Evolo 2013, greenhouse gases, Inspiration mars, mars mission, mars project nomad, mars terraforming, minerals, mobile skyscrapers, project nomad, terraforming

Sometimes it is difficult not to get bogged down in numbers when talking about carbon emissions; it is hard to imagine the nearly 6-million tons that the United States spews into the atmosphere every year. Enter Robbie Tilton and his amazing carbon emissions globe. The globe is a digital simulation of the world’s emissions in an interactive display. Emissions are represented by a smoke-like plume on a slowly rotating planet and, as you can imagine, it paints a very scary picture.

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Post tags: 3D Carbon Emissions, 3D Emissions Globe, 3D Pollution Visualization, Carbon Emissions 2006, carbon emissions 2010, Carbon Emissions Globe, Greenhouse gas visualization, greenhouse gases, robbie tilton

In 2011, we published a story that non-native earthworms were a threat to the US as they were releasing more carbon into the atmosphere. Now a new Dutch/US study has revealed that it’s not just non-native earthworms that accelerate carbon release, but ALL earthworms. However, the report, which was published in the Nature journal, states that it is not so much the earthworms’ fault, but the soil in which they live.

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Post tags: carbon dioxide, Climate Change, earthworms, greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gases, nature journal, nitrous oxide, soil, US study

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Post tags: carbon emissions, clean tech, Design for Health, eco design, green design, greenhouse gases, haiti, Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, Partners in Health, photovoltaic, port-au-prince, renewable energy, Solar Power, sustainable design, white roof, World's Largest Solar-Powered Hospital

A new study has found that the waste heat generated by cities could affect temperatures over a thousand miles away. The heat produced through transportation, heating and cooling units and other sources within major cities in the North Hemisphere causes winter warming across large areas of northern Asia and North America. According to researchers from the University of California, Florida State University and National Center for Atmospheric Research, some remote areas have experienced temperature increases of one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

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Post tags: Climate Change, global temperature change, global warming, greenhouse gases, heat island effect, scientific research, transportation emissions, US National Center for Atmospheric Research, waste heat cities

Just as scientists are warning us that we are reaching the point of no return when it comes to stopping climate change, Greenpeace has released a report showing that multiple massive new “carbon bomb” projects are in the works. Fourteen new coal, gas and oil projects in countries from the US to Australia are in progress and if they come to fruition, threaten to add massive amounts of carbon to the global environment.

Read the rest of 14 New ‘Carbon Bomb’ Fossil Fuel Projects Threaten to Increase Global Emissions by 20 Percent

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Post tags: 2013 Climate Report, Carbon Emissions Increasing, Ecofys Environmental Report, global warming policy, greenhouse gases, Greenpeace Climate Change Report, Point of No Return Report

The cotton industry consumes a pile of water and emits significant greenhouse gases, but new research reveals that growing cotton in Africa exacts a smaller ecological price. Cotton Made in Africa commissioned Hamburg-based Systain to conduct an independent study as part of an Aid by Trade Foundation initiative to determine the carbon and water footprint of African smallholders. It turns out that their cotton plantations emit 70 percent less carbon dioxide and consume 18,000 liters less water per kilogram of cotton lint than conventional operations such as those in Pakistan.

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Post tags: Africa, aid by trade foundation, carbon dioxide emissions, carbon footprint, clothing, cotton, ecological footprint, greenhouse gases, Pakistan, water footprint

Did you know that the Christmas time tradition of adorning an evergreen tree with ornaments dates back to Latvia in 1510 when the first decorated tree was recorded? Or that Thomas Edison’s assistant Edward Johnson first proposed to mass produce electric lights for trees? Albeit simple at first, these innocent ideas have turned into a racket for western consumers who devour millions of trees every holiday season. That equates to a lot of greenery that could be used to sponge up greenhouse gases. So we came up with a simple list of four ways to keep those trees out of the landfill once the time comes to pack away the holiday decorations. Hit the jump to learn more.

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Post tags: christmas tree, christmas tree alternatives, Design, Edward Johnson, electric lights, greenhouse gases, holiday season, Latvia, Recycled Materials, recycling, sustainable design, thomas edison

Researchers at Lund University and Stockholm University in Sweden recently discovered that spruces, pines, and firs are exceptionally adept at absorbing methane, a greenhouse gas that’s about 25 times more harmful as carbon dioxide. Previous studies speculated that these types of trees actually emitted methane, but this study suggests that trees might be rising to the challenge, actually sucking methane out of the atmosphere in addition to carbon dioxide. If accurate, the study makes yet another case for protecting existing forests, planting more spruce, pines, and firs, and not cutting them down for use as Christmas trees!

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Post tags: christmas tree, Climate Change, forests, greenhouse gases, methane, Sweden, Trees

On the heels of the recent COP 18 climate conference in Qatar, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported that global coal use is on the rise. Without controls to make one of the most polluting fossil fuels on earth less economically attractive, by 2017 the world will be burning as much coal as oil, the IEA warns. This would make redundant all other efforts to arrest climate change and imperil millions of people around the world.

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Post tags: acid rain, carbon, carbon dioxide emissions, Climate Change, coal, Environment, global warming, greenhouse gases, IEA, natural gas, News, shale gas, sulphur

At the very last minute, 200 nations agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol to 2020 while a successor to the legally binding agreement on curbing greenhouse gas emissions is re-worded by 2015. While many attendants of the UN climate talks in Doha believed the meeting to be a colossal failure, the addition of a Loss and Damage clause calling for developed nations to stockpile up to $10 billion per year up to 2020 is seen by some as a watershed moment for climate talks.

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Post tags: Climate Change, COP18, Doha, emissions cuts, environmental news, global warming, greenhouse gases, hot air, kyoto protocol, loss and damage mechanism, qatar

The 18th Conference of the Parties or COP18 ends today in colossal failure. Not only have the negotiations failed to produce any meaningful emissions cuts, but ‘Hot Air’ permits that allow countries like Poland and Russia to maintain their heavy industries may even result in more emissions. Talks have stalled for a host of reasons, though most developing nations blame rich countries like the United States, Canada and Japan for refusing to sign an interim successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol that would bind them to emissions reductions.

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Post tags: Climate Change, COP18, Doha, emissions cuts, environmental news, global warming, greenhouse gases, hot air, kyoto protocol, loss and damage mechanism, qatar

A team of researchers from Arizona State University have developed a new software system that is capable of estimating greenhouse gas emissions across entire urban landscapes, all the way down to street level and individual buildings. The project, known as Hestia after the Greek goddess of home and hearth, allows the team to combine extensive public database “data-mining” with traffic simulation and building-by-building energy-consumption modeling.

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Post tags: Arizona State University, carbon emissions, environmental science and technology, greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gases, hestia, hestia system, urban landscapes, urban pollution

A new study just published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences calculates that the U.S. government is using a faulty model for estimating the damages of carbon pollution, undervaluing its costs by a factor of between 2.6 and 12 times. The study, conducted by Laurie Johnson, chief economist at the Climate Center of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Chris Hope, reader and fellow at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, shows that regulatory agencies are likely ignoring “the economic damages climate change will inflict on future generations,” Johnson writes on the NRDC staff blog.

Read the rest of New Study: Feds Underestimate Social Cost of Carbon Pollution by as Much as 12 Times

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Post tags: carbon dioxide, Chris Hope, Climate Change, CO2, coal, cost, damage, epa, federal government, global warming, greenhouse gases, Laurie Johnson, nrdc, Pollution, social cost of carbon, U.S. Government

A new study from the University of California has revealed that a vast reservoir of methane underneath the Antarctic ice sheet could be unleashed into the atmosphere if the ice melts. The report, which was published in the August 30 issue of Nature by an international team of scientists, noted that the Antarctic ice sheet is an overlooked but important source of methane, which is one of the planet’s most potent greenhouse gases.

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Post tags: antarctic ice sheet, antartic ice sheet, Climate Change, eco design, global warming, green design, greenhouse gases, methane, sustainable design, university of california, west antarctic ice sheet

Last year, we did an article on Resomation Ltd, a Scottish company that aims to combat the environmental impact of cremation by dissolving bodies in a commercial “alkaline hydrolysis” unit, called The Resomator. The firm has already set up a branch in Florida, but now they have opened up a second unit in the state of Minnesota.

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Post tags: alkaline hydrolysis, cremation, florida, green cremation, greenhouse gases, liquidation, Minnesota, resomation ltd, resomator

A new UCLA study demonstrates that climate change could cause temperatures throughout the Los Angeles region to rise by 4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit by mid-century. These results could mean a tripling of extremely hot days in downtown LA and even more misery in outlying populous areas including the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. Even if greenhouse gasses were cut globally, the Los Angeles area and its 18 million residents would still see temperatures increased to about 70 percent of projected levels.

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Post tags: Alex Hall, climate adaptation, Climate Change, climate change study, downtown los angeles, greenhouse gases, la climate change, la getting hotter, la temperatures rising, Los Angeles, los angeles temperatures rising, ucla

When a volcano erupts it sends thousands of tons of gases into the atmosphere – all of which can weaken the ozone layer. A team of German meteorologists studying giant eruptions in Nicaragua recently reported that due to the amount of ozone-depleting halogen gases already in the stratosphere (through man-made actions), if the world suffered a substantial eruption it could devastate the ozone layer.

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Post tags: American Geophysical Union’s Chapman Conference, emissions, GEOMAR, greenhouse gases, ozone layer, toxic gases, volcanic eruptions, volcano