Europe Turns Back to Coal, Raising Climate Fears   [archive]
by Elizabeth Rosenthal, New York Times, 4/23/2008
Driven by rising demand, record high oil and natural gas prices, concerns over energy security and an aversion to nuclear energy, European countries are expected to put into operation about 50 coal-fired plants over the next five years, plants that will be in use for the next five decades.

Polar Bears 'At Risk' in Canada   [archive]
by Lee Carter, BBC, 4/26/2008
Polar bears in Canada are at risk from climate change but not threatened with extinction, a panel of experts has advised the Canadian government.

Snap into Action for the Climate   [archive]
by Mike Tidwell, Orion Magazine, May/June 2008 Issue
Our climate system isn’t just “changing.” It’s not just “warming.” It’s snapping, violently, into a whole new regime right before our eyes. A fantastic spasm of altered weather patterns is crashing down upon our heads right now.

Hints of Methane's Renewed Rise   [archive]
by Richard Black, BBC, 4/242008
Our climate system isn’t just “changing.” It’s not just “warming.” It’s snapping, violently, into a whole new regime right before our eyes. A fantastic spasm of altered weather patterns is crashing down upon our heads right now.

Science

Climate 'Fix' Could Deplete Ozone   [archive]
by Helen Briggs, BBC, 4/25/2008
Research has cast new doubt on the wisdom of using Sun-blocking sulphate particles to cool the planet. Sulphate injections are one of several "geo-engineering" solutions to climate change being discussed by scientists.

North Pole Could Be Ice-Free in 2008  [archive]
by Catherine Brahic, New Scientist, 4/25/2008
As the smog of pollution has cleared from the skies, a true measurement of global warming can finally be made. The cleaner, clearer skies mean measurements of warming temperatures are not confused by smog. So the current measurements of a 0.04 °C warming per year can be taken as the true signal of man-made global warming.

Human Warming Hobbles Ancient Climate Cycle: Study  [archive]
from Reuters, 4/27/2008
Before humans began burning fossil fuels, there was an eons-long balance between carbon dioxide emissions and Earth's ability to absorb them, but now the planet can't keep up, scientists say. The finding, reported in the journal Nature Geoscience, relies on ancient Antarctic ice bubbles that contain air samples going back 610,000 years.

Extreme Ocean Storms on the Rise, Tremors Show   [archive]
by Kimberly Johnson, National Geographic, 4/25/2008
Extreme ocean storms have ramped up in frequency over the past 30 years, according to new research based on small tremors. The faint tremors, called microseisms, are periodic movements of Earth's surface that can last anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds. The new findings, while still in their early stages, could be used to test long-held theories about whether global warming leads to more violent ocean storms, Aster added.

Carbon Market

U.S. Hybrid Sales up 38% in 2007  [archive]
by Dee-Ann Durbin, AP, 4/22/08
U.S. registrations of new hybrid vehicles rose 38 percent in 2007 to a record 350,289, according to data released Monday by R.L. Polk & Co., a Southfield, Mich.-based automotive marketing and research company.

Airline Industry Aims for 'Carbon Neutral Growth  [archive]
by Laura MacInnis, Reuters, 4/23/2008
Aircraft makers, airlines, airports and air traffic controllers pledged on Tuesday to work towards "carbon-neutral growth" and reduce their industry's contribution to global warming.

Time for CEOs to Face Climate Change  [archive]
by Scott Malone, Reuters, 4/15/2008
Chief executives can no longer brush off concerns about climate change but need to start figuring out how global warming -- and regulations intended to curtail it -- will affect their businesses: so asserts a new book.

Politics/Legislation

Survey Finds Bush Administration Interfering with EPA Scientists [archive]
by J.R. Pegg, Environment News Service, 4/24/2008
The Bush administration has frequently meddled with scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to a survey released today by a scientific advocacy group. The Union of Concerned Scientists reports that nearly two-thirds of the 1,586 staff EPA scientists who responded to a questionnaire complained of recent political interference with their work.

The Slippery Politics of Carbon Emissions [archive]
by Nick Louth, MSN, 4/25/2008
A commentary on how events like the UN's conferences on climate change and Al Gore's image illustrate how complicated the "politics of climate change" have become.