Researchers in the US have identified yet another problem that’s causing us to consume too much fossil fuel and generate more greenhouse gases: food waste. In fact, since 1974, per capita food waste in the US has increased by some 50 per cent, amounting to 1,400 kilocalories per person per day or a total of 150 trillion kilocalories per year. That extent of waste accounts for more than one-fourth of the nation’s freshwater use and some 300 million barrels of oil every year, the re... Read Full Story

What do you think about efforts to reduce carbon emissions? Are we not aiming high enough? Aiming too high? You can have your say and help spark some constructive discussion via the Carbon Conversation, Greenbang’s new poll in association with Cisco. Just click here now to get started — it takes only five minutes, plus you get a chance to win one of four Freeloader Solar Chargers for your mobile, iPod or camera. The poll lets you tell us your views on green energy issues. It’... Read Full Story

Carbon labelling could unfairly disadvantage economies in the developing world and mislead consumers, according to new research findings. Working on behalf of the UK Research Councils’ Rural Economy and Land Use Programme, researchers at the universities of Bangor and Surrey investigated the wider implications of providing detailed carbon footprint information on food labels. They found that current approaches to carbon labelling may not be an accurate guide to sustainability, and could... Read Full Story

Climate negotiators meeting in Copenhagen next month might or might not come up with an agreed-upon treatment for the planet’s fever, but the diagnosis from the world’s scientists is loud and clear: the globe is warming faster than anyone predicted and it’s vital that we start cutting carbon emissions fast. “Our available emissions to ensure a reasonably secure climate future are just about used up,” said Matthew England, a co-author of the new study, ARC Federat... Read Full Story

Jurdy discovers another planetary problem … Related posts:Jurdy: Bad air dayJurdy: Inauguration day distractionsJurdy: The perils of DIY Read Full Story

Greenbang’s weekly Climate Change Index tracks research findings and events directly attributable to global warming. Our aim is to provide a numerical, week-to-week indicator of climate change developments. Items that qualify for listing in each week’s index include new climate data published in peer-reviewed academic journals and extreme weather incidents or other natural events that are likely directly linked to the global warming trend. (And, no, climate change has not been called of... Read Full Story

Winds and tides might not be the only ocean-mixing factors affecting climate change; two scientists from the California Institute of Technology say marine-dwelling creatures could also have a significant impact as they swim through the seas. Researchers Kakani Katija and John Dabiri at the California Institute of Technology have developed a way to estimate the extent of “biogenic” mixing by marine animals. After conducting field measurements on swimming jellyfish, they built model... Read Full Story

A group of researchers in the US is envisioning a future in which small devices on planes and automobiles could “scavenge” kinetic energy to generate electricity for control panels and other uses. The team from the City College of New York (CCNY) is presenting its concept for such piezoelectric devices, which convert motion energy into electricity, at this week’s annual meeting of the American Physical Society in Minneapolis. About a half-inch by one inch in size, these devi... Read Full Story

Scientists have devised a new way for storing hydrogen, a breakthrough that could pave the way for new hydrogen technologies. Researchers at the Carnegie Institution have found that high pressure can be used to make a unique hydrogen-storage material. They found that the normally unreactive, noble gas xenon combines with molecular hydrogen (H2) under pressure to form a previously unknown solid with unusual bonding chemistry. It’s the first time these elements have been combined to form ... Read Full Story

A team of researchers recently made a surprising discovery: much of the Earth’s most valuable mineral ores exist thanks to an ancient atmosphere that was oxygen-poor but higher in sulphur. The scientists based their conclusions on geochemical clues from rocks nearly 3 billion years old. Such ancient ores — iron-nickel sulphide deposits in particular — yield 10 per cent of the world’s annual nickel production.  They formed for the most part between 2 and 3 billion years... Read Full Story