Tag Archives: coal

As sea ice shrinks, Arctic shipping options expand

On October 7, 2013, the Nordic Orion bulk carrier ship completed its journey from Vancouver, Canada, to Pori, Finland, having traveled northward around Alaska and through the Northwest Passage. It was the first large commercial freighter ever to make the voyage through these typically ice-covered Arctic waters. Avoiding the longer journey, through the Panama Canal, […] … learn more→

Fossil fuel use pushes Carbon Dioxide emissions into dangerous territory

Increasing global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a heat-trapping gas, are pushing the world into dangerous territory, closing the window of time to avert the worst consequences of higher temperatures, such as melting ice and rising seas. Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels have grown exponentially. Despite wide […] … learn more→

On Arctic Sea ice melt and coal mine canaries

Despite peak global temperatures in 2005 and 2010 (unprecedented in the instrumental record), a recent sharp plunge in volume of the Arctic Sea ice and a spate of extreme weather events, coal mining, coal exports and carbon emissions continue to grow, overwhelming any mitigation attempted by schemes such as the Australian carbon price. And although […] … learn more→

Researchers challenge study on hydrofracking\’s gas footprint

A Cornell study\’s contention that hydraulic fracturing would be worse for climate change than burning coal is being challenged by another study, also by Cornell researchers. In April 2011, Robert Howarth, the David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and colleagues published a study in Climatic Change Letters concluding that methane leakage from […] … learn more→

Solar energy incentives around the world

Sunlight is an unlimited source of non-polluting energy. Most power plants currently produce electricity with steam turbines. The heat to generate the steam is supplied by the combustion of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, or coal. Staggering volumes of carbon dioxide gas are produced through the combustion process. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse […] … learn more→

Stress causes clogs in coffee and coal

It\’s easy to get in a jam. But it\’s much harder to explain exactly how or when it started. Scientists still aren\’t sure what causes clogs in flowing macroscopic particles, like corn, coffee beans and coal chunks. But new experiments by Duke physicist Robert Behringer and his colleagues suggest that when particles undergo a force […] … learn more→