Carbon future in black and white
<p>Making sense of recent energy trends can seem like a high-stakes Rorschach test. Some experts see the boom in renewable energy and the shift away from coal in many countries as evidence that the world
Jeff Tollefson
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Paying to save the rainforests
In Brazil, details are emerging for plans to stop deforestation. Can it serve as a model for other nations?
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US joins China in climate talks
The United States and China adjourned a new round of bilateral talks in Washington DC last week with the vague outline of a climate partnership. But the
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US Congress revives hydrogen vehicle research
US funding for hydrogen-fuelled transportation research got a boost on 17 July as the House of Representatives voted to restore $85 million to the research budget. The administration of President Barack Obama had proposed cutting the funds altogether.
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Insuring against climate
Farmers in the Ethiopian village of Adi Ha have been busy sowing fresh crops of grain in recent weeks, as is customary when their maize crops struggle because of drought. But this year, they have a second backstop against hunger: insurance.
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Developing nations tackle climate
Emissions targets, clean-energy projects and calls for justice are multiplying, reports Jeff Tollefson.
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Climate's smoky spectre
With their focus on greenhouse gases, atmospheric scientists have largely overlooked lowly soot particles. But black carbon is now a hot topic among researchers and politicians. Jeff Tollefson investigates.
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Climate burden of refrigerants rockets
Modern refrigerants designed to protect the ozone layer are poised to become a major contributor to global warming because of their future explosive growth in the developing world, scientists report this week.
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Climate talks snarled up
International climate negotiators muddled through the latest round of global-warming talks in Bonn, Germany, last week, overshadowed by independent bilateral negotiations in Beijing between the United States and China. Neither meeting produced any significant breakthroughs, and new disagreements seem to have outnumbered resolutions by a wide margin.
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US climate legislation advances
Landmark legislation to reduce US greenhouse-gas emissions advanced through a key committee on 21 May in the face of staunch Republican opposition.
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California in clean-fuel drive
The state of California has adopted regulations to curb greenhouse-gas emissions from transportation fuels, codifying evidence that biofuels are significantly dirtier than they were once thought to be.