The Gaia Reports

Global Warming  101 by Theodora Filis Global warming is happening now and its effects are being felt in the US and around the world. Among the expected consequences of global warming is an increase in the heaviest rain and snow storms, fueled by increased evaporation and the ability of a warmer atmosphere to hold more moisture. Recent studies show extreme rainstorms and snowstorms have became more frequent and produced more total precipitation across much of the contiguous US over the past 60 years.  An increase in extreme downpours has costly ramifications for the US, with the potential to cause more flooding that jeopardizes property and lives. With scientists predicting even greater increases in extreme precipitation in the years ahead, the United States and the world must take action to reduce pollution that contributes to global warming. Scientists report that some polar bears are drowning because they have to swim longer distances to reach ...

By Theodora Filis Until this week, Europeans had been enjoying an unusually mild winter with spring-like temperatures in many cities. Scientists say a string of freezing European winters, scattered over the last decade, has been driven in large part by global warming. The recent week-long cold wave, with temperatures plunging as low as minus 32 degrees Celsius, has claimed hundreds of lives so far. Snow has stranded travelers across the continent with roads blocked, airplanes grounded, and trains unable to move. The snow is forecast to intensify before easing on Saturday, February 4, 2012. Big Freeze tightens its grip on Europe Meteorologists blame the weather on a strong high-pressure system that has pushed cold Siberian air across the continent. According to a new study Arctic's receding surface ice, which at current rates of decline, could disappear entirely during summer months by century's end – tripling the chances that future winters in Europe and no...

By Theodora Filis An increase in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is causing a great deal of controversy and fear over methods used to extract oil and gas from shale rock formations – both environmentally, and in terms of its effects on human health. Environmental and health concerns have people around the world calling for a ban on natural gas drilling. The global warming effects of methane in natural gas are many times greater than the global warming effects of car From the Permian Basin (western Texas and the southeastern part of New Mexico) to the Paris Basin, from Pennsylvania to Poland it is clear that in the next 20 years, the global natural gas industry will not only be far bigger and more valuable than it is in 2011, but it will also be much more diversified. Communities around the world will be faced with costs for baseline testing of water pollutants, emergency response, health department monitoring of complaints, property tax assessment changes, building and repairing roads,...

By Theodora Filis The State of Massachusetts has set the highest possible reduction requirement for greenhouse gas emissions allowed under state environmental legislation. Massachusetts will seek to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels over the next 10 years, giving the state one of the strictest emissions codes in the country under new regulations. Energy Secretary, Ian Bowles, announced the legally binding targets last week after a two-year review process, choosing the most stringent emissions control level available under the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act, which set the parameters for reductions by 2020 of between 10 percent and 25 percent. The plan incorporates electricity production, transportation, and other non-energy emissions policies, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions from plastics, developing a market for solar thermal water and space heating, and using trees around buildings for better cooling. Secretary Bowles suggested...