Climate change has continued to dominate environmental science in the past year. There are plenty of other issues out there, though, whether it's a surprise cause of diabetes, or the precious metals we leave behind in waste dumps. NewScientist.com is now making free all in-depth articles from the past 12 months. In case you missed them, here are the top 10 best features on environmental science. Climate change: The next ten years Weather forecasts let us know to expect rain, wind, sunshine or snow in the next few days. Climate predictions tell us what's going to happen in the distant future. But what about between these extremes: will global warming affect our lives in the next few years? Is the diabetes epidemic down to pollution? Diabetes is on the rise, but exactly why remains a mystery. In recent years, researchers have identified a surprising link. The diseases turns up more frequently, it seems, in people who have been exposed to substances including dioxins, PCBs and DDT - a class of compounds known as persistent organic pollutants. What is your dinner doing to the climate? The food we eat generates twice as much greenhouse gas as the cars we drive. If we want to be good to the environment, it's not just cars we should be thinking about… Save the climate by saving the forests The cheapest way to reduce global carbon emissions is to stop deforestation, so why not pay developing countries to protect their rainforests? It's a great idea in theory, but in practice there's an unpalatable twist: the people who will benefit are not those who want to save trees, but the "bad guys" who want to destroy them. The greening of Silicon Valley Silicon Valley has had an epiphany. Buzzwords such as "Web 2.0" have been dropped in favour of phrases such as "clean tech". Could the world's most resilient, inventive culture deliver us from the worst of global warming? A group of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists is betting on it. Is climate change causing an upsurge in US tornadoes? Tornadoes struck early in 2008. Wisconsin and Washington were hit by rare January twisters. In early February, a storm system across the southern states spawned 84 tornadoes, the worst for 23 years. Is global warming to blame? There's gold in them there landfills If you want proof of the maxim "one man's trash is another man's treasure", look no further than your local waste dump. It turns out that 1 tonne of scrap from discarded PCs contains more gold than 16 tonnes of ore. Welcome to the strange world of landfill mining… Ice ages take place on Earth with a regular rhythm, and a characteristic pattern is seen in methane and carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. But starting 7000 years ago, CO2 and methane diverged from that pattern. Had they not done so, we would be heading for another ice age. So what happened? Were early humans to blame? When crocodiles roamed the Arctic The last great warming of Earth took place 250 million years ago. Then, the Antarctic was a land of almost subtropical forests, while the Arctic Ocean was a giant freshwater lake inhabited by crocodile-like reptiles. This "hothouse" period offers us new insights into our past and perhaps a glimpse of the future. Bog barons: Indonesia's carbon catastrophe Indonesian companies are draining and clear-felling peat bogs to build palm-oil plantations and provide Europe with biofuels. Yet ironically draining the peat will release 30 times as much CO2 as will be saved by replacing fossil fuels with biofuels. If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, pleasecontact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to. Have your sayPeak Oil Is More Important, And SoonerSun Dec 14 14:52:36 GMT 2008 by Clifford J. Wirth, Ph. d. Independent studies conclude that global crude oil production will now decline from 74 million barrels per day to 60 million barrels per day by 2015. During the same time, demand will increase. Oil supplies will be even tighter for the U.S. As oil producing nations consume more and more oil domestically they will export less and less. Because demand is high in China, India, the Middle East, and other oil producing nations, once global oil production begins to decline, demand will always be higher than supply. And since the U.S. Represents one fourth of global oil demand, whatever oil we conserve will be consumed elsewhere. Thus, conservation in the U.S. Will not slow oil depletion rates significantly. Bob BaronsMon Dec 15 09:54:00 GMT 2008 by Eliza Olson I would like permission to attach teh article "Bog Barons: Indonesia's carbon catastrohe to our website http://www. All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us. If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support. |
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