Tata Power registers another wind project under UNFCC

NEW DELHI: Tata Power today said its 50.4 MW wind energy plant in Gujarat has been registered under the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), making it the company's third project to be part of this framework.

Located in Samana, the project will come under Clean Development Mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

"Samana wind plant is Tata Power's third CDM registered project, with the 50.4 MW wind project at Khandke, Maharashtra & 25 MW solar project at

Mary Robinson: Climate Change’s Gender Gap

When she was still a small and bookish girl, holed up in the library of a Sacred Heart nuns’ school in Dublin, Mary Robinson read about towering human-rights figures—Eleanor Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi—and dreamed of doing something worthwhile with her life. Before long, and famously, she did: first, as one of Ireland’s youngest senators and a barrister taking up cases with the European Court of Human Rights; then, as Ireland’s first female president, promoting peace in Northern Ireland and reaching out to the country’s marginalized communities; and, from 1997 to 2002, as the United Nations’ high commissioner for human rights, bearing witness to, and calling for international action on, vicious conflicts and widespread suffering in places such as Kosovo, Sierra Leone, East Timor, and Chechnya.

Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson speaks during a press conference in April 2011. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty, file)

Climate change adaptation as a new academic discipline

The world of higher education is beginning to recognize adaptation to climate change as a major research topic and an academic discipline, according to one of the world’s leading adaptation specialists, Saleemul Huq.

“Adaptation is no longer about analytical framing: it’s a learning-by-doing process,” said Huq, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London and a member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

As U.S. Cleans Its Energy Mix, It Ships Coal Problems Abroad

The port of Norfolk, Virginia, seen here in 1970, is the largest U.S. facility for exporting coal. It saw a surge of activity last year as U.S. coal exports increased 17 percent to set a new record.

Photograph by Charles Rotkin, Corbis

Thomas K. Grose

For National Geographic News

Published March 15, 2013

Ready for some good news about the environment? Emissions of carbon dioxide in the United States are declining. But don't celebrate just yet. A major side effect of that cleaner air in the U.S. has been the further darkening of skies over Europe and Asia.

The United States essentially is exporting a share of its greenhouse gas emissions in the form of coal, data show. If the trend continues, the dramatic changes in energy use in the United States—in particular, the switch from coal to newly abundant natural gas for generating electricity—will have only a modest impact on global warming, observers warn. The Earth's atmosphere will continue to absorb heat-trapping CO2, with a similar contribution from U.S. coal. It will simply be burned overseas instead of at home. 

Environmental threats could push billions into extreme poverty, warns UN

A Filipino boy washes his face in murky waters in Manila. Inaction on the environment will accelerate global poverty, warns the UN. Photograph: Francis R Malasig/EPAAdd caption

The number of people living in extreme poverty could increase by up to 3 billion by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to tackle environmental challenges, a major UN report warned on Thursday.

The 2013 Human Development Report hails better than expected progress on health, wealth and education in dozens of developing countries but says inaction on climate change, deforestation, and air and water pollution could end gains in the world's poorest countries and communities.

Climate Change Infographics

Climate Change is Real!

Thanks to extensive research and noticeable changes in weather and storm prevalence, it’s getting harder to turn a blind eye to the reality of climate change. Since the Industrial Age spurred the increasing usage of fossil fuels for energy production, the weather has been warming slowly. In fact, since 1880, the temperature of the earth has increased by 1 degree Celsius.

Although 72% of media outlets report on global warming with a skeptical air, the overwhelming majority of scientists believe that the extreme weather of the last decade is at least partially caused by global warming. Some examples of climate calamities caused partly by global warming include:

• Hurricane Katrina
• Drought in desert countries
• Hurricane Sandy
• Tornadoes in the Midwest