Greatest Planet's news team gathers, sifts, selects and publishes climate change and global warming news from a variety of trusted global sources, large and small 24 hours a day. We recognize that the planet is in a historic state of rapid transformation moving into a critical period of crisis, change and opportunity. With this newsfeed we aim daily to deliver news and information that supports better environmental decisions and progressive coherent change. http://www.greatestplanet.org/index.html The world's biggest polluters agreed on Wednesday on the need for "deep cuts" in greenhouse gas emissions, but differences between developed and emerging economies kept them from setting specific targets. Climate change has been the most contentious topic at this year's Group of Eight summit in Japan, which the heads of big emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil were invited to join on the third and final day. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-G8-patches-up-climate-deal-others-want-more.html World Wildlife Fund (WWF) officials said today they have received confirmation that two people were killed and three injured in an attack on a WWF vehicle in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo on July 7. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-world-wildlife-fund-confirms-attack-on-WWF-vehicle.html Dubbed the "missing greenhouse gas," nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) was found by a recent study to have a global climate impact 17,000 times greater than carbon dioxide. The chemical is found in the LCD panels of cell phones, televisions, and computer monitors, as well as in semiconductors and synthetic diamonds. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-LCD-chemical-found-to-have-17000-times.html A Spanish bonanza of solar power subsidies may hit a serious brake in September as Madrid prepares to curb support, risking squeezed margins for the global industry, say investors and analysts. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-solar-industry-gets-jitters-as-spain-plans-retreat.html A small startup based in Santa Barbara, California is testing an alternative to carbon sequestration that, in a sense (perhaps more poetic than scientific), turns the second law of thermodynamics — entropy — on its head by taking waste CO2 and tailings from mining operations and turning the mix into materials of a “higher order”? for use in a variety of industrial, agricultural, and environmental applications. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-carbon-sciences-turning-carbon-emissions.html Ports authorities from around the world gathered in Rotterdam Wednesday to adopt a plan to cut CO2 emissions from the activities of some 100,000 large ships sailing global waters. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-world-ports-tackle-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html Damming of the Colorado River over the last century, alongside introduction of game fish species, has led to an extensive decline in numbers of native fish whilst introduced species have flourished. Scientists have found that physical changes which occur to a river when it is dammed have had an adverse effect only on native fish, due to differences in their life histories. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-river-damming-leads-to-dramatic-decline.html Dragging on a cigarette between his wrinkled lips, Hou Fengqi fingered a dusty bamboo bow and rusty iron-tipped arrows, before recounting his days as a "tiger hunting hero" in the rugged hills of southern China. "The first tiger was the largest, around 150kg, and when we carried it back to the village, everyone ran out and cheered," said Hou with a gap-toothed grin, casting his mind back to 1959. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-south-china-tigers-teeter-on-brink-of-extinction.html So the next climate deal is another watered down soapy substance now that China and India pulled the plug at the G8 meeting held in Japan. The stalemate that’s visible was exactly what was feared by everybody; diametrically opposed parties over the emissions by the world’s largest energy consuming countries. Time for a change in approach? Perhaps it's time for a change in accounting methods. Take China for instance. At least 23% of this country’s carbon emissions are from goods that are exported to industrialized countries. So is it fair that the country is held responsible for all of its emissions in the new climate deal? http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-what-if-chinas-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html Ever since the rise of the automobile in the 1950s, the American Dream has featured a home in the suburbs and two cars in the garage. Now the iconic white picket fence comes with a hefty price tag in the form of the cost of the gasoline needed to drive to work and to the supermarket, and the suburban idyll is under review. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-suburbs-feeling-the-pinch-as-fuel-prices-soar.html The Seattle City Council will hold a public hearing today on Mayor Greg Nickels’ proposal to ban foam containers and impose a plastic/paper bag fee at local stores. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-seattle-council-discussing-styrofoam-ban.html One difference between Renewable Energy Credits and Carbon Offsets is the way they are measured. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-whats-the-difference-between-carbon-offsets.html Scientists have announced the discovery of reef structures they believe doubles the size of the Southern Atlantic Ocean's largest and richest reef system, the Abrolhos Bank, off the southern coast of Brazil's Bahia state. The newly discovered area is also far more abundant in marine life than the previously known Abrolhos reef system, one of the world's most unique and important reefs. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-new-coral-reefs-teeming-with-marine-life.html While many plant species move to a new location or go extinct as a result of climate change, grasslands clinging to a steep, rocky dale-side in Northern England seem to defy the odds and adapt to long-term changes in temperature and rainfall, according to a new study by scientists from Syracuse University and the University of Sheffield (United Kingdom) published online in the July 7 issue of the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-some-plants-can-adapt-to-widespread-climate-change.html Argentine scientists are taking a novel approach to studying global warming -- strapping plastic tanks to the backs of cows to collect their burps. Researchers say the slow digestive system of cows makes them a producer of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that gets far less public attention than carbon dioxide in efforts to fight global warming. http://www.greatestplanet.org/ews-july-2008-cow-burps-help-argentines-study-climate-change.html Land degradation is becoming worse in severity and extent across many regions of the world, with croplands, in particular, declining in function and productivity, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in a new report. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-land-degradation-worse-than-previously-reported.html Vice President Dick Cheney's office pushed for major deletions in congressional testimony on the public health consequences of climate change, fearing the presentation by a leading health official might make it harder to avoid regulating greenhouse gases, a former EPA official maintains. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-cheney-wanted-cuts-in-climate-testimony.html Two environmental groups on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn new federal regulations that grants permission to oil companies working in the Chukchi Sea to disturb the polar bears and walrus that live there. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, challenges regulations issued last month by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that allow "incidental takes" of the animals, meaning permission to disturb or accidentally harass them as long as such actions do not result in physical injury or death. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-suit-seeks-ban-on-oil-companies-disturbing-wildlife.html Early in the 1990s, Toyota sought to answer two important questions: “What are the requirements of motor vehicles for the 21 st century?”? and “What sort of vision must Toyota have to meet the challenges of the new era?”? To answer these questions, the company assembled staff members from various departments to develop a totally new type of vehicle. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-toward-the-ultimate-eco-car-toyota.html Naturalists feared on Tuesday for endangered California condors caught up in a massive two week-old blaze still sweeping through the scenic Big Sur area. The fate of three condor chicks born in the wild in April -- key to the reintroduction in California of the threatened species -- was unknown. One nest was in the path of the fire and flames damaged an aviary where captive chicks are trained before being released into the wild. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-rare-california-condors-threatened-by-huge-fires.html The deadlock paralyzing today’s Major Economies Meeting (MEM) at the G8 summit in Japan is a result of missing G8 leadership on emission reductions. According to WWF, strong actions by emerging economies — which MEM host George W. Bush demands — can only be made on the basis of stronger commitments by industrialized nations. But G8 climate talks yesterday failed to signal bold action by rich nations. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-major-economies-meeting.html Three years after it was first proposed, preparations for an African 'wall of trees' to slow down the southwards spread of the Sahara desert are finally getting underway. The 'Great Green Wall' will involve several stretches of trees from Mauritania in the west to Djibouti in the east, to protect the semi-arid savannah region of the Sahel — and its agricultural land — from desertification. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-african-wall-of-trees-gets-underway.html Environmentalists plan to block one of two rail lines into the world's biggest coal export port in Australia at the weekend, amid wrangling by rich nations over efforts to combat climate change, they said on Tuesday. Any disruption to coal shipments from the Newcastle port could give another boost to benchmark coal prices that are already near record highs at nearly $195 a tonne, having more than trebled in a year. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-australia-activists-to-block-worlds-top-coal-port.html Global warming will sow destruction across Russia and ex-Soviet states, a report said on Tuesday after the world's richest countries issued targets on harmful emissions that environmentalists criticized as too soft. The 52-page report -- written by green group WWF and British charity Oxfam -- described a grim picture of social, ecological and economic collapse in the world's biggest country and its former empire unless the world took urgent action. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-global-warming-will-push-russia-to-destruction.html G8 nations, papering over deep differences on how to set goals to combat global warming, said on Tuesday they would work toward a target of at least halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 with other participants in U.N. talks. In a communique released during a summit in northern Japan, the Group of Eight leaders agreed that they would need to set mid-term goals to achieve the "shared vision" for 2050, but gave no numerical targets. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-G8-papers-over-differences-on-climate-change.html Dell is teaming up with the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired-Goodwill of Greater Rochester, New York, to start a free computer recycling program that will create jobs for ABVI workers and keep unwanted electronic devices out of local landfills, reports the Democrat and Chronicle. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-dell-recycling-program-provides-jobs.html The researchers say the combination could be a potentially dangerous food source for some patients with heart disease, arthritis, asthma and other allergic and auto-immune diseases that are particularly vulnerable to an "exaggerated inflammatory response." Inflammation is known to cause damage to blood vessels, the heart, lung and joint tissues, skin, and the digestive tract. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-researchers-say-popular-fish.html The U.S,. Senate passed (June 27,2008), by unanimous consent, legislation that will allow the U.S. to join an international treaty that could dramatically cut ocean ship pollution that causes tens of thousands of global deaths annually. “The Marine Pollution Prevention Act of 2008”? (H.R. 802), was passed overwhelmingly by the U.S. House of Representatives last year. http://www.greatestplanet.org/news-july-2008-new-bill-passed-cuts-toxic-ship-pollution.html