Free Republic

Good news: the Sahara desert is getting greener because of “climate change.” Climate change has achieved what Bob Geldof and Live Aid failed to do by ending the drought in the Sahel region of Africa that killed more than 100,000 people in the 1980s, a study has found. Rising greenhouse gases caused rains to return to the region south of the Sahara, from Senegal to Sudan, boosting crop yields since the 1990s and helping the population to feed itself without relying on foreign donations. The study, in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that Sahel summer rainfall was about 10...

If Rufus McDonald were white, you'd already know his name, and he'd be on the path to pushing George Zimmerman aside as the most hated man in America. But because he is black, you probably have never heard of him, unless you live in Chicago. You see, Mr. McDonald was cleaning out an attic and discovered some papers. As Kim Janssen of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday: Hidden in a dusty trunk in an abandoned and looted Englewood home, the papers of Harvard's first black graduate, Richard T. Greener, had long been thought lost to history. (snip) Several museums and...

PRAIRIE DU SAC, Wis. (AP) -- Cows stand patiently in a tent-like chamber at a research farm in western Wisconsin, waiting for their breath to be tested. Outside, corrals have been set up with equipment to measure gas wafting from the ground. A nearby corn field contains tools that allow researchers to assess the effects of manure spread as fertilizer. Scientists based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have started a slew of studies to determine how dairy farms can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. They will look at what animals eat, how their waste is handled and the effects on...

Make your home greener or pay higher council tax, Government says By DANIEL MARTIN 13th July 2009 Householders should face higher council tax and stamp duty if they refuse to make their homes greener, Government advisers say. Those who do not have double glazing or insulation would be hammered under proposals drawn up by an environmental pressure group which will be considered by ministers. They want the punishments to be brought in alongside 'green mortgages', under which homeowners can apply for loans to spend on energy-efficient equipment such as new boilers and even solar panels. Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband...

Kite-powered ship sets sail for greener future Ben Martin and Tony Paterson in Berlin Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 20/01/2008 A cargo ship pulled by a giant, parachute-shaped kite will leave Germany on Tuesday on a voyage that could herald a new "green" age of commercial sailing on the high seas. The owners of the MS Beluga, a 462ft cargo vessel, will try to prove that modern steel ships can harness wind power and reduce their reliance on diesel engines. During the journey from Bremen to Venezuela, the crew will deploy a SkySail, a 160 square metre kite which will fly...

World getting 'literally greener' By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent in Jeju, Korea About a third of the world is still covered with forests... The world seems to have begun to turn greener, in the strictly literal sense, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep). Satellite data show plant growth has been measurably more vigorous over the last 25 years. The news comes in Unep's first Global Environment Outlook Year Book 2003, which highlights trends and problems. The book is being launched at the opening here of Unep's annual council, attended by about 150 delegations. The meeting...