‘Green’ roofs help reduce global warming

October 5th, 2009 LONDON - A new study has determined that 'green roofs', that is, roofs with a cover of plants, can significantly cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. According to a report in New Scientist, Kristin Getter and colleagues at Michigan State University in East Lansing carried out the study.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists in Michigan, US, have reported that "green" roofs, which are popular urban rooftops covered with plants, could help fight global warming. The scientists found that replacing traditional roofing materials in an urban area the size of Detroit, with a population of about one-million, with green roofs would be equivalent to eliminating a year's worth of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by 10,000 mid-sized SUVs and trucks.

September 23rd, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik Wednesday created an image of goddess Durga and burning earth on the beach at Puri in Orissa to create awareness global warning. Pattnaik created the face of the goddess who was shown wearing green leaves as ornaments with a burning globe behind her at the Puri beach, 56 km from here.

September 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Greening of roofs by having plants on them is gaining popularity in the US, where their numbers have increased by 30 percent from 2006 to 2007. Benefits include improved storm water management, energy conservation, reduced noise and air pollution, improved biodiversity, and even a better return on investment than traditional roofing.

September 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have carried out a study to determine the effect of the success of the growth of the sedum plant on "green" roofs. "Greening" a roof, or covering a roof with vegetation, is gaining popularity in North America, where the number of green roofs increased 30 percent from 2006 to 2007.

July 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Tuesday said global warming would have an adverse impact on India's wheat bowl in four northern states and that the Prime Minister's Office was overseeing attempts to counter it. "Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar, which are our wheat bowls, will be adversely affected by global warming," Pawar said in the Lok Sabha during his reply to a special discussion on the drought situation and floods in several states.

July 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's poor will have enormous problem in arranging their livelihood due to climate change, and it will be better the country stops being a climate sceptic, a government official said Thursday. "There is enough scientific evidence to corroborate the fact that climate change poses unprecedented risks to both human life and in fact, to human civilisation," New and Renewable Energy Secretary Deepak Gupta said at a conference on climate change.

July 15th, 2009 PANAJI - Global warming has not only increased the number of cyclones in the Arabian sea but has also intensified them, a marine scientist attached to the National Institute of Oceanography said here Wednesday. Prasanna Kumar, a senior marine scientist, said there had been virtually a five-fold increase in the number of cyclones in the Arabian sea in the last 12 years.

June 25th, 2009 Calif. board weighs pollution tax on industriesSACRAMENTO, Calif. — California regulators are considering a proposal to impose the nation's first statewide carbon fee on utilities, oil refineries and other polluting industries.

June 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, a team of scientists has found a direct relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and global warming. The study was done by Damon Matthews, a professor in Concordia University's Department of Geography, Planning and the Environment, along with colleagues from Victoria and the UK.

June 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new report released by the Worldwatch Institute has said that agriculture could become a big part of the solution to global warming. According to a report in Environmental News Network (ENN), innovations in food production and land use that are ready to be put to work could reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to roughly 25 percent of global fossil fuel emissions and be managed to reduce carbon already in the atmosphere as well.

May 27th, 2009 LONDON - US President Barrack Obama's energy adviser has suggested that as part of efforts to slow global warming, all the world's roofs should be painted white. According to a report in the Telegraph, Professor Steven Chu, the US Energy Secretary, said that the unusual proposal would mean homes in hot countries would save energy and money on air conditioning by deflecting the sun's rays.

May 25th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Companies based in Kerala's Technopark, an IT park here, Monday launched a carpooling website for IT professionals in the state as part of its green computing initiatives. The website, www.parkcarpool.in, was jointly launched by the Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH), a body representing the chief executives of the Technopark firms, and Palnar Transmedia, a city-based software firm.

April 23rd, 2009 Ashley Judd urges Congress to fight global warmingWASHINGTON — Actress Ashley Judd and TV personality Jeff Corwin are urging Congress to spend $7 billion a year to help safeguard America's wildlife from the impact of global warming. Judd is a longtime environmental activist.

March 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A national survey by researchers at Yale and George Mason Universities has revealed that even in the midst of a growing economic crisis last fall, over 90 percent of Americans want the United States to act to reduce global warming. The results included 34 percent who said the US should make a large-scale effort, even if it has large economic costs.