Climate change news in 2011 played out like a "good news, bad news" joke.
"Good news! This year wasn't as warm as 2010!"
"Good to hear."
"But it was history's tenth warmest year."
"D-OH!"
We read that renewable energy has surpassed fossil fuel in new energy investment for the first time in history, but learned from the same article that the United Nations' climate talks are going badly. The media report that corporate mega giant & cultural leader Apple Inc. is prepping to produce devices that run on hydrogen fuel cells, but only after researchers warn us we have just five years to halt climate change before it spirals out of control.
The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline was protested. President Obama then said he would halt approval of the pipeline until more environmental analysis was done. Then he threatened to veto legislation that used the pipeline as a bargaining chip ... but he signed it anyway.
Good news. Bad news. You get the idea. For more environmental news, see my Yearly Review of Years in Review at the bottom of today's post.
Happy New Year, everyone. Here's hoping 2012 brings us all news that is more good than bad.
- Top Energy Stories from National Geographic
- Climate, Energy and Sustainability from the Foreign Policy Association
- Extreme Weather from Yahoo
- Water Year in Review from Southwest Climate Change Network
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