Household fuels exceed power plants and cars as source of smog in Beijing

Beijing and surrounding areas of China often suffer from choking smog. The Chinese government has made commitments to improving air quality and has achieved notable results in reducing emissions from the power and transportation sectors. However, new research indicates that the government could achieve dramatic air quality improvements with more attention on an overlooked source of outdoor pollution -- residential cooking and heating."Coal and other dirty solid fuels are frequently used in homes for cooking and heating," said Denise Mauzerall, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and public and international affairs at Princeton University. "Because these emissions are essentially uncontrolled they emit a disproportionately large amount of air pollutants which contribute substantially to smog in Beijing and surrounding regions."

How competition for sunlight shapes forest structure

Despite their diversity, the structure of most tropical rainforests is highly predictable. Scientists have described the various sizes of the trees by a simple mathematical relationship called a power law.In a new study using data from a rainforest in Panama, researchers determined that competition for sunlight is the underlying cause of this common structure, which is observed in rainforests around the globe despite differences in plant species and geography. The new finding can be used in climate simulations to predict how rainforests absorb excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Bill Clinton Opens Enviro-Expo in Windsor, Ontario

Former US President Bill Clinton got a warm welcome from the mixed American and Canadian audience that paid up to $175 to hear his keynote speech at the first annual Essex County (Ontario) Enviro-Expo. The Enviro-Expo (www.enviro-expo.org) is sponsored by the government of Ontario, Essex Region Conservation Foundation and many private 'green' firms. The 'Expo' is billed as a family friendly, three day event featuring green technologies, dedicated to educate and inspire environmental consciousness. The former president spoke to a nearly full house of 3000, at the Caesars Windsor Convention Center in downtown Windsor. Citing a myriad of world challenges; hunger, water, terrorism, climate change, and global economics, Clinton said all solutions point to the development of sustainable energy on a global scale.