Stories written by Stephen Leahy
Stephen Leahy is the lead international science and environment correspondent at IPS, where he writes about climate change, energy, water, biodiversity, development and native peoples. Based in Uxbridge, Canada, near Toronto, Steve has covered environmental issues for nearly two decades for publications around the world. He is a professional member of the International Federation of Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists and the International League of Conservation Writers. He also pioneered Community Supported Environmental Journalism to ensure important environmental issues continue to be covered. | Web | Twitter |

Thawing Permafrost May Be “Huge Factor” in Global Warming

Thawing permafrost is emitting more climate-heating carbon faster than previously realised. Scientists have now learned that when the ancient carbon locked in the ice thaws and is exposed to sunlight, it turns into carbon dioxide 40 percent faster.

OP-ED: Weird, and Getting Weirder

Weird is the only way to describe January temperatures whipsawing between record warm and arctic cold over a span of a few days. Experts say that is what climate change looks like: weird, record-shattering weather.

‘Green’ Approaches to Water Gaining Ground Around World

After Hurricane Sandy swept through the northeast of the United States late October 2012, millions of New Yorkers were left for days without electricity.  But they still had access to drinking water, thanks to New York City's reliance on protected watershed areas for potable water.

National Legislation Key to Combating Climate Change

A majority of major economies have made significant progress in addressing climate change, with countries like South Korea and China taking aggressive action so they can benefit from energy- and resource-efficient economies, a new report released Monday found.

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Experts Fear Collapse of Global Civilisation

Experts on the health of our planet are terrified of the future. They can clearly see the coming collapse of global civilisation from an array of interconnected environmental problems.

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OP-ED: Climate Inaction Is a Clear Failure of Democracy

Around the world, 2012 was the year of extreme weather, when we unequivocally learned that the fossil fuel energy that powers our societies is destroying them. Accepting this reality is the biggest challenge of the brand new year.

At the Edge of the Carbon Cliff

The most important number in history is now the annual measure of carbon emissions. That number reveals humanity's steady billion-tonne by billion-tonne march to the edge of the carbon cliff, beyond which scientists warn lies a fateful fall to catastrophic climate change.

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Critics Brand Climate Talks Another Lost Opportunity

Rich countries came to the U.N. climate talks in Doha intent on delaying needed action on climate change for another three years and a still to be hammered out new global treaty.

Doha Climate Summit Ends With No New CO2 Cuts or Funding

The United Nations climate talks in Doha went a full extra 24 hours and ended without increased cuts in fossil fuel emissions and without financial commitments between 2013 and 2015.

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A Hotter World Is a Hungry World

Food prices will soar and hundreds of millions will starve without urgent action to make major cuts in fossil fuel emissions. That is what is at stake here on the last day of the U.N. climate talks known as COP 18, scientists and activists say.

An Empty Table at Doha Climate Talks

United Nations climate talks are on the edge of collapse Thursday, according to a coalition of civil society and representatives from half of the world's countries.

A Storm Brews in Doha

While the Philippines copes with the aftermath of powerful super-typhoon Bopha, which killed more than 300 people this week, tempers flared at the U.N. climate summit here.

The Big Fight in Doha Is Over Climate Finance

The new Green Climate Fund to help developing countries cope with climate change may one day have a bigger budget than the World Bank. At the moment, however, the Fund is empty.

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Fossil Fuel Lobby in the Driver’s Seat at Doha

A new scientific report shows that global warming can be kept well under two degrees C, but only if most of the known deposits of coal, oil and gas remain in the ground.

The Planet’s Thermostat Moves to Doha

The upcoming United Nations climate talks may have a renewed sense of urgency with a new World Bank report warning that the planet is on a dangerous path to four degrees Celsius of global warming by 2100.

Deep Emissions Cuts Urged at Climate Summit

Extreme weather disasters, including floods and droughts intensified by climate change, have totalled many billions of dollars in damages this year.

Planet on Path to Four C Warming, World Bank Warns

Coal, oil and gas companies and their backers in the financial and investment industry must stop putting billions of dollars into finding and extracting new sources of fossil fuels. If they don't shift their investments, temperatures will soar four to 10 degrees C higher, devastating many parts of the world, the World Bank said Monday.

“Writing Is on the Wall” at Upcoming Climate Summit

Two-thirds of the world's proven fossil fuel reserves cannot be used without risking dangerous climate change, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned this week.

OP-ED: Hurricane Sandy Says, “Welcome to the New Normal”

I am aware that my arrival last week helped re-elect U.S. President Barack Obama. Superstorms like me don't play politics, but it should be clear by now that your refusal to tackle global warming has serious consequences. Higher sea levels and amped-up hurricanes like me are just two of them.

Mankind Approaching ‘Carbon Cliff’, Report Warns

A new international business report warns fossil fuel use is pushing humanity towards a catastrophic overheating of the planet, with temperature increases of four or even six degrees Celsius. No major developed or developing country is doing anything close to what's needed to prevent large parts of the planet from becoming uninhabitable, the report found.

A Posthumous Message from Hurricane Sandy*

Hi, this is Sandy. By the time you read this, I’ll be gone, after dissipating into increasingly weaker remnants of strong winds, heavy rains and snowfall in the Great Lakes region of North America.**

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