The Smarter Earth Institute

By Ray Smith, LUCERNE, Switzerland, Inter Press Service, Jul 22, 2011

LUCERNE, Switzerland, Jul 22, 2011 (IPS) - Future glacier retreat in the Alps could affect the hydrology of large streams more strongly than previously assumed, a new study shows. Water shortages in summer could become more frequent.

Even though their ice is called 'eternal', many alpine glaciers' lives may come to an end within this century. For 150 years, most of them have been more or less constantly retreating, and since the eighties, their shrinkage has visibly increased.

By John Vidal, environment editor, guardian.co.uk, 8 February 2011

US diplomat convinced by Saudi expert that reserves of world's biggest oil exporter have been overstated by nearly 40%

The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.

By Gonzalo Vina, Bloomberg, Jan 24, 2011

Global food supplies may not be enough to feed an expanding population and resources are being consumed more quickly than they are being replenished, a study commissioned by the British government said.

Chief Scientific Adviser John Beddington said halving the amount of food waste by 2050 could boost today’s annual production by a quarter while lowering trade barriers for poor countries would help minimize future price shocks.

By Nick Hodge, Energy & Capital, January 14th, 2011

According to Exxon's (NYSE: XOM) official spokesman:

All the easy oil and gas in the world has pretty much been found. Now comes the harder work in finding and producing oil from more challenging environments and work areas.

That's the Exxon — the $383 billion market cap, world's most profitable company Exxon.

I wonder what Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) thinks...

It is pretty clear that there is not much chance of finding any significant quantity of new cheap oil. Any new or unconventional oil is going to be expensive.

That was Ron Oxburgh, former Chairman of Shell, back in 2008.

By Balance Junkie, Seeking Alpha, January 17, 2011

By Susan Wilson, Green.Blorge, January 13, 2011

As natural disasters have risen, so have insurance claims.  That being the case, insurance companies are noticing trends that most of us are missing.  True some of the increased damage is due to the increase in suburbs and development, but not all of it.

By Gail Tverberg, OilPrice.com, 12 January 2011

Brian Westenhaus, over at New Energy and Fuel, has been telling me what a good product corn ethanol is. He is very familiar with raising corn for ethanol, and can see how the process has been improved in recent years. Now it takes hardly any petroleum and chemical inputs from the farmer in order to grow a crop of corn for ethanol. The process is very mechanized, so it does not take much labor either.

By Chris Isidore, CNN Money, January 12, 2011

DETROIT (CNNMoney) -- More cars were sold in China last year than in any other country at any time in history. And industry officials only expect those sales to grow.

But the rush to build more cars in China to feed that growing market could soon become a big problem.

By Dan Rather, The Huffington Post, January 12, 2011

We've all probably taken antibiotics at some point, and given it little thought. When an illness has gone on for a little too long, these miracle drugs often seem like a harmless magic bullet, able to cure anything. Some have even called antibiotics the greatest medical advance ever. But now, public health officials are warning that our decades-long love affair with these drugs is rendering them useless. When one doesn't work, we are given another. Increasingly, however, doctors are running out of options.