Chief warns of famine in Ethiopia. The food crisis in Ethiopia and other countries in the Horn of Africa region is severe and could rapidly turn into famine, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned Thursday. [News Source]

Red Cross warns of Horn of Africa famine risk. The hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa is getting worse and could tip into famine if the next harvest fails, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday. [News Source]

Golden sand is going green. It lies near a polluted pond and is at risk of vanishing over the next few decades as the sea level goes up, but Manly's North Steyne is still the best patch of sand in NSW [News Source]

Climate change heralds more wildfires, rising bay waters. If greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate the San Francisco Bay will inundate 240 square miles of area lowlands, including East Palo Alto, San Francisco Airport and parts of Silicon Valley, by the end of the century. [News Source]

Researchers urge shift in environment management. British Columbia has become a last refuge for a growing number of species in North America, but if the "biodiversity ark" is to be maintained in the face of global warming, government will have to change the way it manages the environment. [News Source]

Cleaner air to turn iconic buildings green. For buildings the future is bright - bright green, that is. New research into how stone facades will be altered by changes in the atmosphere suggests that the days of smutty grey and black buildings are gone [News Source]

Cleaner air will make buildings turn green with lichen and moss. A new research into how stone facades will be altered by changes in the atmosphere has suggested that as pollution patterns change, iconic limestone buildings will turn green with lichen and moss in the future. [News Source]

Energy goals a moving target for states. In hopes of slowing global warming and creating “green jobs,” Congress and the incoming administration may soon impose a mandate that the nation get 10 or 15 percent of its electricity from renewable sources within a few years. [News Source]

Texans paint sunny picture for clean energy. With emissions caps on global warming gases looming in Washington, venture capitalists and policymakers convened at the University of Texas this week to figure out how to make a buck off the new energy economy. [News Source]

Texas worries about a carbon cap. Texas leads the nation in wind energy, but it is also the largest producer and consumer of energy. The latter largely due both to its size and to the presence of big industries like oil, gas and chemicals. [News Source]

Degraded grasslands best for palm oil biofuel production, finds study. Producing biofuels from oil palm plantations established on degraded grasslands--rather than tropical rainforests and peat lands--would result in a net removal of carbon from the atmosphere, instead of greenhouse gas emissions. [News Source]