Skeptics of global warming were jubilant because they say the e-mails prove that human-caused global warming is false, a fraud perpetrated by scientists.

Supporters countered that statements from the e-mails were taken out of context.

But several days later, the story is still unfolding in several ways:

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The resolution, now in the Committee on House Administration, proposes that the legislative branch recycle its obsolete computers, monitors, cellphones, and other electronic equipment exclusively with recyclers certified by the new e-Stewards Standard.

E-waste poses a large and growing problem around the world. Americans generated 3.01 million tons of the stuff in 2007, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. But only 13.6 percent of it was recycled. The rest went into incinerators and dumps.

Although small in absolute terms, compared to other waste streams, e-waste is the fastest growing portion of the municipal waste stream in the US. Between 2005 and 2006, the amount of trash produced overall increased by 1.2 percent. E-waste, however, increased by 8.6 percent.

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Researchers have been working on the genome-sequencing project for four years. The draft sequence, now 95 percent complete, has given scientists a point of comparison they can use to begin measuring the range of genetic diversity among different varieties of corn, or maize.

The diversity is represented in what researchers call a haplotype map, or hapmap. Such maps are expected to help scientists zero in on specific genes or groups of genes that give the plants important traits.

Armed with more-precise genetic information, researchers say, breeders could develop new maize varieties that withstand prolonged heat and drought, use nutrients such a nitrogen more efficiently, or pack more nutrition per kernel. They could do it in far less time than it currently takes to develop new varieties.

The results represent “an enormous advance for science and for agriculture on the planet and all those who depend upon it,” says Molly Jahn, a former plant geneticist and now US deputy undersecretary of agriculture for research, education, and economics. The USDA helped fund the project.

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When the science is paleontology, astronomy, or geophysics, internal politics, thinly or not-so-thinly veiled personal attacks, and water-cooler discussions among influential scientists about whose research is junk and not worth publishing draw a collective yawn from anyone outside the relatively small circle of researchers involved.

When the topic is global warming, however, look out.

This week, more than 169 megabytes worth of global-warming emails and related files were either hacked and/or leaked from computers at the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Center in Britain and released to the world via the Internet.

(If you’re interested in poring through some 169 megabytes of emails and files, you can download 26-megabyte FOI2009.zip from here, then unpack it. You’ll need to set up a free account, then you can download the file.)

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When do the standards take effect? Jan. 1, 2011, with more stringent rules kicking in two years later.

Do they apply to the TV sets I currently own?  No. They also don’t apply to any television set you buy next year. And you can keep using your TVs as long as they last.

What television sets will be regulated?  All that measure 58 inches (1,400 square inches) or smaller.

How will future TVs be affected? By 2011, television sets sold in California stories must use a third less power than they do now. That goes up to a 49 percent power savings by 2013.

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As atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide increase, scientists say that higher temperatures and ocean acidification could kill 70 percent of the world’s coral reefs by 2050. By century’s end, they could be gone entirely.

If this loss could be assigned a dollar amount, how much would it be? A group of economists presented an assessment of coral reefs’ value at the recent DIVERSITAS biodiversity conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

As it turns out, reefs are quite valuable. Inferring from more than 80 studies, the economists found that, on average, 2.5 acres of coral reef provide $130,000 worth of goods and services, and sometimes as much as $1.2 million.

Here’s the monetary breakdown:
• Food, raw materials, ornamental resources: average, $1,100 (up to $6,000).
• Climate regulation, moderation of extreme events, waste treatment/water purification, biological control: average, $26,000 (up to $35,000).
• Cultural services (e.g., recreation/tourism): average, $88,700 (up to $1.1 million).
• Maintenance of genetic diversity: average, $13,500 (up to $57,000).

Editor’s note: This article is one of a series of brief updates on environmental studies of interest.

For more articles about the environment, see the Monitor’s main environment page, which offers information on many environment topics. Also, check out our Bright Green blog archive and our RSS feed.

These costs aren’t factored into the market prices of coal, oil, and gasoline, or the prices of electricity generated by fossil fuels, the report says. But someone eventually pays for them.

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That’s in part because we already knew we’d be spending significantly more upfront for a geothermal system than we would have for traditional heating in exchange for the long-term savings geothermal produces.

And one of our goals in renovating Sheep Dog Hollow is to test the assertion that building green and economically are no longer mutually exclusive. (I’m finding that they’re not, but only if you’re looking at a five- to 10-year time frame … but more on that later.)

While we wanted to go for the less costly open-loop geothermal system, Tony was quite clear that he’d recommend the more expensive closed-loop system.

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There’s no precise definition of “creationism,” but the term generally encompasses those who oppose all or part of the theory – held almost universally by biologists and supported by overwhelming amounts of empirical evidence – that all known species are descended from a common ancestor or gene pool and that complex life arises as a result of random mutation and natural selection.

On the hard-core end of the creationist spectrum are biblically inspired “young-earth creationists,” who tend to believe that Earth is less than 10,000 years old, that humans coexisted with dinosaurs, and that God created all species “as is” in their present form. They usually don’t mind being called creationists.

On the other end are proponents of “intelligent design.” This hypothesis does not reject the timescale of evolution, nor does it reject the belief that all living things share a common ancestor. But intelligent design proponents do hold that certain living structures, such as the bacterial flagella, blood cells, and cellular pumps, are too complex to have arisen by mechanisms of random mutation and natural selection.

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Now, a team of researchers led by the University of Colorado’s Shemin Ge suggest that this could well be what happened with the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province in May 2008.

According to the Chinese government, the magnitude 8.0 quake left nearly 68,000 people killed, some 374,000 injured, and 18,500 people listed at the time as missing. Some estimates put the disaster’s price tag at more than $75 billion. You can read more about the quake here, here, and here.

The reservoir in question is the Zipingpu Reservoir. It was filled in late 2005 and reached its maximum water level in December 2006. The reservoir is situated between the two faults that ruptured during that quake.

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