Audio: The Vatican goes green | Need to Know

The Holy See has embarked on a new mission: the fight against climate change. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI announced that Vatican City would strive to become the first carbon-neutral state. Although the Vatican’s plan to purchase carbon offset credits fell through, the sovereign city-state has harnessed the power of the sun with solar panels and a solar generator, and has also made progress with energy conservation efforts. Pope Benedict has added a religious element to the climate change debate by framing the issue as a moral imperative.

Study: CO2 is 'thermostat' for Earth - UPI.com

NEW YORK, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Water vapor and clouds are major factors in Earth's greenhouse effect but carbon dioxide will always be the ultimate culprit, a U.S. study found.

The study, conducted by researchers at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, examined the nature of Earth's greenhouse effect, which traps and holds outgoing infrared radiation, a NASA release said Thursday.
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The study, lead author Andrew Lacis says, demonstrates "the direct relationship that exists between rising atmospheric carbon dioxide and rising global temperature."

"The bottom line is that atmospheric carbon dioxide acts as a thermostat in regulating the temperature of Earth," Lacis said. "It is not surprising then that global warming can be linked directly to the observed increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and to human industrial activity in general."