A Web tool that generates color maps of projected temperature and precipitation changes using 16 of the world’s most prominent climate-change models is being used to consider such things as habitat shifts that will affect endangered species, places around the world where crops could be at risk because of drought and temperatures that could cripple fruit and nut production in California’s Great Central Valley.

Climate Wizard, a tool meant for scientists and non-scientists alike, is being demonstrated by The Nature Conservancy in Copenhagen, Denmark, in conjunction with the climate summit underway there.

The energy-efficient traffic lights coming into vogue nationwide have revealed an ironic downside: because they don’t produce much heat, snow can accumulate and prevent drivers from seeing the signal.

Authorities have attributed dozens of accidents to this problem, particularly in colder northern states.

Nissan brought its new all-electric Leaf to Seattle, allowing one of its five key markets to preview the car a year before it is slated for launch.

About 900 Seattle-area drivers will be able to by a Leaf next year. Those drivers will help scientists gather data on how often and where motorists charge their cars to help federal and local governments design a charging network that is someday expected to stretch across the continent.

Japanese researchers from Kyoto University have found a way to make plant leaves absorb more carbon dioxide, which could help ease global warming and bolster food production, they said yesterday.

The team found that soaking germinated seeds from thale cress plants in a protein solution could as much as quadruple the number of pores on the leaves that inhale CO2 and release oxygen. The number of pores multiplied relative to the concentration of the solution. An ideal increase would be two to three times, so as not to impede the functions of other cells in the surface of the plant, lead researcher Ikuko Hara-Nishimura said.

A small automaker in India, Reva Electric Car Co., has more all-electric vehicles on the road than any other company — though it has a long way to go before the vehicles are ready for the mass market.

Reva’s only current model, known as the G-Wiz in Britain, has been mocked for its low power and small size. But the technology underlying the soon-to-be-retired car — its drive train — has drawn wide interest for its easy adaptability and ability to work with various batteries.

Solar subsidy programs are becoming increasingly popular among average American homeowners.

Panel prices have dropped more than 30 percent from 1998 through 2008 as a result of lower manufacturing and installation costs and state and local subsidies, according to a study released yesterday by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Meanwhile, more than half the states in the country offer enough incentives to trim the costs by 40 percent or more, according to Amy Heinemann, a policy analyst at the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency.

Fossil fuels will meet about 80 percent of global energy needs in 2030, BP’s chief executive told attendees at the Oil & Money conference in London.

“It’s dangerous to promise too much too soon,” CEO Tony Hayward said of the changeover to greener technologies. “It risks rendering the entire global effort both politically and economically unsustainable, and I don’t believe the world can afford that.”

Recent advances in the field of particle physics are bringing scientists closer to turning thorium — a naturally occuring element that is more abundant and produces less radioactive waste than uranium — into an alternative fuel for nuclear energy.

Thorium reserves number about 400,000 tons in the United States, 344,000 tons in Turkey and 319,000 tons in India, according to a 2008 joint report by the Nuclear Energy Agency, which is linked to the International Atomic Energy Agency and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

A University of Houston physics professor is working to improve seismic exploration technology so that oil companies can drill with a better idea of what mineral resources lie below.

Arthur Weglein, along with faculty colleagues and graduate students in a program he directs, are pioneering an exploration technique that has played a role in the recent major discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Brazil and elsewhere.

India’s prime minister today said his country could help tackle global climate change by dramatically increasing its nuclear power capacity.

At an international atomic conference in New Delhi, Manmohan Singh said India’s recent civilian nuclear agreement with the U.S. has opened doors for safer, cleaner energy production.

“There will be huge opportunities for the global nuclear industry to participate in the expansion of our nuclear energy program,” he said, touting the energy source as a responsible way to meet the future needs of its 1.2 billion people.