On progress in the environmental sciences in 2005:

1) A major shift in public perception of climate change. It's taken seriously now. The Kyoto Treaty came into force in March. Then in July, the world's eight leading industrial nations—including the United States—met in Gleneagles, Scotland, and announced a commitment to reversing the growth of greenhouse gases, marking a big step forward.

2) Progress in developing technologies to eliminate the climate change problem through carbon capture and storage.

What's ahead?

1) New power plants will be built that collect their own carbon dioxide emissions.In particular, coal producers and power plant operators using coal are likely to move toward zero emission plants.

2) Business approaches to curb carbon dioxide emissions will grow rapidly. More and more carbon emitters will be subject to mandated constraints. Nevertheless, barring economic slowdowns, carbon emissions will rise in 2006.

3) In America, many of the states will move toward managing carbon emissions in some form or another, which in turn will raise industry's call for more uniform regulations.