The national headlines and global business reports were anything but quiet last month. Hurricane Katrina. Oil prices at $70 a barrel. Refineries off-line. Gas prices above $3 a gallon. Hurricane Rita.

It was a month of uncertainty, sorrow, angst and grief.

And while the eyes of the nation focused intently on developments in Louisiana, Texas, and the fuel lines at the corner gas station, a quieter event was taking place at JP Morgan Chase's global headquarters in New York City.

There, more than 200 investors, corporate executives, academics, and environmentalists unveiled the results of the Carbon Disclosure Project 2005. ...