As Southeast Asia wheezes in haze, Indonesia cracks down on slash-and-burn deforestation - "A worsening haze across northern Indonesia, neighboring Singapore and parts of Malaysia on Tuesday forced some schools to close and airlines to delay flights, while Indonesia ordered a crackdown against lighting fires to clear forested land." The fires have been exacerbated this year by the effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon, as a prolonged dry season in Indonesia has parched the top soil, fueling the flames.“The fire problems have reached a critical point,” Luhut Pandjaitan, coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, told reporters."
California's Sierra Nevada snowpack is the lowest in 500 years - "The snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains this year has fallen to its lowest level in at least the past 500 years, according to a study published Monday in Nature Climate Change, a peer-reviewed British journal.The finding underscores the severe drought afflicting the state, now in its fourth year, and raises the prospect of more water shortages that could impact agriculture and hydroelectric power production, and exacerbate wildfires."
Typhoon Etau: thousands evacuated as severe flooding hits Japan - "At least two people have died and several others are missing as flooding in eastern Japan forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 people and left large parts of one town submerged." "The heavy rain, which is expected to spread north on Friday, has also caused additional leaks of radioactive water at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), said rain had overwhelmed the site’s drainage pumps, sending hundreds of tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean."
‘Disastrous’: Low snow, heat eat away at Northwest glaciers - "Glaciers across the North Cascades could lose 5 to 10 percent of their volume this year, accelerating decades of steady decline. One scientist estimates the region’s glaciers are smaller than they have been in at least 4,000 years."
Rare Hurricane Pounds Cape Verde Islands - "For the first time since 1892, a full-fledged hurricane is pounding the Cape Verde islands, as Hurricane Fred heads northwest at 12 mph through the islands in the far eastern North Atlantic." "Despite their name (which translates to “green cape” in English), the Cape Verde islands have a semi-desert climate, with an average annual rainfall of only around 10 inches. The torrential rains of 4 - 6" predicted from Fred, with isolated totals of up to 10”, are likely to cause unprecedented flood damage on the islands. Fred may well turn out to be the Republic of Cabo Verde's most expensive natural disaster in history." "Not only has Fred set the record for easternmost hurricane in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, it prompted the very first hurricane warning for the Cape Verde Islands and has provided the first satellite view of a hurricane in the region since weather satellites were launched into space in the early 1960s."
There Aren’t Enough Firefighters to Stop America’s West From Burning -" An unprecedented 32,000 men and women are fighting blazes in what could be the most destructive fire season in history" "The Forest Service, the country’s largest wildland firefighting agency, has spent $800 million trying to control the flames this year, and it’s only August. As such, 2015 is on track to become the 15th year in a row the agency has laid out roughly $1 billion on firefighting alone. Expenses in some areas are equal to or greater than the value of the threatened property—$200,000 to $400,000 per home, according to Bozeman (Mont.)-based Headwaters Economics."
Carbon Dioxide - LATEST MEASUREMENT: August 2015 - 400.57 ppm - "The time series below shows global distribution and variation of the concentration of mid-tropospheric carbon dioxide in parts per million (ppm). The overall color of the map shifts toward the red with advancing time due to the annual increase of CO2."
Watching African Wave 91L; Rare September European Heat Wave Smashes Records - "Meteorological summer is over in Europe, but a rare and extraordinarily intense heat wave has kept its grip on much of the continent during early September. Hundreds of European cities broke all-time September heat records the past three days; some stations with long periods of record exceeding a century saw their records smashed by 7 - 8°F--"a margin rarely seen before in the world," in the words of weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera, who has been tabulating the new records."
Three Category 4 Hurricanes in the Pacific Ocean: How Rare Is That? - "This is the first recorded occurrence of three Category 4 hurricanes in the central and eastern Pacific basins at the same time. In addition, it's also the first time with three major hurricanes (Category 3 or stronger) in those basins simultaneously, according to hurricane specialist Eric Blake of the National Hurricane Center."
Everything is on fire and no one cares - "Here’s the thing: It wasn’t just weird. It’s not just “an unusually hot and dry season.” You can feel it in your very cells: this is all part of a increasingly vicious, mean-ass vortex of accelerating evidence that the planet and all its animals – of which we are merely one – are under a potentially fatal stress like no other time in modern history." "This is what we have yet to realize: it’s not just about preparing for more severe weather. It’s far more about what’s about to happen to the experience of life itself, how we navigate our terrifically spoiled, entitled daily lives and with what newfound combination of panic and kindness – all amplified, to a rather terrifying degree, by the realization that the more we refuse to change our gluttonous ways, the more nature is going to step in and change them for us."
How leaf blight could destroy the global economy - "Natural rubber is vital to the modern world, a major component of everything from medical equipment to tanks to, most importantly, tires. No synthetic rubber can replicate its properties, and it currently comes almost entirely from one incredibly vulnerable source. More than 90% of the world’s rubber is derived from hevea brasiliensis, the rubber tree, and grown in southeast Asia, where it was transplanted from South America in the 1800s." "But the main problem is that southeast Asian rubber is nearly fated to be ravaged by disease."
Scorched earth: U.S. wildfires near record level - “Wildfires have burned a phenomenal 5.5 million acres across the U.S. so far this year, an area equal to the size of New Jersey. This is the second-highest total in at least the past 25 years, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. Only 2011, which saw 5.8 million acres charred as of July 23 of that year, had more. On average, at this point in the year, 3.5 million acres would have burned."
Alaska’s Intense Wildfire Seasons Could Be Felt Worldwide (UPDATED) - “In the Alaska wildfire season of 2004, 6.6 million acres—10,300 square miles—of boreal forest went up in flames. It remains the state’s worst year for wildfires in 64 years of record keeping.
On Friday, the 2015 season moved into second place when the area of land burned passed 5 million acres, or roughly 8,000 square miles. With temperatures in the state cooling and rainfall increasing, typical weather for this time of year, 2015 isn’t going to break 2004’s all-time record, according to experts. But “it is quite significant,”
Worst El Nino in 30 Years Hits South American Crops, Polls - Bloomberg Business -“This El Nino is going to be one of the worst we’ve seen in the past 30 years,” said Eduardo Sierra, who has been tracking weather for the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange for four decades. “The worst of it is that this is only just beginning to manifest itself and people should be prepared to withstand some unusual storms.” He expects the current El Nino to last until Easter."
Heat wave scorches western U.S. with record high temps - “Phoenix broke a daily record Friday, reaching 117 degrees, and the expected Saturday high of 116 would top a 1992 record by 4 degrees, National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Leins said.“Stay inside if you can,” he said. “It’s dangerous, regardless of how acclimated you are to the climate, because it can be deadly."Saturday was Phoenix’s 18th day this year with temperatures above 110 degrees, CBSaffiliate KPHO reported.”
Climate change is so bad, National Geographic has had to radically redesign its maps - “Earlier this month US president Barack Obama announced the White House’s most aggressive plan to date for tackling climate change. President Obama said at the announcement: Shrinking ice caps forced National Geographic to make the biggest change in its atlas since the Soviet Union broke apart. It’s true. The publisher has altered the Arctic caps in the 10th edition of the National Geographic Atlas of the World , declaring it: “one of the most striking changes in the publication’s history"”
Hottest July On Record Keeps 2015 On Track To Crush 2014 For Hottest Year - “NASA reports this was the hottest July on record. So we are now in “bet the mortgage” territory that 2015 will be the hottest year in NASA’s 125-year temperature record. In fact, 2015 is likely to crush the previous record — 2014 — probably by a wide margin, especially since one of the strongest El Niños in 50 years is adding to the strong underlying global warming trend."
The Point of No Return: Climate Change Nightmares Are Already Here - “Historians may look to 2015 as the year when shit really started hitting the fan. Some snapshots: In just the past few months, record-setting heat waves in Pakistan and India each killed more than 1,000 people. In Washington state’s Olympic National Park, the rainforest caught fire for the first time in living memory. London reached 98 degrees Fahrenheit during the hottest July day ever recorded in the U.K.; The Guardian briefly had to pause its live blog of the heat wave because its computer servers overheated. In California, suffering from its worst drought in a millennium, a 50-acre brush fire swelled seventyfold in a matter of hours, jumping across the I-15 freeway during rush-hour traffic. Then, a few days later, the region was pounded by intense, virtually unheard-of summer rains. Puerto Rico is under its strictest water rationing in history as a monster El Niño forms in the tropical Pacific Ocean, shifting weather patterns worldwide.”
"Heat Dome" In the Middle East Creates Insanely High Temperatures - “The Middle East is roasting right now. Last week, an unprecedented ‘heat dome’ descended over a vast region from Dubai to Beirut, and there’s no sign of it breaking anytime soon. Last Friday in the Iranian city of Bandar Mahshahr, the air felt like 165º F (74ºC). As The Washington Post notes, this is the second highest heat index ever reported, period. (The actual air temperature, minus humidity, was closer to 115ºF, or 46ºC.) This week, temperatures in the southern Iraqi city of Basra are expected to hover around 123ºF, rising a bit on the weekend, The Guardian reports. In Lebanon, temperatures will stay in the 90s, but high humidity levels are making it feel much hotter. The hellish temperatures are due to a meteorological phenomenon known as a ‘heat dome’ — a high pressure ridge that develops in the upper atmosphere, forcing the air below it to sink and compress."
Iraq's scorching heat kills 52 children in refugee camps - “The recent wave of stifling heat and a lack of electricity has led to the deaths of at least 52 children in refugee camps in less than a week, a Baghdad official said on Friday to the press. “After the deaths of these children due to high temperature of 50 degrees Celsius, the government is trying to provide 24-hours electricity and coolers for refugees to save them from heat waves of summer,” said Raad al-Dahlaki, head of the Iraqi parliament’s Committee on Immigration and Displacement.”
Olive oil prices surge due to drought and disease in Spain and Italy - “Salads have rarely been so expensively dressed after a combination of drought and disease pushed the price of olive oil up 10% so far this year, amid warnings from suppliers that harvests are the worst they have seen. The Italian government has declared a “state of calamity” in the provinces of Lecce and Brindisi on the heel of the country, where olive groves are being attacked by a bacterial disease nicknamed “olive ebola” . Up to 1m centuries-old olive trees could be felled in one of the most picturesque tourist spots of Italy in an attempt to contain the problem."
Freakishly High Temperatures Trigger Ice Melt, Flooding and Mudslides in Tajikistan - “Rising temperatures around the globe are changing the planet. For example, 14 of the 15 hottest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century, according to the United Nations. Earlier this month, the U.N. issued its first-ever guidelines on how to survive heat waves, which the organization said have increased in frequency and intensity in recent years because of climate change. In Tajikistan, the threat of melting glaciers has loomed for a long time. In 2007, officials in the country said the impact and damage of climate change in the region will mainly derive from the melting glaciers in the Pamir Mountains in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province."
Pacific Northwest on Track for Warmest Summer on Record - “Another heat wave has engulfed much of the U.S. Pacific Northwest the past few days with Seattle, Washington now having observed twelve 90°+ temperatures so far this summer (as of Aug. 1st), an all-time record (9 such days in 1958 was the previous) and also July has been their warmest month ever observed. For some of the cities in the Northwest this has been the warmest June-July period ever measured and, barring a very cool August, will end up being the warmest climatological summer on record (June-August)."
Siberia on Fire - “Huge infernos are burning 138,500 hectares in the Siberian Federal Dictrict, with the Republic of Buryatia and Irkutsk region hit the worst, with 82,700 and 47,900 hectares on fire respectively. “
Hotter than ever? 2015 saw the warmest June on record (+video) - “NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) have each reported that June 2015 has matched or topped every other June temperature in historical records. The last 12-month period leading up to July has also been the warmest ever, according to NOAA, in a report that comes as discussion over global warming and public policy heats up in the approach to December’s Paris conference on climate change.“It was the hottest June on record. From January through June, it was the hottest first half for any year,” NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden says. It was also the highest June temperatures over both land and sea, she adds.”
What's Killing the Babies of Vernal, Utah? - “Two years ago, she stumbled onto the truth that an alarming number of babies were dying in Vernal — at least 10 in 2013 alone, what seemed to her a shockingly high infant mortality rate for such a small town. That summer, she raised her hand and put the obvious question to Joe Shaffer, director of the TriCounty Health Department: Why are so many of our babies dying?“
What it’s like to use an off-grid solar-and-battery system in your home - “Many Hawaiian homeowners already use the off-grid solar-and-battery systems championed by Tesla’s TSLA, -0.63% Elon Musk and others — and their experience shows what hurdles the technology must clear to become widely accepted by consumers."
Stop eating Nutella and save the forests, urges French ecology minister - “France’s ecology minister, Ségolène Royal, has rankled the company that makes Nutella by urging the public to stop eating its chocolate hazelnut spread, saying it contributes to deforestation. “We have to replant a lot of trees because there is massive deforestation that also leads to global warming. We should stop eating Nutella, for example, because it’s made with palm oil,” Royal said in an interview late Monday on the French television network Canal+. Oil palms have replaced trees, and therefore caused considerable damage to the environment,” she explained."
Pakistan Heatwave Death Toll Passes 1,000 - “The death toll from Pakistan’s killer heatwave rose past 1,000 on Thursday, with more fatalities expected, as cloud cover and lower temperatures brought some relief to the worst-hit city Karachi. Morgues and gravediggers in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and economic hub, have struggled to keep up with the flow of bodies since the scorching temperatures began last weekend."
America is the worst polluter in the history of the world. We should let climate change refugees resettle here. - “Rather than leaving vast numbers of victims of a warmer world stranded, without any place allowing them in, industrialized countries ought to pledge to take on a share of the displaced population equal to how much each nation has historically contributed to emissions of the greenhouse gases that are causing this crisis. According to the World Resources Institute, between 1850 and 2011, the United States was the source of 27 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions; the European Union, 25 percent; China, 11 percent; Russia, 8 percent; and Japan, 4 percent."
Climate change poses catastrophic risk to human health - "“According to a report published this week in the British medical journal The Lancet, health impact of climate change can potentially harm last 50 years of gains in development and global health. The report estimated that increased risk of disease, much greater food insecurity, air pollution and many other factors collectively pose a catastrophic risk to human health."
May 2015 was warmest May on record; March–May and year-to-date also record warm - “The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for May 2015 was the highest for the month of May since record keeping began in 1880. March–May and the year-to-date (January–May) globally averaged temperature were also record high.
• During May, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.57°F (0.87°C) above the 20th century average. This was the highest for May in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record set last year in 2014 by 0.14°F (0.08°C)."
Secretive donors gave US climate denial groups $125m over three years - “The secretive funders behind America’s conservative movement directed around $125m (£82m) over three years to groups spreading disinformation about climate science and committed to wrecking Barack Obama’s climate change plan, according to an analysis of tax records.The amount is close to half of the anonymous funding disbursed to rightwing groups, underlining the importance of the climate issue to US conservatives.The anonymous cash flow came from two secretive organisations – the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund – that have been called the “Dark Money ATM” of the conservative movement."
Polar Bears Are Now Eating Dolphins in the Arctic - "“The good news: Polar bears, imperiled by climate change, appear to have found something new to eat. The bad news: It’s dolphins." "This is the first record of this species as polar bear prey,” the team recounted in a study published in the scientific journal Polar Research. “White-beaked dolphins are frequent visitors to Svalbard waters in summer, but have not previously been reported this far north in early spring.”"
Warmer, Lower-Oxygen Oceans Drive Marine Species toward the Poles. - “Living in a warming ocean won’t just be uncomfortably hot for marine animals, it’s also likely to suffocate them. According to a newly published study in the journal Science, the combined stresses of rising ocean temperatures and the resulting drop in oxygen levels will put too much physiological strain on marine animals living closer to the equator."
Half of an Endangered Antelope Population Has Died Within Weeks - “More than 120,000 of the endangered saiga antelope have died in recent weeks due to illness, conservation and wildlife officials say, a mystifying loss that represents more than a third of its global population."
Alaska sets new record for earliest day with temperatures in the 90s. - “It’s been a warm, dry spring for much of interior Alaska. On the afternoon of May 23, a new statewide record was set for the earliest day in the year with a temperature in the 90s. A daytime high of 91°F was noted by a cooperative observer in Eagle, where temperatures have been recorded (with some breaks) since the 1890s. The 91° temperature at Eagle smashed that location’s all-time record for May. It was 30.1° hotter than the average daily high temperature in May (59.5°F), and 18.1° warmer than the average high temperature in July, Eagle’s warmest month of the year. So far this month, Eagle has set or tied ten daily high temperature records.”
Heaviest Downpours Rise across the U.S. - “Record-breaking rain across Texas and Oklahoma this week caused widespread flooding, the likes of which the region has rarely, if ever, seen. For seven locations there, May 2015 has seen the most rain of any month ever recorded, with five days to go and the rain still coming. While rainfall in the region is consistent with the emerging El Niño, the unprecedented amounts suggest a possible climate change signal, where a warming atmosphere becomes more saturated with water vapor and capable of previously unimagined downpours."
India’s Heat Wave - *Update: “More than 1,800 people have died in one of the worst heat waves in India’s recent history. Temperatures nearing 122°F (50°C) melted roads in New Delhi and scorched crops in the fields. It proved especially deadly in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where at least 1,700 died in the past week.”
Huge Oil Slick Lines California Coast After Pipeline Spill - “A broken onshore pipeline spewed oil down a storm drain and into the Pacific Ocean for several hours before it was shut off, creating a slick some 4 miles long across a scenic stretch of central California coastline, officials said. Initial estimates put the spill at about 21,000 gallons Tuesday, but that figure would likely change after a Wednesday morning flyover gave a better sense of the spill’s scope, U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Jennifer Williams said." "Cleanup of oil-fouled California beach could take months"
Wood-Based Computer Chips Could Make Electronics Biodegradable - “…the average consumer chews through portable electronics like they’re toilet paper. Consumers, after all, demand not just the fastest and slimmest devices, they want—implicitly, at least—devices that can go in the trash. From that perspective, wood seems pretty reasonable. The wooden semiconductor is a real thing, thanks to researchers at the University of Wisconsin working in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory. The new device, which basically just acts like plant fertilizer in the environment, is described in the current issue of Nature Communications."
China Wants to Build a 3000-Mile Railway Through the Amazon - "Not content with building massive new dams, railroads, and cities inside its own borders, China is backing hugely ambitious infrastructure projects all over the world. Its latest is a 3,000-mile long railway that will cut through vast swathes of the Amazon rainforest."
Record heat roasts parts of Alaska, where it’s warmer than Washington, D.C. - “Since Wednesday, high temperatures (well into the 70s) in Fairbanks, Alaska have outdone the highs (in the 60s to mid-70s) in Washington, D.C. The Last Frontier is in the midst of an extended streak of record-challenging warmth that will continue through next week. Alaska’s warmest temperatures, with respect to normal, have actually focused north and east of Fairbanks. Barrow – Alaska’s northernmost city, located above the Arctic circle – has logged record highs four of the past five days, including a toasty 47 on Thursday. That’s some 18 degrees above normal."
The awful truth about climate change no one wants to admit - “We recently passed 400 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere; the status quo will take us up to 1,000 ppm, raising global average temperature (from a pre-industrial baseline) between 3.2 and 5.4 degrees Celsius. That will mean, according to a 2012 World Bank report, “extreme heat-waves, declining global food stocks, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, and life-threatening sea level rise,” the effects of which will be “tilted against many of the world’s poorest regions,” stalling or reversing decades of development work. “A 4°C warmer world can, and must be, avoided,” said the World Bank president. But that’s where we’re headed. It will take enormous effort just to avoid that fate. Holding temperature down under 2°C — the widely agreed upon target — would require an utterly unprecedented level of global mobilization and coordination, sustained over decades. There’s no sign of that happening, or reason to think it’s plausible anytime soon.".
Militarizing Ourselves Toward a New Dark Age - “… At one point, the FBI’s Houston office said it would share with TransCanada ‘any pertinent intelligence regarding any threats’ to the company in advance of a forthcoming protest.”” Perhaps the only surprising thing about this revelation is that the agency has internal rules designed to keep its nose out of sensitive political issues. Obviously, they’re easily circumvented. What’s not surprising is the corporate-FBI alliance to stand tough against “environmental extremists” or the agency’s lumping of environmental protests with other “domestic terrorism issues” – its pathological fear, in other words, of peaceful protest and civil disobedience and its inability to see the least bit of patriotic value in their cause. This is the case despite the long, honored tradition of protest and civil disobedience in the United States and the widespread public awareness of the need to protect our environment. Doesn’t matter. In the realm of law enforcement, a simple moralism too often prevails: Get the enemy."
Bee Die-Offs Second-Highest Ever in Past Year - “The number of bee colonies that died in the year since April 2014 reached levels only ever seen once before, reported the Bee Informed Partnership.Of the total number of colonies managed over the past 12 months, U.S. beekeepers said 42.1 percent were lost. It was the second-highest annual loss recorded.Annual beehive losses varied across the nation, with the highest in Oklahoma at 63.4 percent and the lowest in Hawaii, with 14 percent.”
One in Six Species Could Go Extinct With Climate Change - “If climate change continues on its current track, one out of every six species on Earth could be at risk of extinction.That’s the conclusion of a new meta-analysis of 131 published studies, looking at everything from Costa Rica’s insects to Arctic foxes to California oak trees. The study is one of the most comprehensive surveys of how biodiversity will fare in a warmer climate. It found that the rate of biodiversity loss doesn’t rise linearly but actually accelerates with each degree of warming – highlighting the need for an urgent change of course.”
Poor Communities Bear Greatest Burden from Fracking - “Fracking wells in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region are disproportionately located in poor rural communities, which bear the brunt of associated pollution, according to a new study.
The study bolsters concerns that poor people are more likely to deal with hydraulic fracturing in their community and raises concerns that such vulnerable populations will suffer the potential health impacts of air and water pollution associated with pulling gas from the ground."
AVERAGE LEVEL OF CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE ATMOSPHERE HITS RECORD HIGH - "The global average of carbon dioxide in the air just reached a new high of 400 parts per million (ppm), which is a new low for us humans." "The 400 ppm record was first reached in 2013, at a research station located at Mauna Loa. Since then, the station recorded several other milestones, but globally, the average stayed below 400. NASA climatologist Gavin Schmidt sums it up well: "We are a society that has inadvertently chosen the double-black diamond run without having learned to ski first. It will be a bumpy ride."
The Tesla battery heralds the beginning of the end for fossil fuels - “While wind and solar power have made great strides in recent years, with renewables now accounting for 22% of electric energy generated, the issue that has held them back has been their transience. The sun doesn’t shine at night and the wind doesn’t blow year-round – these are the mantras of all those opposed to the progress of renewables. Now the renewable power billionaire Elon Musk has just blown away that final defence. Last Thursday in California he introduced to the world his sleek new Powerwall – a wall-mounted energy storage unit that can hold 10 kilowatt hours of electric energy, and deliver it at an average of 2 kilowatts, all for US$3,500."
This Antarctic ice shelf could collapse by 2020, NASA says - “Earlier this week, we learned that the gigantic marine-based Larsen C ice shelf, which is almost as big as Scotland, has several worrisome vulnerabilities — including a growing rift across it. Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey and several other research centers say this could pose an “imminent risk” to its stability. And now, NASA scientists are giving an even worse verdict for the remnants of the nearby Larsen B ice shelf, much of which already disintegrated back in 2002. Back then, the shelf lost a region larger than Rhode Island, but there are still 618 square miles left of it — for now. However, in a new study in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, researchers with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of California at Irvine say that this remnant now faces its “approaching demise.”
R.I.P. California (1850-2016): What We’ll Lose And Learn From The World’s First Major Water Collapse - “Last week when NASA announced that California is on its death bed and has only 12 months of water left, the news hit like a punch to the gut. “Data from NASA satellites show that the total amount of water stored in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins — that is, all of the snow, river and reservoir water, water in soils and groundwater combined — was 34 million acre-feet below normal in 2014. That loss is nearly 1.5 times the capacity of Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir,” writes Jay Famiglietti of NASA.
Famiglietti adds: “Statewide, we’ve been dropping more than 12 million acre-feet of total water yearly since 2011. Roughly two-thirds of these losses are attributable to groundwater pumping for agricultural irrigation in the Central Valley. Farmers have little choice but to pump more groundwater during droughts, especially when their surface water allocations have been slashed 80% to 100%. But these pumping rates are excessive and unsustainable. Wells are running dry. In some areas of the Central Valley, the land is sinking by one foot or more per year.”
Worst drought in 1200 years drains America's biggest reservoir - “"We’re only at 38 per cent full. Lake Mead hasn’t been this low since we were filling it in the 1930s,” said a spokeswoman for the US Bureau of Reclamation in Las Vegas. If it gets much lower – and with summer approaching and a dwindling snowpack available to replenish it, that looks likely – official rationing will begin for Arizona and Nevada. The hydroelectric output of the Hoover dam (below), to which the lake owes its existence, could also suffer. Water restrictions are already in place in California, but some hydrologists say rationing there must start soon to avert disaster.“
Dust blanketed this Nicaraguan town, and children's health symptoms are just beginning - “Dust storms are nothing new in Nicaragua. Small ones often occur toward the end of the dry season, in March and April. Their intensity this year, however, was unlike any in memory. Experts say that unless something is done to stop them, they will worsen in coming years.
These storms have deep ecological and economic causes."
The World’s First Solar Road Is Producing More Energy Than Expected - “In its first six months of existence, the world’s first solar road is performing even better than developers thought. The road, which opened in the Netherlands in November of last year, has produced more than 3,000 kilowatt-hours of energy — enough to power a single household for one year, according to Al-Jazeera America."
MIT Study suggests current solar power tech is good enough - “The standard line about solar power is that while good in theory, the technology just isn’t there to keep our lights on and our Netflix streaming. But a new study from MIT (PDF) suggests that’s not the case. According to the massive report (an epic 356 pages) current crystalline silicon photovoltaic technology is capable of delivering terawatt-scale power by 2050."
How Much of America Is in a Drought? - “The severity of the California drought–and its potential impact on the the nation’s agriculture–may have been dominating recent headlines, but the Golden State isn’t the only state facing water shortages. Oregon and Nevada are both severely dry, and other states may start to face water shortages soon. The U.S. Drought Monitor is reporting moderate to abnormally dry conditions in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Kansas is still recovering from a severe drought which affected 93 percent of the state in 2014. Southern parts of the Great Plains–stretching into Texas and Oklahoma–are becoming another drought epicenter. 2011 was Texas’s driest year on record, and the state hasn’t seen much relief since. Central Texas is currently facing such a severe drought that it prompted Governor Greg Abbott to issue an Emergency Disaster Proclamation to help the region facing imminent disaster."
Drought kills 12 million trees in California's national forests - “Years of extremely dry conditions are taking a heavy toll on forest lands across California and heightening the fire risk as summer approaches.“The situation is incendiary,” William Patzert, a climatologist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told The Times recently. “The national forest is stressed out.”A new study by the U.S. Forest Service tried to assess the scope of the problem. Researchers estimated that the drought has killed off at least 12.5 million trees in California’s national forests during the drought."
Climate change: The clock is ticking - “According to the Long-Term Climate Risk Index of think tank Germanwatch, the Philippines ranks as the fifth most affected country of extreme weather events from 1994 to 2013, with about 1.13 deaths per 100,000 people, 0.74% in losses per unit GDP. In that same period, the country experienced the most number of extreme weather events, at a total of 328.Likewise, it was also reported that the Philippines was the worst affected country in 2013 — the very year Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) struck the country. Extreme weather brought about 6.65 deaths per 100,000 inhabits and about 3.82% in losses per unit GDP.”
Air Pollution Can Shrink Brain, Lead To Dementia - “Research indicates long-term exposure to air pollution may cause the brain to shrink and lead to dementia or stroke. The research dealt with fine particle air pollution – less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter – which comes from burning wood or coal, car exhaust and other sources."
New Report: March 2015 Easily Set The Record For Hottest March Ever Recorded - “This was easily the hottest March — and hottest January-to-March — on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA’s latest monthly report makes clear Mother Nature is just getting warmed up: March 2015 was not only the hottest March in their 135-year of keeping records, it beat “the previous record of 2010 by 0.09°F (0.05°C).” January-to-March was not only the hottest start to any year on record, it also beat “the previous record of 2002 by 0.09°F.”
The Other Big Drought Story You Need to Pay Attention To - “With California’s scary, record-breaking drought capturing so much attention lately, an important bit of news about the dearth of water across a much larger region has gotten short shrift.
I’m talking about the Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to 40 million people in seven states — including Californians."
Nearly Five Years After the BP Spill, Animals Are Still Dying in the Gulf of Mexico - “The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) says dolphins are still dying in abnormally high numbers off the coast of Louisiana, the recovery of an endangered sea turtle has stalled, and deep-sea corals are showing signs of damage from oil exposure. In a new, 29-page report, the wildlife advocates look at how 20 species have fared since the blowout and say many more were likely hurt."
'Freak Weather Event' Sets Antarctic Heat Records - "A remarkable heat wave warmed Antarctica’s northernmost peninsula to slightly above 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius) in March — a record high for the normally cold continent. Previously, the hottest known temperature recorded on the continent was 62.8 degrees F (17.1 degrees C), on April 24, 1961. As Antarctica heads into the fall season, such high temperatures seem alarming. In fact, they occurred nearly three months after Antarctica’s summer."
Costa Rica is now running completely on renewable energy - “Costa Rica is running without having to burn a single fossil fuel, and it’s been doing so for 75 straight days. Thanks to some heavy rainfall this year, Costa Rica’s hydropower plants alone are generating nearly enough electricity to power the entire country. With a boost from geothermal, solar, and wind energy sources, the country doesn’t need an ounce of coal or petroleum to keep the lights on.”
As lakes become deserts, drought is Iran's new problem - “A study in 2013 by the World Resources Institute ranked Iran as the world’s 24th most water-stressed nation, with public consumption around twice the world average.Government subsidies on water do nothing to encourage efficiency, and public education messages on television and radio are ignored.Agricultural use – for water-heavy crops such as rice and corn – is thought to eat up nearly 90 percent of national supply, with experts saying irrigation is poorly managed, resulting in high wastage.For those whose taps are running dry, the result is hardship and human turmoil: drug use is rising and sandstorms are causing respiratory illnesses.”
POLL: Who Should Pay for Fracking-Induced Earthquake Damages? - “Ancient fault lines stretching across areas once considered geologically stable have been roused by the forces of industry and are now triggering chains of earthquakes in states where structures are not built to withstand the shaking of an earthquake.“There is now a substantial level of seismic hazard in areas where there used to be almost none,” U.S. Geological Survey Geophysicist Art McGarr said.”
Chile floods death toll rises to 17 as clean-up begins - "The rains, which started on Tuesday, were the worst in 80 years to fall in the region, one of the driest on Earth. Almost 11,000 people have been affected and more than 4,500 are in shelters.”
Cyclone Pam and climate change: Are the Pacific Islands ready? - “the Category 5 cyclone – the worst to hit the archipelago since Cyclone Uma left 5,000 people homeless and one man dead in 1987 – has once more raised concerns about the readiness of Pacific island nations to respond to severe weather events exacerbated by rising temperatures and sea levels.
The Pacific region has been one of the areas most affected by changes in global temperatures in recent years. In 2013, countries in the Pacific Basin recorded the highest increases in sea levels in the world, according to a report by The Christian Science Monitor, based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."
NASA scientist: California has one year of water left - “A top water scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says California has only about a year’s worth of water left in storage. Furthermore, groundwater, which is often used as a backup to reservoirs and other reserves, is rapidly depleting, scientist Jay Famiglietti wrote in the Los Angeles Times. “We’re not just up a creek without a paddle in California, we’re losing the creek too,” Famiglietti wrote."
Climate change is baking Alaska - “Something does seem to be going on in Alaska. Last fall, a skipjack tuna, which is more likely to be found in the Galápagos than near a glacier, was caught about 150 miles southeast of Anchorage, not far from the Kenai. This past weekend, race organizers had to truck in snow to the ceremonial Iditarod start line in Anchorage. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Ak.) tweeted a photo of one of the piles of snow with the hashtag #wemakeitwork. But it’s unclear how long that will be possible. Alaska is heating up at twice the rate of the rest of the country — a canary in our climate coal mine."
CO2 Pollution Stops Swelling Even as Global Economy Grows - “Solar, wind and other renewables are making such a big difference in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide that global emissions from the energy sector flatlined during a time of economic growth for the first time in 40 years."
Oceans Are Losing Oxygen—and Becoming More Hostile to Life - “Warming temperatures are sucking oxygen out of waters even far out at sea, making enormous stretches of deep ocean hostile to marine life.” “These are not coastal dead zones, like the one that sprawls across the Gulf of Mexico, but great swaths of deep water that can reach thousands of miles offshore. Already naturally low in oxygen, these regions keep growing, spreading horizontally and vertically. Included are vast portions of the eastern Pacific, almost all of the Bay of Bengal, and an area of the Atlantic off West Africa as broad as the United States."
Rich nations are laying road to ecological Armageddon - "In the Amazon and adjoining Andes mountains, 150 major hydroelectric dams are planned, each requiring a road network for the dams themselves and power lines to be built. Just the 12 proposed for the Tapajós river – one of the biologically richest parts of the Amazon – will lead to nearly 10,000 square kilometres of extra deforestation by 2032, according to a recent study. The Amazon also has 53,000 active mining leases, spanning more than a fifth of the river basin’s land area. New roads for mining and fossil-fuel projects are opening it up like a flayed fish – and with that a Pandora’s box of environmental problems, such as illegal deforestation and fires, poaching, illicit gold mining and rampant land speculation."
Climate Change Helped Spark Syrian War, Study Says - “A severe drought, worsened by a warming climate, drove Syrian farmers to abandon their crops and flock to cities, helping trigger a civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, according to a new study published Monday. The research provides the most detailed look yet at how climate change may already be helping spark violent political unrest."
Global Warming Could Hit Rates Unseen in 1,000 Years - “We are standing on the edge of a new world where warming is poised to accelerate at rates unseen for at least 1,000 years. That’s the main finding of a paper published Monday in Nature Climate Change, which looked at the rate of temperature change over 40-year periods. The new research also shows that the Arctic, North America and Europe will be the first regions to transition to a new climate, underscoring the urgent need for adaptation planning."
Ancient Chilean Mummies Now Turning into Black Ooze: Here's Why - This is wild that parts of Chile are seeing elevated levels of humidity that have never been present in the past. “The famous Chinchorro mummies, which have remained preserved in Chile for more than 7,000 years, are now under threat from increased levels of moisture. Humid air is allowing bacteria to grow, causing the mummies’ skin "to go black and become gelatinous,” said Ralph Mitchell, a professor emeritus of applied biology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who examined the rotting mummies."
The Pentagon & Climate Change: How Deniers Put National Security at Risk - “"Military readiness is already being impacted by sea-level rise,” says Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who mentions that with all the flooding, it’s becoming difficult to sell a house in some parts of Norfolk. If the melting of Greenland and West Antarctica continues to accelerate at current rates, scientists say Norfolk could see more than seven feet of sea-level rise by 2100. In 25 years, operations at most of these bases are likely to be severely compromised. Within 50 years, most of them could be goners. If the region gets slammed by a big hurricane, the reckoning could come even sooner."
US sea level north of New York City 'jumped by 128mm' - “Sea levels along the northeast coast of the US rose by record levels during 2009-2010, a study has found. Sea levels north of New York City rose by 128mm in two years, according to a report in the journal, Nature Communications. Coastal areas will need to prepare for short term and extreme sea level events, say US scientists. Climate models suggest extreme sea level rises will become more common this century."
Study shows India's filthy air cutting 660 million lives short by about 3 years - “India’s filthy air is cutting 660 million lives short by about three years, while nearly all of the country’s 1.2 billion citizens are breathing in harmful pollution levels, according to research published Saturday. The new study by a team of environmental economists at U.S. universities highlights just how extensive India’s air problems have become after years of pursuing an all-growth agenda with little regard for the environment."
No, climate models aren’t exaggerating global warming - "...climate models may not provide the perfect picture of what will happen to temperatures in a given short-term period (on 10- or 20-year scales). But maybe they simply can’t, due to the random ways in which climate can temporarily fluctuate. That doesn’t mean that climate models aren’t valuable to us. They still give us good sense of the long-term picture, the one that is more important for us to worry about anyway: that temperatures are increasing, and that natural factors can’t explain this increase.”
Enjoy it while it lasts — winter is moving north - “Those clever people over at Climate Central have done it again. These are the folks who broke the news that, by 2100, Phoenix will be as hot as Kuwait City. They observed, astutely, that downtown Las Vegas already feels like Kuwait City most days. And now they’re back, telling us, hey! No need to move to Florida when we retire! By the time many of us Northerners are ready to while away our final days chilling with umbrella drinks in the shade of palm trees, Florida will have come to us."
SCIENTISTS ADJUST DOOMSDAY CLOCK OVER NUCLEAR THREATS AND CLIMATE CHANGE - “Thursday, researchers working for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the secondhand of the infamous Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight, changing it from five minutes to just three minutes away. According to Kennette Benedict, executive director and publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the combination of unchecked climate change and the race to obtain nuclear arms is ultimately to blame for the advanced ticking of the clock.” ““World leaders have failed to act with the speed or on the scale required to protect citizens from potential catastrophe,” Benedict said in a statement Thursday morning. “These failures of leadership endanger every person on Earth.”
NASA | 2014 Continues Long-Term Global Warming - “The year 2014 now ranks as the warmest on record since 1880, according to an analysis by NASA scientists. This video shows a time series of five-year global temperature averages, mapped from 1880 to 2014, as estimated by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. While scientists expect temperatures to fluctuate from year to year, the average temperature of the planet as a whole has warmed by about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius) since 1880. This trend is largely driven by increasing human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.”
Oceans facing wildlife Armageddon: 'We are falling off a mass extinction cliff - but we're not there yet' - “The world’s oceans are facing a "wildlife Armageddon” if the Industrial Revolution of the sea continues on its current trajectory. That is according to a report by scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which found – to much surprise – the oceans are far healthier than thought. But this will not last. The authors warn ever increasing industrial use of the oceans coupled with climate change will mean marine wildlife is driven to extinction in the same way as land animals.“
Record! 2014 was Earth's warmest year - “The global temperature from 2014 broke the previous record warmest years of 2005 and 2010 since record-keeping began in 1880. Two separate data sets of global temperature — from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — confirmed the record. Another data set released last week by the Japan Meteorological Agency also found 2014 was the planet’s warmest."
Mass Animal Die-Offs Are on the Rise, Killing Billions and Raising Questions - “We’re not talking about a few dead fish littering your local beach. Mass die-offs are individual events that kill at least a billion animals, wipe out over 90 percent of a population, or destroy 700 million tons—the equivalent weight of roughly 1,900 Empire State Buildings—worth of animals.
And according to new research, such die-offs are on the rise.”
Acceleration in sea level rise far larger than initially thought, study shows - “The acceleration in global sea level from the 20th century to the last two decades has been significantly larger than scientists previously thought, according to a new Harvard study.”
“previous estimates of global sea-level rise from 1900-1990 had been over-estimated by as much as 30 percent. The report, however, confirms previous estimates of sea-level change since 1990, suggesting that the rate of sea-level change is increasing more quickly than previously believed.”
Rebecca Solnit: The Age of Capitalism is over - “If you look at the climate reports by the scientists — and scientists are another set of heroes for our time — the news only keeps getting scarier. You probably already know the highlights: chaotic weather, regular records set for warmth on land and at sea (and 2014 heading for an all-time heat high), 355 months in a row of above-average temperatures, more ice melting faster, more ocean acidification, the “sixth extinction,” the spread of tropical diseases, drops in food productivity with consequent famines.
The protesters who are trying to upend the ‘fantasy world’ of economics - “Harrington, a community organizer and videographer, once worked as a climate change activist. But after a few years he came to see that the real fight was elsewhere. “The type of activism we were doing around climate was running into systemic challenges,” he said. “We couldn’t get the types of climate change policies we need without system change, without addressing questions in economics like growth and limits to growth.””
2014
Alaska's toasty temperatures in 2014 worry observers - “The biggest state in America, home to more ocean coastline than all others combined, has just set another record. This one, however, is nothing to cheer. For the first time in recorded history, temperatures in Anchorage did not drop below zero once in an entire calendar year. In comparison, Alaska’s largest city had 14 days below zero in the 2013 calendar year and 32 days in 2012. The average is 29 days.” "Sea ice has been disappearing. Polar bear populations have dropped. The state’s storied dog race was a musher’s mess, spurring headlines that fretted: "Warm weather, treacherous conditions — is the Iditarod in trouble?” The Bering Sea saw its warmest summer on record.“
Global Warming Blamed for Pacific Coral Bleaching - “The Marshall Islands is experiencing its worst-ever coral bleaching as global warming threatens reefs across the entire northern Pacific, scientists said Monday. Marine researchers said an El Nino weather pattern had been developing in recent months, raising ocean temperatures and stressing delicate coral reefs.” “"Major bleaching was seen in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati,” he said."
Global Warming Threatens Shishmaref - “In this video segment adapted from Spanner Films, learn about how global warming and changing sea ice conditions affect the Alaska Native village of Shishmaref. Hear firsthand accounts about how climate change has altered the condition, extent, and freeze-up of sea ice. Understand how the local subsistence way of life relies on the presence of sea ice. Learn about how houses were relocated after a strong storm in 1997 and how erosion continues to threaten the village.”
California's Drought Worst in 1,200 Years, Researchers Say - “California’s drought looks like the worst in the state in more than 1,200 years, according to a new analysis of tree ring and soil moisture data. The study by Daniel Griffin of the University of Minnesota and Kevin Anchukaitis of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution finds that three-year droughts like the current one aren’t unusual in California. But the past three years have been the worst in 1,200 years, with accumulated moisture deficits the worst ever, they said."
Expect More Giant Snowstorms as Climate Warms (Op-Ed) - “The storms that buried the Buffalo, New York, area in more than 7 feet (2.1 meters) of snow this week shattered records and shocked residents — even in a region accustomed to dealing with heavy snow. The storms are certain to provide new fodder for climate-change skeptics who seem to embrace every monster blizzard as evidence that global warming doesn’t exist. And yet, the science behind these catastrophic storms suggests that they do not occur despite global warming, but in fact because of it.”
2014 Boils Toward Warmest Year Ever with Three More Records Broken - “Even if it’s freezing in your personal universe, Earth as a whole just broke three "warmest” records and is likely to see 2014 go down as the warmest since record keeping began in 1880, scientists reported Thursday. Driven by record warm oceans, combined sea and land temperatures in October were the warmest on record, according to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On top of that, January-October was the warmest first 10 calendar months, while November 2013 to October 2014 was the warmest 12-month block."
We’re Tired of Telling You These Things, but Last Month Was the Hottest October on Record - “According to new data released Friday from NASA and the Japanese Meteorological Agency, last month was the warmest October globally since official weather records have been kept in the late 1800s. According to NASA, last month tied with 2005 as the warmest October on record globally. Japan’s data show the month as significantly warmer than October 2003, its previously warmest October.”
Global warming to cause 50% increase in lightning strikes across the U.S.: Study - “A new study published Thursday in Science Magazine shows that the frequency of lightning flashes across the U.S. could increase by 50% during the course of this century, due to manmade global warming. This means that for every two lightning strikes that occurred in the year 2000, there will be about three strikes in 2100, according to lead author David Romps, an earth sciences professor at the University of California, Berkeley.”
Monster Storm Becomes Strongest on Record for Alaska - “the storm has become the most powerful storm to ever move over the Bering Sea in recorded history in terms of central pressure. Previous to this storm, the old record stood at 925 millibars (27.32 inches of Hg) from a powerful storm that moved over the Bering Sea on Oct. 25, 1977. To put this in perspective, the lowest pressure recorded in Hurricane Sandy was 940 millibars (27.76 inches of Hg).”
Invest now or face 'irreversible' effects of climate change, U.N. panel warns - “The cost of fighting climate change will only climb if industrialized nations don’t take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the United Nations’ panel on the matter warned Sunday in its wrap-up report. In its "synthesis report,” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that the hundreds of authors involved in the study were even more certain than before that the planet is warming and humans are the cause. “If left unchecked, climate change will increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems,” the report said.“
As Dwindling Monarch Butterflies Make Their Migration, Feds Try to Save Them - “But the very migration that still puzzles researchers could soon become a thing of the past. Monarch populations are declining at an alarming rate, thanks to a deadly combination of factors that includes Illegal logging in Mexico, wildfires, droughts, and a drastic loss of their crucial milkweed habitat in the United States. The outlook is so grim for monarchs that the U.S. government is getting involved in a major effort to save them."
Not Just California: Droughts Extend Across Americas - “A dry spell has killed cattle and wiped out crops in Central America, parts of Colombia have seen rioting over scarce water, and southern Brazil is facing its worst dry spell in 50 years.”
“Worst hit has been Central America, where drought has created food shortages for 2.5 million people, most of them “subsistence farmers and families in highly food-insecure areas,” says Miguel Barreto, regional program manager for the U.N.’s World Food Program.” “Droughts, and along with them plant diseases, are happening more frequently, says Lorena Aguilar…”
200 floods-a-year: Sea level rise will inundate Jersey Shore communities, new study says - “The high tides fueling minor flooding along parts of the Jersey Shore today will be able to push water further inland and put property at risk in a few decades, according to a new study, as rising sea levels makes waterfront communities more vulnerable. The report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that flooding is already occurring more often in places like Atlantic City. The city now averages nearly 30 days per year with tidal flooding, according to the report, up from five days per year in the 1970s. But as sea levels increase, the report says the city — and other coastal towns — can expect more frequent and disruptive flooding from high tides.”
Once-vast Aral Sea dries up to almost nothing - “The Aral Sea was once the world’s fourth-largest lake. Now much of it is a vast toxic desert straddling the borders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, two former Soviet states in central Asia.”
Love, Not Fear, Will Help Us Fix Climate Change - "What enables people to make sustainable changes in their lives, both personal and planetary, is not fear of dying; it’s joy of living. Love is more powerful than fear as a sustainable motivator. We will address tough challenges to help our loved ones that we might not do just for ourselves.”"
Global Warming Fueled Australian Heat Waves And Other Extreme Events Worldwide - “A new study from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science (ARCCSS) demonstrates that the devastating effects of the hottest year on record in Australia – 2013 – would not have been possible without the influence of human-caused global warming. The findings, reported in five separate papers in a recent issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS), highlight the significant influence that global warming has exerted on Australia’s climate; including droughts, heat waves and record-breaking seasons.”
California becomes first in nation to ban plastic bags at stores - "Paper or plastic?” is not a question California grocery shoppers will soon be hearing. California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed into law Tuesday legislation that will ban single-use plastic bags in the state, making it the first state in the nation to do so. The move is designed to combat litter and environmental degradation.
“This bill is a step in the right direction – it reduces the torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself,” Governor Brown said in a statement. “We’re the first to ban these bags, and we won’t be the last."
Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF - “The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years, according to a new analysis. Creatures across land, rivers and the seas are being decimated as humans kill them for food in unsustainable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats, the research by scientists at WWF and the Zoological Society of London found. “If half the animals died in London zoo next week it would be front page news,” said Professor Ken Norris, ZSL’s director of science. “But that is happening in the great outdoors. This damage is not inevitable but a consequence of the way we choose to live.” He said nature, which provides food and clean water and air, was essential for human wellbeing.”
Lord Nicholas Stern: The state of the climate — and what we might do about it - “How can we begin to address the global, insidious problem of climate change — a problem that’s too big for any one country to solve? Economist Nicholas Stern lays out a plan, presented to the UN’s Climate Summit in 2014, showing how the world’s countries can work together on climate. It’s a big vision for cooperation, with a payoff that goes far beyond averting disaster. He asks: How can we use this crisis to spur better lives for all?”
Why inequality makes it harder to stop climate change - "In a recent paper, Casey Wichman of the University of Maryland and Laura Taylor and Roger von Haefen, both of North Carolina State University, analyzed water consumption in six North Carolina cities during a prolonged period of drought. Some of those cities raised water rates when water was scarce; the trio found lower-income homeowners were significantly more likely to water their lawns less when the rates went up. Higher-income households were barely fazed — and households with automatic sprinkler systems didn’t reduce their watering at all.”
New York’s Hottest Days Could Triple by 2046 - “This August was the hottest on record, according to the latest report on global temperatures. With hundreds of thousands of people calling for action on climate change on Sunday in the People’s Climate March in Manhattan, a new analysis shows that the number of sweltering days each summer could double or triple in many North American cities by the middle of the century."
Last Month Was the Hottest August in Recorded History - “Global temperatures in August climbed to their highest point in recorded history, according to new data released by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies on Monday.
The data from NASA’s Global Land-Ocean Temperature Index shows global temperatures climbed 0.7 degrees Celsius above their average between 1951 and 1990, the highest recorded difference from the baseline since measurements began in 1880.”
'We have the power to change the world': Thousands march in cities from New Delhi to New York demanding action on climate change - "Forty thousand campaigners were marching in London today to demand urgent action on climate change.Celebrities including actress Emma Thompson and musician Peter Gabriel are joining campaigners and British flood victims at the march and rally.It is one of 2,000 events taking place in 150 countries around the world ahead of a United Nations climate summit next week.Some 100,000 people are expected to get involved in New York City - the summit's location - to demand leaders take action to tackle rising temperatures."
Antarctica Nearing Record Sea Ice, Arctic Ice Shrinks - “For an unprecedented third year in a row, Antarctica’s sea ice is poised to smash a new record this month. The Southern Hemisphere’s unrelenting winds and frigid air froze ocean water into 7.6 million square miles (19.7 million square kilometers) of Antarctic sea ice this southern winter, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said."
Hundreds die in India, Pakistan after heaviest rain in 50 years - "“the district of Haveli, which straddles the de facto border between Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, had seen 400 millimetres (15.75 inches) of rain in a day, which had "no parallel in the past 50 years”.“"
Greenhouse gas levels rising at fastest rate since 1984 - “Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere between 2012 and 2013 grew at their fastest rate since 1984. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says that it highlights the need for a global climate treaty.” ”“The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin shows that, far from falling, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere actually increased last year at the fastest rate for nearly 30 years,” said Michel Jarraud, secretary general of the WMO.“ "Atmospheric CO2 is now at 142% of the levels in 1750, before the start of the industrial revolution."
Climate Change Will Disrupt Half of North America’s Bird Species, Study Says - “The Baltimore oriole will probably no longer live in Maryland, the common loon might leave Minnesota, and the trumpeter swan could be entirely gone. Those are some of the grim prospects outlined in a report released on Monday by the National Audubon Society, which found that climate change is likely to so alter the bird population of North America that about half of the approximately 650 species will be driven to smaller spaces or forced to find new places to live, feed and breed over the next 65 years. If they do not — and for several dozen it will be very difficult — they could become extinct."
Record rainfall leads to deadly flooding in Arizona - “The remnants of Hurricane Norbert pushed into the desert Southwest and swamped Phoenix with record rainfall for a single day, turning freeways into small lakes and sending rescuers scrambling to get drivers out of inundated cars.” “The National Weather Service recorded 2.99 inches of rain by about 7 a.m., breaking the old record of 2.91 inches set in 1933. The rainfall also eclipsed the average total rainfall of 2.71 inches for the entire summer rainy season in Phoenix.”
New Observations Confirm Greenland, Antarctica Losing Land Ice Rapidly - “A new study just published shows that—using more accurate measurements than ever before—Greenland and Antarctica are together losing ice at incredible rates: Together, over 500 (±107) cubic kilometers of ice are melting from them every year. That means 450 billion tons of ice are lost every year, melted away into the oceans. That’s staggering.” “They also found that West Antarctica—the focus of much concern lately—is losing ice three times faster now than it was in the time period from 2003–2009.”
Researchers: Antarctic sea-level rising faster than global rate - “The global rate is six centimeters (cm), but coastal waters around the continent are rising by eight cm, a new analysis of 19 years worth of satellite data from more than one million square kilometers suggests.”
Iceland's Seabird Colonies Are Vanishing, With "Massive" Chick Deaths - “The suspected culprits are many. But the leading candidates are the array of profound changes under way in the world’s oceans—their climate, their chemistry, their food webs, their loads of pollutants. Warming oceans and earlier thaws are driving away the seabirds’ prey; unleashing deadly, unseasonal storms; and knocking tight breeding schedules off-kilter. Mounting carbon dioxide absorption and melting glaciers are acidifying and diluting the aquatic balance, jeopardizing marine life and the creatures that depend on it for food".
Climate change poses growing health threat - “Climate change poses a growing health threat, the UN warned on Wednesday, saying extreme weather and rising temperatures could claim hundreds of thousands of lives and spread disease.
"Climate change is no longer only an environmental issue,” said Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, head of the climate change team at the World Health Organisation.“
Hundreds of Methane Plumes Spotted on Seafloor - "“Plumes of bubbles streaming from hundreds of newly discovered sea-floor seeps between North Carolina and Massachusetts are likely to contain methane and could be adding as much as 90 tonnes of the planet-warming gas to the atmosphere or overlying waters each year, research published Sunday in Nature Geoscience suggests.An estimated two-thirds of the emissions emanate from sediments at depths where methane-rich ices may be decomposing due to warming waters along the ocean bottom, the researchers say. Effects of these plumes on climate and ocean chemistry are not yet clear, but could extend well beyond the plumes themselves.”
California Drought Spurs Groundwater Drilling Boom in Central Valley - “The Arthurs run just one company that is working around the clock to fulfill the booming demand for new wells in California’s Central Valley. As the state feels the pressure of a drought with no end in sight, farmers and landowners who no longer have access to surface water are spending millions of dollars to dig increasingly deep wells. But experts warn that the new rush for water is unsustainable and that it carries serious consequences for the environment and the future.”
Tibet's Glaciers at Their Warmest in 2,000 Years - "The Tibetan plateau, whose glaciers supply water to hundreds of millions of people in Asia, were warmer over the past 50 years than at any stage in the past two millennia, a Chinese newspaper said, citing an academic report. Temperatures and humidity are likely to continue to rise throughout this century, causing glaciers to retreat and desertification to spread, according to the report published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research. "Over the past 50 years, the rate of temperature rise has been double the average global level,” it said, according to the report on the website of Science and Technology Daily, a state-run newspaper. Glacier retreat could disrupt water supply to several of Asia’s main rivers that originate from the plateau, including China’s Yellow and Yangtze, India’s Brahmaputra, and the Mekong and Salween in Southeast Asia."
Massive red tide bloom threatens Florida’s Gulf of Mexico coast - "“Ecologists are calling this the worst outbreak of red algae blooms since 2006, when El Nino late in the year contributed to a wealth of red tides. The death toll for fish was in the thousands. Unfortunately, the worst may be yet to come, as the Federal Wildlife Commission estimates that the K. Brevis may wash up on the beach within the next two weeks, creating a much bigger crisis as particles can become airborne. Several instances of K. Brevis respiratory infections were reported as happening off shore. The FWC plans to provide updates on the tides every Friday as the situation develops.”"
Ecuador Approves Oil Drilling in One of the Most Biodiverse Regions on the Planet - "“Ecuador, home to some of the most biologically diverse areas on the planet, is already experiencing an unprecedented surge in oil and gas investment and exploration. The country is criss-crossed with pipelines, while the major rivers are littered with oil barges and oil camps situated deep into the jungle. To further extend this development to these new areas of the Yasuní is unconscionable to many, and if the natural wonders of the earth are at to be at the whims of profiteers, then we might as well say goodbye to the Amazon.”"
So Long, Seafood! Ocean Acidification Projected to Slam Alaskan Fisheries - "“An acidification spike around the coast of British Columbia in February 2014 wiped out 10 million scallops. Acidification in the the Pacific Northwest around 2006 began dissolving oyster larvae, wiping out some hatchery populations completely. But projected acidification in Alaska would be on a much grander scale. Hundreds of thousands of people depend on the Alaskan fishing industry for jobs and food.”"
10 reasons to be hopeful that we will overcome climate change - "“For the last few months, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have been at record levels unseen in over 800,000 years. The chairman of the IPCC, an international panel of the world’s top climate scientists, warned earlier this year that “nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change”. Future generations will no doubt wonder at our response, given the scale of the threat. It’s known that death, poverty and suffering await millions, and yet governments still vacillate. But solutions are available. Here are ten reasons to be hopeful that humans will rise to the challenge of climate change.”
Super Typhoon Haiyan Survivors Suffer as Storms Slams Philippines - "Super Typhoon Haiyan destroyed 90 percent of the structures in the city of Tacloban in November and left more than 6,000 people dead. With Typhoon Rammasun, which is known locally as Glenda, bearing down on them on Monday night, many Haiyan survivors were again forced to seek refuge.”"
Interact to see what 1,001 cities' summers will be like by 2100 - “For our Blistering Future Summers interactive we have projected summer high temperatures for the end of this century for 1,001 cities, and then showed which city in the U.S. — or elsewhere in the world, if we couldn’t find one here — is experiencing those temperatures today. We’ve highlighted several striking examples on the interactive, but make sure to explore and find how much hotter summers will likely be in your city."
Tropical Fish Cause Trouble as Climate Change Drives Them Toward the Poles - "The undersea world is on the move. Climate change is propelling fish and other ocean life into what used to be cooler waters, and researchers are scrambling to understand what effect that is having on their new neighborhoods. They are finding that the repercussions of the migration of tropical fish, in particular, are often devastating. Invading tropical species are stripping kelp forests in Japan, Australia, and the eastern Mediterranean and chowing down on sea grass in the northern Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic seaboard."The faunas are mixing, and nobody can see what the outcome will be," said Ken Heck, a marine scientist at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. But the consequences of that mixing are already trickling up the food chain."
The End of Fish - "“The oceans are stretched, and certain fish species are approaching depletion. Leading scientists project that if we continue to fish this way, without allowing our oceans time to recover, our oceans could become virtual deserts by 2050. That’s just 36 years from now. Given that demand for seafood – along with the world’s population – is rising, don’t be surprised if this window closes even faster. Make your peace with fish, because it may not last much longer.”"
Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S. - "Droughts appear to be intensifying over much of the West and Southwest as a result of global warming. Over the past decade, droughts in some regions have rivaled the epic dry spells of the 1930s and 1950s. About 34 percent of the contiguous United States was in at least a moderate drought as of July 22."
Climate Records Shattered in 2013 - "Climate data show that global temperatures in 2013 continued their long-term rising trend. In fact, 2013 was somewhere between the second- and sixth-hottest year on record for the planet since record keeping began in 1880, according to the climate report, released Thursday (July 17) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (Four groups of scientists, who rely on slightly different methods to calculate global surface temperatures, ranked 2013 slightly differently compared with other years.)"
Interact to see what 1,001 cities' summers will be like by 2100 - "Summers in most of the U.S. are already warmer than they were in the 1970s. And climate models tell us that summers are going to keep getting hotter as greenhouse gas emissions continue. What will this warming feel like? Our new analysis of future summers illustrates just how dramatic warming is going to be by the end of this century if current emissions trends continue unabated."
The Planet Just Had Its Warmest May On Record - "Last month broke a temperature record, averaging 59.93 degrees Fahrenheit — a degree and a third (1.33°F) above the 20th century baseline, according to new data released Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. May 2014 was the 39th consecutive May that was warmer than average. This was also the 351st consecutive month where the global temperature was hotter than the 20th century average, meaning if you are 29 years old, you have never experienced a colder-than-average month in your life."
Floods, drought, war? It must be El Niño again - "If the warming trend continues, it will unleash a chain reaction of extreme events around the world, especially in the Pacific Rim, from flooding to food shortages and faster climate change to an increased risk of armed conflicts.The US government’s Climate Prediction Center now puts the chances of El Niño, which occurs naturally once or twice a decade, at up to 80 percent this year."
Climate change a huge economic risk - "Climate change poses profound risks to the U.S. economy and needs to be addressed immediately, says a bipartisan report Tuesday by a coalition of financial leaders that includes three former Treasury secretaries.Two of the most severe impacts — sea level rise and extreme heat — will likely cost billions of dollars in annual property loss, threaten human health. lower labor productivity and endanger the nation's electricity grids, says the report by the Risky Business Project."
The Turning Point: New Hope for the Climate - "In the struggle to solve the climate crisis, a powerful, largely unnoticed shift is taking place. The forward journey for human civilization will be difficult and dangerous, but it is now clear that we will ultimately prevail. The only question is how quickly we can accelerate and complete the transition to a low-carbon civilization. There will be many times in the decades ahead when we will have to take care to guard against despair, lest it become another form of denial, paralyzing action. It is true that we have waited too long to avoid some serious damage to the planetary ecosystem – some of it, unfortunately, irreversible. Yet the truly catastrophic damages that have the potential for ending civilization as we know it can still – almost certainly – be avoided. Moreover, the pace of the changes already set in motion can still be moderated significantly."
Mystery Disease Turns Oregon’s Sea Stars to Goo - "A mysterious disease that is turning sea stars to goo has taken off along the Oregon coast, with up to half or more of the creatures being infected in just the last few weeks, scientists say."
Carbon dioxide levels hit landmark in Northern Hemisphere - "April was the first month in recorded history with average carbon dioxide levels at or above 400 parts per million across the Northern Hemisphere, according to a May 26 announcement by the World Meteorological Organization.Climate scientists first recorded the troubling peak in the greenhouse gas in the Arctic in 2012 and in Hawaii last year (SN: 12/28/2013, p. 26), but the rest of the globe had yet to consistently hit the high mark. The 400 ppm level is largely symbolic, representing nearly 150 percent of the CO2 levels of pre-industrial times."
The poleward migration of the location of tropical cyclone maximum intensity - " When considered together, the trends in each hemisphere depict a global-average migration of tropical cyclone activity away from the tropics at a rate of about one degree of latitude per decade, which lies within the range of estimates of the observed expansion of the tropics over the same period6. The global migration remains evident and statistically significant under a formal data homogenization procedure3, and is unlikely to be a data artefact. The migration away from the tropics is apparently linked to marked changes in the mean meridional structure of environmental vertical wind shear and potential intensity, and can plausibly be linked to tropical expansion, which is thought to have anthropogenic contributions."
Earth heading toward another mass extinction - "Species are now disappearing at a rate of up to 1,000 times faster than they did before humans started walking the earth, a new study says.“The Biodiversity of Species and their Rates of Extinction, Distribution, and Protection” was published Thursday in the journal Science, and it warned that the world is on the brink of its sixth great extinction."
Sea Level Rise Forces US Space Agency To Retreat - "Sea level rise is threatening the majority of NASA's launch pads and multi-billion dollar complexes famous for training astronauts and launching historic missions to space, scientists said Tuesday."
The Antarctic Ice Sheet Has Started to Collapse and Nothing Can Stop It - "For decades, scientists have feared the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet—a vast swath of ice that could unleash a slow but unstoppable 10-foot rise in sea levels if it melted. So here is today's terrible news: we now know the ice sheet is melting. And there's pretty much nothing we can do about it." Scientists warn of FOUR-FOOT sea level rise from GLACIER melt - "Scientists at NASA and the University of California, Irvine have concluded that the glaciers of West Antarctica are now in terminal decline and the resultant ice loss could raise global sea levels by up to four feet over the next few centuries." Antarctica melting twice as fast previous records amid warnings millions could be left homeless - "The Antarctic ice sheet is melting twice as fast as the last time it was recorded, according to stark new images taken by the European Space Agency."
High CO2 Makes Crops Less Nutritious - "Crops grown in the high-CO2 atmosphere of the future could be significantly less nutritious, a new study published today in Nature suggests. Based on hundreds of experiments in the field, the work reveals a new challenge as society reckons with both rising carbon emissions and malnutrition in the future."
Why bees are disappearing - "Honeybees have thrived for 50 million years, each colony 40 to 50,000 individuals coordinated in amazing harmony. So why, seven years ago, did colonies start dying en masse? Marla Spivak reveals four reasons which are interacting with tragic consequences. This is not simply a problem because bees pollinate a third of the world’s crops. Could this incredible species be holding up a mirror for us?" U.S. Honeybee Losses Not as Severe This Year - "Despite brutal weather in much of the nation, the die-off of honeybees over the winter of 2013-2014 was significantly lower than the average annual losses recorded over the previous seven winters, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture."
March Was One of the Hottest on Record - But Not in U.S. - "Federal forecasters calculated that for most of the Earth, last month was one of the hottest Marchs on record — except in the United States.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday that it was the fourth hottest March in 135 years of records. The overall global temperature was 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit (0.7 degree Celsius) warmer than the 20th century average."
Study: Climate Change to Blame for Worsening U.S. Wildfires - "Drought, heat and dry weather caused by climate change has dramatically increased the number of wildfires in the U.S., a new study shows. The number of sizable wildfires increased by a rate of seven fires a year between 1984 and 2011"
Fracking is depleting water supplies in America's driest areas, report shows - "America's oil and gas rush is depleting water supplies in the driest and most drought-prone areas of the country, from Texas to California, new research has found.Of the nearly 40,000 oil and gas wells drilled since 2011, three-quarters were located in areas where water is scarce, and 55% were in areas experiencing drought, the report by the Ceres investor network found."
Asian air pollution strengthens Pacific storms - "Air pollution in China and other Asian countries is having far-reaching impacts on weather patterns across the Northern Hemisphere, a study suggests."
ARCTIC SEA ICE REACHES 5TH SMALLEST EXTENT ON RECORD - "Scientists are saying that the extent recently recorded is the fifth smallest one according to their records. Annual measurements of the Arctic Sea extent have been taken since 1978 with the smallest measurement being made in 2011."
Carbon dioxide benchmark hits new heights, worries scientists - "Instruments on Hawaii's Mauna Loa observatory first recorded carbon dioxide levels above 400 parts per million last May, peaking at 400.5. This year, the seasonally fluctuating number has crossed 401 ppm three times this month and hit a record 401.6 on March 12, said Ralph Keeling at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego."
Climate change could reduce crop yields as soon as 2030 - "The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, warns that global warming of only 2C is likely to reduce yields of staple crops as early as the 2030s. Researchers from the University of Leeds analysed the results of 1,700 published studies of the impact that climate change will have on the yields of rice, maize and wheat."
The Pentagon's Guide to Overcoming Climate Change Denial - "Those who actively deny that climate change is a scientifically-established reality have never really been able to square one simple fact: The nation's military leadership is in unified agreement that climate change is real, and also that it poses a clear and present danger to the troops. The Pentagon's thinking is revealed plainly and publicly in its own 2014 Quadrennial Review, which features no fewer than eight direct, specific, and unambiguous evaluations of climate change as it relates to geopolitics and military strategy." US military is preparing for ‘climate change war’ - "The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just completed a series of landmark reports that chronicle an update to the current state of consensus science on climate change. In a sentence, here’s what they found: On our current path, climate change could pose an irreversible, existential risk to civilization as we know it—but we can still fix it if we decide to work together."
Climate change could see ‘significant’ rise in malaria deaths, study finds - "Future global warming could lead to a significant increase in malaria cases in densely populated regions of Africa and South America unless disease monitoring and control efforts are increased, researchers said Thursday.In a study of the mosquito-borne disease that infects around 220 million people a year, researchers from Britain and the United States found what they describe as the first hard evidence that malaria creeps to higher elevations during warmer years and back down to lower altitudes when temperatures cool.This in turn "suggests that with progressive global warming, malaria will creep up the mountains and spread to new high-altitude areas," said Menno Bouma, an honorary clinical lecturer at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).And because people who live in these areas have no protective immunity because they are not used to being exposed to malaria, they will be particularly vulnerable to more severe and fatal cases of infection, he added."
Video: A Polar Disaster Movie - "It’s not a secret that the Arctic Ocean is turning from white to blue as sea ice retreats. But a video compressing 25 years of satellite data into a single minute still drew gasps in a session here yesterday at the annual meeting of AAAS, which publishes Science. The movie, created late last year with data from satellites and buoys, shows how each year’s sea ice cover pulses like an amoeba, expanding and contracting with the seasons—and ending almost every summer a little smaller than the year before."
Next 15 years vital for taming warming: UN panel - The next 15 years will be vital in determining whether global warming can be limited to 2C (3.6F) by 2100, with energy and transport presenting the heftiest challenges, according to a draft UN report. Major efforts are needed to brake the growth in carbon emissions for a good chance to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, says the summary."(It) would entail global consumption losses of one to four percent in 2030, two to six percent in 2050 and two to 12 percent in 2100," the 29-page summary says.
California's Drought Could Be the Worst in 500 Years - "The Golden State is in the midst of a three-year drought—and scientists believe that this year may end up being the driest in the last half millennium, according to University of California-Berkeley professor B. Lynn Ingram. Californians are scared, with good reason: Fire danger in the state is high, and drinking-water supplies are low."
Climate change is as bad as terrorism, says Kerry - "Without more action to combat global warming, scientists predict extreme weather events such as last year's Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines will occur, Mr Kerry said. He likened climate change to global threats such as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
Freezing January for Easterners Was Not Felt Round the World - "For people throughout the Eastern United States who spent January slipping, sliding and shivering, here is a counterintuitive fact: For the earth as a whole, it was the fourth-warmest January on record. It was, in fact, the 347th consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average, the government reported Thursday. That may feel plausible to Californians, whose state experienced temperatures 10 or 15 degrees above normal in some places last month, and especially to Alaskans, where the average temperature was almost 15 degrees above normal. But on a map of January temperatures released Thursday by government weather analysts, the Eastern United States stood out as one of the coldest areas on the planet, compared with seasonal norms."
The World's Largest Solar Plant Started Creating Electricity Today - "Take 300,000 computer-controlled mirrors, each 7 feet high and 10 feet wide. Control them with computers to focus the Sun's light to the top of 459-foot towers, where water is turned into steam to power turbines. Bingo: you have the world's biggest solar power plant, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System."
Fukushima radiation could reach Pacific coast by April - "Radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster has not yet reached ocean waters along the Pacific coast, but low levels of radioactive cesium from the stricken Japanese power plant could arrive by April, scientists reported Monday."
New highly radioactive leak at Japan's Fukushima plant - "The operator of Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant said on Thursday that 100 metric tons of highly contaminated water had leaked out of a tank, the worst incident since last August, when a series of radioactive water leaks sparked international alarm."
Freezing Out the Bigger Picture - "Scientists refer to global warming because it is about, well, the globe. It is also about the long run. It is really not about what happened yesterday in Poughkeepsie. The entire United States, including Alaska, covers less than 2 percent of the surface of the earth. So if the whole country somehow froze solid one January, that would not move the needle on global temperatures much at all."
The Government's Secret Research into Climate Change as a Security Risk - "Plenty of people still doubt that climate change is a real thing, or that it was engineered by humans and accelerating. But national security hawks agree with the scientific consensus that climate change is a real and growing problem. And they've done tons of research predicting the wars and disasters it could cause."
China to set up $1.6 bln fund to help fight smog - "China said on Wednesday it would set up a 10 billion yuan ($1.65 billion) fund to fight air pollution, offering rewards for companies that clean up operations."
Beijing’s Bad Air Would Be Step Up for Smoggy Delhi - "Despite Beijing’s widespread reputation of having some of the most polluted air of any major city in the world, an examination of daily pollution figures collected from both cities suggests that New Delhi’s air is more laden with dangerous small particles of pollution, more often, than Beijing’s. Lately, a very bad air day in Beijing is about an average one in New Delhi."
Inaction on climate change costly, report warns - "Nations have dragged their feet in battling climate change so much that the situation has grown critical and the risk of severe economic disruption is rising, according to a UN draft report. Another 15 years of failure to limit carbon emissions could make the problem virtually impossible to solve with current technologies, the experts found."
California drought sets up fracking face-off - "More than half of the oil and gas wells fracked across America since 2011 lie in places suffering through drought - including California. That's one of the more eye-catching results of a hydraulic fracturing study released Wednesday by Ceres, a nonprofit group that works with investors and businesses to encourage sustainability. Ceres surveyed nearly 39,300 wells fracked nationwide and found that 55 percent were in places experiencing drought. And 36 percent were in areas where groundwater supplies are seriously depleted."
Severe Drought Has U.S. West Fearing Worst - "The punishing drought that has swept California is now threatening the state’s drinking water supply. With no sign of rain, 17 rural communities providing water to 40,000 people are in danger of running out within 60 to 120 days. State officials said that the number was likely to rise in the months ahead after the State Water Project, the main municipal water distribution system, announced on Friday that it did not have enough water to supplement the dwindling supplies of local agencies that provide water to an additional 25 million people."
Two Images Tell the Tale of California’s Terrifying Drought - "California is experiencing an epic drought. Paul Rogers reports for the San Jose Mercury News that some communities could actually run out of water in the next few months if the Golden State doesn’t get some rain:"
Climate Change Ripples Through Mountain Ecosystems - "Like dominoes given one nudge, climate change in the form of reduced winter snowfall on mountaintops has subtle but powerful cascading effects felt throughout entire ecosystems, a new study finds."
Asia's Pollution Affecting Global Air Circulation - ""Huge amounts of aerosols from Asia go as high as six miles up in the atmosphere and these have an unmistakable impact on cloud formations and weather," said Renyi Zhang, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University."
Climate Change Vastly Worse Than Previously Thought - "As earth gets hotter, the heat prevents sunlight-reflecting clouds from forming, trapping more heat and further exacerbating the problem. The result could be a temperature climb of 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100."
Ecologists fear Antarctic krill crisis - "Another worry is the number of fishing vessels being deployed in the Southern Ocean. Norway is now operating three ships, for example, and China is expected to rapidly increase its krill fishing after sending its first vessel this year. "If China starts fishing in a big way, catch will expand rapidly, outstripping our ability to orderly manage it," says Steve Nicol, a marine ecologist with the Australian Antarctic Division in Kingston, Tasmania, who advises the Australian government on krill fisheries."
True facts about Ocean Radiation and the Fukushima Disaster - "There aren’t great estimates of how much of each of these isotopes were released into the ocean since TEPCO, the company that owns the power plant hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with information, but the current estimates are around 538,100 terabecquerels (TBq) which is above Three-Mile Island levels, but below Chernobyl levels. And as it turns out, they recently found contaminated groundwater has also started leaking into the sea. TEPCO, the gift that keeps on giving."
2013
Melting Arctic sea ice could be altering jet stream - "There have been a number of recent summer extremes—Russia’s hellish summer in 2010, the drought in the US last summer, a very wet 2011 in Korea and Japan, plus a streak of soggy summers in the UK. There have been suggestions that lower summer sea ice in the Arctic could be gumming up the jet stream and contributing to these events, but some climate scientists aren’t so sure. A new study in Nature Climate Change brings more evidence to the table in support of the idea."
Climate Change May Be Worsening Western Wildfires - "Wildfires in the western United States are getting worse, and human-caused climate change may be the main culprit in the hotter, more dangerous infernos, new research suggests."
Worst flooding in 60 years threatens UK, Europe - "Residents in some towns and cities on the Norfolk coast were evacuating. “In some areas, sea levels could be higher than those during the devastating floods of 1953,” the agency said in a statement, although it said the flood defenses are better now than they were then." "Further south, England was facing the most serious coastal tidal surge in more than 60 years, the Environment Agency warned."
The Year the Monarch Didn’t Appear - "This year, for or the first time in memory, the monarch butterflies didn’t come, at least not on the Day of the Dead. They began to straggle in a week later than usual, in record-low numbers. Last year’s low of 60 million now seems great compared with the fewer than three million that have shown up so far this year. Some experts fear that the spectacular migration could be near collapse."
Deadly tornadoes hit US Midwest states - "November is ordinarily one of the quietest months in the tornado calendar, meaning these storms are unusually destructive for this time of year, the BBC's Nick Bryant in New York reports." "The preliminary rating of the tornado that struck Washington, near Peoria, means estimated peak winds were between 170 and 190 MPH. As many as 30 tornadoes may have touched down across the state Sunday, officials said." "For a country that has invaded two Muslim nations, continues drone strikes in several more and suffers from a severe deficit of trust with 1.5 billion Muslims, claiming to want to seek to “win hearts and minds” may well be viewed in an altogether different, more cynical light."
Growing Clamor About Inequities of Climate Crisis - "Following a devastating typhoon that killed thousands in the Philippines, a routine international climate change conference here turned into an emotional forum, with developing countries demanding compensation from the worst polluting countries for damage they say they are already suffering." "Calling the climate crisis “madness,” the Philippines representative vowed to fast for the duration of the talks. Malia Talakai, a negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, a group that includes her tiny South Pacific homeland, Nauru, said that without urgent action to stem rising sea levels, “some of our members won’t be around.”" "From the time a scientific consensus emerged that human activity was changing the climate, it has been understood that the nations that contributed least to the problem would be hurt the most. Now, even as the possible consequences of climate change have surged — from the typhoons that have raked the Philippines and India this year to the droughts in Africa, to rising sea levels that threaten to submerge entire island nations — no consensus has emerged over how to rectify what many call “climate injustice.”"
Typhoon Haiyan death toll tops 6,000 in the Philippines - "Nearly five weeks after Typhoon Haiyan tore through the Philippines, the government now says more than 6,000 people have been reported dead. Nearly 1,800 more are still missing." "More than 27,000 people have been reported injured, the county's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported Friday. The storm forced 3.9 million people from their homes, the agency said."
Philippines typhoon death toll exceeds 5,000, but 'worst is over' - "The number of confirmed dead in Leyte, Samar and the Eastern Visayas region rose to 4,919 over the last five days, and fatalities nationwide now number 5,209, the Philippine News Agency reported, quoting the head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Eduardo del Rosario."
Amazing video: Storm surge from Super Typhoon Haiyan - "When we think of hurricanes (typhoons / tropical cyclones), we typically think of strong winds. However, the biggest threat from these storms is the storm surge and the inland flooding."
Typhoon Usagi moves through SE Asia - "The US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre said on Friday that Usagi was packing sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph), with gusts of up to 296 km/h (185mph), making it the equivalent of a strong category four Atlantic hurricane."
Amid Drought, Explaining Colorado’s Extreme Floods - "Sandra Postel, National Geographic’s Freshwater Fellow, said that the long-term drought that has parched the area and gripped much of the Colorado River Basin over the past 14 years may be partly to blame for the severity of the floods. Drought tends to harden the soil, she said. When rains do come, less of the water can absorb into the ground, so it quickly runs off the land. Similarly, fires can lead to worse flooding, because they remove vegetation that can slow down and trap rainfall, Postel said. (See “Fire and Rain: The One-Two Punch of Flooding After Blazes.”) In 2012, the Boulder area was afflicted by the Flagstaff Fire. In 2010, the Fourmile Canyon fire caused damage to Boulder County worth $217 million. Scientists have warned that increasing frequency and severity of wildfires and droughts may be symptoms of climate change, as much of the planet warms. That, in turn, can lead to more floods."
Global warming? No, actually we're cooling, claim scientists - "A leaked report to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) seen by the Mail on Sunday, has led some scientists to claim that the world is heading for a period of cooling that will not end until the middle of this century. If correct, it would contradict computer forecasts of imminent catastrophic warming. The news comes several years after the BBC predicted that the arctic would be ice-free by 2013. Despite the original forecasts, major climate research centres now accept that there has been a “pause” in global warming since 1997."
Toxic legacy of US assault on Fallujah 'worse than Hiroshima' - "Dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004, exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a new study."
Fukushima Radiation Shocking Over Americas From Chile to Oregon - "As reported on Rense.com, it seems the Fukushima radiation still permeating the atmosphere over the Americas – from Chile to Oregon – is reaching shocking numbers, higher than anyone is being informed. Thanks to resident ‘Greg’ on the Oregon Coast, who took his Inspector Plus Geiger counter on a trip up the coastline and measured radiation in the sky – we may see first hand what kind of radiation smog we are dealing with."
Why Fukushima is worse than you think - "“Careless” was how Toyoshi Fuketa, commissioner of the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority, reportedly described the inspection quality of hundreds of water tanks at the crippled Fukushima plant following the recent discovery of a serious radioactive spill. China’s Foreign Ministry went further, saying it was “shocking” that radioactive water was still leaking into the Pacific Ocean two years after the Fukushima incident."
Fukushima's Radioactive Ocean Plume to Reach US Waters by 2014 - "Ocean simulations showed that the plume of radioactive cesium-137 released by the Fukushima disaster in 2011 could begin flowing into U.S. coastal waters starting in early 2014 and peak in 2016. Luckily, two ocean currents off the eastern coast of Japan — the Kuroshio Current and the Kuroshio Extension — would have diluted the radioactive material so that its concentration fell well below the World Health Organization’s safety levels within four months of the Fukushima incident. But it could have been a different story if nuclear disaster struck on the other side of Japan."
Troubled Waters – Mysterious Wildlife Deaths in Indian River Lagoon -"It sounds like a scene straight out of a Carl Hiaasen novel – mysterious marine mammal and bird deaths haunting a once pristine South Florida lagoon. A historically vibrant estuary now lined with the carcasses of outwardly healthy manatees and emaciated dolphins and pelicans…and no one seems to know why."
Radioactive Bluefin Tuna Caught Off California Coast - "Over a year ago, in May of 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported on a Stanford University study. Daniel Madigan, a marine ecologist who led the study, was quoted as saying, “The tuna packaged it up (the radiation) and brought it across the world’s largest ocean. We were definitely surprised to see it at all and even more surprised to see it in every one we measured.”"
5 Terrifying Statements in the Leaked Climate Report - "We're on course to change the planet in a way "unprecedented in hundreds to thousands of years." This is a general statement in the draft report about the consequences of continued greenhouse gas emissions "at or above current rates." Unprecedented changes will sweep across planetary systems, ranging from sea level to the acidification of the ocean. Ocean acidification is "virtually certain" to increase. Under all report scenarios, the acidification of the world's oceans will increase—the draft report calls this outcome "virtually certain." As we have previously reported, more acidity "threatens the survival of entire ecosystems from phytoplankton to coral reefs, and from Antarctic systems reliant on sea urchins to many human food webs dependent on everything from oysters to salmon.""
Climate change in 2012: record sea-level rise, Arctic melting, warmed oceans, report says - "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday issued a peer-reviewed 260-page report, which agency chief Kathryn Sullivan calls its annual "checking on the pulse of the planet." The report, written by 384 scientists around the world, compiles data already released, but it puts them in context of what's been happening to Earth over decades.
"It's critically important to compile a big picture," National Climatic Data Center director Tom Karl says. "The signs that we see are of a warming world.""
Scientists discover what’s killing the bees and it’s worse than you thought - "As we’ve written before, the mysterious mass die-off of honey bees that pollinate $30 billion worth of crops in the US has so decimated America’s apis mellifera population that one bad winter could leave fields fallow. Now, a new study has pinpointed some of the probable causes of bee deaths and the rather scary results show that averting beemageddon will be much more difficult than previously thought."
Antarctic krill face unhappy Hollywood ending if fossil fuel emissions keep rising - "The data revealed that substantial declines in the viability of major populations of krill in the region may occur within the next 100 years, which is on the trajectory of change that could result in catastrophic consequences for dependent marine mammals and birds of the Southern Ocean."
Rising CO2 promotes weedy rice - "Agriculture Department scientists raised rice in controlled lab environments. They grew some in CO2 levels reflecting atmospheric concentrations from a century ago — through to what’s expected to exist in coming decades. And with each stepwise rise in CO2, the weedy rice increasingly hybridized with the crop plants, reinserting wild genes that breeders had spent great effort to remove or modify. The result was a diminishing of the value and quality of the cultivated rice — essentially transforming it into a weed, explains Lewis Ziska of the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Md."
World suffered unprecedented climate extremes in past decade: - "The world suffered unprecedented climate extremes in the decade to 2010, from heatwaves in Europe and droughts in Australia to floods in Pakistan, against a backdrop of global warming, a United Nations report said on Wednesday."
Arizona Wildfire Kills 19 Firefighters, Deadliest In Decades - "In what is being called the deadliest U.S. wildfire in at least 30 years, an out-of-control blaze trapped and killed 19 firefighters Sunday in central Arizona. They had been forced to use temporary shelters in an attempt to survive."
Why NASA’s Latest Photo of Alaska is Freaking People Out - "“The same ridge of high pressure that cleared Alaska's skies also brought stifling temperatures to many areas accustomed to chilly June days. Talkeetna, a town about 100 miles north of Anchorage, saw temperatures reach 96°F on June 17. Other towns in southern Alaska set all-time record highs, including Cordova, Valez, and Seward. The high temperatures also helped fuel wildfires and hastened the breakup of sea ice in the Chukchi Sea.”"
Up to 1,000 feared dead in India floods, landslides - "Indian authorities scrambled to rescue thousands of people trapped after floods and landslides ravaged the Himalayan region, leaving up to 1,000 feared dead."
Climate experts weigh in on flood in the heart of oil country - "Phillips described the extraordinary 190 millimetre downpour over 60 hours in Calgary as being the straw that broke the camel's back after the area had already seen heavy rain and snow melts earlier in the spring." "If you look at the statistical likelihood of what's called '100-year-events' ... they're happening more like every 10 years," he said." Canada floods: Three killed as waters threaten Calgary - "At least three people have been killed and more than a 100,000 forced to flee their homes as floods triggered by torrential rain hit western Canada." Climate experts weigh in on flood in the heart of oil country - "Phillips described the extraordinary 190 millimetre downpour over 60 hours in Calgary as being the straw that broke the camel's back after the area had already seen heavy rain and snow melts earlier in the spring. "
Africa: Climate Change Promises Tough Times for Asia and Africa - Report - "Extreme heat, flooding and water and food shortages will rock South Asia and Africa by 2030 and render large sections of cities inhabitable, if the world continues to burn huge amounts of coal, oil and gas, the World Bank is warning."
World Bank President calls for urgent action to fight global warming - "Regular food shortages in sub-Saharan Africa, shifting rain patterns in South Asia leaving some parts under water and others without enough water for power generation, irrigation or drinking – these are just some of threats from climate change outlined by the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim. In a conversation in London with Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief, Steve Adler, Dr. Kim warned that the impact of rising global temperature could trap millions of people in poverty. “A world that warms by 2 degrees Celsius, perhaps in just 20 or 30 years will cause vast parts of Africa, African croplands to wither, submerge large swaths of cities in South Asia and kill off much of the fisheries in some parts of Southeast Asia. We must do all that we can to avoid these catastrophes.”"
Smog fuels political tension in Singapore - "Singapore urged people to remain indoors because of record air pollution Thursday as a smoky haze wrought by forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia worsened dramatically. Nearby Malaysia closed 200 schools and banned open burning in some areas. The Pollutant Standards Index, Singapore’s main measure of air pollution, surged to a record 371, breaching the “hazardous” classification that can aggravate respiratory ailments. The previous high before this week was in 1997, when the index reached 226."
East Antarctic ice shelves melting at surprising pace, study suggests - "Several small ice shelves along the East Antarctic coast appear to be melting at surprisingly high rates, some at rates comparable to those of shelves in West Antarctica, long a center of concern over the impact of climate change on the region's vast ice sheet and sea-level rise."
As Drought Turns To Flood, Farmers Get 'Weather Whiplash' - "Midwestern farmers like Webber, who has a family farm in central Missouri, are suffering from "weather whiplash," according to meteorologist Jeff Masters. In the past three years, there's been flooding, then record-setting drought, and now flooding again."
New York's Sea-Level Plan: Will It Play in Miami? - "Mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcement yesterday of a $19.5 billion, multidecade plan to defend New York City against rising seas and severe storms illustrated two truths that resonate far beyond his home city. First, as the time when we could prevent dangerous climate change slips away, the time for costly investments to protect ourselves has arrived. Second, for some cities, less well situated or less wealthy than New York, protection is going to be extremely challenging—and in some cases perhaps impossible."
International Energy Agency urges stop-gap climate action - "A sticking plaster solution for climate change has been proposed by the world's top energy think tank, the International Energy Agency (IEA). It says climate change could pass a critical level if the world waits until 2020 for the planned comprehensive UN deal to cut emissions. In the meantime, it recommends some short-term measures. These include action on energy efficiency, coal-fired power stations, and fossil fuel subsidies."
Great Barrier Reef: World Heritage in Danger? - "Shrinking coral and failing government may land the reef on a "list of shame."" "Australia's Great Barrier Reef is losing coral at an alarming rate—and may soon lose its prestigious status as one of the world's great natural treasures as well."
The Odds of Disaster: An Economist's Warning on Global Warming - "So, the current CO2 concentration of 400 ppm is some 40 percent higher than anything that has been attained in the last 800,000 years. The glacial-interglacial cycles began some two and a half million years ago. Scientists estimate that a CO2 concentration of 400 ppm has not been attained for at least 3 million years. This rapid a change in CO2 concentrations has probably not occurred for tens of millions of years."
Increase in level of carbon dioxide making parched regions greener - "It’s called the “fertilization effect.” Scientists had long thought that the increase in the plant life around the globe, observed since the early 1980s with the help of satellite-provided imagery and data, had some connection to the increasing carbon dioxide. Now, a study of some arid regions has revealed that it is indeed carbon dioxide that has caused an increase in greenery between 1982 and 2010." "Even though a bump in carbon dioxide can boost plant growth, the climate changes that come with growing concentrations of the greenhouse gas have caused concern. For example, plants also need the right amount of moisture, and changing rainfall patterns sparked by global warming could counteract the positive effects of additional carbon dioxide."
Tornadoes and Global Warming: Is There a Connection? - "It sounds intuitive: Of course global warming should lead to more—and more powerful—tornadoes. We're adding energy to the atmosphere by trapping heat with greenhouse gases, and tornadoes are the very picture of terrifying atmospheric energy."
Impossible Choice Faces America's First 'Climate Refugees' - "Perched on the Ninglick River on the west coast of the state, the tiny town of Newtok may be the state's most vulnerable village. About 350 people live there, nearly all of them Yupik Eskimos. But the Ninglick is rapidly rising due to ice melt, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the highest point in the town — a school — could be underwater by 2017."
Government should 'grow up' on climate change, scientist says - "A group of 12 prominent Canadian climate scientists called out the federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver on his support for the expansion of oil infrastructure in a letter released today. The scientists wrote that building pipelines and developing fossil fuel production delays the transition to an economy that relies less on oil and gas."
Everest Ice Shrinking Fast, Scientists and Climbers Say - "New analyses show Mount Everest has lost significant snow and ice cover over the past half century. In nearby Sagarmatha National Park, glaciers have shrunk by 13 percent. Weather data reveal the larger Everest region has experienced warmer temperatures and less snowfall since the early 1990s"
Belief in biblical end-times stifling climate change action in U.S.: study - "The United States has failed to take action to mitigate climate change thanks in part to the large number of religious Americans who believe the world has a set expiration date. Research by David C. Barker of the University of Pittsburgh and David H. Bearce of the University of Colorado uncovered that belief in the biblical end-times was a motivating factor behind resistance to curbing climate change."
Nuclear Famine: A Billion People at Risk: - "Over the last several years, a number of studies have shown that a limited, regional nuclear war between India and Pakistan would cause significant climate disruption worldwide. Two studies published this year examine the impact on agricultural output that would result from this climate disruption. In the US, corn production would decline by an average of 10% for an entire decade, with the most severe decline, about 20% in year 5. There would be a similar decline in soybean production, with, again, the most severe loss, about 20%, in year 5. A second study found a significant decline in Chinese middle season rice production. During the first 4 years, rice production would decline by an average of 21%; over the next 6 years the decline would average 10%.The decline in available food would be exacerbated by increases in food prices which would make food inaccessible to hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest. Even if agricultural markets continued to function normally, 215 million people would be added to the rolls of the malnourished over the course of a decade."
White House warned on imminent Arctic ice death spiral - "A public statement in response to news of the White House's Arctic briefing released on Tuesday by the UK-based Arctic Methane Emergency Group (AMEG) - a group of international climate scientists – called on governments to recognise that the dramatic loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic would amplify the types of extreme weather events that have already affected the world's major food basket regions, undermining global food production for the foreseeable future with serious consequences for international security."
Study: Earth Warmed More at End of 20th Century Than in Past 1,400 Years - "Over the past 1,400 years, the Earth experienced a gradual cooling, according to the study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience. Between 1971 and 2000, all of the cooling was entirely reversed. More than 80 scientists in 24 countries collaborated on the report, and the findings were made using a series of climate data from ice cores, lake and ocean sediments, historical records, cave formations and tree rings."
Waters off Northeast US coast unusually warm, says NOAA - "From North Carolina to Maine, the waters have been unusually warm lately. This is according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northeast Fisheries Science Center, which issued an advisory today noting that sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during the second half of 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years."
Illegal loggers continue to threaten Amazonian tribe - The last real life Na-vi on Earth. "Campaigners say the Brazilian government is failing to protect one of the world's most endangered tribes. The Awa people are believed to number just 450, but their territory has attracted thousands of loggers and settlers. Last year a judge ordered all outsiders should leave the area within 12 months. But the deadline has passed and no evictions have taken place, says indigenous rights group Survival International."
Washington, D.C. under water: what sea level rise looks like - "Sea levels have risen along the East Coast around 6 to 8 inches since 1960. Under different global warming scenarios, seas could rise 8 inches to several feet by 2100. The longer term concern is that if warming causes the collapse of the Greenland and/or Antarctic ice sheets, seas could rise tens of feet, although it is thought a rise of that magnitude would take hundreds of years. Nickolay Lamm, a 24-year-old researcher and artist from StorageFront.com, was motivated to gain a better idea of what such a devastating rise in sea level would look like. And so he created a set of surreal images showing treasured landmarks swallowed by sea water."
Chief of US Pacific forces calls climate biggest worry - "America’s top military officer in charge of monitoring hostile actions by North Korea, escalating tensions between China and Japan, and a spike in computer attacks traced to China provides an unexpected answer when asked what is the biggest long-term security threat in the Pacific region: climate change."
Think the Planet Isn't Warming? Check the Ocean - "Ninety percent of warming goes into heating, not the land or the atmosphere, but the ocean; two recent papers, in 2012 and earlier this year, showed that approximately 30 percent of recent ocean warming has been taken up by waters below depths of 700 meters (about 2,300 feet), where few measurements had previously taken place. That was reinforced by a European study, published earlier this week, which, according to Reuters, found “that the oceans took up more warmth from the air around 2000. That would help explain the slowdown in surface warming but would also suggest that the pause may be only temporary and brief … Lead author Virginie Guemas of the Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences in Barcelona said the hidden heat may return to the atmosphere in the next decade, stoking warming again.”"
Climate change: How do we know? - "Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities, and most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position."
Angry Summer Down Under: Murdoch Paper Hosts Op-Ed that Attacks Scientists while Australia Sizzles - "You know something really weird is happening when in a single season more than 123 records are broken. That was the news from my home country, Australia, last month. The Australian Climate Commission, a government-sponsored science group, released a report confirming that the country’s climate has changed dramatically and will change even more if heat-trapping emissions continue to pile up in our atmosphere. I can attest it was a blisteringly hot summer season – I was there experiencing days of extreme heat and seeing smoke from uncontrolled forest fires fill the skies. The oceans were warm in places where they shouldn’t be. There was an eerie sense that global warming is no longer something in the future for Australians – we’re already living with it “down under”."
In Sign of Warming, 1,600 Years of Ice in Andes Melted in 25 Years - "Glacial ice in the Peruvian Andes that took at least 1,600 years to form has melted in just 25 years, scientists reported Thursday, the latest indication that the recent spike in global temperatures has thrown the natural world out of balance."
China's Air Pollution Linked To Millions Of Early Deaths - "More than 1 million people are dying prematurely every year from air pollution in China, according to a new analysis. "This is the highest toll in the world and it really reflects the very high levels of air pollution that exist in China today,""
Arkansas spill strengthens arguments of Keystone foes - "An Arkansas pipeline spill that coated streets and lawns with a smelly, asphalt-like crude oil provides opponents of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline with new ammunition to combat the project that would bring more of the tar sands bitumen from Canada."
Say Goodbye to Arctic Summer Ice - "By the time today's babies graduate college, there's a very good chance they could celebrate with a cruise across the North Pole. That's according to the latest study on Arctic summer sea ice, the frozen pack that lingers through the Northern Hemisphere summer. In past decades, there's been less summer ice, and it's growing thinner."
Global warming and airflow changes 'caused US and EU heatwaves' - "The study of meandering air systems that encircle the planet adds to understanding of extremes that have killed thousands of people and driven up food prices in the past decade. Such planetary airflows, which suck warm air from the tropics when they swing north and draw cold air from the Arctic when they swing south, seem to be have slowed more often in recent summers and left some regions sweltering, they said."
Boston Grapples With The Threat Of Storms And Rising Water - "Since the drubbing that Superstorm Sandy gave the Northeast in November, there's a new sense of urgency in U.S. coastal cities. Even though scientists can't predict the next big hurricane, they're confident that a warmer climate is likely to make Atlantic storms bigger and cause more flooding."
30 million in path of winter storm - "My brother and I were staring out the window saying, 'What? It's snowing in Tucson? That's not supposed to happen!' " she said, adding that she's never seen this much snow in the area since her family moved there. Usually the area gets no more than a dusting of snow once a year."
Demonstrators Rally For Environmental Awareness In Washington, DC - "I'm ashamed of what my country is doing. I'm ashamed we're knocking on your door with dirty oil. I want to stand up here as a Canadian and say I'm sorry to the workers in Canada and the workers in America who have to go home and look their kids in the eye and know that they are damaging their future and I want to say yes to jobs that allow Americans and Canadians to go home and look their kids in their eye and say I'm fighting for you, I'm working for you," Canadian actor Evangeline Lilly told the crowd."
Environmentalists fill National Mall to fight climate change - "Marching, dancing and poster-waving environmentalists chanting "Hey, Obama. We don't want no climate drama," packed several blocks on and around Washington's National Mall on Sunday, hoping to spur President Barack Obama to take strong measures against climate change." ""Someday, I hope to have my own kids, and I want them to live in a world that's environmentally safe and natural," Spitz said, explaining why she, her mother and her boyfriend had traveled more than 500 miles from Plymouth, Michigan." Obama Faces Risks in Pipeline Decision - "President Obama faces a knotty decision in whether to approve the much-delayed Keystone oil pipeline: a choice between alienating environmental advocates who overwhelmingly supported his candidacy or causing a deep and perhaps lasting rift with Canada."
NASA: Rapid Loss of Freshwater from Middle East Region - "A recent study by NASA reveals that large parts of the dry Middle East region lost freshwater rapidly, almost the size of the Dead Sea, during the past decade. According to the researchers, nearly 60 percent of the loss is due to the growing demand of groundwater and the 2007 drought."
Soot is No. 2 global-warming culprit, study finds - "A new study suggests that soot plays a major role in climate change – second only to carbon-dioxide emissions. Targeting soot could lead to quicker results in battling global warming."
Heat, Flood or Icy Cold, Extreme Weather Rages Worldwide - "China is enduring its coldest winter in nearly 30 years. Brazil is in the grip of a dreadful heat spell. Eastern Russia is so freezing — minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and counting — that the traffic lights recently stopped working in the city of Yakutsk. Bush fires are raging across Australia, fueled by a record-shattering heat wave. Pakistan was inundated by unexpected flooding in September. A vicious storm bringing rain, snow and floods just struck the Middle East. And in the United States, scientists confirmed this week what people could have figured out simply by going outside: last year was the hottest since records began."
World's Oldest Trees Dying At Alarming Rate: Study - "The study determined that trees between 100 and 300 years old are perishing "en masse" because of a deadly combination of large destructive events like forest fires, and other, more incremental factors like drought, high temperatures, logging and insect attack. The steady increase in threats means old trees are dying at 10 times their normal rate, researchers concluded. Their study appears in the Dec. 7 issue of the journal Science."
New IPCC report: Evidence supporting climate change is ‘unequivocal’ - "”There is consistent evidence from observations of a net energy uptake of the Earth System due to an imbalance in the energy budget. It is virtually certain that this is caused by human activities, primarily by the increase in CO2 concentrations,” reads an excerpt."
20-Year-Old Report Successfully Predicted Warming: Scientists - "Time has proven that even 22 years ago climate scientists understood the dynamics behind global warming well enough to accurately predict warming, says an analysis that compares predictions in 1990 with 20 years of temperature records."
Scientists Report Faster Warming in Antarctica - "A paper released Sunday by the journal Nature Geoscience reports that the temperature at a research station in the middle of West Antarctica has warmed by 4.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1958. That is roughly twice as much as scientists previously thought and three times the overall rate of global warming, making central West Antarctica one of the fastest-warming regions on earth."
Humboldt Squid Have a Bad Day at the Beach - "Hundreds of dead Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas), also known as jumbo squid, had washed ashore on Capitola beach (pictured). Later reports showed similar scenes had played out from Santa Cruz south to Aptos and Pacific Grove in central California, culminating in squid casualties estimated in the thousands."
India’s Vital Summer Monsoons May Decline In The Face Of Global Warming - "Moving toward the end of this century and into the next, the researchers forecast calls for increasing temperatures and a change in strength of a Pacific Ocean pattern known as the Pacific Walker circulation, which occurs in springtime. This change could portend more frequent and severe changes in the summer monsoon patterns. The Walker circulation usually brings areas of high pressure to the western Indian Ocean, but in years with an El Nino this circulation gets shifted eastward, bringing high pressure over India and suppressing rainfall, according to the researchers."