Friday, September 30, 2011

Canadian Arctic Loses Nearly Entire Ice Shelf | Common Dreams

Canadian Arctic Loses Nearly Entire Ice Shelf | Common Dreams

NASA’s Hansen: “If We Stay on With Business as Usual, the Southern U.S. Will Become Almost Uninhabitable.”

NASA’s Hansen: “If We Stay on With Business as Usual, the Southern U.S. Will Become Almost Uninhabitable.”: pClimatologist Slams Media for “Silent Summer”:  Poor Coverage of Link Between Extreme Weather and Human-Caused Climate Change The nation’s top climatologist, NASA’s James Hansen, has a new paper out — and he has been speaking out.  At 350.org’s Moving Planet event in New York on Saturday, he said: “Climate change — human-made global warming — [...]/p

Wake Up Democrats: Independents Support Federal Investment in “Green Jobs” 2-to-1 Despite Solyndra Media Storm

Wake Up Democrats: Independents Support Federal Investment in “Green Jobs” 2-to-1 Despite Solyndra Media Storm: pIn dozens of focus groups we have conducted this month across the country on a wide variety of subjects, when voters are asked where they would like new jobs in their state to come from, the first words out of their mouths are almost always the same – clean energy and related technology.  Voters believe [...]/p

Too Hot for Chocolate? Climate Change Could Decimate the $9 Billion Cocoa Industry, Study Finds

Too Hot for Chocolate? Climate Change Could Decimate the $9 Billion Cocoa Industry, Study Finds: pGlobal warming threatens heat-sensitive cocoa trees, a Gates Foundation study finds Half of the world’s cocoa supply comes from the West African countries of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. But in the coming decades, climate change could severely limit production in the region — disrupting local farmers and squeezing global chocolate supply. A new report out [...]/p

An Illustrated Guide to the Science of Global Warming Impacts: How We Know Inaction Is the Gravest Threat Humanity Faces

An Illustrated Guide to the Science of Global Warming Impacts: How We Know Inaction Is the Gravest Threat Humanity Faces: pHumanity’s Choice (via M.I.T.):  Inaction (“No Policy”) eliminates most of the uncertainty about whether or not future warming will be catastrophic.  Aggressive emissions reductions dramatically improves humanity’s chances. In this post, I will summarize what the recent scientific literature says are the key impacts we face in the coming decades if we stay anywhere near [...]/p

Monday, September 26, 2011

We’re Poisoning the Oceans and It Threatens Our Food

We’re Poisoning the Oceans and It Threatens Our Food: pby Sheril Kirshenbaum, in a Science Progress cross-post Marine chemist Richard Feely, a senior scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, has been collecting water samples in the North Pacific for over 30 years. He’s observed a decrease in pH at the upper part of the water column, notably the region where carbon dioxide [...]/p

Friday, September 23, 2011

Hottest Decade on Record Would Have Been Even Hotter But for Deep Oceans — Accelerated Warming May Be On Its Way

Hottest Decade on Record Would Have Been Even Hotter But for Deep Oceans — Accelerated Warming May Be On Its Way: pA composite of all the major global temperature records via Skeptical Science. The last decade was easily the hottest on record.  We’ve known that sulfate aerosols (from volcanoes and/or Chinese coal) and the “the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century” masked the rate of warming somewhat. Even so, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies [...]/pjavascript:void(0)

Thursday, September 22, 2011

What Happened To The Republican Consensus On Climate Change?

What Happened To The Republican Consensus On Climate Change?

The Deniers’ Fantasy World: EIA Projects 40% Rise in CO2 Emissions by 2035

The Deniers’ Fantasy World: EIA Projects 40% Rise in CO2 Emissions by 2035: pThe U.S. Energy Information Administration issued its International Energy Outlook this week.  For anyone concerned about the uncontrolled rise in carbon emissions — the primary heat-trapping gas fueling dangerous global warming — it paints a very grim future. Under a business-as-usual climate science deniers’ fantasy scenario, the EIA projects that global carbon dioxide emissions will [...]/p

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Contrary To GOP Claims, Research Shows Environmental Regulation Actually Spurs Economic Growth

Contrary To GOP Claims, Research Shows Environmental Regulation Actually Spurs Economic Growth: pBesides President Obama, Republicans vying for the presidential nomination have made government regulations their favorite punching bag on the campaign trail. Without exception, the candidates have scapegoated “burdensome regulation” for stifling job creation and economic growth — ignoring that a lack of regulation enabled the financial crisis that led to the Great Recession. Environmental regulations [...]/p

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Global Warming May Cause Far Higher Extinction of Biodiversity Than Previously Thought

Global Warming May Cause Far Higher Extinction of Biodiversity Than Previously Thought: pIf global warming continues as expected, it is estimated that almost a third of all flora and fauna species worldwide could become extinct. Scientists … discovered that the proportion of actual biodiversity loss should quite clearly be revised upwards: by 2080, more than 80% of genetic diversity within species may disappear in certain groups of [...]/p

Super Weeds Pose Growing Threat to U.S. Crops | Common Dreams

Super Weeds Pose Growing Threat to U.S. Crops | Common Dreams

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Official Investigation: BP’s Risky Efforts To Cut Costs Caused The Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Official Investigation: BP’s Risky Efforts To Cut Costs Caused The Deepwater Horizon Disaster: pThe federal investigation into the BP Gulf of Mexico oil disaster finds that cost-cutting measures by the oil giant led to the blowout of the Deepwater Horizon rig. The final report of the joint Coast Guard-Bureau of Ocean Energy investigation finds that BP and its contracting companies — Halliburton and Transocean — were responsible for [...]/p

Dire Warning Over Arctic Sea Ice Melt | Common Dreams

Dire Warning Over Arctic Sea Ice Melt | Common Dreams

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Arctic Death Spiral Continues: Sea Ice Volume Hits Record Low for Second Straight Year

Arctic Death Spiral Continues: Sea Ice Volume Hits Record Low for Second Straight Year: pThe Polar Science Center at the University of Washington has updated its calculations of Arctic sea ice volume.  As usual, Neven has the best graphs of the PSC’s data at his Arctic Sea Ice Blog, a must-read for cryosphere-junkies. The PSC recently improved their PIOMAS model, which combines the best observational data with their own analysis. [...]/p

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Second giant ice island set to break off Greenland glacier

Second giant ice island set to break off Greenland glacier

Florida Gov. Rick Scott Supports Oil Drilling In The Everglades

Florida Gov. Rick Scott Supports Oil Drilling In The Everglades: pPresidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has company in her call for oil drilling in the Florida Everdglades: the state’s governor supports it as well. Gov. Rick Scott (R) was speaking to members of the Economic Club of Florida when an audience member asked him if he agreed with Bachmann’s call for drilling in the [...]/p

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Scientist: “The Murdoch Media Empire Has Cost Humanity Perhaps One or Two Decades in Battle Against Climate Change.”

Scientist: “The Murdoch Media Empire Has Cost Humanity Perhaps One or Two Decades in Battle Against Climate Change.”: pThe Australian is the country’s biggest-selling national newspaper.  It is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which “also owns the sole dailies in Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin and the most popular metropolitan dailies in Sydney and Melbourne.” Michael Ashley investigates the national paper’s “seriously warped” op-ed policy in this extended excerpt. [R]eality becomes so [...]/p

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Case for Separation of Church and Weather | Crooks and Liars

The Case for Separation of Church and Weather | Crooks and Liars

Solar Stunner: America is a $1.9 Billion emExporter/em of Solar Products

Solar Stunner: America is a $1.9 Billion emExporter/em of Solar Products: pWith all the stories about China dominating the solar photovoltaics (PV) manufacturing sector, you might not think that America is a net exporter of solar products. But it is — to the tune of $1.8 billion. That’s a $1 billion increase over net exports documented in the solar sector last year. In fact, a report [...]/p

Green Jobs Reality Check: Clean Energy Still Means More and Better Jobs for American Workers

Green Jobs Reality Check: Clean Energy Still Means More and Better Jobs for American Workers: pby Adam James, Jorge Madrid, and Bracken Hendricks A lot of bogus numbers are flying around about green jobs these days.  It’s time to set the record straight:  Clean energy is a bright spot in the economic recovery, already creating large numbers of high quality U.S. jobs in emerging industries.  Cleantech (primarily clean energy) has [...]/p

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

McKibben and 100 Others Arrested at White House, Many Held Until Monday, “Lighting a Fire” Among Demonstrators

McKibben and 100 Others Arrested at White House, Many Held Until Monday, “Lighting a Fire” Among Demonstrators: pBill McKibben sends this message from jail: The only thing we need in here is more company. We don’t need your sympathy, we need your company. The U.S. Park Police have decided to take a get tough attitude with those protesting the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline: On a phone call late this afternoon, U.S. [...]/p

Rick Perry Is Trying To Make Climate Denial A Faith-Based Issue

Rick Perry Is Trying To Make Climate Denial A Faith-Based Issue: pClimate science denial is one of the strongest anti-scientific currents running through today’s Republican Party. American conservatives, who tend to be most skeptical of the scientific consensus on greenhouse pollution, generally hold other politically relevant anti-science views, such as support for creationism and opposition to stem-cell research. As global warming touches all of our lives, [...]/p

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Arctic Death Spiral: Sea Ice Passes De Facto Tipping Point Thanks to Deniers, Media Blow The Story, Again

Arctic Death Spiral: Sea Ice Passes De Facto Tipping Point Thanks to Deniers, Media Blow The Story, Again: "pArctic sea ice volume by month in cubic kilometers.  The bottom (black) line is September volume. The plot makes projections with simple quadratic trend lines (details here), which likely oversimplify matters as we approach zero volume (especially for non-summer months).  But reversal of the overall death spiral is highly implausible absent an even more implausible [...]/p"

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Relocating Alaska Natives: The Climate is Changing Faster Than Disaster Management and Adaptation Policies

Relocating Alaska Natives: The Climate is Changing Faster Than Disaster Management and Adaptation Policies: "pBy Christine Shearer In 2008, I took a tiny cargo plane to the Inupiaq village of Kivalina, in the northwest of Alaska above the Arctic Circle. I had heard the village would be lost to climate change from erosion, which I imagined to be a slow, gradual, and predictable process. Touring the island and speaking [...]/p"

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Population And Enviroment

Climate Zombie Riders Pollute House Appropriations Bills

Climate Zombie Riders Pollute House Appropriations Bills: "pThe Tea Party-dominated House of Representatives is attaching a raft of provisions to its spending bills designed to block action to address greenhouse pollution and its deadly impacts. In addition to drastic cuts to clean energy investment and increases in subsidies for fossil energy, riders that kill off climate action are being added to the [...]/p"

Health for Sale: House EPA Bill Allows Pollution and Supporters Get Big Oil Donations

Health for Sale: House EPA Bill Allows Pollution and Supporters Get Big Oil Donations: "pRep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) added a provision in the EPA appropriations bill that would allow power plants to continue spewing mercury, arsenic, acid gases, and other hazardous pollutants. The representatives who voted for the provision received more than twice as many campaign contributions from mining and utility companies combined compared to those who opposed it.  [...]/p"