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Author |
Published |
Section |
The League of Extraordinary Conditions
EPA releases unconvincing justification for denying California waiver |
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29 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 9:54 AM on 29 Feb 2008 For the long wait that preceded it, the U.S. EPA's just-released justification for disallowing California to regulate vehicle greenhouse-gas emissions is rather anticlimactic. The 48-page document argues that California lacks the "compelling and extraordinary conditions" required for special regulatory permission, because the rest of the nation ... |
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| Topics: California, cars, climate, climate change impacts, greenhouse-gas emissions, news, politics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Movers and Fist-Shakers
Alaskan village sues Big Fossil Fuel over link to climate change |
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27 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:35 AM on 27 Feb 2008 The tiny village of Kivalina, built on a barrier reef in Alaska's Chukchi Sea, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against 24 oil, coal, and power companies, alleging that Big Fossil Fuel's greenhouse-gas emissions are contributing to the climate-change-caused coastal erosion that threatens the village's very existence. Kivalina says that the companies should pay for its relocation. The ... |
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| Topics: Alaska, Arctic, Big Oil, climate, climate change impacts, coal, fossil fuels, litigation, news (all these topics) |
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Making a Splash
Large water utilities form climate alliance |
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26 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:37 PM on 26 Feb 2008 Eight of the largest water agencies in the U.S. have formed the Water Utility Climate Alliance to strategize about dealing with climate change. Together, the eight members provide water to more than 36 million people, whose slaked thirst is endangered by "diminishing snowpack, bigger storms, more frequent drought, and rising sea levels," according to WUCA Chair Susan Leal. sources: Associated ... |
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| Topics: business, climate, climate change adaptation, climate change impacts, news, water crisis (all these topics) |
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Threatened to the Gills
World fisheries still in danger of imminent collapse, says U.N. |
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25 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:07 AM on 25 Feb 2008 When last we checked in on the world's commercial fish stocks, they were in danger of collapsing within decades. And, sorry to say, they still are, according to a United Nations Environment Program report ominously titled "In Dead Water." Factor in climate change, overfishing, and pollution "and you see you're potentially putting a death nail in the coffin of w ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, climate, climate change impacts, fishing, food, news, oceans, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Fire and rain
The 'hell' before the 'high water' in the U.S. |
Jon Rynn |
23 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I just wanted to alert Grist readers to an excellent post at The Oil Drum called 'Fire and Rain: The Consequences of Changing Climate on Rainfall, Wildfire and Agriculture.' The author points out that 'Current climate change predictions for much of the West show increased precipitation in the winter or spring, along with earlier and drier summers.' To summarize his post, the drier summers will have profound impacts on the forests, grasslands, and agricultural areas. It ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, climate, climate change impacts, deforestation (all these topics) |
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Don't Let Your Right Get Left
United Nations calls climate change a matter of human rights |
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22 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 1:49 PM on 22 Feb 2008 If climate change is a "largely unscientific hoax" and "political concoction" (in the words of Republican strategist Mary Matalin), it's a hoax and concoction that could threaten the rights of millions of people. Or so said the United Nations deputy high commissioner for human rights this week. "Ultimately climate change may affect the very right t ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate change skepticism, news, United Nations (all these topics) |
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Coil in Fear
Giant pythons could spread in southern U.S., say feds |
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21 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:52 PM on 21 Feb 2008 You may think you're prepared for climate change -- solar-powered fan, flood insurance, nostalgic polar-bear picture, check, check, check -- but are you prepared for 20-foot, 250-pound snakes? Giant Burmese pythons could find some one-third of the United States to be habitable climate by 2100, according to a new map published by the U.S. Geological Survey. The pythons, which were originally dumpe ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, news, US Geological Survey, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Change your lightbulbs ...
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David Roberts |
21 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| ... or else a giant Burmese python will eat your children!!1! |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Why I titled my book Hell and High Water
'Climate change' and 'global warming' are not scary-enough terms |
Joseph Romm |
20 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Andy Revkin of the NYT has a good blog post on one of the main problems with climate messaging by scientists, environmentalists, and the like. In short, it sucks! One problem is the name 'global warming' or 'climate change.' It sounds like a vacation, not a crisis. Indeed, one of the main reasons I titled my book Hell and High Water is that I thought it was a better term -- more accurate of what is to come if we don't act, more descriptive, more visceral -- and I ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, messaging (all these topics) |
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Assail the Seven Seas
Nearly all of world's oceans tainted by human activity, says study |
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15 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 2:52 PM on 15 Feb 2008 Human activity has tainted all but 3.7 percent of the world's oceans, and 41 percent of the world's waters have been heavily impacted, says a new study in Science. A graphic map illustrates in all-too-clear terms that the briny deep has taken a terrible toll from 17 human threats, including climate change, overfishing, fertilizer runoff, coastal development, and shipping pol ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, habitat loss, news, oceans, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Soldiering On
Prince Charles, Richard Branson compare climate crisis to war |
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14 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:40 PM on 14 Feb 2008 Prince Charles warned in a speech on Thursday that if a "courageous and revolutionary" approach to tackling climate change is not undertaken, "the result will be catastrophe for all of us but with the poorest in our world hit hardest of all. In this sense it is surely comparable to war." Also this week, Virgin Group big gun Richard Branson suggested at a United Nation ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate change mitigation, news, Richard Branson (all these topics) |
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Journey to the bottom of the Earth
CBS airs final segment of Antarctica series tonight |
Katy Balatero |
13 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| CBS has been televising a series this week on climate change impacts in Antarctica. Monday's broadcast spotlighted how climate change has affected Adelie penguin populations. The segment last night focused on scientific research in Antarctica and what it might mean for our understanding of global warming (see video below). You can tune in tonight at 6:30 pm EST to find out about waste and recycling issues in our least-inhabited continent. |
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| Topics: Antarctica, climate, climate change impacts, climate science, recycling, scientific research, TV, waste, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Dead Mead
Lake Mead could run out of water by 2021, says study |
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12 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 5:45 PM on 12 Feb 2008 There's a 50-50 chance that the Arizona- and Nevada-bordering, human-made Lake Mead will become Dry Ditch Mead by 2021, according to a study to be published in the journal Water Resources Research. Oh, and that's a conservative estimate, say the study authors, as is this one: By 2017, there's an equally good chance that water levels in the reservoir could drop so low that the Hoover Dam would be inca ... |
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| Topics: Arizona, California, climate, climate change impacts, Nevada, news, scientific research, water crisis (all these topics) |
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Insect Aside
Historical warm periods linked to increased insect activity |
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12 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:26 PM on 12 Feb 2008 This news has us buggin': Historical warm periods have been linked with an explosion of insect activity, and not-so-distant future warm periods may very well see the same, says new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Not only that, but elevated carbon dioxide levels may cause plants to produce fewer nutrients, so insects must gobble more foliage to mit ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, news (all these topics) |
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Greenland study
Sea-level rise could be double IPCC projections |
Joseph Romm |
12 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Last year, Nature Geoscience and Science (PDF) published major articles suggesting that the consensus projection for sea-level rise this century was far too low -- and could be as high as five feet. Now the Journal of Glaciology joins in with a remarkable analysis, 'Intermittent thinning of Jakobshavn Isbrę, West Greenland, since the Little Ice Age' (PDF). The lead author, Beata Csatho from the University of Buffalo, explains implications of this work for the traditi ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, IPCC, oceans (all these topics) |
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Turn on your TV today
National Geographic's 'Six Degrees Could Change The World' |
Joseph Romm |
10 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I haven't read the book -- who has time? Oh, but TV or a YouTube video -- well, that's another matter: This Sunday, February 10th at 8pm EST on the National Geographic Channel, 'Six Degrees Could Change The World,' which offers a hypothetical look at how the world might change, degree by degree, if we don't curtail our emissions:At One Degree, the world will experience a new American desert, massive coral bleaching, and lost Australian rainforests. At Two Degr ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, TV (all these topics) |
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A Shock to the Systems
Scientists identify ecological systems most at risk from climate change |
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05 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:05 AM on 05 Feb 2008 Scientists have identified the ecological systems most at risk from climate change in a study published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers warned that within 100 years, a series of tipping points could occur that will significantly alter important ecological systems. Most at risk, according to the study: Arctic sea ice ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, news, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Snow Woe
Climate change leading to water shortages in U.S. West, says study |
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01 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:58 AM on 01 Feb 2008 Remember water? We're not quite at the point of calling it a thing of the past -- but it sure looks to become scarce in the U.S. West, says a new study in the journal Science. It's not natural weather variability or volcanic activity, say researchers, but quite clearly climate change that is leading to swiftly declining snowpack in Western mountains, which leads to rivers running dry, wh ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, news, scientific research, United States, water crisis (all these topics) |
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The Spin on Hurricanes
Warming oceans lead to more frequent hurricanes, says study |
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31 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:22 PM on 31 Jan 2008 A new study published in Nature weighs in on the effect-of-climate-change-on-hurricanes debate, postulating that a warming north Atlantic has made hurricanes stronger and more frequent. sources: The Guardian, Associated Press, Reuters, CBC News From the Archives Punt and Center. Super Bowl to be powered by renewable energy. The Consent of the Governator. ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, news, severe weather (all these topics) |
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One Step Forward, Two Missteps Back
Conservation work will potentially be undone by climate change |
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29 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 1:53 PM on 29 Jan 2008 Habitat preservation is a noble cause -- so it's really too bad that many conservation efforts may end up rendered moot by climate change. For example, restoration of Pacific Northwest salmon runs won't do much good if warming makes streams unlivable; restoring fresh water flow in the Everglades will be somewhat pointless if sea-level rise swamps the wetlands. &quo ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, environmental movement, habitat protection, news (all these topics) |
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Not just an environmental issue
Climate change is as much a social priority as an environmental concern |
Alan Durning |
25 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Climate change is a universal menace, threatening hardships for everyone. But it's not an egalitarian menace: everyone will not suffer equally. Perversely, those people and nations least to blame for causing it are most vulnerable to its impacts. Climate disruption heaps misfortune on the less fortunate, whether in low-lying Bangladesh, the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, or the flood plains around Chehalis, Wash. In the aftermath of climate change, the less you have, the ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change adaptation, climate change impacts, climate equity, environmental justice (all these topics) |
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Coming to Blows
Global warming will reduce U.S. hurricane landfall, says controversial new research |
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23 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 9:57 AM on 23 Jan 2008 The argument over whether climate change is real has largely subsided -- and, as nature abhors a vacuum, another tiff has risen to fill its place. What effect will global warming have on hurricanes? Them's fightin' words! Various studies have suggested that climate change will increase hurricane frequency and intensity, but new research by the National Oceanic and ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, news, severe weather (all these topics) |
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Slowforestation
Decelerating growth in tropical forest trees, thanks to accelerating carbon dioxide |
Joseph Romm |
22 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I meant to blog on this earlier, but lost track of it after failing to find the original study (for reasons that will become clear). The bottom line is: Global warming could cut the rate at which trees in tropical rainforests grow by as much as half, a new study based on more two decades of data from forests in Panama and Malaysia shows. The effects, so far largely overlooked by climate modelers, Nature magazine said, could severely erode or even remove the a ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, deforestation, greenhouse-gas emissions, rainforests (all these topics) |
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The high costs of doing nothing, part III
Climate change disrupts ecosystems that provide valuable services |
Joseph Romm |
16 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project. ----- If you are one of those people who loves the quiet communion of hiking in the high-country forests of Colorado, you'd better get there fast. In three years, those forests may be gone. The Rocky Mountain News reported this week that every large, mature forest of lodgepole pines in Colorado and southern Wyoming will be dead in three t ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, Colorado, deforestation (all these topics) |
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The Antarctic ice sheet hits the fan
Antarctic shrinking much faster than expected |
Joseph Romm |
15 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The global warming deniers (and the rest of us) just can't catch a break: Vast areas of the Antarctic ice sheet -- which has 10 times as much ice as Greenland -- is losing mass much faster than anyone expected. And the rate of ice loss has quickened in the last decade. In fact, 2007's ice loss was 75 percent higher than 2006's. Jeez, it's almost like ... I don't know ... the whole friggin' planet is melting, and we are to blame! If only we had a group of scientists ... |
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| Topics: Antarctica, climate, climate change impacts, climate science (all these topics) |
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