Thanks -- ? -- for the 2012 Memories... so far: An interactive 2012 timeline of 36 extreme climate and weather events worldwide so far highlights the avalanche of extreme weather predicted under ongoing climate change and now being observed worldwide. Such events will shadow an upcoming UN climate meeting of ministers, reports Apilaporn Vechakij for Agence France Presse. The really grim news? Far more of these extreme events occurred than are on the list.
Bye-bye Birdies, Says Climate Change: A World Wildlife Fund commissioned report finds climate change is clearly correlated with numerous declining bird species, suggesting a trend towards major bird extinction from global warming, and this is being borne out in Pakistan, where delayed monsoons are disrupting many native birds, reports Jan Khaskheli at the The News of Karachi.
Corporations Are Getting Greener, and Richer... Major U.S. corporations taking action on climate change increased a whopping 89 percent between 2010 and 2011 despite Congressional inaction, reports Maria Gallucci at InsideClimate News, responding to a belt-tightening tough economy, the vision of further extreme weather disrupting commercial activities, and pressure from climate-worried investors... AND the resulting increase in profits from reducing energy needs through efficiency upgrades, duh!
Bye-Bye Butterfly... This year's traditional migration from North America to Mexico of the Monarch butterfly, a beautiful large orange butterfly, will be far smaller than last year, reports Michael Pearce at the Wichita Eagle. Already stressed from continuing loss of habitat to humans -- about 6,000 more acres every day -- the extreme drought this year has crippled its reproduction and survival, further decreasing numbers. This thing of beauty might not be a joy forever....
Coming Soon... a Bible Re-Enactment of Climate Change is likely to be sudden, dramatic and devastating, given the history of climate change from biblical times and places, according to a new study, reports Bob Berwyn at Climate Progress. It's also more likely to happen sooner, with NASA pointing out that climate change is largely responsible for the increasing frequency of droughts there and throughout the Mediterranean. Think Exodus, minus Charlton Heston...
Every day is Earth Day, folks, as I was reminded by this piece of sea-drenched seaweed (yeah, it really WAS as pink as it is) I photographed along a Californian shore recently. Making the U.S. a global clean energy leader will ensure a heck of a lot more jobs, and a clean, safe future, despite what Mitt Romney thinks. If you'd like to tell Congress you'll VOTE for clean energy you can join the increasing numbers of people doing so here. For more detailed summaries of the above and other climate change items, audio podcasts and texts are freely available.
