2001-2010 Hottest Decade On Record, With 'Unprecedented High-Impact Climate Extremes' says the World Meteorological Organization, report Ryan Koronowski and Katie Valentine at Climate Progress. Data include air and sea surface temperatures, important because now most of the heat of global warming is going into the oceans. And it's getting hotter as we write, folks...
Credit World Meteorological Organization via Climate Progress
New "Extreme" Jet Stream Has Caused 3 Extreme Climate Events in Past Two Months, reports Jeff Masters at Wunderground.com. This new behavior is becoming increasingly common during the summer over the past decade, he notes. As the jet stream, which separates cold polar from warm southern air, starts to trace gigantic undulations, it's pushing record high AND record low temperatures into the US and elsewhere.
View of the "New" Jetstream Over the US, July 3, 2013 via Wunderground.com
2°C Climate Target 'Is HALF What's Needed' says Swiss scientists reports Tim Radford at Climate News Network. Their study shows that the 2o C (4oF) warming limit goal will not halt disastrous sea level rise, ocean acidification and drops in needed agricultural production. That's right: the dramatic cuts in emissions needed for the current target (which the world is no where near) are far below what is truly needed for a safe global human future.
2004 Prediction: Arctic Ice Loss To Worsen Western Droughts, And NOW It Is... and expect it to worsen as the ice loss increases, say the scientists who made the predictions, reports Joe Romm at Climate Progress. Basically, as more Arctic ocean is exposed and warmed, it warms the air above it, creating rising columns of warm air. These are shifting storm tracks that normally rain down on the west. Fried steak, anyone?
The Historic Recent Decline of Arctic Sea Ice. Credit Climate State
Despite Differences, Western Governors Present Their 10 Year Energy Vision, reports Jennifer Yachnin at EnergyWire. The 19 governors signed onto a policy paper urging western states to take the lead in shoring up US energy security while balancing production with environmental protection. Is anyone in Congress taking notes?
Nanowire Super Solar Panels Get Funding in Sweden, reports Eric Wesoff at GreenTechMedia. Nanowire solar cells are so teeny weeny that they are applied as a thin layer of ink on standard solar panels to greatly increase the efficiency of the panels. Commercial production is to start by 2016. If you think solar power is getting cheap now, just wait til these babies hit the market!
Quote of the Week:
"The Germans and the Chinese are already in this clean energy race, and we're still just talking about it," The question is: Do we want to control our energy future, or continue to rent it from other countries?"
OO Hal Harvey, the chief executive of Energy Innovation in Tom Friedman's NY Times Oped, July 2, 2013
☼☼☼ On the Bright Side ☼☼☼
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OO Quantity Trumps Quality For New Powerful Solar Cell Idea - put thousands of tiny, low efficiency cells together to deliver, pound-for-pound, far more solar power than other cells...
Solar cell nano-layers in tiny proposed solar cell. Credit Jeffrey Grossman, and Marco Bernardi at MIT, via Climate Progress
OO 2013 State Solar Power Rankings Are Out! Check here to see how your state did -- this is way cool....
OO Apple to Build New Solar Energy Farm to power its new data center in Reno, Nevada.
OO Colorado Doubles Renewable Renewable Energy Goal
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OO CA: Palo Alto Municipal Utility Going Big on Solar - how are they doing it? Find out at the July 24th webinar - America, we can do this!
OO California Shared Renewables Bill Poised for Success - a way for renters and others that don't have their own roof to participate in the solar economy. The new rules are here.
OO California Advances Pioneering Shared Renewables Bill - passed the state senate, the highest political hurdle.
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OO NY Triples The Net Metering Cap - clearing the way for many more New Yorkers to use solar and other renewables to meet their own energy needs.
OO Minnesota Passed Sweeping New Renewable Energy Policy - plans for another 450 MW
OO Louisiana Beats Back Another Attempt to Dismantle Net Metering - a rate schedule that encourages people to invest in solar.
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OO Vote Solar Launches Project Permit - a new campaign to empower Americans nationwide to cut red tape and reduce solar permitting costs in their own communities. Check out the great video!
OO Kenya: Scratch-Card Solar Brings Clean Energy To Poor - for about $12 a family can purchase a home solar energy generator brighten children's studies and family health. http://allafrica.com/stories/201306240441.html
OO Solar Groups Turning to The Tea Party and other conservative activists to garner support.
Credit Dennis Schroeder/NREL
OO United Church Of Christ Voted To Divest From Fossil Fuel Companies - to address climate change.
OO Obama Team Obama Finally Embraces Winning Moral Argument For Climate Action speaking about the moral obligation to future generations on preventing further climate change; simply promoting clean energy is inadequate, since Congressional global warming deniers treat it as another special interest, no different from fossil fuels...
OO EPA Sends Carbon Regulation Rule To White House Quickly - less than a week after Obama orders it to act on regulating carbon emitters.
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OO Green US Army Cuts Emissions, Further Expands Its Renewable Energy
OO Less Carbon Pollution, More Manufacturing Can Go Hand-In-Hand - Report
OO Efficient Appliances Make a BIG Difference in Carbon Emissions - says a Swiss community study, showing that one fifth of households generate half the carbon pollution
Look for the energy star label when buying appliances, and help save money and the Earth!
OO London Rush Hour: 25% of Vehicles Are Bikes
OO Over Past Decade, Bike Commuting In US Jumped 47 % - up to 80 % in bike-friendly communities.
OO Boon for Curbing Carbon: US Car Culture Declining - as fewer Americans are buying cars, getting licenses, and more are driving less, studies indicate, a boon towards cutting emissions.
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OO Why Not Revive the GOP Clean Energy Standard? From the previous Bush administration, Tom Friedman at the NY Times asks.
OO Sioux Tribes Plan Large-Scale Wind Energy Project
OO Wind Power Benefits Both Blue and Red States, Obama Says
Credit Dennis Schroeder/NREL
OO Electricity In New England Is Virtually Coal-Free
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***** US Climate Change News *****
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OO Koch Bros Fund Congressmen Who Sign Climate Inaction Pledge - surprise, surprise... the heartwarming story of two global warming denying billionaires, out to influence Congress...
OO US Media Still Overlooks 90% Of Global Warming - that is, the heat going into the oceans.
Credit SkepticalScience.org via Climate Progress
OO Rare MSM Event: ABC News Notes Human-Caused Climate Change is creating more extreme weather.
OO NYT Fails to Inform Again: Climate change Drives Wildfires, But what drives Climate Change? you'd think they knew enough by now to tell us...
OO Pound Foolish: Adaptation Investments Swamped by Disaster Damages
Credit NOAA via Climate Progress
OO Major US West Heat Wave Broke Temperature Records In Several States - causing one death and multiple heat-related illnesses.
OO Western Wildfires' Size, Intensity And Impact Are Increasing, Experts Say
OO Record Heat And Drought Fuel Chaotic Arizona Wildfire, Killing 19 Firefighters
They fought climate change... will you?
OO Extreme Heat Is The Most Dangerous Form Of US Extreme Weather - with excessively hot nights posing the most threat.
OO How Hot Is The Heat Wave? Let Us Count The Ways
OO Northern California Urged To Conserve Power As Heat Wave Peaks
Credit Mary Ellen Harte
OO Lobster Industry Threatened By Climate Change
OO Coastal Homeowners Howling At Rising Flood Insurance - ah, the screams of new climate change victims...
OO Florida Keys Prepare For Sea Level Rise - adjusting infrastructures for another 9-inch rise in sea level over the next 50 years.
A mama swallow feeding her fledglings. Credit Marc Hoffman, at SongbirdPhoto
OO More Vultures, Fewer Swallows: Blame Climate Change, Report Says - as it describes how climate change is harming migrating birds.
OO California's Sierra A 'Living Lab' For Climate Change - and the rest of us are just little white mice in a much bigger climate change laboratory ...
OO Biofuels: EPA Approves Sources From 2 Invasive Plants Despite Warnings - yet another way to waste our taxpayer dollars, by encouraging the culture of invasive plants.
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OO Despite Cheap Canadian Oil, US Gas Prices Aren't - So Keystone XL Probably Won't Help, Either
OO Oil, Gas Lobby Funds US House Members Who Pushed Recent Offshore Drilling Bill -if your representative is one of them, then think about telling him/her, you'll support clean energy candidates instead....
OO 3 Months Later, Arkansans Still Mysteriously Poisoned By Exxon's Pipeline Spill - Sick residents sickened by March's Exxon Pipeline spill have faced confusion from doctors who can't identify the cause of their symptoms -- and some are still sick today.
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<<<< Climate Change Round the World >>>>
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OO UK: Climate Change As Big A Security Threat As Terrorism, Cyber-Attacks, Says Envoy
OO Peru: Remote Amazon Region To Be Exploited For Oil - but is also home to vulnerable indigenous tribes.
OO Norwegian Wins EU Prize: Proposes Paying Countries to Keep Fossil Fuels in Ground
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OO As China's Demand For Coal Soars, So Does Its Water Scarcity
OO Canada: Extreme Weather Threatens British Columbia's Economy
OO UK: Heatwave Could Last A Month - with at least two weeks of temperatures topping 30C in the south.
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(((((((( Seeking the Science ))))))))
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OO Climate Change Blamed For Increasing Allergy Problems - pollen counts are expected to more than double by 2040, says study.
OO Possible Link Between Active El Nino Weather And Climate Change
OO Climate Will Alter The Soil That Feeds Us - as a warming climate affects some of the microbes which bind the soil together, says a study.
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@@@ Climate Change in the Media @@@
Via Climate Nexus
OO @@ WEEKLY CLIMATE CHANGE VIDEO SERIES!! @@ Entitled "In Case You Missed It" via the good folks at Climate Nexus on Vimeo - select headlines delivered in less than 90 seconds with good graphics. Cool watching -- spread the word!!
@@ Video: CLIMATE STATE has an incredible array of videos on the latest and general topics of climate change - Go and browse !!
@@ Video: Bill Maher and Guest on Obama's Climate Speech - an excellent commentary, with Bill at his usual hilarious best...
@@ Video: The Alarming Science Behind Climate Change's Increasingly Wild Weather
@@ Video: WATCH 62 YEARS OF GLOBAL WARMING IN 13 SECONDS - an oldie but goldie that never fails to scare the wits out of me...
@@ Video Extreme Weather 101: Heat Spikes On the Rise
scientists explain how heat spikes are likely to become more common.
@@ Video: Save The Arctic From Shell and Its Russian Friends - says Greenpeace, which explains how Shell has signed with an irresponsible Russian company to drill the Arctic, setting the stage for an Arctic catastrophe. See also the UK version and feel free to sign the petition.
@@ If Paul Revere was a climate scientist...
Credit Tom Toles at the Washington Post
@@ Want to know how climate change will affect your home? Check out the Regional Climate Impacts pdfs at Climate Nexus, which cover the various regions of the US - informative, if scary, reading...
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*****Ready to Invest Your Bucks in Solar? Check out Mosaic opportunities here!
☼☼☼Acting Like You Care: The XL Keystone pipeline will make possible far more climate change, but President Obama might okay it anyway. Credo, 350.org and others are asking people to stand up and be counted as nonviolent resisters or help in other ways. I did. If you ever wanted to do something big for your future, now's your chance - here. 
Every day is Earth Day, folks, as I was reminded by these wildflowers I photographed last week. Making the U.S. a global clean energy leader will ensure a heck of a lot more jobs, and a clean, safe future. If you'd like to join the increasing numbers of people who want to TELL Congress that they will vote for clean energy candidates you can do so here. It's our way of letting Congress know there's a strong clean energy voting bloc out there. For more detailed summaries of the above and other climate change items, audio podcasts and texts are freely available.
