Today, the Earth got a little hotter.
DAILY CLIMATE CHANGE: Global Map of Unusual Temperatures, Jan 22 2014
How unusual has the weather been? No one event is "caused" by climate change, but global warming, which is predicted to increase unusual, extreme weather, is having a daily effect on weather, worldwide. Looking above at recent temperature anomalies, another polar aneurism appears to be funnelling polar weather deep into the mid and eastern US. Hotter than usual temperatures continue to dominate human habitats. Daily updates of this map can be seen here.
To find out how, check out Pear Energy and Ethical Electricity.
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The People Vs. Carbon: Fossil Fuel Industry Challenges Rising Social Cost Of Carbon, reports the Climate Reality Project (CRP). The Feds recently increased the Social Cost of Carbon to $37, that is, the cost to US society per ton of carbon emissions each year. Consider US total emissions, and that adds up to a lot. The fossil fuel industry is challenging this hike, since the rising cost encourages more people to shift to clean energy, threatening fossil fuel profits. CRP says you can challenge 'em back; CRP makes it easy for you to voice your support of the feds estimated cost here.
The Earth Is Heating Faster Than We Thought; Arctic 8x Faster Than Rest because gaps in Arctic temperature had led scientists to underestimate global warming says a new study, reports Jeremy Hance at Mongabay. Not only is the Arctic warming eight times faster than the rest of the planet, but failure to account for temperature gaps has led global datasets to underestimate the rise of temperatures worldwide. By adding in new temperature data from satellites over the rapidly-warming Arctic, scientists report that the world's climate has not slowed in warming, as it previously appeared to some, but is warming as rapidly as predicted, with the Arctic currently facing the brunt of it.
By Tim Eagan via OO Climate Change in the Vortex of America's Bi-Polar Politics at Yale Climate Media Forum.
US Carbon Emissions Rise 2% In 2013 After 5 Yr Hiatus due to increase in coal consumption as the rising price of natural gas made coal more competitive, reports Jeremy Hance at Mongabay. Doesn't sound like much? Scientists say that if global society doesn't rein-in emissions quickly and aggressively, future impacts could include mass extinction, agricultural collapse, water shortages, and even increased warfare. We have to change this, folks!
The Great March for Climate Action will start on March 1, 2014, and go from Los Angeles to Washington, DC to inspire our leaders to act now on climate change, notes The Great March website. Over 200* have signed up already, and the march is endorsed by ex leading US govt climate scientist James Hansen, Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire, 350's Bill McKibben and many green organizations. Sign up today for part or all of it; march for change!
UN: Lag in Confronting Climate Woes Will Be Costly reports Justin Gillis at the New York Times. Nations have so dragged their feet in battling climate change that the situation has grown critical and the risk of severe economic disruption is rising, says a draft UN report. Another 15 years of failure to limit carbon emissions could make the problem virtually impossible to solve with current technologies, experts found - and there's no guarantee we'll have the technologies or resources to deal adequately with the problem then... a stitch in time...
Top Secret Pacific Trade Agreement Sacrifices Wildlife, Environment, Climate reports Jeremy Hance at Mongabay. The massive 12-nation free trade Trans Pacific Partnership agreement has been negotiated in secret now for almost four years, and the information release by WikiLeaks shows that key environmental safeguards in the agreement are being stripped away, including illegal logging, as well as legally-enforced pollution regulations, both of which would further contribute to climate change.
Deforestation in Malaysian Borneo. A recent analysis found that Malaysia, which is a part of the TPP, has the world's highest deforestation rate between 2000-2012. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler of Mongabay.com
Green Billionaires et al To Map Out US Cost of Climate Change reports Sophie Yeo at RTCC. Risky Business is a year-long initiative that aims to calculate how much the effects of climate change - including damage caused to agriculture, property and infrastructure by heat waves and sea level rise - will cost America on a region-by-region and a sector-by-sector basis. Co-chairs include Michael Bloomberg, Tom Steyer and Hank Paulsen.
☼☼☼ On the Bright Side ☼☼☼
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(>(>(> PEOPLE SPEAK OUT
OO UN Climate Chief: Divest, Invest To Fight Global Warming
OO UN Climate Report Urges Quicker Switch to Low-Carbon Global Economy
OO UN Climate Chief Calls for Tripling of Clean Energy Investment to 1 Trillion yearly by 2030.
OO China: Beijing's Mayor Urges "All-Out Effort" To Curb Air Pollution - and walks the walk, pledging to cut coal, and creating a fund of $2+ billion to do so.
OO Fund Managers Who Ignore Climate Risk Breaching 'Fiduciary Duty'
OO World's Richest Nations 'Failing' To Address Climate Change says OECD.
OO Fossil Fuel Giants Face 'Climate Stress Test' Call At UN Summit
New York 'climate risk' meeting will call on oil majors to evaluate size of carbon reserves that are incompatible with warming world.
OO Climate Change Findings Distilled Into haiku. by Greg C. Johnson.
OO If You See Something, Say Something is not just a motto for national security, but for climate security as well, and applies to scientists, says climatologist Michael Mann.
OO Clear Climate Risks Linked To Fracking, Scientists Told UK Govt
OO Australian Heat Waves More Frequent, Hotter and Longer, Climate Council Says
OO Under Investor Pressure, Major Utility To Study Emissions
OO Al Gore Says Use Of Geo-Engineering To Head Off Climate Disaster Is Insane
OO Greens Push Back On Obama's 'All-Of-The-Above' Energy Policy
People of the First Nations are leading the way in opposing Canadian Tar Sands, and are taking their fight to the courts. Credit John Isaac (United Nations) via www.firstnations.eu
OO British Columbia Groups Ask Court To Block Approval Of Northern Gateway Pipeline
OO Singer Neil Young Blasts Oil Sands Expansion, Launches Fundraising Tour
OO Environmentalists 'Get Real Creative' to Combat Oil by Rail
OO Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper to President Obama: Let Governors Come Up with Energy Plan
OO Group Sues Feds Over Keystone XL's Impact on Endangered Fox
OO Rural Illinois County To Take Fracking Debate To The Ballot Box
☼☼☼ BRIGHT IDEAS ☼☼☼
Ceres, an award-winning organization devoted to mobilizing investor and business leadership to build a thriving, sustainable global economy, has produced a report outlining how to do so; it, or its executive summary, can be downloaded here.
OO 10 Ways To Generate $36 Trillion Of Green Investments By 2050
Leading low carbon group CERES outlines how $1 trillion a year for low carbon infrastructure can be generated.
OO Danish Pension Funds Invest In Climate Fund
OO Indian Microgrids Aim To Bring Millions Out Of Darkness
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OO China Wants Time-of-Use Pricing by 2015, One Meter per Home by 2017
OO Democrats Plan To Pressure TV Networks Into Covering Climate Change
OO In New York, Mortgages May Be the Key to Unlocking Efficiency
Several states already have statewide renewable electricity standards that promote clean energy development through creating a market - it's time for this idea to go national, says Senator Ed Markey! Help promote clean energy and a safe climate future - you can sign the petition here, asking Congress to create a National RES.
OO OptiSense: Enlightening the Smart Grid With Optics
OO How Washington D.C.'S Sewage Will Soon Generate Electricity
OO How A New Rhubarb-Based Battery Could Massively Increase Renewable Energy Use
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OO Pre-Assembled Solar Helps Reduce Installation Costs
OO Solarcity Lets Individuals Invest In PV Projects Through A New Acquisition
OO Solar Energy Firms Get Creative In Raising Funds
For more news on green technology, click here.
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OO WaterSmart Scales Up, Water Savings Add Up - using behavioral science, and customized efficiency tips.
OO Engineers Work For Solar-Powered, Self-Contained Toilet
☼☼☼ BRIGHT DEVELOPMENTS ☼☼☼
OO Are The Economics And Ethics Of Fossil Fuel Divestment Aligning?
OO BP Sees Renewables Outpacing Fossil Fuels, Eclipsing Nuclear
OO Solar's Revival Sends Stocks on a Tear
source mjmonty via RTCC.org
OO Google Acquires NEST Smart Meter Company, Will Speed Smart Grid - segueing neatly with Google's drive to promote energy efficiency.
OO Google To Invest $75m In Second Texas Wind Farm
OO Toyota Reports 43% Rise In Hybrid Sales
☼☼☼ BRIGHT SIDE, STATE SIDE ☼☼☼
OO Obama Review Promises New Energy Blueprint
OO How the US Army Became a Leader in Third-Party Clean Energy Financing
OO Solar On A Grand Scale: Big Power Plants Coming Online In The West
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OO Elon Musk's 5 Solar Energy Insights - It's exponential, a great brand that benefits from cheap Chinese imports - and you won't hear about "peak solar" for another 5 billion years...
OO Northeastern US States Tighten Carbon Trading Scheme - announces 45% cut in size of emissions cap in bid to boost market prices
OO Giant California Solar Star Power Plant Enters Service
Google's California headquarters is covered with solar panels. Wikimedia commons.
OO California More Than Doubles Solar Energy Installs in 2013
OO Net Zero at Unprecedented Scale on Illinois Campus
OO Iowa Lawmakers Approve Resolutions Supporting Renewable Fuels Standard
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OO Kansas Chamber to Target Renewables Mandate This Year
OO Offshore Wind Prospects Re-Energized in Maine
OO Coal-Dependent Michigan Ready To Make The Switch
OO Detroit Auto Show: Tesla And GM In Race For An Affordable Electric Car
*****Ready to Invest Your Bucks in Solar? Check out Mosaic opportunities here!
OO Vermont Proposal Would Tax Natgas Pipeline to Fund Clean Energy
OO NorthCarolina Researchers Find New Way to Store Solar Power
☼☼☼ BRIGHT SIDE, WORLDWIDE ☼☼☼
OO European Investment Bank Raised Green Bond To Record 1.5 Billion Euros
OO Solar Power Continues to Expand, Diversify Worldwide
OO Pakistan Turns To Solar Energy As Power Shortfall Widens
For more news on clean energy, click here.
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OO Italian Oil Giant Eni Is Said To Abandon Polish Shale Aspirations
OO China to Boost Renewable Energy to Curb Air Pollution
OO Abengoa to Build 110 MW Solar Tower Storage Plant in Chile
OO Wind Energy Produced Half of Danish Electricity in December
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The flag flies, May 21, 2013.
At Moore, OK, the day after a huge tornado demolished it.
Credit Major Jon Quinlan/defenseimagery mil
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***** US Climate Change News *****
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OO Tornadoes, Flood, Drought Cost US Billions In 2013
OO Arctic Thawed-Ice Route Will Cost US Billions To Police
OO Rising Seas, Sinking Coast: The Eastern US Seaboard
OO Small Emission Sources Could Mean Big Pollution, But No One's Counting
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OO Climate Coverage Drops At Major U.S. Newspapers, Flatlines On TV
OO How Broadcast News Covered Climate Change In Past Five Years MSM TV coverage increased slightly in 2013 but below the 2009 high. Sunday shows let GOP and celebrities guide global warming conversations; Sen. Bernie Sanders has launched an effort to increase climate change coverage on these shows.
OO Budget Deal Protects Fossil Fuel Interests
@@ Wetlands Up in Smoke is a youtuber that shows in graphic detail the effects of biomass harvesting on our southern forests. Screen capture by Mary Ellen Harte.
OO Louisiana Forests Being Sacrificed To Fuel Europe's Biomass Boom
OO US Oil Boom Will Slow In 2015, Feds Forecast
OO Blown Away? Us Suspends Wind Power Subsidies, For Now
<><><><> CALIFORNIA DRYIN' <><><><>
OO CA Gov. Brown Declares Drought Emergency Amid Broken Heat Records, Low Reservoirs
OO California Drought: Water Officials Look To Rules Of '70s
OO California Drought Expands, Fueling Heat and Fire
The recent Colby, CA wildfire. Credit: mattmartinez7/Instagram.
OO North California Drought Threatens Farmers, Ag Workers, Cities - And You
OO LA Area Fire Danger 'About As High As It Can Be,' forecaster says
OO Southern California Fire Burns Homes, Spews Smoke Over LA Basin
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OO Extreme Red Flag Fire Warnings Across Southern California, As Drought And Wind Fuel Fire
OO Death Dust: The Valley-Fever Menance An endemic fever-causing fungus now dispersed by hot, dry, windy conditions, is increasing dramatically.
OO Far West Got Drier Last Year Data shows.
A house in Shishmaref falls into the sea from coastal erosion. Courtesy of Tony Weylouanna
OO Alaska: Shishmaref, A Village Eroding Due To Climate Change, Asks For Congressional Action
OO Colorado: Second Wave Of Flood Damage Feared By Some Boulder County Experts
OO Is Fracking the Cause of Increasing Earthquake Frequency in Kansas?
First Texas, then Oklahoma, now Kansas...
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OO Maine: Acidifying Waters Seem To Be Destroying Shellfish Flats with disastrous economic implications for the industry and communities.
The most comprehensive newsfeed on climate change online.
For more news on our changing climate around the world, click here.
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OO New Mexico: Dwindling Rio Grande To Take Toll On Recreation Industry
OO Washington DC: Methane Leaks There, US Cities, Threaten Explosioins, Climate due to aging gas lines, says new study.
OO Lifting The Crude-Oil Export Ban Would Worsen Pollution And Climate Change
<><><><> GOPPING IT UP <><><><>
Even elephants can't survive on oil. Credit: Mary Ellen Harte
OO House Republicans Pick Climate Skeptic to Head Environment Subcommittee
OO In Colorado, Repeal Effort Targets Rural Renewable Energy Mandate
OO Climate Policy Debate Heats Up; Bill Would Prevent Executive Decree On Carbon Fuels
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OO GOP Boehner: No New Regulations Needed After West Virginia's Major Chemical Spill - oh, really?
OO GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell Wants To Use New Tactic To Reverse Carbon Pollution Rules
OO Big Coal Undercuts Landmark US Overseas Investment Policy
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<<<< Climate Change Round the World >>>>
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OO Earth's Record 41 Different Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters Of 2013
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OO Population Growth And Associated Food Demand To Take Heavy Toll On Rainforests
OO 7 Countries Drive Most Of Global Warming - when including all past emissions since the Industrial Revolution., says study.
Source Environmental Research Letters, via New Scientist
OO BP Study: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Will Likely Rise by Nearly a Third in 20 Years
OO EU Set To Propose 40% Carbon Reduction Target For 2030
OO Global Investment in Clean Energy Falls for Second Year in a Row
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OO Climate And Nuclear Threats Leave World 'Five Minutes To Midnight'
OO Climate Change Could Exacerbate Drug Smuggling And Human Trafficking
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OO During Fiery Heatwaves Australian PM Looks To Stall Thriving Clean Energy Sector
Australia continues to heat and burn. Credit Australian Bureau of Meteorology
OO Australia Dithers As Another Heatwave Strikes
OO Australian Tennis Tournament Invokes 'Extreme Heat Policy' To Suspend Outdoor Play
OO Australian Heatwave Set To Worsen As Fires Rage
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OO Australia: Scorchers: The Reality Of A Sunburnt Country
OO Australia: Heatwave Frequency Increases As Climate Change Takes Effect
OO Hotter Longer Australian Heat Wave Threatening Major Crops, Cattle
An Australian ranch. Via Wikipedia. Continued heat will bring Australia's cattle to record low levels, impacting its economy: the country is a major exporter of beef, wheat and sugar. All are expected to suffer under continued climate change.
OO Fiji Relocates First Village Under Climate Change Programme
OO China's Water Squeeze Worsens As Wetlands Shrink 9%
OO Top Global Emitter China Best on Climate Change, UN Chief says
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OO Beijing Gets Hit With First Off-The-Charts Air Pollution Day Of The Year
OO Climate Change Clouds Philippines' Dream Of Rice Self-Sufficiency
Climate change threatens the Philippines' ability to become self-sufficient in rice production. Rice fields in the Philippines, via wikipedia.
OO Hydropower Struggle: Dams Threaten Europe's Last Wild Rivers
OO Are Towns In England Being Bribed To Accept Fracking?
OO UK Has Made Largest Contribution To Global Warming says study
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OO Alberta the Leader in Disturbing Canada's Natural Landscape, study says
OO Canada's Carbon Emissions Projected to Soar by 2030 Due to Expanding Oil Sands Projects
OO Extreme Weather Spotlights Canada's Aging Infrastructure
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Ten Global Warming Indicators. Credit NOAA
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(((((((( Seeking the Science ))))))))
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OO Big Old Trees Grow Faster, Store More Carbon Faster - making these increasingly rare old trees more valuable in storing carbon, and their conservation more important.
OO Some Fungi Found to Store Vast Amounts of Carbon in Soil - important, because it could change human understanding of what influences the storage of carbon in the natural world. Recently, another study indicated that fungi are major players in storing carbon in soil.
OO High-Living Frogs Hurt By Remote Oil Roads In The Amazon
Frog on a bromeliad, high in the Amazon rainforest. Photo by Bejat McCracken at Mongabay.
OO 2013 was a Year of Precipitation Extremes: NOAA
OO Rainy Mountains Speed CO2 Removal
OO Swiss Wildlife Heads Up The Alps To Escape Warming
Starfish off Vancouver are dying. Credit Jonathan Martin via Climate Progress.
OO Are Warmer Waters Causing Starfish to Disintegrate?
OO Seafloor Marine Life Face Major Threat from Climate
OO 'Missing Heat' Apparently Absorbed by Oceans
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OO Sea Ice Cracks Causing Mercury Buildup in Arctic Air
OO Climate Fail: Geoengineering Would Cool Planet, But Screw Up Rainfall Patterns
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@@@ Climate Change in the Media @@@
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@@ LIVING ON EARTH @@ PRI's Environmental News Magazine, covers climate change and other fascinating topics as well. Check it out!
@@ "Breathtaking": White House releases climate heavy hitter on the polar vortex. The White House released a highly produced scientific video in which White House science adviser and physicist John Holdren dismantles silly claims that cold weather refutes global warming. http://climatedesk.org/2014/01/breathtaking-the-white-house-releases-its-climate-heavy-hitter-on-the-polar-vortex/
@@ Showtime Climate Change Series Travels Globe. Producers of a Showtime series on global warming, "Years of Living Dangerously," due this spring, said it was crucial to get celebrities and Republicans involved to spread the stories beyond people who already believe it's an important issue. It is to launch in April.
Screen capture by Mary Ellen Harte via Vimeo. Check out the trailer here.
@@PHOTOS: Floods And Landslides In Southeast Asia Displace Hundreds Of Thousands Extreme weather
!!!! Want to Save Energy & Help the Planet? Check out these helpful EPA Climate Change youtubers here! !!!!
@@ At Last, a Green Radio Show to counter the Lush Bimbaugh wasteland. Check out On the Green Front with Betsy Rosenberg at Progressive Radio Network to keep updated on climate change, and other green topics.
@@ Video: America's Dangerous Pipelines - the title says it all; compelling ....
To help you understand just what science does and does NOT do, check this out!
Every day is Earth Day, folks, as I was reminded by this pair of pelicans I photographed a few months ago. 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.
*CORRECTION: This blog previously stated the number of participants signed up for The Great March for Climate Action as over 2,000.