Today, the Earth got a little hotter, and a little more crowded.
@@ You Can Believe the Senator With a Snowball OR ...
After Senator James Inhofe tossed a snowball in the Senate to illustrate his ignorance of the link between extreme weather (both hot AND cold) and climate change, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse rode to the rescue of sanity on the subject.
YOU CAN ACT... after you've dissolved into hysterical giggles at the absurdity of Senator Inhofe - and lob a snowball back at him!
Sign here and Environmental Action will deliver dozens of snowballs to Sen Inhofe's office (yes, they're serious), and they'll inscribe each one with a personal message from climate activists like you to the Pro-tem of climate denial.
Signing that made my day...
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Credit Katharina Hesse www.katharinahesse.com
@@ Everyday Climate Change at Instagram
Bringing you the face of climate change daily
The coast in Qingdao in Shandong province, China, during an upcoming rainstorm. Sea levels along the coast are rising faster than the world average due to climate change, recent China media reported.
But take another look at that picture.
The seemingly ordinary family in the foreground must be quite rich, for China levies significant fees beyond having more than one child. As China loosens its one child policy and the increasing, prosperous middle class explodes as energy consumers, so, too, will climate changing emissions and humanity's future explode, unless there is a dramatic switch to clean energy - and we ALL adopt a one child policy.
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Merchants of Doubt Documentary is OUT and it's hot! Look for it in your local theaters.
Related Youtuber:
@@ Merchants of Doubt: What Climate Deniers Learned from Big Tobacco
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Overpopulation and Climate Change Helped Spark Syria Uprising
in conjunction with poor leadership, says a new study, reports the Business Standard. Five recent years of drought, intensified by climate change, slashed food production by a third as the population exploded from 4 to 22 million over the past half century. Poor, corrupt leadership added fuel to the fire.
"Rapid demographic change encourages instability" say the authors. Over a million hungry refugees added to the Iraqi war refugees already flooding city peripheries, and were ignored by government., as food prices and malunutrition soared.
Faces of the conflict in Syria. Credit AP/Vadim Ghirda
A Prelude of Our Future? Only if we let it be: A small family is a healthy one - for the planet, too.
Related Headlines:
OO How Climate Change Helped Spark the Uprising in Syria
OO Climate Change a 'Contributing Factor' in Syrian Conflict
A Sao Paulo reservoir gets ever lower. Source BBC
OO Climate Change, Overpopulation, and Growing Meat
Create Water Emergencies Worldwide - think Pakistan, Brazil and California - but the list will expand into water wars worldwide, experts predict, as these three factors further stress water supplies, creating a thirsty, violent world.
OO The Warming World: Is Capitalism Destroying Our Planet?
As long as it embraces infinite, unsustainable growth - think cancer...
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New giant craters, presumably created by explosive releases of methane from melting tundra, have appeared in Siberia; in one case, a dozen smaller craters have appeared around a larger one. Credit: Vasily Bogoyavlensky at Siberiantimes
OO Dozens Of New Craters Appear In Northern Russia
Related Headlines:
OO New Giant Siberian Craters Spark Fears Of Arctic Natural Disaster - space satellite photos have revealed the dramatic mushrooming of the holes, believed to be caused by methane gas eruptions in melting permafrost due to climate change, scientists said.
OO Siberian Crater Saga Is More Widespread -- And Scarier
-- Than Anyone Thought
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SOLAR KEEPS RISING
Sunny Side East: Solar Takes Off In Eastern U.S. a new report shows writes Bobby Magill at Climate Central. Utility-scale solar farms are exploding in North Carolina, while eastern U.S. utilities find their own ways to use solar power.
OO By the Time You Read This,
They've Slapped a Solar Panel on Your Roof - via continuing lower costs and faster installations. Viva la soleil!
OO Even At $10/Barrel, Oil Can't Match Solar On Cost says a new report from the National Bank of Abu Dhabi; it adds that future investment will be almost entirely in renewable energy sources.
OO SunEdison to Bring Electricity to 20 Million Poor Worldwide by 2020 via solar power, making renewable energy a long term, economically sustainable model for them.
Related Headline:
OO SunEdison's Next Market:
Solar Minigrids and Micropower Stations for the Energy Poor
OO Google Invests $300 Million In US Residential Solar Projects
OO Solar Lights A Healthy - And Empowering - Path In Disasters
OO Saving The Taj Mahal By Going Solar proposed India in 2013, by having its home city, Agra, go solar to prevent further corroding pollution.
OO India to Quadruple Renewable Capacity to 175 Gigawatts by 2022
OO Australia's Largest Solar Farm Ready To Break Ground
OO Jordan's 6,000 Mosques Will Soon All Have Rooftop Solar
Check it out here, right now!
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GOOD CLEAN NEWS
OO Defying GOP, Obama Vetoes Keystone XL Pipeline Bill-- but this is not a death blow to pipeline.
OO China's Coal Consumption Down 3% In 2014 -
Raises Fear Of Stranded Assets
OO China Cut Its Coal Use Last Year:
Will They Peak Coal Use Before 2020? - don't be surprised if they do: that would help them peak CO2 emissions before 2030, which is what they told the world last year they would try to do.
Look what the Eiffel Tower just got! Courtesy of UGE
OO The Eiffel Tower Just Got A Wind Turbine Makeover
OO UK Plans Unveiled for World's First Tidal Lagoon Power Plant
And Away They Go...
Wikipedia
OO Gates Foundation Ditches McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Exxon/Mobil Stock - the foundation doesn't invest in companies whose corporate activity it finds to be "egregious," says its website.
OO Shell Withdraws From Largest Tar Sands Project Yet
OO World's Second Largest Mining Company May Exit Coal Business - Rio Tinto is making moves that could signal its intention to divest coal assets, as coal's price falls.
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WHAT WORKS
Speaking Out:
Source: The Daily Climate
OO Colorado Anti-Fracking Groups Launch Campaign For Statewide Ban
OO Ten People Arrested Protesting Would-be Virginia Pipeline
@@ Time to Wake Up: Climate Change In Wisconsin
OO Recent Documentary On Air Pollution Grips China - as, many millions of Chinese watched, gripped and outraged, a 104-minute video , which even got favorable mentions in state Chinese media.
OO European Commission: We Must Act Urgently on Climate Change says a new memo to nation heads within the European Union.
OO Canadian First Nations Seek To Protect Forest Homeland from fracking and fossil fuels development, thus helping to slow climate change.
YOU CAN ACT
An out-of-state oil company with a questionable track record wants to export its toxic fracking wastewater into Nebraska, dumping 80 truckloads carrying 10,000 toxic barrels daily into a disposal well in Sioux County.
This would transfer the risks of its toxic pollution onto Nebraska farmers and ranchers and our land and precious water resources, such as the Ogallala Aquifer a major source of irrigation for midwest farms..
Help us protect our lives and resources: Please sign the petition: Don't frack our water.
Good Ideas:
OO US Congress Democrats Demand Fossil Fuel Disclosure
Of Climate Denier Studies
Important Insights:
OO How The Sahara Keeps The Amazon Rainforest Going
OO How Sahara Dust Sustains the Amazon Rainforest, in 3-D - via an atmospheric pipeline, supplying the Amazon, with a crucial source of phosphorus, a vital nutrient. If climate change disrupts this source, massive biological changes could occur to the forest.
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OO Signs Of Spring 'Shifting' In Trees
OO Scientists Witness Carbon Dioxide Trapping Heat In Air - what the physical laws of nature say must be so, has now been witnessed in the atmosphere above the United States, chronicling human-made climate change in action, live in the wild.
Dancing Towards Understanding
OO Australia: How Indigenous Dance Can Change
The Way We Understand Climate Change - by appealing to feelings on climate change.
A new dance production on climate change by Karole Armitage will premiere in New York City, March 25th at the American Museum of Natural History.
@@ ON THE NATURE OF THINGS March 25-27, 2015, 8:00pm $25-35
The American Museum of Natural History, The Milstein Hall of Ocean Life
Tony nominated choreographer Karole Armitage will premiere a new site-specific dance production about climate change and its cultural context, created specifically for the Museum's Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. Check it out!
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WHAT DOESN'T WORK
The aerial face of fracking on Earth. Source: safewatermovement org
Fossil Fuel Follies
OO Fossil Fuel Industry Manipulates Science says a new analysis by a watchdog group of over 130 documents distributed to policymakers by industry representatives.
OO San Francisco Bay Area Workers, Unions, Finance The Fracking Boom via their pension funds, even though they are increasinly joining the climate justice movement.
OO Fracking Opponents Feel Police Pressure In Some Drilling Hotspots
Waste:
Source: biocycle.net
OO Food Waste Contributes to Climate Change
And Cost Billions Yearly says a new report.
Clueless Leadership
OO Arizona: Utility Board Approves Large Monthly Solar Fees - likely to discourage solar power in a sunny state... go figure.
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WHY WE SHOULD ACT NOW: RISING RISKS extreme weather, California dryin',
Google Weather around the world month year to get latest update from Jon Plotkin; ck the summary.
Daily Climate Change: Global Map of Unusual Temperatures, Mar 8, 2015
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, much of the US and the waters surrounding it are experiencing warmer than normal temperatures: the eastern Pacific warm spot continues to prevent much rain from reaching California, sending it into further drought.
Much of the areas surrounding the North Pole are experiencing much warmer than normal temperatures - not good news for our Arctic thermal shield of ice. Hotter than usual temperatures continue to dominate human habitats.
Natural Repercussions:
OO A February First: Planetary CO2 Levels Pass 400 PPM Milestone - while many experts have said that 350 ppm and above allows the development of dangerous climate change.
A Historical First: 2 Consecutve Record -Warm Winters in California are caused by a stable high pressure ridge just off the California coast reports Andrea Thompson at Climate Central. The ridge, in turn, is likely fueled by the extremely warm Pacific waters beneath it, says a NOAA climatologist.
Since ocean temperatures change very slowly, though, don't expect the ridge - or hot dry weather - to end anytime soon. Meanwhile, the state's water storage system, the snowpack, is at near-record low levels. The drought continues...
OO Global Warming Upped Heat Driving California's Drought
OO Sea Levels In Northeast US Jumped 5 Inches In Just 2 Years study finds.
OO Global Warming Will See Australian Deserts Grow Bigger - says a new US study; not good, given how much desert already exists there.
Social Repercussions:
Lake Mead. Source: The Daily Climate.
OO As The River Runs Dry, I: The Southwest's Water Crisis
OO As The River Runs Dry, II:
Southwest US Urban And Rural Water Users Battle
OO Massachusetts May Cut Coastal Building
As Costly Storms Take Their Toll and even worse is predicted in coming decades.
See all those dark brown areas? Under business as usual, US carbon emissions will likely create severe droughts in the US, Mexco and Central America by 2095. Via NASA
OO Carbon Emissions to Dramatically Increase Risk of Megadroughts
from US to Central America says NASA report.
OO Immigration Crisis in the Making? If, as a major carbon emitter, the US is responsible for making Mexico and Central America, are we ethically obligated to accept these new climate change refugees into the US? Asks Joe Romm at Climate Progress.
The face of climate change on coral: bleached of life. Source climateshifts.org
OO Florida: Global Warming Fuels Coral Killer worsening a disease that has almost wiped out Caribbean coral reefs, says a new study.
OO US Oyster, Clam Industry Face Economic Blow From Acidification says a new study... no more oysters on our menus?
OO Pacific Islands: Tomorrow's Climate Refugees Struggle To Access Water Today
Get your coffee while you can! Coffee crops worldwide are threatened by disease and heat worsened by climate change. Wikipedia.
OO UK: Famous Botanical Garden Searches For Coffee
That Will Survive Climate Change
OO Malaysia: Climate Concerns Penang Fisheries as eroding coastlines send polluting sand and soil into coastal fisheries.
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KEEPING CARBON STORED: FORESTS UPDATE
Forests: the cheapest way to store carbon
OO Tropical Forests May Be Vanishing Even Faster Than Previously Thought - the rate of loss increased over 60% from the 1990s to the 2000s, says a new study.
OO Peru's Protected Areas Aren't Where They Should Be - and are not adequately protecting many Peruvian species, a new study finds.
OO Researchers Propose Improvements For Peru's Protected Areas
Even selective logging often completely transforms a forests. Source: mongabay.com
OO Malaysia: Corruption Allows Illegal Logging To Destroy Sarawak Forests says a new report.
OO Biofuels Are Bad News For Forests, Climate, Food Security says report.
OO Brazil Arrests 'Amazon's Biggest Destroyer' of forests.
A Tacana shows tourists how to set a trap. Credit: Barbara Fraser
OO Partnering For Conservation Benefits Tacana People, Bolivian Park
OO Santander Bank Cuts Off Majro Pulp n Paper Company, Due To Deforestation
Protected areas like the Ankarana Reserve in Madagascar are important holdouts for threatened species, like this panther chameleon.
OO World's Protected Areas Receive 8 Billion Visits Yearly,
But Still Underfunded yet these 140,000 areas likely brought in at least $600 billion to national economies, new research reveals.
There is, of course, much more news on the consequences and solutions to climate change. To get it, check out this annotated resource list I've compiled, "Climate Change News Resources," at Wordpress.com here. For more information on the science of climate change, its consequences and solutions you can view my annotated list of online information resources here.
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 peach blossom I photographed one spring. 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.
