Today, the Earth got a little hotter, and a little more crowded.
Stop Cutting Down My Home!!! When forests disappear, so do beautiful unique wildlife, like this Amazonian wild flycatcher. Source timanseeuw.wordpress.com
By threatening the world's forests, humans ultimately harm themselves.
OO Brazil: Deforestation, Drought -- Now Water Rationing has come to megacity Sao Paolo, Rio, and many other places. Mass deforestation had created a semi-arid climate for much of coastal Brazil, now worsened by extreme drought.
Another Deforestation Folly
Raging Indonesian forests and peatland fires, often set to clear land for illegal palm oil plantations, create so much haze that it threatens health, even killing babies, as it drifts into southeast Asia, and creates diplomatic tensions.
OO Indonesian Forest Fires On Track To Emit More CO2 Than UK: where's the Indonesian army when the country is really threatened?
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A Nicer View of the Future as more of the planet adopts wind power. Source www.infohostels.com
OO One Quarter of the World Will Run on Clean Energy by 2020 says the International Energy Agency, perhaps the world's most august energy advisory body and a pretty conservative institution.
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@@ Climate Change: A Moral Issue - what are we leaving our children? How moral is climate denial? Even big oil is acknowledging climate change now. A good mashup.
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Credit Horsey at the Los Angeles Times
OO The US Republican Party Stands Alone In Climate Denial - in the World
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@@Devastating Floods and Storms - the first part is a graphic summary of our globally dysfunctional water system in early October. Then it gets into earthquakes...
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Rainier Future: Percent increases in the amount of precipitation falling in very heavy events (defined as the heaviest 1% of all daily events) from 1958 to 2012 for each region of the continental United States. Source US National Climate Assessment
OO South Carolina Floods Match Climate Change Predictions - made by a South Carolina climate change risk report (also made by IPCC reports). Takeaways:
- under global warming, more heat and water is available
- as atmosphere warms, it holds more water
- creating wetter, more intense storms more frequently
- increasing the frequency of flooding
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Source Shutterstock at ecowatch.com
OO Renewable Energy Could Power Large Part of the US by 2030
OO Toughen Climate Action Every Five Years, UN Draft Suggests
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OO US Solar, Wind Just Passed Another Big Turning Point - lowering the maximum use of fossil fuel plants over their lifetime... sounds like renewables are finally starting to shove fossil fuels aside...
Elsewhere, wind power is now the cheapest electricity to produce in Germany and the U.K., even without government subsidies, says a new Bloomberg analysis.
Related Headlines:
OO The Way To Go:
Green Energy Cheaper Than Dirty Coal , Costly Nuclear in the long run says a senior German official.
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OO New York's BIG Plan to Make Utilities More Clean Power Friendly is foremost among several states that are redesigning their utilities to adapt to an energy landscape increasingly headed towards clean renewable power.
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Source buddhalightbringer.wordpress.com
OO Sub-Sahara Africa: 60 Hungry Million People Risk Famine says Red Cross as the chance of drought increases.
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Saving Sushi and human lives by making oceans healthy again, a great goal.
OO Healthy Oceans Key To Fighting Hunger - and maintaining the livelihoods of 12 percent of the global population, which depends in some way on fisheries and aquaculture.
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OO Shell CEO to Call for Effective Carbon Pricing
Related Headline:
OO CEOs Of Major Electricity Firm Urge Clear Policies For Low-Carbon Shift
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CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
Sunny Times at Google is iconic of the California's commitment to clean energy.
OO California Leads Renewable Energy Revolution on track for its 2020 goals in renewable energy, setting far more ambitious targets for the future.
Related Headline:
OO Gov. Brown Signs Climate Change Bill that will increase renewable energy generation and make buildings more energy efficient.
OO California: To Cut Ozone Trucking Industry Must Change Radically
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Source www.nbclosangeles.com
OO S California: Record Breaking October Heat Wave - National Weather Service forecasters warned of increased risk of heat-related illnesses for residents of the region, especially the homeless, senior citizens, infants and people working or playing outdoors. Power outages added to the misery.
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Pumpkin-Eating Pumpkin gobbles its younger siblings, an example of seasonal Berkeley CA art.
OO Halloween Pumpkins, Yes -- Thanksgiving Ones? Maybe Not says the top US pumpkin producer, Illinois; farmers are blaming record rainfall in June for washing out the crop.
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OO US Panel To Debate Long-Awaited Drought Measures
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OO India Leads Asia's Dash For Coal, Emissions Pollute Eastern Neighbors
While...
OO India's Climate Tech Revolution Is Starting In Its Villages and includes solar pumps among an array of technology.
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Cutting Coal: Citigroup Inc., the third-biggest U.S. bank, said it will cut back on financing for coal mining projects, in the latest blow to the industry that's viewed as a key contributor to global warming.
OO Citigroup, Citing Climate Change, Will Reduce Coal Financing
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A Poisonous Messenger: the mosquito that carries dengue. Source www.euvaccine.eu
OO SE Asia: Dengue Epidemics Linked To High Temperatures says a new study.
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OO ANZ Bank 'Will Not Finance' Dirty Coal Plants - Pledges $10 Billion For Clean Energy
OO World Bank Pledges Extra $29 Billion For Climate Change Fight
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Australia Heats Up - And Fires Up as record temperatures in the big state of Victoria fires up the beginning of a predicted "long, hot and dangerous" bushfire season with 100+ fires. Credit Kieran Tunbridge
OO Bushfire Out-Of-Control As Australia Swelters In Record Heat
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Up to 5% of the world's remaining corals could be lost in 2015 alone - and this is on top of the past destruction of an estimated quarter of the world's reefs by 2000. Credit XL Catlin Seaview Survey at scientificamaerican.com
OO Dramatic Worldwide Coral Bleaching Event Occurring say scientists, as warming waters cause them to die.
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Stanford University Gets Into Hot Water - saving $5+ million yearly in energy costs by using it to heat buildings. Source publicaffairs.stanford.edu
OO Universities Get Into Hot Water, Cut Emissions And Save Money when they use hot water to heat buildings.
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Stormy Costs of Climate Change drive increases in climate change aid to vulnerable countries. Credit Trocaire at Creative Commons
OO Costs of Climate Change Aid Hit $62 Billion in 2014
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OO Washington DC: Poop, Flush, Power! - No, we're not talking politics here - it's sewage generating electricity!
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A Ticking Time Bomb for moose is in the exploding numbers of ticks surviving warmer US winters; moose rub off their fur trying to dislodge thousands of them. Moose populations are plummeting. Source AP, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
OO Bled, Scraped And Starved To Death: Exploding Tick Numbers Threaten Moose
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Premature babies often incur higher medicals costs throughout their lives. Source www.huffingtonpost.com
FOSSIL FUEL FOLLIES
OO Pennsylvania: Fracking Linked to Premature Births - often followed by lives with higher health costs.
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Thanks for the Memories, BP Wikipedia
OO Feds, BP Reach $20B Settlement Over Gulf Oil Spill
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After the Catastrophe of the explosion that destroyed much of Lac Megantic, Quebec.
OO Judge Approves Nearly $340 Million For Quebec Oil Train Derailment
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OO UK Said To Consider Closing All Coal-Fired Plants By 2023
OO Coal Mining's Promise Falls Through For Remote Australian Town
OO Scotland Widens Shale Moratorium To Include Coal Gasification
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Bye-bye Island Paradise? Climate change is changing the Pacific islands.
OO Twenty Nations Vulnerable To Climate Change Unite For More Action and press for tougher action on global warming.
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A New Banana in a Dwindling Shangri-La, just one of hundreds of newly discovered species in the fast dwindling habitats of east Himalaya, says a new WWF report.
OO Climate Change, Other Human Effects:
Only 25% Of Original Habitats Exist In East Himalayas says a new WWF report.
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Paris Climate Prospects Dim with no enforceable outcomes possible.
PARIS CLIMATE FOLLIES
OO Climate Talks Will Force No Action - enforcement of treaties will be left to peer pressure, since no laws exist to cover enforcing climate action.
Related Headlines:
OO Paris Climate Summit: UN negotiations Need to Cooperate to Succeed say scientists. Focus on cooperation not self interest, as in a common commitment to global price on carbon.
OO Enforcing A Global Climate Deal: Speak Loudly, Carry No Stick - think peer pressure, cooperation, and racing to the top.
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Tea Time Totalled? Tea is in trouble in a changing climate. Source www.joycekyles.com
OO Climate Change Threatens Tea Estates as increasing pest outbreaks, prolonged periods of drought, rainfall change, and increasing hailstorms forewarn climate change for the already struggling industry.
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Black Smog Masks Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, where coal pollution continues to rise. Source www.studyblue.com
OO Turkey Darkens: 80 Coal-Fired Plants Planned As Emissions Zoom
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If we do not grow sustainably,
Our children will die inhumanely.
A Finite Horn of Plenty shrinks under climate change and other human induced impacts, as human population grows. Wikipedia
OO Population Growth Threatens Philippine's Rice Self-sufficiency Goal
OO Population Growth Challenge to Indonesia Food Production
OO Ethiopia, a Nation of Farmers, Strains Under Severe Drought
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Help your local community prevent unintended pregnancies.
And there are many more actions you can do, right here.
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SOLAR KEEPS DANCING
OO Big Utilities Enter Market For Small Rooftop Solar
OO US Needs A Solar Energy Revolution -
But It's Laying Off Solar Energy Researchers
OO Chile: Solar Power Lights Way
To A Cleaner, More Competitive Economy
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OO China Raises 2015 Solar Installation Target By 30%
Check it out here, right now!
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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, Oct 19, 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. Wildlife continues to suffer, while heat waves continue to break records in south California.
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.
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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 these African daisies I photographed one summer. 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.
