Water Shortages Drying Up Economic Growth in China, reports Leslie Hook at the Financial Times. Both growing urbanization and climate change are worsening the problem, constraining economic growth and energy development. As climate becomes even more extreme, expect China's stresses to grow, both internally and internationally.
Climate Change, Unsustainable Irrigation Turning US Cropland to Dust, is the real story reported by Michael Wines at the New York Times. A major midwest aquifer is shrinking and drying up in parts, as farmers, motivated to grow ever more corn and stressed by droughts expected under climate change, are pumping out this finite water pocket. Once again, NYT fails to mention the words "climate change", adding to their litany of reporting failures on the subject.
Quote of the week:
"unchecked warming is likely to prove the greatest scandal in U.S. history."
--Joe Romm, in "Worse Than Watergate" Climate Progress, Sunday, May 19, 2013.
China Developing Carbon Caps on Carbon Pollution reports Jonathan Kaiman at the UK Guardian, starting with a pilot carbon trading program in the southern city of Shenzhen. Was it the horrendous air pollution or the worsening water shortages fed by climate-change-enhanced droughts that drove them to it? In any case, congratulations to China for acting to reduce carbon emissions!
Even Without Climate Meltdown, Human Meltdown Likely says a new study, reports Fiona Harvey at the UK Guardian. The world is on course to warm about 8 degrees Fahrenheit, double that considered safe, and enough to create catastrophes across large swaths of the Earth, and thus to our society. Get in on the economic opportunities now -- invest in Teddy Bears!
Who's Paying The Price For Global Warming? US Taxpayers, That's Who, reports David Biello at Scientific American. Our tax dollars are outspending private insurance 3 to 1 on the US damages from climate change. No wonder some politicians don't want to acknowledge it -- or that voters are paying for something that's happening because Congress is not acting to prevent it... check to see what your Congresspeople are doing about it!
☼☼☼ On the Bright Side ☼☼☼
OO Oil Is Becoming Obsolete as cleaner cheaper substitute sources emerge, says energy efficiency guru Amory Lovins
OO This Town Took On Fracking and Won - tiny Dryden, New York, just won the right to send frackers packing.
OO Green Organizations Expand Lobbying Efforts to Grassroots Activism
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OO Switch To Low-Carbon Future Would Save British Households Over $3,000 - imagine what it could save US households.
OO Tesla a Profitable Success for Federal Clean Energy Loan Program
OO Keystone Pipeline Losing Democratic Support
Another scientist against the pipeline, credit Mary Ellen Harte
☼☼☼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. 
***** US Climate Change News *****
OO Climate Change Impacting Fisheries Already Overexploited - Now What? As scientists and fisherman recognize that besides overfishing, global warming is dramatically changing the oceans, there's a scramble to understand and solve the problems.
OO NOAA Links Predicted Intense 2013 Hurricane Season to Climate Change - because of higher ocean surface temperatures, which is linked to global warming....
OO Climate Change Will Drive Up Manhattan's Heat-Related Death Toll
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OO Ogallala Aquifer In Texas Panhandle Suffers Big Drop as drought drives farmers to empty this major water source ever faster
OO Memorial Day Weekend Driving More Expensive, And Profits the Fossil Fuel Industries
OO Americans Harmed by Nearby Oil Rigs, Gas Drilling, Seek to Be Heard - talk about David and Goliath...
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OO NYTimes Editorial: Urgent For Executive Obama To Act on Climate Change - as in ordering the EPA to regulate carbon and methane pollution ...
OO New Fed Fracking Rules Have "Exxonmobil" Written All Over Them - and no wonder: Exxon's lapdog, the notorious American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), wrote them, as BLM admits
OO Head of Congressional Science Committee Misleads, Errs On Climate Change in op ed - not surprising, since he rejects the 97% scientific consensus that it's a real and important problem
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OO Ex Energy Secretary Chu: If We Don't Act Fast on Climate Change, We'll Be in Big Trouble
<<<< Climate Change Round the World >>>>
Deforestation is up in the Amazon, Credit Rhett Butler at Mongabay.com
OO Deforestation In The Brazilian Amazon Pacing 88% Higher Than In 2012
OO Australia: Coal Boom Could Destroy Great Barrier Reef, already missing half its corals, by fueling the reef's killer, climate change
OO India: Heat Wave Causes Power Outages, Anger
The heat is on... credit Mary Ellen Harte
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OO Running Shoes Leave Large Carbon Footprint, Says MIT Study
OO Stop The Decay Of Our Planet's Life-Support System, say 500 Eminent Scientists, who urge immediate action
OO Global Majority Faces Severe Water Shortages 'within 2 generations' the above eminent scientists say, from climate change, pollution and overconsumption, in large part from overpopulation
Credit Tom Toles at the Washington Post
(((((((( Seeking the Science ))))))))
OO Climate Change and Tornadoes:
---@@ Connecting Climate Change to Tornadoes in the wake of the giant one that destroyed Moore, TX: increasing Surface Temperatures and Air Moisture are both results of continuing climate change, and ingredients for tornadoes - beyond that, predicting future tornado trends remains murky due to inadequate records and models
---@@ Extreme Weather Expected To Become More Frequent In A Warmer World admits mainstream media outlet, NBC News, even if we can't define how that affects tornadoes, which certainly seem to be a form of extreme weather, formed from convection and thunderstorms...
---@@ National Climate Data Center Director Tom Karl, 2011:
"What we can say with confidence is that heavy and extreme precipitation events often associated with thunderstorms and convection are increasing and have been linked to human-induced changes in atmospheric composition."
Credit Tom Toles at the Washington Post
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OO Amazon Emits Large Amounts of Carbon Dioxide, A Bacterial Byproduct from decaying the huge amounts of organic matter that fall into it from the rainforests, finds a new study...
OO Atmospheric Warming Might Be Slowing Slightly, But Not Climate Sensitivity To It
OO Climate Change Sends Fish to High Latitudes, Decimates Tropical Ones, Messing Up Fisheries
Mucking up the oceans affects me, too, y'know! Credit Mary Ellen Harte
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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!!
OO VIDEO: 97% of Climate Scientists Can't Be Wrong -Telling Americans that scientists don't agree is the classic climate denial strategy.
OO VIDEO: The Secret Life of Trolls Meet the Climate Trolls, those commentators who rile the public with rhetorical bombs about climate change that lie and mislead, rather than inform the public about climate change...
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OO Check out Steve Colbert and David Sassoon (InsideClimate News) in Colbert Report Face-Off:
Steve: "If we ignore the environment won't it just go away?"
David: "Actually, no, it'll hit you upside the head."
OO Which States Use the Most Green Energy? A Cool Interactive with Surprising Data and Insights
OO This American Life: Hot in My Backyard - an episode of the popular NPR show devoted to Climate Change; check out the fascinating segment about Republicans reaching out to conservatives on climate change
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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 African daisy 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.
