PBS ombudsman on climate science segment: ‘Not the PBS NewsHour’s finest 10 minutes’

By Michael Getler21 September 2012 It was not the PBS NewsHour’s finest 10 minutes. In my view, and that of hundreds, even thousands of others, the program stumbled badly. On the other hand, it was not the end of the world, so to speak. A segment on climate change last Monday evening produced a storm […]

Tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea have intensified due to earlier monsoon onset

Contact: Gisela Speidel, gspeidel@hawaii.edu, 808-956-9252, University of Hawaii ‑ SOEST21 September 2012 The tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea during the pre-monsoon season (May – June) have intensified since 1997 compared to 1979 – 1997. This has been attributed to decreased vertical wind shear due to the dimming effects of increased anthropogenic black carbon and […]

Drought killed 300 million trees in Texas in 2011

Contact: Chris Edgar, Forest Resource Analyst, cedgar@tfs.tamu.edu, 979-458-663025 September 2012 COLLEGE STATION, Texas, 25 September 2012 – A Texas A&M Forest Service survey of hundreds of forested plots scattered across the state shows 301 million trees were killed as a result of the devastating 2011 drought. The number was determined by a study of both […]

Graph of the Day: Temperatures and Wildfire Numbers in the U.S. West, 1970-2010

Among the Western States, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, and Montana have seen the most dramatic increases in wildfires since 1970. According to our analysis, the average annual number of large fires has nearly quadrupled in Arizona and Idaho, and at least doubled in California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. On the […]

U.S. insurance companies vulnerable to extreme weather, changing climate – 2012 drought expected to cost $20 billion

Contact: Peyton Fleming, fleming@ceres.org, 617-247-0700 x 120, 617-733-666020 September 2012 Worsening weather in a warming world poses a growing risk to the financial stability of insurance companies and has broad ramifications for the economy and society, according to a new report. Stormy Future for U.S. Property and Casualty Insurers: The Growing Costs and Risks of […]

Analysis shows Fox News, Wall Street Journal’s opinion pages heavily misrepresent climate science

NEW YORK, 21 September 2012 – The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is calling on News Corporation to improve the representation of climate science on two of its prominent media holdings, Fox News Channel and the Wall Street Journal’s opinion section, after an analysis showed both heavily distort the facts on the issue. In letters […]

Rethinking the new Plant Hardiness Zone Map

By JOANNA M. FOSTER14 September 2012 For gardeners sad to see the summer drawing to a close, there’s some comfort to be drawn from the fall planting season for perennials, trees and shrubs, which is just around the corner. What’s more, there’s the novelty of this year’s updated Plant Hardiness Zone Map, released early this […]

Expert highlights survival concerns for Pakistan as climate changes

Islamabad, 22 September 2012 (The International News) – Increasing threats due to negative impacts of climate change are the cause of major survival concerns for Pakistan, particularly in terms of its water security, food security, and energy security considerations. An official of Climate Change Ministry said the government has taken short- and long-term measures that […]

Melting Himalayas may magnify water scarcity

By Becky Oskin, LiveScience Contributor12 September 2012 Many politically unstable areas of South Asia are “water-stressed,” meaning the areas are facing water scarcity due to poor infrastructure or simply lacking enough water to meet demand. The potential impacts of climate change on water scarcity could further inflame political tensions, finds a new report, Himalayan Glaciers: Climate […]

Arctic sea ice extent settles at record seasonal minimum

19 September 2012 (NSIDC) – On 16 September 2012, sea ice extent dropped to 3.41 million square kilometers (1.32 million square miles). This appears to have been the lowest extent of the year. In response to the setting sun and falling temperatures, ice extent will now climb through autumn and winter. However, a shift in […]

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