Amid rapid change, major Arctic study highlights need to prepare for surprises

By Marion Davis25 November 2016 (SEI) – The Arctic Resilience Report [pdf], published today, is the first comprehensive assessment of ecosystems and societies in the region. It identifies 19 “tipping points” in natural systems that could radically reshape the Arctic in the coming century, and calls for urgent cooperation to build local communities’ resilience and […]

Perils of global warming could swamp coastal real estate – ‘The water always wins’

By Ian Urbina24 November 2016 MIAMI, Florida (The New York Times) – Real estate agents looking to sell coastal properties usually focus on one thing: how close the home is to the water’s edge. But buyers are increasingly asking instead how far back it is from the waterline. How many feet above sea level? Is […]

Seattle doctor at Standing Rock: ‘People had sheets of ice hanging off them’ – Protester’s arm nearly torn off

By Liz Jones23 November 2016 (KUOW) – A few Seattle doctors returned this week from a rotation in Standing Rock, North Dakota. That’s where an estimated 2,000 protesters are demonstrating against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. We talked with one doctor, who was part of triage team as the standoff escalated Sunday night. Dr. Robie […]

Trump advisor: NASA to lose climate research – ‘A loss of our observational capabilities would be like closing our eyes’

BY Lee Billings23 November 2016 (Scientific American) – Emerging victorious from a campaign in which he called climate change a hoax, promised to reinvigorate coal mining and vowed to overturn major international agreements and domestic regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, President-elect Donald Trump’s next target in his political denial of human-driven global warming might be […]

Historical records may underestimate sea level rise

18 October 2016 (JPL) – A new NASA and university study using NASA satellite data finds that tide gauges — the longest and highest-quality records of historical ocean water levels — may have underestimated the amount of global average sea level rise that occurred during the 20th century. A research team led by Philip Thompson, […]

Huge puffin die-off linked to record-high Bering Sea temperatures – ‘We’re in uncharted territory’

By Craig Welch8 November 2016 (National Geographic) – The tufted puffins started washing ashore on St. Paul Island in mid-October—first a handful, then dozens, then so many that volunteers patrolling to collect dead birds began walking their four-wheelers rather than riding. It was easier than getting off every few feet. The hundreds of dead, emaciated […]

RealClimate: Trump, carbon, and the Paris agreement

By David Archer17 November 2016 (RealClimate) – The recent US election has prompted cries that the decision on Earth’s climate has now been irrevocably made, that the US has unilaterally decided to scrap the peak warming target from the Paris agreement of 1.5oC. What do the numbers say? Is Earth’s climate now irrevocably fracked? The […]

102 million dead California trees ‘unprecedented in our modern history’

By Matt Stevens18 November 2016 (Los Angeles Times) – The number of dead trees in California’s drought-stricken forests has risen dramatically to more than 102 million in what officials described as an unparalleled ecological disaster that heightens the danger of massive wildfires and damaging erosion. Officials said they were alarmed by the increase in dead […]

Steve Bannon’s trip from climate conspiracy theorist to Trump’s White House

By Marianne Lavelle16 November 2016 (InsideClimate News) – President-elect Donald Trump has famously called climate change a hoax invented by the Chinese, but the man he has chosen as his chief White House strategist advances a far more elaborate conspiracy. Stephen Bannon has called government support of alternative energy “madness.” His conservative website, Breitbart News, […]

Octopus in Miami Beach parking garage is global warming’s canary in the coal mine

By Alex Harris18 November 2016 (Miami Herald) – The canary in the coal mine once served as a natural warning system in a bygone industrial era. Now, for Florida at least, maybe it ought to be the octopus in the parking garage. Photos of an octopus splayed out in a flooded Miami Beach parking garage […]

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