Brazil laundering illegal timber on a massive and growing scale – ‘Logging in the Brazilian Amazon is absolutely out of control’

By Jonathan Watts and John Vidal    14 May 2014 (theguardian.com) – Illegally logged timber in Brazil is being laundered on a massive and growing scale and then sold on to unwitting buyers in the UK, US, Europe, and China, Greenpeace claimed on Thursday. After a two-year investigation, the environmental campaign group says it has uncovered […]

Utah scientists: End ‘fake debate’ over climate, cut carbon emissions

By Brian Maffly14 May 2014 (The Salt Lake Tribune) – As a political conservative, Barry Bickmore didn’t want to believe warming of the planet is caused by humans and is a problem requiring government intervention.  But after reviewing the science that supports climate-change skepticism, the Brigham Young University geology professor said, he realized he “had […]

Wildfires strike early, hard in Southern California – ‘This is May. This is unbelievable.’

By Greg Botelho, Michael Martinez, and Paul Vercammen15 May 2014 Carlsbad, California (CNN) – Thousands of homes, a university campus, a nuclear plant, a Legoland and parts of one of the military’s biggest and busiest bases: All have been evacuated due to a rare confluence of fast-moving wildfires scorching Southern California. Cal Fire Division Chief […]

Shells of marine life dissolving off the coast of the U.S. – ‘We did not expect to see pteropods being affected to this extent in our coastal region for several decades’

By Jeremy Hance8 May 2014 (mongabay.com) – It could be the plot of a horror movie: humans wake up one day to discover that chemical changes in the atmosphere are dissolving away parts of their bodies. But for small marine life known as sea butterflies, or pteropods, this is what’s happening off the West Cost […]

What are the odds that El Niño will occur in 2014? And if it does, how strong will it be?

By Michelle L’Heureux, NOAA Climate Prediction Center8 May 2014 (RealClimate) – Much media attention has been directed at the possibility of an El Niño brewing this year. Many outlets have drawn comparison with the 1997-98 super El Niño. So, what are the odds that El Niño will occur? And if it does, how strong will […]

Lloyd’s of London: Insurers must adapt to climate change

By John Nelson, chairman of Lloyd’s of London 11 May 2014 (theguardian.com) – There is no doubt the climate is changing. Each of the past three decades has been warmer than the previous one, and the vast majority of scientific evidence points to this being caused by mankind’s reliance on carbon-based fossil fuels. While understanding […]

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio says human activity isn’t causing climate change – ‘I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it’

By Brian Bennett12 May 2014 (Los Angeles Times) – Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a GOP star and possible 2016 presidential contender, does not believe human activity is causing climate change, he said Sunday. “I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying […]

Poachers take chunks from California redwoods, putting majestic trees at risk – ‘It’s not just a crime against us as Americans … it’s a crime to everyone’

By Jack Hannah, CNN6 May 2014 (CNN) – Tree poaching conjures up the lawless Amazon jungle, but America’s magnificent redwood forests now face a piecemeal but steady assault by poachers too, California officials say. Thieves are cutting massive chunks from the base of the champion trees, which are the tallest on Earth and are up […]

Prosecutors file murder charges against turtle egg poachers who allegedly murdered Jairo Mora

By Lindsay Fendt  5 May 2014 (Tico Times) – On Monday, after more than nine months in preventive detention, the seven men suspected of participating in the killing of Costa Rican sea turtle conservationist Jairo Mora last May were formally charged with murder and a host of other offenses. All seven men — with the […]

New Antarctic ice shelf threatened by warming – Melting Filchner-Ronne shelf could add 4.4 mm per year to rising global sea levels

By Chris Wickham; Editing by Janet Lawrence9 May 2012 LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists are predicting the disappearance of another vast ice shelf in Antarctica by the end of the century that will accelerate rising sea levels. The Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf fringing the Weddell Sea on the eastern side of Antarctica has so far not seen […]

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