Video: Wildfire burns homes in Utah and creates ‘funnel cloud’ of smoke

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy 13 August 2013 (NBC News) – Evacuations have been made in Summit County, Utah as a fast-moving fire destroys several homes and creates a unique “funnel cloud” of smoke. Wildfire burns homes and creates ‘funnel cloud’ of smoke Technorati Tags: North America,wildfire,forest fire,global […]

Endangered chimps and forest elephants found in rainforest to be logged for palm oil – ‘It is both ironic and tragic that Herakles Farms, an American company, is set to bulldoze forest that’s critical to the survival of these chimpanzees’

By Jeremy Hance8 August 2013 (mongabay.com) – A biological survey of forests slated for destruction for a palm oil project in Cameroon has uncovered 23 species of large mammals, including the world’s most endangered chimpanzee subspecies, the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti). The project in question, operated by U.S.-based company Herakles Farms, has come under […]

Why the World Bank is taking on climate change – Interview with Rachel Kyte, vice president of sustainable development

By Coral Davenport12 August 2013 (National Journal) – The World Bank, headquartered a block from the White House, was founded after World War II to combat global poverty. But over the past year, fighting climate change has become the bank’s new guiding principal, as economic evidence indicates that global warming will be a driving cause […]

Algae proliferation costs are ‘in the billions’ – ‘By fertilizing the planet, we end up fertilizing everything’

11 August 2013 (NPR) – Algae blooms are green or red or brown, slimy, smelly and you don’t want it coming soon to a waterfront near you. Most of us don’t give a lot of thought to algae until the furry-like monstrosity is spreading over beaches, rivers, lakes and bays, but gigantic algae blooms have […]

Workers reveal Fukushima plant spilling contaminated water into the sea since 2011 meltdowns – ‘Speaking out is an act of suicide’

By Mark Willacy, North Asia correspondent 12 August 2013 (ABC) – Workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have told the ABC that contaminated water has most likely been seeping into the sea since the disaster two-and-a-half years ago. Japan’s nuclear watchdog has described the leaks as a “state of emergency”. Workers have told ABC’s […]

Texas fracking boom sucks away precious water from beneath the ground, leaving cattle dead, farms bone-dry, and people thirsty – ‘When the water is gone. That’s it. We’re gone.’

Suzanne Goldenberg 11 August 2013 Barnhart, Texas    (The Guardian) – Beverly McGuire saw the warning signs before the town well went dry: sand in the toilet bowl, the sputter of air in the tap, a pump working overtime to no effect. But it still did not prepare her for the night last month when she […]

Video: Projected increase in potential evaporation in North America through 2100

9 August 2013 (NASA) – This animation shows the projected increase in potential evaporation through the year 2100, relative to 1980, based on the combined results of multiple climate models. The maximum increase across North America is about 1 mm/day by 2100. This concept, potential evaporation, is a measure of drying potential or “fire weather.” […]

Graph of the Day: Fraction of land surface at risk of severe ecosystem change as a function of global mean temperature

1 June 2013 (World Bank) – Climate change in the 21st century poses a large risk of change to the Earth’s ecosystems: Shifting climatic boundaries trigger changes to the biogeochemical functions and structures of ecosystems. Such changing conditions would render it difficult for local plant and animal species to survive in their current habitat. The […]

A side of climate change denial with your coffee? ALEC dishes up some hard-to-swallow spin with the Heartland Institute

By Lisa Graves8 August 2013 (PR Watch) – This morning in Chicago, hundreds of primarily Republican state legislators are getting more indoctrination against doing anything about climate change from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). This year, ALEC has chosen its long-time partner, the Heartland Institute, to help host the session. Heartland is so extreme […]

Algae blooms killing manatees, dolphins, and pelicans in Florida estuary – ‘We fear the fishery collapse may be forthcoming’

By MICHAEL WINES 7 August 2013 MELBOURNE, Florida (The New York Times) – The first hint that something was amiss here, in the shallow lagoons and brackish streams that buffer inland Florida from the Atlantic’s salt water, came last summer in the Banana River, just south of Kennedy Space Center. Three manatees — the languid, […]

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