West Coast shellfish farms impacted by ocean acidification

By Laine Welch, For the Alaska Journal of Commerce21 December 2011 West Coast shellfish growers have learned to work around upwellings of corrosive waters and save the lives of their bivalve stocks. Increased levels of carbon dioxide, or CO2, in the atmosphere are changing the chemistry of the oceans, making it more acidic. The CO2 […]

Permafrost thaw: ‘A chronic source of emissions that will last hundreds of years’

By JUSTIN GILLIS16 December 2011 FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A bubble rose through a hole in the surface of a frozen lake. It popped, followed by another, and another, as if a pot were somehow boiling in the icy depths. Every bursting bubble sent up a puff of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas generated beneath the […]

World’s biggest polluters stymie agreement at Durban global warming talks

By Alex Morales and Kim Chipman9 December 2011 China, the U.S. and India, the three biggest polluters, maintained their resistance to a time line leading to a legally-binding climate treaty, threatening efforts to keep up the fight on global warming this year. European Union Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said she hasn’t yet won backing for […]

U.S. climate stance is ‘blowing negotiations apart’, PNG envoy declares

By Kim Chipman and Alex Morales7 December 2011 The U.S. view that no new global climate deal is possible before 2020 is derailing negotiations aimed at slashing the world’s oil and coal emissions, according to an envoy at the talks. “The present U.S. position of no new agreement until post- 2020 is really blowing negotiations […]

Graph of the Day: World Energy Consumption by Fuel Type, 1990-2035

In the long-term, the Reference case projects increased world consumption of marketed energy from all fuel sources through 2035. Fossil fuels are expected to continue supplying much of the energy used worldwide. Although liquid fuels—mostly petroleum based—remain the largest source of energy, the liquids share of world marketed energy consumption falls from 34 percent in […]

Alaskan community revives legal bid for global warming damages – Native Americans hold fossil fuel companies accountable for destruction of their village

By Felicity Carus, guardian.co.uk30 November 2011 A native American community in remote Alaska this week revived legal efforts to hold some of the world’s largest energy companies accountable for allegedly destroying their village because of global warming. The so-called “climigration” trial would be the first of its kind, potentially creating a precedent in the US […]

China decries Canada’s ‘bad example’ in climate talks

November 30 (Reuters) – Canada’s failure to deny reports that it is about to ditch the Kyoto Protocol is “setting a bad example” to other developed nations as global climate change talks enter their third day, China’s official news agency said on Wednesday. Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent said on Monday that Kyoto was “the […]

Graph of the Day: Changes in Day-to-Day Rainfall Variability, 1984-2007

By Morgan Kelly15 November 2011 Princeton University – The first climate study to focus on variations in daily weather conditions has found that day-to-day weather has grown increasingly erratic and extreme, with significant fluctuations in sunshine and rainfall affecting more than a third of the planet. Princeton University researchers recently reported in the Journal of […]

Massive volcanoes, meteorite impacts delivered one-two death punch to dinosaurs

By Morgan Kelly17 November 2011 A cosmic one-two punch of colossal volcanic eruptions and meteorite strikes likely caused the mass-extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period that is famous for killing the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, according to two Princeton University reports that reject the prevailing theory that the extinction was caused […]

Climate talks open on ever-rising emissions – China ‘not very optimistic’

DURBAN, South Africa, November 28 (AP) – Global warming already is causing suffering and conflict in Africa, from drought in Sudan and Somalia to flooding in South Africa, President Jacob Zuma said Monday, urging delegates at an international climate conference to look beyond national interests for solutions [United Nations Climate Change Conference 2011]. “For most […]

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