Arctic has warmest winter on record – “It’s just crazy, crazy stuff. These heat waves – I’ve never seen anything like this.”

6 March 2018 (Associated Press) – The Arctic winter has ended with more news that is worrying even the scientists who watch the effects of climate change closely.The region experienced its warmest winter on record. Sea ice hit record lows for the time of year, new US weather data revealed on Tuesday.“It’s just crazy, crazy […]

Hunger rates remain high amid conflict, climate shocks, warns UN food security report

5 March 2018 (UN) – Increased hunger and food insecurity, fuelled by conflict and climatic challenges, continues to inflict suffering on populations in different parts of the world, forcing them to remain dependent on humanitarian assistance, a new United Nations report has warned.According to the Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, issued Monday by the […]

Tens of thousands of starfish wash up on British beach following extreme change in temperature

By Lewis Pennock 4 March 2018 (The Independent) – Thousands of dead starfish washed up on a British beach following the ‘beast from the east’ weather snap.The spectacular scene in Ramsgate, Kent, was described as “like the armageddon” by wildlife enthusiast Lara Maiklem, 47, who photographed the phenomenon.She estimated “hundreds of thousands” of starfish and […]

Arctic spring starts 16 days earlier than a decade ago and arrives sooner than lower latitudes

By Kat Kerlin 2 March 2018 (UC Davis) – Spring is arriving earlier, but how much earlier? The answer depends on where on Earth you find yourself, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis.The study, published in Nature’s online journal Scientific Reports, found that for every 10 degrees north from the […]

Hurricanes left behind mountains of trash in the Virgin Islands — and there’s nowhere to put it

By Tim Craig 26 February 2018 ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands (The Washington Post) – Even though he works at a dump, Kenneal Smith used to enjoy the coastal and mountain views offered from his guard shack here at the island’s largest landfill. But after back-to-back hurricanes pinwheeled across the Virgin Islands in September, Smith […]

Scientists hatch bold plan to save polar bears – “There’s no future for polar bears in an Arctic without the sea ice”

By David Cox 27 February 2018 (NBC News) – For the past two decades, scientists have been monitoring the effects of a warming Arctic on the world’s polar bears — and the bears’ future has looked increasingly bleak.The latest estimates suggest that Arctic sea ice is disappearing by 14 percent a decade, drastically limiting the […]

Why current negative-emissions strategies remain “magical thinking”

21 February 2018 (Nature) – Decarbonization of the world’s economy would bring colossal disruption of the status quo. It’s a desire to avoid that change — political, financial and otherwise — that drives many of the climate sceptics. Still, as this journal has noted numerous times, it’s clear that many policymakers who argue that emissions […]

Bosses at world’s most ambitious clean coal plant kept problems secret for years – SEC mothballed investigation into allegations executives concealed schedule delays

By Sharon Kelly 2 March 2018 (The Guardian) – Executives at the world’s most ambitious “clean coal” plant knew for years about serious design flaws and budget problems but sought to withhold key information from regulators before their plans collapsed, according to documents obtained by the Guardian.The Kemper plant in Mississippi – held up as […]

Global warming wager: We have all lost

By Richard Grossman 2 March 2018 (Population Matters) – Back in January 2008 the Durango Herald published a unique challenge: “I offer a public wager of $5,000 that the Earth will be cooler in 10 years.” Dr. Roger Cohen, a physicist, proposed this wager. I responded, and our bet started the next month. Cohen’s rules […]

Spring in the U.S. is running 20 days early. It’s exactly what we expect, but it’s not good.

By Angela Fritz 27 February 2018 (The Washington Post) – For the second year in a row, spring has sprung early. In the Mid-Atlantic, cherry blossoms started to pop out of their buds in mid-February, and the crocuses have all but come and gone. Temperatures have dipped below freezing on only five mornings this February […]

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