Philippine capital braces for storm, as Hagupit leaves 27 dead – ‘Around us, our neighbors’ homes were flattened like folded paper’

By Erik de Castro, with additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco, Manny Mogato, Erik dela Cruz, and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Alex Richardson8 December 2014   MANILA (Reuters) – Typhoon Hagupit weakened to a tropical storm as it churned close to the Philippine capital on Monday, after killing 27 people on […]

Antarctic ice loss tripled in the last 10 years – ‘The mass loss of these glaciers is increasing at an amazing rate’

3 December 2014 (AFP) – The melt rate of glaciers in the fastest-melting part of Antarctica has tripled over the past decade, researchers said Tuesday in an analysis of the past 21 years. Glaciers in the Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica are losing ice faster than another part of Antarctica and are the biggest contributor […]

Deforestation may be at root of Brazil drought – ‘We’re like the Titanic moving straight toward the iceberg’

By BRAD BROOKS and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON 4 December 2014 SÃO PAULO (Associated Press) – Vera Lucia de Oliveira looks to the sky, hoping for any sign of rain. For weeks, the taps in her home have run dry as São Paulo has suffered its worst drought in eight decades, with rainfall at one-third the […]

California’s ‘Hot Drought’ ranks worst in at least 1,200 years

By Tom Randall5 December 2014 (Bloomberg) – Record rains fell in California this week. They’re not enough to change the course of what scientists are now calling the region’s worst drought in at least 1,200 years. Just how bad has California’s drought been? Modern measurements already showed it’s been drier than the 1930s dustbowl, worse […]

Homes flattened as typhoon roars through Philippines – 1.2 million people evacuated

By Rosemarie Francisco, Manuel Mogato, and Alister Doyle7 Deember 2014 MANILA (Reuters) – A powerful, slow-moving typhoon ripped through the central Philippines on Sunday, bringing howling winds that flattened houses and toppled trees and power lines in areas still scarred from a deadly super-storm just over a year ago. In the coastal villages of Dolores, […]

Half of Americans think climate change is a sign of the Apocalypse, up from 44 percent in 2011

21 November 2014 (PRRI) – Americans rank climate change last on a list of important issues. Only five percent of Americans say climate change is the most important issue facing the U.S. today. The issue of climate change ranks behind the lack of jobs (22%), the increasing gap between rich and poor (18%), health care […]

Steps taken on climate change in 2014

By Michael E. Mann5 December 2014 As the mercury rose in 2014, so did reasons to be thankful. Climate change is the kind of thing that makes you feel plenty of emotions, but usually gratitude is not one of them. This year, though, something is different. Though there have been plenty of record-hot months this […]

First week of Lima climate talks end with no breakthrough, but hope still remains – ‘We have heard a lot about pledges. That is why the theme of the Lima conference is ‘action’.’

By Liang Junqian; Editing by Mioh Song7 December 2014   LIMA (Xinhua) – This year’s global climate conference wrapped up its first week in the Peruvian capital with no breakthrough, thus leaving heavy workload to next week’s high-level negotiations to be attended by government ministers. The 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to […]

Typhoon tears down homes in disaster-weary Philippines – ‘Typhoon Hagupit is triggering one of the largest evacuations we have ever seen in peacetime’

6 December 2014 (AFP) – Typhoon Hagupit tore apart homes and sent waves crashing through coastal communities across the eastern Philippines on Sunday, creating more misery for millions following a barrage of deadly disasters. The typhoon roared in from the Pacific Ocean and crashed into remote fishing communities of Samar island on Saturday night with […]

Graph of the Day: Number of natural disasters, 1900-2012

(UNDP) – More frequent and intense environmental disasters are destroying lives, livelihoods, physical infrastructure and fragile ecosystems. They can impair human capabilities and threaten human development in all countries— especially in the poorest and most vulnerable. Higher income and socioeconomic status are associated with greater ability to absorb losses and higher resilience. Women, people with […]

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