[“Teach the controversy”: Taking a page from the Creationists’ playbook. –Des] 18 February 2013 By Celia Llopis-Jepsen (The Topeka Capital-Journal) – With the Kansas State Board of Education preparing to vote on new science standards this year, the House Education Committee has introduced a bill asking schools to include evidence against climate change in science […]
By Peter Hannam, Carbon economy editor18 February 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Australia has been re-rated on international reinsurance markets after another summer of flooding and extreme weather raised the country’s peril profile, said Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Rob Whelan. As a result of the re-rating, Australian insurers have to pay more for […]
By Carrie Madren 12 February 2013 (Scientific American) – In perhaps the slowest invasion in history, mountain meadows in the Pacific Northwest—where hikers and backpackers revel in breath-taking scenery—are gradually giving way to hemlocks, Pacific silver firs and other conifers. In these high-elevation, subalpine meadows of Jefferson Park in the central Cascade Range in Oregon, […]
By Matthew Herper, Forbes Staff18 February 2013 (Forbes) – We have reached the point where every rational person who believes in making decisions based on science and available data should, if not fully believe that human beings are warming the planet by releasing greenhouse gases, at least recognize that this is what the data seem […]
By Michael McCarthy 18 February 2013 (The Independent) – The world is facing a fertiliser crisis, with far too little in some places, and far too much in others, a new report from the United Nations says today. The mass application of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients needed for plant growth has had huge benefits for […]
By DYLAN WALSH18 February 2013 (The New York Times) – A new report from the Government Accountability Office elevates the problem of looming gaps in satellite weather data to a “high risk” concern for the federal government The G.A.O.’s high-risk report, updated every two years to coincide with each new Congress, focuses on federal programs […]
18 February 2013 (Reuters) – A new United Nations plan to involve all nations in marshalling science to fix environmental problems ranging from toxic chemicals to climate change will be put to the test from Monday at talks in Nairobi. The 40-year-old U.N. Environment Programme will open its annual governing council to all the world’s […]
By Simon Tisdall17 February 2013 (guardian.co.uk) – When super-typhoon Bopha struck without warning before dawn, flattening the walls of their home, Maria Amparo Jenobiagon, her two daughters and her grandchildren ran for their lives. The storm on 4 December was the worst ever to hit the southern Philippines: torrential rain turned New Bataan’s river into […]
By Peter Hannam, carbon economy editor17 February 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Thousands of Australians are facing soaring insurance premiums for flood cover, forcing many to ditch protection even as the risk of extreme weather increases. Insurers blame the increases on the spate of flooding across much of eastern Australia in recent years – with […]
By Gerard Wynn15 February 2013 LONDON (Reuters) – Vast uncertainty remains over the causes of melting Arctic sea ice and when it may disappear altogether during the summer, which would have consequences for oil explorers, shipping firms and the fight against climate change. The answer will depend on the balance of natural and manmade causes. […]
