Arctic sea ice continues to track at levels far below average

By Natasha Vizcarra24 July 2012 Arctic sea ice continued to track at levels far below average through the middle of July, with open water in the Kara and Barents seas reaching as far north as typically seen during September. Melt onset began earlier than normal throughout most of the Arctic. Overview of conditions As of […]

Greenland ice sheet melted at unprecedented rate during July 2012

By Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk24 July 2012 The Greenland ice sheet melted at a faster rate this month than at any other time in recorded history, with virtually the entire ice sheet showing signs of thaw. The rapid melting over just four days was captured by three satellites. It has stunned and alarmed […]

Video: U.S. ranchers sell off cattle as mounting drought withers grazing land, cornfields – Cattle inventory smallest since records began in 1973

By ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press 24 July 2012 WICHITA, Kansas (AP) – Kansas cattleman Ken Grecian sold 20 pairs of cows and calves a few weeks after drought had sucked his pastures dry and no rain was in the forecast. He sold 20 more pairs Friday. Grecian spent years meticulously breeding his cows to improve […]

Flood risk rampant across Asia factory zones, say insurance companies

By David Fogarty and Clare Baldwin, with additional reporting by Khettiya Jittapong and Orathai Sriring in BANGKOK, Tian Chen in HONG KONG, Andjarsari Paramaditha in JAKARTA, Chang-Ran Kim, Yoko Kubota and Taiga Uranaka in TOKYO, Kevin Lim in SINGAPORE and Norihiko Shirouzu in BEIJING; Editing by Michael Flaherty and Alex Richardson22 July 2012 BANGKOK/HONG KONG […]

Global warming’s terrifying new math – ‘We’re losing the fight, badly and quickly’

By Bill McKibben19 July 2012 If the pictures of those towering wildfires in Colorado haven’t convinced you, or the size of your AC bill this summer, here are some hard numbers about climate change: June broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the United States. That followed the warmest May on record for the Northern […]

Vibrio bacteria outbreak in Northern Europe due to ocean warming

By Nina Chestney22 July 2012 LONDON – Manmade climate change is the main driver behind the unexpected emergence of a group of bacteria in northern Europe which can cause gastroenteritis, new research by a group of international experts shows. The paper, published in the journal Nature Climate Change on Sunday, provided some of the first […]

Native Americans seek plan to respond to climate changes that affect their way of life

By Suzanne Gamboa20 July 2012 WASHINGTON (AP) – Native American and Alaska Native leaders told of their villages being under water because of coastal erosion, droughts, and more on Thursday during a Senate hearing intended to draw attention to how climate change is affecting tribal communities. The environmental changes being seen in native communities are […]

Corn-crop damage from U.S. drought poised to worsen

By David Wilson19 July 2012 Corn is due for more damage from a drought that has produced the worst U.S. growing conditions in almost a quarter century, according to David Driscoll, a Citigroup Inc. analyst. The CHART OF THE DAY displays the percentage of the corn crop in good to excellent condition, according to data […]

Graph of the Day: Satellite View of Crop Damage in Midwest U.S. Caused by Drought, 10 July 2012

Caption by Adam Voiland17 July 2012 Farmers across the United States hoped for rain in July 2012 as a drought of historic proportions parched key commodity crops, including corn, soybeans, and wheat. On July 11, the United States Department of Agriculture announced that more than 1,000 counties in 26 states qualified as natural disaster areas—the […]

U.S. drought of 2012 rivals Dust Bowl

By Nick Wiltgen16 July 2012 The 2012 drought disaster is now the largest in over 50 years, and among the ten largest of the past century, according to a new report released by the National Climatic Data Center today. As The Weather Channel reported in an exclusive preview of the report Sunday, data computed from […]

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