U.S. scientists warn climate change will double wildfire risk in Western forests – ‘It’s just unprecedented things happening. We’re getting into extreme events that seem to be having more and more effects across broader landscapes.’

By Bruce Finley3 April 2013 (Denver Post) – The hotter, drier climate will transform Rocky Mountain forests, unleashing wider wildfires and insect attacks, federal scientists warn in a report for Congress and the White House. The U.S. Forest Service scientists project that, by 2050, the area burned each year by increasingly severe wildfires will at […]

U.S. dominated global disaster losses in 2012: Swiss Re

By Andrew Freedman 1 April 2013 (Climate Central) – The insurance industry had its third-most expensive year on record in 2012, with global economic losses from natural catastrophes and manmade disasters totaling $186 billion, according to a report released March 27 by the reinsurance giant Swiss Re. The total insured losses for the year was […]

Drought has stranglehold on U.S. West

By Andrew Freedman and Daniel Yawitz29 March 2013 (Climate News Network) – The extended drought continues to choke the Western half of the country, with water supply concerns rising in New Mexico and Texas as anxiety about another bone-dry summer is raised. This week, the dryness grew worse in Texas while expanding into California, Montana, […]

Canada defends pulling out of UN convention on droughts – ‘A departure from global citizenship’

OTTAWA, Ontario, 29 March 2013 (AP) – Canada defended its decision to pull out of a United Nations convention that fights the spread of droughts just a month before a major gathering would have forced the country to confront scientific analysis on the effects of climate change. Canada is the only country in the world […]

Canada quietly pulls out of UN convention to combat drought, desertification – ‘We’re increasing our isolation by doing this’

By Steve Mertl28 March 2013 (Daily Brew) – Whether you like it or not, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government is reshaping Canada’s relationship with the rest of the world. From last year’s withdrawal from the admittedly ineffectual Kyoto Protocol on climate change — which as CBC News noted will save the government $14 billion […]

New Mexico farmers seek ‘priority call’ as record drought persists – ‘We could dry up some hay farms or we could dry up Las Vegas. Which is it going to be?’

By FELICITY BARRINGER26 March 2013 CARLSBAD, NEW MEXICO (The New York Times) – Just after the local water board announced this month that its farmers would get only one-tenth of their normal water allotment this year, Ronnie Walterscheid, 53, stood up and called on his elected representatives to declare a water war on their upstream […]

Texas drought: Don’t tread on our green grass – ‘They grow the grass with free Colorado River water and sell it to us, and then tell us not to water it’

By ROSS RAMSEY23 March 2013 (The New York Times) – In big Texas cities, the state’s water shortage can seem like someone else’s problem. Drought has been in the news a long time, but rates haven’t gone up. Water still comes out when you turn on the tap. The golf courses are still green, and […]

Prof Sir John Beddington warns of floods, droughts, and storms – ‘The evidence that climate change is happening is completely unequivocal’

By Pallab Ghosh, Science correspondent, BBC News 25 March 2013 (BBC) – The UK government’s chief scientist has said that there is already enough CO2 in the atmosphere for there to be more floods and droughts over the next 25 years. Prof Sir John Beddington said there was a “need for urgency” in tackling climate […]

Why Russian doomsday climate predictions may prove prophetic

By Olga Dobrovidova25 March 2013 (RTCC) – Climate change was back in the spotlight for the Russian media last week, with doomsday-style predictions of more extreme weather events, rapidly warming Arctic and growing global average temperatures. The scary headlines literally say stuff like Arctic temperatures might rise by up to 7 degrees by 2100 compared […]

Graph of the Day: New Zealand soil moisture deficit, January 2013

4 March 2013 (NIWA) – February rainfall totalled less than 15 mm (and also less than 15 percent of February normal) in parts of Northland, Auckland, and the Bay of Plenty. It was the driest February on record for Leigh (north Auckland), and Milford Sound. In the case of Leigh, it was also the driest […]

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