Miami Herald: Climate change has arrived – Dire future if no action is taken

13 April 2014 (Miami Herald) – In case there was still any doubt, and there shouldn’t be at this point, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations group of scientists, has made it official: Climate change is not coming, it’s already here. And it’s going to get worse unless the whole world — […]

Drought drives U.S. beef prices to all-new highs

By Jeff Spross    9 April 2014 (Climate Progress) – USDA choice-grade beef hit a record $5.28 in February, according to the LA Times, and drought is the culprit. Years of sometimes record-setting dry spells have punished the western and southern United States recently, cutting down crops like hay and corn that serve as cattle feed. […]

FAO Food Price Index rose sharply for a second consecutive month

3 April 2014 (FAO) – The FAO Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices, weighted with the average export shares of each of the groups for 2002-2004. » The FAO Food Price […]

Meager snowpack bad news for drought-plagued California – ‘We’re already seeing farmland fallowed and cities scrambling for water supplies’

By Doyle Rice2 April 2014 (USA TODAY) – Drought-weary California got more bad news Tuesday. Though late-season storms slightly boosted the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, it’s still far below normal as the spring melt fast approaches. “This is dismal news for farms and cities that normally depend on the snowpack – often called California’s […]

New IPCC report: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability – Summary for policymakers and FAQ

30 March 2014 (IPCC) – The Final Draft Report, dated 28 October 2013, of the Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability was accepted but not approved in detail by the 10th Session of Working Group II and the 38th Session of the IPCC on […]

Graph of the Day: Precipitation anomalies over South America during the active monsoon season, September 2012 – May 2013

Geneva, 24 March 2014 (WMO) – Temperatures in South America were dominated by hot conditions in most parts of the continent, except for some limited areas in southern Brazil and the north-central and western parts of South America, which had near to colder than average temperatures. A warm October–December period – including the hottest December […]

Climate change here and now: Interview with climate scientist Michael Mann – ‘Many regions of the globe will literally be unlivable’

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is meeting in Japan to release its latest report, on the impact of climate change on society and the planet. Penn State professor Michael Mann and host Steve Curwood discuss how the report anticipates that increased conflict and declining supplies of food and water lie ahead. Transcript CURWOOD: From […]

California drought: How water crisis is worse for almonds – ‘I think we’re going to see a lot of trees die. It’s going to break a lot of farmers.’

By Peter Fimrite 24 March 2014 Atwater, Merced County (San Francisco Chronicle) — A huge shift away from annual crops to nut trees has transformed the California farm belt over the past two decades and left farmers perilously vulnerable to the severe drought that is currently gripping the state. California farmers have spent past years […]

WMO: Global warming not stopped, will go on for centuries – ‘The laws of physics are non-negotiable’

By Robert Evans; Editing by Robin Pomeroy24 March 2014 GENEVA (Reuters) – There has been no reverse in the trend of global warming and there is still consistent evidence for man-made climate change, the head of the U.N. World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Monday. A slow-down in the average pace of warming at the […]

This year’s World Water Day focuses on water and energy, but energy companies seem complacent about water risks

By Dave Tickner    21 March 2014 (Guardian Professional) – All hydro, no power? Yesterday afternoon I made a list. I’d like to share it with you: Alon, Solar Alliance, Eskom, GDF Suez, Iberdrola, Ranhill Berhad, Sasol. Can you guess what it’s about? If not, don’t fret. All will be revealed. I made the list while […]

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