UK government under fire for rejecting EU food bank funding –‘Conservative anti-European ideology is being put before the needs of the most destitute and deprived in our society’

  By Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent 17 December 2013 (The Guardian) – The government has been accused of putting “anti-European ideology” before the needs of the most deprived people in society after Britain rejected help from a European Union fund to help subsidise the costs of food banks. David Cameron, who was heavily criticised […]

2013 in review: a year of increasing extreme weather events

By John Vidal18 December 2013 (theguardian.com) – 2013 was the seventh warmest year on record and saw one of the strongest cyclones, some of the longest heatwaves and the most topsy-turvy weather experienced in decades. Nowhere is thought to have witnessed faster change than Nikkaluokta, a small Lapland village above the Arctic circle in northern […]

Arctic thaw tied to European, U.S. heatwaves and downpours: study

By Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle8 Dec 2013 OSLO (Reuters) – A thaw of Arctic ice and snow is linked to worsening summer heatwaves and downpours thousands of miles south in Europe, the United States and other areas, underlying the scale of the threat posed by global warming, scientists said on Sunday. Their report, which was […]

Plague of cicadas in Provence, caused by global warming, could destroy lavender fields in 20 years

By Kim Willsher25 November 2013 PARIS (theguardian.com) – Deep below the once purple but now wintering and dormant fields of Provençal lavender, something is rotten. It will not make itself known until spring and summer, when the cicadas – another symbol of this picturesque region of southern France – are ready to emerge from the […]

Sardinia hit by deadly Cyclone Cleopatra and floods – ‘We haven’t seen a situation as extreme as this, perhaps for decades’

19 November 2013 (BBC News) – Sardinia hit by deadly Cyclone Cleopatra and floods At least 18 people, including four children, have been killed in flooding on the Italian island of Sardinia after a cyclone and heavy rain. A number of people are reported missing after rivers burst their banks. Cars were swept away and […]

New climate realism at U.N. conference – ‘The fiscal reality of the United States and other developed countries is not going to allow it’

By Paul Bledsoe8 November 2013 (The Hill) – On Monday, 11 Nov 2013, representatives of 195 nations will convene in Warsaw as the United Nations climate change negotiations begin their 19th annual meeting.  Many climate experts in the U.S. have written off the UN process after years of dysfunction and limited results. But there is […]

Graph of the Day: Large floods in Europe, 1985-2009

27 October 2013 (Norwegian Meteorological Institute) – A universal increase in flood maxima is not evident in Europe. Individual river gauges in Europe provide no conclusive and general proof as to how climate change has affected flood risk so far. There is evidence, however, that the number of large floods has increased. The key causal […]

Global warming is already causing animals to evolve and migrate – ‘'The chipmunks’ poor prospects are evident in their genes’

By Sarah Griffiths17 October 2013 (Daily Mail) – From chipmunks to Mediterranean spiders, animals are evolving to cope with the effects of hotter temperatures, a scientist has claimed. DNA evidence suggests the European wasp spider is evolving into a new form and is moving to cooler regions to set up home in parts of northern […]

Study links low birthweight to air pollution and traffic – For every increase of 5 micrograms per cubic metre in exposure during pregnancy, risk of low birthweight rises by 18 percent

By Sarah Boseley, health editor 14 October 2013 (The Guardian) – Babies born to mothers who live in areas with air pollution and dense traffic are more likely to have a low birthweight and smaller head circumference, according to a large European study. The researchers, who included a team from the UK, found that babies […]

U.S. adults score below average on worldwide test – ‘If you want to avoid having an underclass — a large group of people who are basically unemployable — the educational system is absolutely key’

[If, however, your nation wants a permanent underclass…] By KIMBERLY HEFLING 8 October 2013 WASHINGTON (AP) – It’s long been known that America’s school kids haven’t measured well compared with international peers. Now, there’s a new twist: Adults don’t either. In math, reading and problem-solving using technology — all skills considered critical for global competitiveness […]

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