9 April 2016 (Our Children’s Trust) – U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin of the Federal District Court in Eugene, Oregon, decided in favor of 21 young plaintiffs in their landmark constitutional climate change case against the federal government. Judge Coffin ruled Friday against the motion to dismiss brought by the fossil fuel industry and federal […]
By Keith Bacongco8 April 2016 ARAKAN, Philippines (UCA News) – Swathes of corn stand withered on the parched rolling hills near the farming town of Arakan in the southern Philippines, while shallow cracks scar what were once fertile rice paddies. El Nino is wreaking havoc in agriculture-rich Cotabato province. Allan Salon, a member of the […]
By Michelle Innis 9 April 2016 SYDNEY, Australia (The New York Times) – Kim Cobb, a marine scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, expected the coral to be damaged when she plunged into the deep blue waters off Kiritimati Island, a remote atoll near the center of the Pacific Ocean. Still, she was stunned […]
By Francisco Lara Jr.10 April 2016 (Philippine Daily Inquirer) – People prayed for rain these past few months in North Cotabato. Drought plagues the province like no other in Mindanao, laying waste to tens of thousands of hectares of rice farms planted in time for the March harvest season. The harvest would have brought food […]
Editor’s Note: John D. Sutter is a columnist for CNN Opinion who focuses on climate change and social justice. Follow him on Snapchat, Facebook and email. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. By John D. Sutter8 April 2016 Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana (CNN) – Wenceslaus Billiot, an 89-year-old with suede-soft eyes and […]
6 April 2016 (NSIDC) – Low Arctic sea ice extent for March caps a highly unusual winter in the Arctic, characterized by persistent warmth in the atmosphere that helped to limit ice growth. Above-average influx of ocean heat from the Atlantic and southerly winds helped to keep ice extent especially low in the Barents and […]
7 April 2016 (UN) – The United Nations food relief agency committed today to assisting 1.6 million people hit by droughts exacerbated by El Niño in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Haiti and building resilience against future climatic shocks. Speaking at the end of visits to El Salvador and Guatemala to see the compounded impact […]
By Oliver Milman 7 April 2016 (The Guardian) – Climate change projections have vastly underestimated the role that clouds play, meaning future warming could be far worse than is currently projected, according to new research. Researchers said that a doubling of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere compared with pre-industrial times could result in a […]
By Glenn Farley6 April 2016 STEVENS PASS, Washington (KING5 News) – April 1st is considered the peak for winter snowpack in Washington state. Last year as this time, the snow monitoring site near Stevens Pass had just a foot to 18 inches on the ground, as the state headed into a record drought. Today at […]
By Seth Borenstein6 April 2016 (ABC News) – The coral on the sea floor around the Pacific island of Kiritimati looked like a boneyard in November — stark, white and lifeless. But there was still some hope. This month, color returned with fuzzy reds and browns, but that’s not good news. Algae has overtaken the […]