World Bank chief says global warming threatens the planet and the poorest – ‘If we do not act to curb climate change immediately, we will leave our children and grandchildren an unrecognizable planet’

By Howard Schneider2 April 2013 (Washington Post) – World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Tuesday said climate change was a “fundamental threat” to global economic development as he called for a major new push to reduce extreme poverty over the next 17 years. The bank is in the middle of an internal debate over […]

Economist warns millions at risk from climate change – ‘We haven’t been above five degrees Celsius on this planet for about 30 million years. So you can see that this is radical change way outside human experience.’

WASHINGTON, 3 April 2013 (AFP) – The author of an influential 2006 study on climate change warned Tuesday that the world could be headed toward warming even more catastrophic than expected but he voiced hope for political action. Nicholas Stern, the British former chief economist for the World Bank, said that both emissions of greenhouse […]

Record rains flood Argentina, overall death toll rises to 52 – ‘Such intense rain in so little time has left many people trapped in their cars, in the streets, in some cases electrocuted’

By Cristian Kovadloff in La Plata and Almudena Calatrava; Debora Rey and Michael Warren in Buenos Aires contributed to this story3 April 2013  LA PLATA, Argentina (AP) – At least 52 people drowned in their homes and cars, were electrocuted, or died in other accidents as flooding from days of torrential rains swamped Argentina’s low-lying […]

New Zealand drought effects to last well into autumn

2 April 2013 (APNZ) – The drought is likely to be felt well into autumn, as river and soil moisture levels in the North Island take some time to recover, climate scientists predict. NIWA’s seasonal climate outlook for April to June has predicted higher than average temperatures across the North Island, and lower than normal […]

Poll: 3 in 8 Americans believe global warming is a hoax

By Nick Wiltgen 4 April 2013 (Weather Channel) – Roughly three of every eight registered voters in the U.S. believes that “global warming is a hoax,” according to a national poll released Tuesday by the firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) [pdf]. The automated telephone poll asked 1,247 American registered voters their beliefs on a wide […]

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 […]

Public alarm over climate change grows, Yale study shows – ‘There is something fundamentally different in the way Americans are engaging with the issue of climate change’

By Emma Goldberg, Staff Reporter2 April 2013 (Yale Daily News) – Yale researchers have found that Americans are growing increasingly alarmed about climate change. On March 15 Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, appeared on national television saying that Americans are ready for the government to “end the silence” on […]

James Hansen retires from NASA to fight global warming – ‘As a government employee, you can’t testify against the government’

By JUSTIN GILLIS1 April 2013 (The New York Times) – James E. Hansen, the climate scientist who issued the clearest warning of the 20th century about the dangers of global warming, will retire from NASA this week, giving himself more freedom to pursue political and legal efforts to limit greenhouse gases. His departure, after a […]

Total SA dumps Canada oil sands project for $1.65 billion loss

[Hopefully, the market will decide against further expansion of this disaster.] By Jen Alic, OilPrice.com31 March 2013 France’s Total SA (NYSE: TOT) will sell its 49% stake in its Canadian oil sands project to Suncor Energy Inc. for $500 million, netting the French oil giant a $1.65 billion loss on the beleaguered project. Total would […]

Record-sized Lake Erie algae bloom of 2011 likely to become regular occurrence, study says – ‘Everything is trending in the direction of conditions conducive to more large blooms’

By John Mangels1 April 2013 (The Plain Dealer) – The record-shattering glut of toxic algae that fouled much of Lake Erie in 2011 wasn’t a fluke, but a sign of what’s likely ahead for the troubled lake, researchers say. A combination of weather extremes and long-standing farming practices that unwittingly aid algae growth spawned the […]

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