Days of promise fade for North America ethanol production as drought causes widespread crop failure

By John Eligon and Matthew L. Wald16 March 2013 MACON, Missouri (The New York Times) – Five years ago, rural America was giddy for ethanol. Backed by government subsidies and mandates, hundreds of ethanol plants rose among the golden fields of the Corn Belt, bringing jobs and business to small towns, providing farmers with a […]

Inuits worried as they confront new realities of rapidly melting Arctic – ‘The rapidity of the changes has taken us by surprise. We have been underestimating the changes.’

By Meena Menon17 March 2013 OSLO (The Hindu) – The rapid melting of the Arctic sea ice has rejuvenated interests in the region, ranging from oil and gas and mineral exploration to the possibility of shorter sea routes and increased tourism. But all this poses fresh challenges to the survival of the Inuit and other […]

U.N. bodies want to tackle drought to avert food crisis – ‘As opposed to other natural disasters it’s a slow creeping phenomenon’

By Emma Farge; Editing by Alison Williams15 March 2013 GENEVA (Reuters) – U.N. agencies want to strengthen national drought policies after warnings that climate change would increase their frequency and severity. Droughts cause more deaths and displacement than floods or earthquakes, making them the world’s most destructive natural hazard, according to the Food and Agriculture […]

So I asked the Vatican about global warming…

By Marshall Connolly3/15/2013 LOS ANGELES, California (Catholic Online) – In the United States, the issue of anthropogenic global warming, defined as an unnatural and rapid rise in the Earth’s overall average temperature caused by human activities, is strongly associated with left-leaning political ideology. Publicly championed by liberal celebrities such as former Vice President Al Gore, […]

Human-induced climate change played big role in Somalia’s 2011 famine, new study finds

NAIROBI, Kenya, 15 March 2013 (Associated Press) – Human-induced climate change contributed to low rain levels in East Africa in 2011, making global warming one of the causes of Somalia’s famine and the tens of thousands of deaths that followed, a new study has found. It is the first time climate change was proven to […]

California has driest January and February on record, Sierra snowpack below normal – ‘It’s going to have some dire effects for those folks in the Central Valley that were thinking they will be able to plant’

By Amy Quinton28 February 2013 (California Capital Network) – California has officially shattered an all-time record for the driest January and February in the northern Sierra since record-keeping began in 1921. This year, the area has received only 2.3 inches of precipitation. The northern Sierra is crucial in providing statewide water supplies because snow melt […]

Heat wave breaks records across Southeast Australia – Melbourne endures record seven nights above 20C, after nine days in a row above 30C

By Jane Holroyd18 March 2008 (The Age) – Melburnians tossed and turned through the warmest March night on record with the mercury dipping to a balmy minimum of 26.9 degrees just before 7.30am today. Weather bureau senior forecaster Peter Blake said it was the city’s warmest March night, beating the previous record on March 3 […]

Wellington has ‘20 days of water left’ in record drought – ‘It’s just unheard of. Guys who have lived in the area all their lives are saying it’s the driest they’ve ever seen.’

13 March 2013 (Fairfax) – The Wellington region’s water supply is at ‘crisis’ level, while even the typically wet West Coast is experiencing a big dry as New Zealand’s summer drought extends. Rural communities throughout the North Island are already reeling from extremely dry conditions. The Government has declared Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty […]

China plans first commercial trip through Arctic shortcut in 2013

By Alister Doyle, Reuters Environment Correspondent, with additional reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Louise Ireland 12 March 2013 OSLO (Reuters) – A Chinese shipping firm is planning the country’s first commercial voyage through a shortcut across the Arctic Ocean to the United States and Europe in 2013, a leading Chinese scientist said on Tuesday. […]

Hurricane Sandy victims agonize over fate of Jersey Shore homes – ‘Who’s going to want to buy a house where the flood insurance is going to be so much more?’

HACKENSACK, New Jersey, 10 March 2013 (Associated Press) – Thousands of Jersey Shore owners whose homes were flooded by Superstorm Sandy are now facing the most crucial decision yet: raise, sell, or raze. Is it cheaper to elevate or demolish? How long a wait will there be for insurance and grant money? Can the emotional […]

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