Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli gets a science lesson

By Emily Heffling, Virginia Campus Organizer22 February 2013 If Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was featured on the TV show, Are you smarter than a 5th grader?, he would have been out before the first commercial. In his new book, The Last Line of Defense, Cuccinelli has a chapter called “Weird Science” dedicated to his […]

Hobbiton set to shrivel in Waikato drought

By Matt Bowen26 February 2013 (Fairfax NZ News) – Bilbo Baggins’ lush green shire could have the life sucked out of it after Waikato’s undeclared drought restricted Hobbiton’s water supply. It’s the region’s driest summer in five years and, with no rain in sight, Matamata’s best known tourist attraction may become three hectares of parched […]

Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge: ‘Climate change is a national security threat’

By  Robert J. Vickers | rvickers@pennlive.com   25 February 2013 WASHINGTON (Penn Live) – Former Gov. Tom Ridge joined 37 prominent political figures at that U.S. Capitol Monday calling for policymakers to figure climate change into national security strategy and budget considerations. “The U.S. national security community, including leaders from the military, homeland security, and intelligence, […]

Global warming and airflow changes ‘caused U.S. and E.U. heatwaves’ – ‘During several recent extreme weather events these planetary waves almost freeze in their tracks for weeks’

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent; Editing by Andrew Heavens 26 February 2013 OSLO (Reuters) – Global warming may have caused extreme events such as a 2011 drought in the United States and a 2003 heatwave in Europe by slowing vast, wave-like weather flows in the northern hemisphere, scientists said on Tuesday. The study of meandering […]

Global warming study maps coral reef vulnerability – Reducing carbon emissions would delay annual bleaching events by more than two decades in 23 percent of the world’s reefs

By Bob Berwyn 26 February 2013 FRISCO (Summit Voice) – Using the latest data from the upcoming IPCC climate assessment, ocean researchers have concluded that about three-quarters of the world’s coral reefs could face annual bleaching events in just a short 30 years, and they’ve mapped out which areas will be hit first. “This study […]

Investors demand climate-risk disclosure in 2013 proxies – ‘We’re now beginning to see renewed interest in the actual financial risks from climate change’

By Avery Fellow 25 February 2013 (Bloomberg BNA) – Shareholders are filing resolutions asking companies to disclose physical risks posed by climate change for the first time this proxy season, according to representatives of sustainable investor groups. Shareholders also are continuing to file an increasing number of sustainability related resolutions asking companies to set greenhouse […]

Siberia permafrost thaw warning sparked by cave data – ‘Significant thawing could affect vast areas and release billions of tonnes of carbon’

22 February 2013 (BBC) – Evidence from Siberian caves suggests that a global temperature rise of 1.5C could see permafrost thaw over a large area of Siberia. A study shows that more than a trillion tonnes of the greenhouse gases CO2 and methane could be released into the atmosphere as a result. Evidence from Siberian […]

Hotter, wetter climate slashes labor capacity by 10 percent – ‘We project that heat stress-related labor capacity losses will double globally by 2050 with a warming climate’

By Environment Correspondent Deborah Zabarenko 24 February 2013 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Earth’s increasingly hot, wet climate has cut the amount of work people can do in the worst heat by about 10 percent in the past six decades, and that loss in labor capacity could double by mid-century, U.S. government scientists reported on Sunday. Because […]

Boston grapples with the threat of storms and rising water – ‘This is something that we’re worried about’

By Christopher Joyce 22 February 2013 (NPR) – Since the drubbing that Superstorm Sandy gave the Northeast in November, there’s a new sense of urgency in U.S. coastal cities. Even though scientists can’t predict the next big hurricane, they’re confident that a warmer climate is likely to make Atlantic storms bigger and cause more flooding. […]

‘Canary in the coal mine’: Living beyond the levees in Louisiana – ‘Leeville is washing away’ as sea level rises

By Rick Jervis 23 February 2013 LEEVILLE, Louisiana (USA Today) – At the 85th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, an independent Louisiana-shot film, Beasts of the Southern Wild, will be up for four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, for its fictional account of a desolate band of folks living beyond the levees. Nearly […]

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