Climate-change denial getting harder to defend, but ‘skeptics’ keep shifting their arguments

By Glen M. MacDonald4 October 2012 It was a long hot summer. The United States experienced the warmest July in its history, with more than 3,000 heat records broken across the country. Overall, the summer was the nation’s third warmest on record and comes in a year that is turning out to be the hottest […]

Graph of the Day: Wildfire Season Length in the U.S. West, 1970-2011

During the past 40 years, wildfires have started earlier in the year and have continued to burn later in the year, lengthening the overall “burn season.” This figure illustrates the start date of the first wildfire each year on USFS land and the start date of the last recorded fire. The inset shows how the […]

The heat is on for California wines as climate changes

By Lauren Sommer from QUEST Northern California4 September 2012 You’ve probably heard of the wines that made Napa and Sonoma famous, like Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. But what about Negroamaro or Nero d’Avola? They’re wine grapes that are well-adapted to hotter climates – the kind of conditions that California may be facing as the climate […]

California farmers examine climate change issues

By Robert Rodriguez27 September 2012 (The Fresno Bee) – New science and research has San Joaquin Valley farmers taking a harder look at the effect that climate change may have on their industry. If researcher’s predictions hold true, the Valley’s multi-billion dollar agriculture industry will be hit with longer stretches of hot temperatures, fewer colder […]

Global warming damaging global economy already, report finds

By Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk25 September 2012 Climate change is already contributing to the deaths of nearly 400,000 people a year and costing the world more than $1.2 trillion, wiping 1.6% annually from global GDP, according to a new study. The impacts are being felt most keenly in developing countries, according to the research, […]

The public health implications of global warming

By Sara Novak, Living / Health15 September 2012 The far reaching implications of global warming are becoming clear, from mass extinctions to underwater islands, monstrous storms and everywhere in between, but what about the increasing effect on public health? It falls under the radar, but in actuality, the siren is getting louder each year. So […]

Graph of the Day: Average Surface Temperatures and Number of Wildfires in the U.S. West, 1970-2010

When we compared the average annual spring and summer (March-August) temperatures to the number of large wildfires burning across all 11 Western states, we observed a relationship similar to that reported by Westerling, et al.; years with higher-than-average spring and summer temperatures also tended to be years with more large fires. Seasonal temperatures are a […]

Drought killed 300 million trees in Texas in 2011

Contact: Chris Edgar, Forest Resource Analyst, cedgar@tfs.tamu.edu, 979-458-663025 September 2012 COLLEGE STATION, Texas, 25 September 2012 – A Texas A&M Forest Service survey of hundreds of forested plots scattered across the state shows 301 million trees were killed as a result of the devastating 2011 drought. The number was determined by a study of both […]

Graph of the Day: Temperatures and Wildfire Numbers in the U.S. West, 1970-2010

Among the Western States, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, and Montana have seen the most dramatic increases in wildfires since 1970. According to our analysis, the average annual number of large fires has nearly quadrupled in Arizona and Idaho, and at least doubled in California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. On the […]

U.S. insurance companies vulnerable to extreme weather, changing climate – 2012 drought expected to cost $20 billion

Contact: Peyton Fleming, fleming@ceres.org, 617-247-0700 x 120, 617-733-666020 September 2012 Worsening weather in a warming world poses a growing risk to the financial stability of insurance companies and has broad ramifications for the economy and society, according to a new report. Stormy Future for U.S. Property and Casualty Insurers: The Growing Costs and Risks of […]

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