Arctic sea ice continues to track at levels far below average

By Natasha Vizcarra24 July 2012 Arctic sea ice continued to track at levels far below average through the middle of July, with open water in the Kara and Barents seas reaching as far north as typically seen during September. Melt onset began earlier than normal throughout most of the Arctic. Overview of conditions As of […]

U.S. drought could go through October – ‘We don’t have a reason for saying it’s going to improve’

By Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Dale Hudson and Cynthia Osterman19 July 2012 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hotter-than-normal temperatures are expected through October over most of the contiguous 48 U.S. states, with below-average precipitation for Midwest areas already hit by the worst drought in a half century, government forecasters said on Thursday. Experts at the National Oceanic […]

The Big Heat in the Midwest U.S. – ‘It’s like farming in Hell’

By Elizabeth Kolbert 16 July 2012 (23 July 2012 issue of The New Yorker) […] It is now corn-sex season across the Midwest, and everything is not going well. High commodity prices spurred farmers to sow more acres this year, and unseasonable warmth in March prompted many to plant corn early. Just a few months […]

Graph of the Day: Departure from Average of U.S. Temperature, June 2012

This time series shows the five warmest years that the contiguous U.S. has experienced, and how the year-to-date temperature evolved each month throughout those years. The time series also shows the 2012 year-to-date temperature through June, which was the warmest first half of any year on record for the lower 48. The year-to-date period of […]

Texas drought and British heat of 2011 linked to climate change

By Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Bill Trott10 July 2012 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Climate change increased the odds for the kind of extreme weather that prevailed in 2011, a year that saw severe drought in Texas, unusual heat in England and was one of the 15 warmest years on record, scientists reported on Tuesday. Overall, 2011 […]

2011 was hottest year in U.S. since records began in 1895

Washington, D.C., 10 July 2012 (ANI) – Last year in the continental United States has been recorded as the country’s hottest year since 1895, government scientists have said. According to the BBC, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that the US had broken its record for the hottest six months. Agency’s weather experts […]

Climate change: ‘This is just the beginning’

By Amy Goodman8 July 2012 Evidence supporting the existence of climate change is pummeling the United States this summer, from the mountain wildfires of Colorado to the recent “derecho” storm that left at least 23 dead and 1.4 million people without power from Illinois to Virginia. The phrase “extreme weather” flashes across television screens from […]

U.S. science official says more extreme events convincing Americans climate change is real

CANBERRA, Australia, 5 July 2012 (AP) – Increasingly common experiences with extreme climate-related events such as the Colorado wildfires, a record warm spring and preseason hurricanes have convinced many Americans climate change is a reality, the head of a U.S. scientific agency said Friday. Many Americans had previously seen climate change as a “nebulous concept” […]

U.S. Drought Monitor shows record-breaking expanse of drought

By Kelly Helm Smith, National Drought Mitigation Center; Steve Smith, University Communications5 Jul 2012 (UNL) – More of the United States is in moderate drought or worse than at any other time in the 12-year history of the U.S. Drought Monitor, officials from the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said today. […]

Gulf dolphins exposed to BP oil spill are seriously ill: NOAA

By LESLIE KAUFMAN23 March 2012 Dolphins in Barataria Bay off Louisiana, which was hit hard by the BP oil spill in 2010, are seriously ill, and their ailments are probably related to toxic substances in the petroleum, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggested on Friday. As part of an ongoing assessment of damages caused […]

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