Graph of the Day: Continental scale reconstructions of surface temperature for the past two millennia

By Darrell Kaufman21 April 2013 (RealClimate) – In a major step forward in proxy data synthesis, the PAst Global Changes (PAGES) 2k Consortium has just published a suite of continental scale reconstructions of temperature for the past two millennia in Nature Geoscience. More information about the study and its implications are available at the FAQ […]

America’s first climate refugees: Alaska native villages threatened with coastal erosion – ‘It’s real, global warming, it’s real’

By Suzanne Goldenberg in Newtok, Alaska13 May 2013 (Guardian) – Sabrina Warner keeps having the same nightmare: a huge wave rearing up out of the water and crashing over her home, forcing her to swim for her life with her toddler son. “I dream about the water coming in,” she said. The landscape in winter […]

Scientists: Ubiquitous household chemical could be killing cats – ‘Significant association’ between hyperthyroidsim and brominated flame retardants

By Jeff Burnside8 May 2013 SEATTLE (KOMO News) – A chemical threat lies hidden in millions of American homes, and top government scientists believe it could be killing cats. Right now in the special session of the state legislature, lawmakers are fighting powerful interests to ban versions of the chemical. Dr. Dennis Wackerbarth is a […]

Drought, cold cripple U.S. winter wheat crop – Western Kansas considered a disaster area

By Roxana Hegeman11 May 2013 (AP) – The winter wheat crop is expected to be far smaller this season compared to last, particularly for hard red varieties used in bread, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Friday. In the first government projection on the harvest’s anticipated size, the National Agricultural Statistics Service estimated winter wheat […]

U.S. Senator Whitehouse rebuts colleague who said God won’t allow climate change – ‘Seeking magical deliverance from our troubles, not divine guidance through our troubles’

By Eric W. Dolan8 May 2013 (Raw Story) – In a nearly 17-minute speech on Wednesday evening, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) blasted an unnamed senator for saying God would protect the Earth from climate change. “I was recently at a Senate hearing where I heard a member of our Senate community say, ‘God won’t allow […]

When science goes silent: With the muzzling of scientists in Canada, Harper’s obsession with controlling the message verges on the Orwellian

By Jonathon Gatehouse3 May 2013 (Maclean’s) – As far as the government scientist was concerned, it was a bit of fluff: an early morning interview about great white sharks last summer with Canada AM, the kind of innocuous and totally apolitical media commentary the man used to deliver 30 times or more each year as […]

Flood alarms threatened by U.S. budget cuts – ‘Without these observations, our forecast and warning operations will be impaired, reduced, or discontinued on a location-by-location basis’

By Jennifer Liberto10 May 2013 WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) – The U.S. flood alarm system is about to get smaller. On May 1, the U.S. Geological Survey began turning off some 150 stream gauges that monitor water levels on the nation’s rivers and streams, thanks to the federal spending cuts, also known as sequester. It’s a one-two […]

Internecine fight over climate change looms for U.S. Republicans – ‘There is a divide within the party. The position that climate change is a hoax is untenable.’

By Coral Davenport9 May 2013 (National Journal) – Kerry Emanuel registered as a Republican as soon he turned 18, in 1973. The aspiring scientist was turned off by what he saw as the Left’s blind ideology. “I had friends who denied Pol Pot was killing people in Cambodia,” he says. “I reacted very badly to […]

Decline in snow cover spells trouble for many plants, animals – ‘Snow cover is becoming shorter, thinner, and less predictable. We’re seeing a trend. The subnivium is in retreat.’

By Terry Devitt 6 May 2013 (UW–Madison) – For plants and animals forced to tough out harsh winter weather, the coverlet of snow that blankets the north country is a refuge, a stable beneath-the-snow habitat that gives essential respite from biting winds and subzero temperatures. But in a warming world, winter and spring snow cover […]

Giant swamp rats are literally eating Louisiana – ‘I just don’t know how these people who love their home so much are going to go on living here’

By Joanna M. Foster 7 May 2013 (Takepart.com) – On the southern edge of Louisiana, there is almost as much water as land. You can’t drive to anyone’s house, you have to travel by boat, and sometimes there are hours of water between neighbors. It takes a special breed to make a home here, in […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial