Humpback whale, Wilhelmina Bay, western Antarctic Peninsula. December 2010. (WWF / Michael Harte)”Commercial over-exploitation of the world’s fish stocks is severe,” he continued. “Many species have been hunted to fractions of their original populations. More than half of global fisheries are exhausted, and a further third are depleted. Between 30 and 35 per cent of critical marine [...]
. It won’t be a pleasant world she lives in. Cities and countries will be locked in an expensive battle with rapidly rising seas; but after spending trillions of dollars, most of the world’s ports will have been abandoned anyway. Up to seventy percent of the planet’s species will be wiped out. Gone. Vanished. Kaput. [...]
Evidence Continues to Mount for Ticking ‘Methane Time Bomb’ – Common Dreams staff New research that utilized both ground-based measurements and aerial surveys in specific sub-arctic regions in Alaska and Greenland has discovered approximately 150,000 ‘methane seeps’ – a phenomenon where methane gas previously held in the frozen permafrost beneath tundras or under arctic sea [...]
Red dust blown in from Australia‘s parched interior blankets Sydney in 2009. Australia and its region are experiencing the hottest 60 years in a millennium, scientists have determined. Photograph: Greg Wood/AFP/Getty link to article http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/may/17/australasia-hottest-60-years-study The last 60 years have been the hottest in Australasia for a millennium and cannot be explained by natural causes, according [...]
Climate change impacts for Northwest NSW The Climate Commission has released an climate change impact statement for New England and Northwest NSW. The impact statement accompanies The Critical Decade report and highlights key climate change impacts and opportunities for the New England/Northwest NSW region, which are: Koala nutrition may be impacted by climate change. Photo credit: Tourism Australia [...]
Farmers begin planting saplings to reforest Peru‘s Choco hills. The carbon captured by the trees will be traded to local benefit. Photograph: Stanton Media In the foothills of the Andes, in the Sierra Piura region of Peru, the problems faced by coffee farmers are clear. Up to 6,600 farmers produce here for the Central Piurana de Cafetaleros co-operative [...]
. Help Wanted: Strong Leadership on Climate Change, Starting Immediately by Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez Now if only President Obama could show the same leadership on climate change as he has just demonstrated on the divisive same- sex-marriage issue The same narrow-minded interests that made same-sex marriage such a boogeyman for the President are also controlling the [...]
What is climate change? Climate change is what happens when greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide and methane) trap more heat in the earth’s surface. The earth is naturally insulated by the gases in the atmosphere, which for tens of thousands of years have kept the earth’s temperature relatively stable. [...]
Growing up, Falling in Love Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 The AP story on military maneuvers in the Arctic reads like the gleeful report of a mugging. “To the world’s military leaders, the debate over climate change is long over. They are preparing for a new kind of Cold War [...]
COLUMNS The Long, Hot March of Climate Change By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan The Pentagon knows it. The world’s largest insurers know it. Now, governments may be overthrown because of it. It is climate change, and it is real. LISTEN Related articles The Long, Hot March of Climate [...]
Scraping the Bottom By John Feffer We are all trust fund babies living off the wealth of our ancestors. I’m not talking Mommy and Daddy. I’m talking Barney. That cuddly T-Rex and all his dinosaur friends, along with those giant ferns and tiny trilobites, died millions of years ago only [...]
A satellite image of the Pacific Ocean (Image: Earthmap)”The 1990s peak is most likely indicative of human-induced climate change,” said Patrick Moss, a scientist from the University of Queensland. “Any drastic changes from the norm, which persist for several decades and over a wide area, represent important climate signals.” * * * Study: Historic Rise [...]
It is climate change. And it is real. (REUTERS/Tim Wimborne)on knows it. The world’s largest insurers know it. Now, governments may be overthrown because of it. It is climate change, and it is real. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, last month was the hottest March on record for the United States [...]
EnlargeTim Winborne/Reuters /LandovNews Limited is the Australian arm of Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper empire. How Murdoch’s Aussie Papers Cover Climate Change by DAVID FOLKENFLIK Listen to the Story All Things Considered [5 min 25 sec] Add to Playlist Download Transcript text size A A A April 6, 2012 Part 4 of four Some weeks ago, I paid a visit to [...]
Burping cows have become the comic relief of the global warming debate, but livestock emissions are no laughing matter. Every year, the world’s 1.2 billion ruminants produce 80 million tonnes of methane, or 28 per cent of global methane emissions. Just one grazing dairy cow belches around 600 litres per day. Methane [...]
Tomgram: Bill McKibben, How You Subsidize the Energy Giants to Wreck the Planet Posted by Bill McKibben at 9:20am, April 5, 2012. Just in case you’re running for national office, here are a few basic stats to orient you when you hit Washington (thanks to the invaluable Open Secrets website of the Center for Responsive [...]
Time Running Out for Sustainable Future: Report Worldwatch maps sustainable ‘good life’, warns great changes must be made before it’s too late – Common Dreams staff The planet will not be able to sustain levels of consumption typical of today’s ‘consumer class’ without irreparable consequences to the globe, according to the just released Worldwatch Institute [...]
Matterhorn, Europe‘s Great Summit, Crumbling in Face of Climate Change Global warming is causing accelerated decay of Matterhorn, high peaks around the world – Common Dreams staff One of the highest peaks in the Alps, Matterhorn, is quickly disintegrating due to global warming patterns. A new report released by researchers from the University of Zurich, [...]
Melting permafrost as a result of global warming could trigger runaway climate change. Photograph: Corbis A scientific conundrum that has puzzled climate experts for years may have been solved with the publication of research showing how an increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere contributed to rising temperatures millions of years ago. The paper, [...]
Topics: Heartland Institute ♦ the Heartland Institute Car giant breaks off 20-year relationship with Heartland Institute in ongoing row over its role in questioning global warming General Motors, the world’s largest carmaker, has confirmed that it is pulling funding from the Heartland Institute, an ultra-conservative thinktank known for its scepticism about climate change. The decision by the [...]
On the Brink: Planet Near Irreversible Point of Global Warming Scientists issue dire call for action on climate change at conference; we must stop warming or “cross the threshold” – Common Dreams staff We may have already passed the tipping points on global warming, say scientists at thePlanet Under Pressure conference. At the London conference, [...]
Unprecedented, “Eye-Popping” Temperatures Soar, Highs Continue Climate scientist: “This is to me the most unusual weather event I’ve witnessed in my lifetime.” – Common Dreams staff People from the Midwest and Northeast have been stepping out to record-setting temperatures this month. Meteorologists are calling the temperatures unprecedented. Deke Arndt, who leads the climate monitoring branch [...]
Here is a link to the video “An Inconvenient Truth” by Al Gore http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15801.htm Related articles Doc of the Day: An Inconvenient Truth(daysofdocs.com)
Global Dimming This is a film that demands action. It reveals that we may have grossly underestimated the speed at which our climate is changing. At its heart is a deadly new phenomenon. One that until very recently scientists refused to believe even existed. But it may already have led [...]
Photo Credit: Lucian Coman via Shutterstock Three Factors Driving Water Scarcity Throughout Much of the World An “unprecedented” rise in the demand for food as the population grows, rapid urbanization and climate change are the drivers of increasing global water stress. MARSEILLES, France, March 12, 2012 (ENS) – “If we fail today to make water [...]
Beijing, China, which is one of the countries likely to be worst hit by pollution-triggered deaths in coming decades. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters Fiona Harvey guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 March 2012 17.44 GMT Article history Urban air pollution is set to become the biggest environmental cause of premature death in the coming decades, overtaking even such mass killers as poor [...]
U.S. Senator: God Says That There Can’t Be Global Warming By Brian TashmanMarch 12 “Right Wing Watch” – Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) appeared on Voice of Christian Youth America’s radio program Crosstalk with Vic Eliason yesterday to promote his new book The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your [...]
Water Rights Groups Blast Corporate-Dominated Water Forum “Untamed privatization will lead to a disaster” - Common Dreams staff As the World Water Forum gathers in Marseille, France, for its 6th meeting since 1997, water rights activists are criticizing the corporate-led, profit-motivated gathering as a move for global control of water. Shayda Naficy, senior organizer ofCorporate Accountability International‘s Challenge Corporate Control [...]
Global Warming May Force Pacific Nation of Kiribati to Move to Fiji In what could be the first climate-induced relocation of a country, the leaders of the low-lying archipelago of Kiribati plan to buy nearly 6,000 acres on Fiji in case rising tides force their entire population to leave. Villagers have already seen seawater [...]
10,000 GM Customers Tell Auto Giant: Stop Funding Climate Deniers – Common Dreams staff General Motors, a company that has made strides to lower the carbon footprint of driving, is taking heat from 10,000 of its customers for a donation its charitable foundation made to an institute that casts doubt on climate science, according to a report [...]
(photo: US Embassy Santiago, Chile)The study (pdf), published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), shows that the environment of the Antarctic will likely be degraded by the the establishment of nonindigenous species. The Aliens Are Coming: New Study Shows Invasive Seeds Threatening Antarctic – Common Dreams staff Climate change isn’t the only [...]
Denial of climate change is deep and it is wide.Storm clouds move over west of Palmyra, Indiana. (Photograph: David Lee Hartlage/AP) We woke up this weekend to news of record-breaking tornadoes touching down across a wide swath of the American Midwest, flattening entire townships and leaving behind multiple trails of devastation. Reading the mainstream media reports, the [...]
* * * Naomi Klein: ‘If You Take Climate Change Seriously, You Have to Throw Out the Free-Market Playbook’ Naomi Klein on ideological impediments to addressing climate change and how to move forward – Common Dreams staff In an interview with Solutions, author and activist Naomi Klein discusses how market-based solutions are not going to meet the needs [...]
Just in case you think that the only people expressing concern about climate change are from the loony left, or worse still are evil terrorists seeking revenge on the capitalist system this is an interesting article. Apart from the possibility of extinction and the imminent loss of life on the planet there are those [...]
. photo: John McColgan of the Alaskan Type I Incident Management Team (Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service) There Will Be Fire: The ‘Carbon Bomb’ ‘Waiting to Be Ignited’ Scientist: With climate change fires will become more frequent, more intense and harder to stop. – Common Dreams staff “We are going to [...]
thegreentimes.co.za, http://bit.ly/wm2l0C The inner workings of a libertarian thinktank working to discredit the established science on climate change have been exposed by a leak of confidential documents detailing its strategy and fundraising networks. The papers indicate that discrediting established climate science remains a core mission of the organisation, which has received support [...]
Exposed: Leak of Documents Shows How Leading Libertarian Think Tank Is Working to Undermine Climate Science Information published by DeSmogBlog reveals that the Heartland Institute keeps prominent skeptics on its payroll and relies on millions in funding from the carbon industry. February 15, 2012 | LIKE THIS ARTICLE ? Join our mailing list: Sign [...]
Christian Parenti, Big Storms Require Big Government Posted by Christian Parenti at 9:11am, January 26, 2012. At some basic level, climate change shouldn’t be hard to grasp. Fossil-fuel burning — the essence of our civilization since the industrial revolution — dumps prodigious amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) [...]
A Milestone Birthday for Planet Earth by Peter Bosshard Milestone birthdays are opportunities to take stock of our family, health and financial situation. So how is Planet Earth doing 20 years after the Earth Summit, the historic UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro? The planet’s economic output has more than doubled [...]
The Copenhagen Consensus Centre, directed by Danish professor Bjorn Lomborg, is to shut. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images The much-criticised author and climate policy sceptic Bjorn Lomborg has told the Ecologist he is the victim of a vendetta after his funding was cut by the Danish government. Lomborg, working through the Copenhagen Consensus Centre, of which [...]
Unless those who pollute the most have had a remarkable attack of conscience it would come as no surprise if any investigation of those backing lunatic climate deniers were from the polluting group. The easiest way to see where they may be is to just follow the profits to the hands of elite and you [...]
Photo courtesy of Dr Simon Foale, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesA team of researchers from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University published their findings in the journal Nature Climate Change. They document how elevated CO2 is “driving fish crazy.” Goodbye, Fish: Rising [...]
Michael Klare, Energy Wars 2012 Posted by Michael Klare at 9:37am, January 10, 2012. Last week, the president made a rare appearance at the Pentagon to unveil a new strategic plan for U.S. military policy (and so spending) over the next decade. Let’s leave the specifics to a future TomDispatch post and focus instead on a historical footnote: [...]
Whither Environmentalism? by Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez In the latest issue of Orion Magazine, environmental activists Derrick Jensen and Paul Kingsnorth both express their frustrations with the current environmental movement Jensen takes movement organizers to task for their drift towards actions that are “fun and sexy.” ”The fact that so many people routinely call for environmentalism [...]
The March Toward The Abyss By Fidel Castro January 08, 2012 “Cuba Debate” – - It is not a matter of being optimistic or pessimistic, knowing or not knowing elementary things, of being responsible or not for events. [...]
(Source: Munich RE)Live Insurance News, an online insurance industry publication, reports: Climate-Related Severe Weather Made 2011 Costliest Year on Record: Reports 2011 Disasters Make it Costliest Year on Record Though it would be impossible to calculate the full financial cost of a rapidly warming world or asign perfect blame to the cause of [...]
Durban’s Climate Debacle by Janet Redman I arrived at the UN climate summit in Durban, South Africa with the news fresh in my mind that 2010 was a record year for global warming pollution—and that if we don’t start reducing global emissions by 2017, we’re cooked. I left Durban with a [...]
Climate Change – Our Real Bequest to Future Generations Deficit hawks try to scare us about the debt we’re leaving. That’s economic nonsense – unlike the costs of global warming by Dean Baker It is remarkable how efforts to reduce the government deficit/debt are often portrayed as a generational issue, while efforts to [...]
Poster Boy (CC-BY) By Eugene Robinson For the clueless or cynical die-hards who deny global warming, it’s getting awfully cold out there. The latest icy blast of reality comes from an eminent scientist whom the climate-change skeptics once lauded as one of their own. Richard Muller, a respected physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, used [...]
As the days get warmer, cool-climate wineries like those in McLaren Vale SA, are bound to struggle. Dave Clarke Developing a taste for Sagrantino: climate change and Australia’s wine industry As the climate gets warmer, growing conditions and ripening times of crops will be affected. This raises all kinds of challenges for food security, but as [...]
