Archive for February 9th, 2015

Winter storm edges U.S. Northeast near new snowfall records

Reuters: A massive snowstorm that parked itself over the northeastern United States on Monday was forecast to drop up to two feet (60 cm) of snow over a region that has been repeatedly pounded over the past two weeks, closing schools and snarling travel. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker asked residents of the state to avoid traveling, Boston's mass-transit system was operating on a limited scheduled and a majority of flights at Boston's Logan International Airport had been canceled by early Monday...

Global warming is causing more extreme storms

Guardian: Scientists have known for decades (more than a century actually) that increases in greenhouse gases will cause the Earth to warm. What is less clear is how this warming will impact the weather we experience on a daily, monthly, or yearly basis. Recent research shows that we are already feeling the changes. So, how might a warm planet be different from the planet we inherited? Increased temperatures can cause more heat waves, more droughts, more intense rainfall, higher water-vapor levels, sea-level...

US maps show what major cities would look like submerged in hundreds of feet of water

Daiy Mail: The N.Y. Sea, Vancouver Archipelago and London Bay don't exist - but they could be place names in future atlases as glaciers continue to melt. A Seattle-based urban planner has created maps of cities around the world showing the alarming results of what the world would look like submerged in water. Though the doomsday scenario in which all of the world's glaciers melt could be thousands of years in the future, it would make many loved cities - including Portland, New York and Los Angeles -...

Australia’s political leadership battle may revive carbon debate

Reuters: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's tenuous grip on power has again put climate-change policy at the centre of the nation's political leadership struggle, raising concerns among miners and hopes for renewable energy advocates. Abbott, a climate-change sceptic, faces a vote on his leadership of the conservative Liberal Party on Monday, which could invite a challenge from former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull, the man he ousted as party leader in 2009. Abbott's vehement opposition...

Anti-Oil Sands Activists in the U.S. Are Getting Visits from the FBI

Canadian Press: Unexpected visitors have been dropping in on anti-oil activists in the United States - knocking on doors, calling, texting, contacting family members. The visitors are federal agents. Opponents of Canadian oil say they've been contacted by FBI investigators in several states following their involvement in protests that delayed northbound shipments of equipment to Canada's oilsands. A lawyer working with the protesters says he's personally aware of a dozen people having been contacted in...