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Archive for July 30th, 2015
Poll: Californians are more worried about climate change because drought
Posted by Grist: None Given on July 30th, 2015
Grist: A new poll shows Californians are increasingly freaked out about climate change. The poll also shows that Californians think the state`s historic drought is related to climate change. Pollsters didn`t ask specifically if the drought is spurring climate change concerns, but the implication seems obvious.
As a Californian I can say the drought at least makes me feel, on a gut level, that something big is shifting. When I am not darting from shadow to shrinking shadow, or squeezing a few drops of...
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Defense Department to Congress: Global warming is a ‘present security threat’
Posted by Mashable: Andrew Freedman on July 30th, 2015
Mashable: For the first time, the U.S. Department of Defense has detailed what it views as its greatest challenges related to climate change.
In a report to Congress, the Defense Department said that global warming poses a "present security threat, not strictly a long-term risk."
See also: Global warming helped trigger Syria's civil war
The report, delivered to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday and publicly released Wednesday, further stated the Defense Department is "already observing...
Earth now halfway to UN global warming limit
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 30th, 2015
New Scientist: IT`S the outcome the world wants to avoid, but we are already halfway there. All but one of the main trackers of global surface temperature are now passing more than 1 °C of warming relative to the second half of the 19th century, according to an exclusive analysis done for New Scientist.
We could also be seeing the end of the much-discussed slowdown in surface warming since 1998, meaning this is just the start of a period of rapid warming. "There`s a good chance the hiatus is over," says Kevin...
‘Bombshell’ New Report on Sea Level Rise
Posted by Sputnik: Brad Friedman on July 30th, 2015
Sputnik: Today, for a change, we're happy to offer you a (virtually) Trump-free BradCast! You're welcome! First, a quick update on a conversation we had last week with FBI Special Agent turned 9/11 whistleblower turned TIME Magazine's 2002 "Person of the Year", Coleen Rowley. We had her on to speak about the difference between terrorism and hate crimes, as defined by the federal government, and as randomly applied after the (apparently non-terroristic) race-based hate crime shootings in Charleston, SC versus...
El Niño Could Mean Extreme Weather, Fewer Anchovies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 30th, 2015
National Geographic: It looks like we're in for a strong, lengthy El Niño this year.
Warmer-than-usual water in parts of the Pacific Ocean indicates that a developing El Niño is intensifying and might become one of the strongest on record. And National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists think the weather phenomenon probably will continue through the winter of 2015-16, and into the spring of 2016.
El Niños have been occurring at least since the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago. But scientists...
California wildfire forces evacuation of 500 people
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 30th, 2015
Reuters: A rapidly spreading brushfire burning in parched timberland north of San Francisco has forced the evacuation of 500 people and destroyed several buildings less than 12 hours after it broke out, fire officials said on Thursday.
The blaze, named the "Rocky Fire", is one of a string of wildfires threatening homes and scorching parched wilderness in the U.S. West, where several regions have endured sustained drought.
The Rocky Fire broke out Wednesday afternoon in Lake County, 110 miles (180 km)...
Chinese potatoes to chip in as water shortages hit staple crops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 30th, 2015
Reuters: Once seen as food for the poor, the humble potato is being pushed in China as a tasty, nutritious part of any meal as the world's most populous country struggles with water shortages and looks for alternatives to the traditional rice and noodles.
China already produces 95 million tonnes of potatoes a year, a quarter of the global total, and is aiming to raise that to 130 million tonnes by 2020, government officials said at the World Potato Congress on the outskirts of Beijing this week.
"In...
Poll Finds Most Californians Say Climate Change Linked To Drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 30th, 2015
CBS: Nearly two-thirds of Californians believe global warming is having an impact on the state`s persistent drought, sharing Gov. Jerry Brown`s environmental concerns as he presses for tougher climate change standards, according to a new statewide poll released Wednesday.
The Public Policy Institute of California found that 79 percent of residents agree that global warming is either a very serious or somewhat serious threat to California`s quality of life. And across racial groups, 69 percent of Latinos...
Californians divided along party lines on combating climate change
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on July 30th, 2015
Reuters: Two-thirds of Californians link the state's ongoing catastrophic drought to climate change, and most support Governor Jerry Brown's efforts to combat it – but that's also because most Californians are Democrats, a new poll shows.
The survey released on Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shows that 64 percent of the state's residents believe that global warming has affected the state's drought, now in its fourth year.
But that masks deep divisions along party lines,...