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'A tipping point': record number of Americans see global warming as threat
New polling data shows that public concern about climate change is at a new high, as the US emerges from its warmest-ever winter
A record number of Americans believe global warming will pose a threat to their way of life, new polling data shows, amid strengthening public acceptance that rising temperatures are being driven by human activity.
Related: February breaks global temperature records by 'shocking' amount
Continue reading...Five ways to power the UK that are far better than Hinkley Point
These alternatives to the troubled planned nuclear plant will be faster to build and cheaper for energy consumers, say experts
The planned £18bn nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset are derided by critics as “one of the worst deals ever” for Britain, but defended as crucial to the UK’s energy policy by the government.
Recent resignations and financial warnings have knocked confidence in the Hinkley C deal, raising the question of whether clean energy alternatives could plug the gap. The fast-changing economics of the energy world, with renewables and other clean technologies falling in cost, indicate they can. The alternatives also look faster to build – it would take a decade to get Hinkley into operation – and cheaper for consumers, who ultimately foot the bills.
Continue reading...Worst Mediterranean drought in 900 years has human fingerprints all over it | John Abraham
A new study shows that the current Mediterranean drought is likely the worst in 900 years, probably due to human-caused intensification
In a warming world, we expect to see increases in some extreme weather events. The science is pretty clear that in some parts of the world, drought and heat waves have and will continue to increase. In other areas, more severe storms along with precipitation and flooding have increased. Drought, heat waves, and floods are examples of changes to weather and climate patterns that will have costs for human society.
It’s tricky to discern not only whether past extreme weather have changed, but also whether human-caused global warming is a factor. Scientists need high-quality records that go back many decades to see if there is any trend towards increasing or decreasing extreme weather. But weather is quite variable. We can see a rise or fall in extreme weather events with no apparent cause, human or natural.
Pluto may have an underground ocean
Victoria Corner Inlet Fishery- Agency application 2016
Drones give precise picture of seabird numbers
Quarterly Update of Australia's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: September 2015
Quarterly Update of Australia's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: September 2015
Your final date could be 'one face late' if you speed rate
Shut old nuclear reactors, says unprecedented alliance of EU cities
Communities and campaigners in Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg lobby for closure of two ageing 40-year old Belgian nuclear reactors close to borders
An unprecedented alliance of 30 major cities and districts from three countries has joined forces to try to shut down two ageing Belgian nuclear reactors close to their borders.
Cologne and Dusseldorf in Germany, Luxembourg City and Maastricht in the Netherlands are among the cities co-funding a lawsuit to close one reactor – Tihange 2 – and calling on the European commission to prepare a separate case at the European court of justice.
Continue reading...Pregnant T. rex dinosaur found
Southern right whale study quantifies impact of whaling in NZ
Record-breaking temperatures 'have robbed the Arctic of its winter'
Fort Yukon has recorded Alaska’s coldest ever temperatures but this winter temperatures have been much warmer than usual, leading to dangerously thin ice
This year’s record-breaking temperatures have robbed the Arctic of its winter, sending snowmobilers plunging through thin ice into freezing rivers and forcing deliveries of snow to the starting line of Alaska’s legendary Iditarod dogsledding race.
Last month’s high temperatures – up to 16C (29F) above normal in some parts of the Arctic – flummoxed scientists, and are redefining life in the Arctic, especially for the indigenous people who live close to the land.
Continue reading...Louisiana's vanishing island: the climate 'refugees' resettling for $52m
Isle de Jean Charles has lost 98% of its land and most of its population to rising sea levels – but as remaining residents consider relocation, what happens next is a test case to address resettlement needs
Wenceslaus Billiot, an 88-year-old native of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, remembers growing up on a much different island than the two-mile sliver of his ancestral home that remains today.
“When I was a kid I used to do trapping in the back,” he said, gesturing towards the back of the small, one-story house that stands elevated on stilts to escape the floods that roll in from the bayou after nearly every storm. “You could walk for a long time. Now, nothing but water.”
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