Climate Change

"National Climate Assessment, to be launched at White House on Tuesday, says effects of climate change are now being felt."

"Part of East Antarctica is more vulnerable than expected to a thaw that could trigger an unstoppable slide of ice into the ocean and raise world sea levels for thousands of years, a study showed on Sunday."

"After years of putting other policy priorities first — and dismaying many liberal allies in the process — Obama is now getting into the weeds on climate change and considers it one of the key components of his legacy, according to aides and advisers."

"U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday he was hopeful that a goal of limiting global temperature rises to a maximum 2° Celsius could be achieved, but urged governments to take practical action before it was too late."

"Strong storms have been moving over the Southeast since this weekend, spawning tornadoes from Alabama to Arkansas. On Tuesday they trekked further east, spreading heavy rain across the Alabama coast and Florida Panhandle. Rainfall totals for many cities in those regions were so high that they were closer to hurricane totals than spring storms."

"In a troubling new discovery, scientists studying ocean waters off California, Oregon and Washington have found the first evidence that increasing acidity in the ocean is dissolving the shells of a key species of tiny sea creature at the base of the food chain."

"A wind-driven brush fire burning out of control in a drought-parched Southern California wildland on Wednesday threatened a wealthy community in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents, officials said."

"Bicycle commuting can improve health and mitigate climate change. But states are in neutral."

"Water tainted by agricultural runoff is an old concern in rural Canada, but one that is becoming increasingly worrisome as the climate changes. Extreme weather events, such as sudden deluges and floods, increase the flow of pollutants into surface waters. Extended dry periods cause industrial and organic pollutants to build up on the land – then an intense rainstorm can wash it all at once into watersheds. Those storms also cause floods and erosion, which can overwhelm water-filtration systems. At the same time, river flows are declining and water is residing longer in lakes, concentrating pollutants."

"Automakers on average have reduced the greenhouse gas footprint of their model year 2012 passenger vehicles even below the levels required by U.S. EPA's new tailpipe emissions rules, according to a new report released today by the agency."