September 2012 climate change headlines and global warming news

September 29 - Rio Tinto  on climate change.
Rio Tinto, the fourth-largest publicly listed mining company in the world, has acknowledged global warming is ''largely caused by human activities''. The statement was reportedly made by Rio Tinto's head of coal in Australia, Bill Champion. Read more.

September 27 - Climate change costing $1.2 trillion a year
Climate change is already playing a part in the deaths of nearly 400,000 people annually and costing more than $1.2 trillion globally each year. This is in effect wiping 1.6% annually from global GDP according to a new study from a European non-government organisation. Read more. 

September 25 - Undecided voters care about climate change
The U.S. presidential candidates should take note: a recent poll of undecided voters say the candidates’ positions on global warming will be one of several important factors determining how they vote. Read more.

September 24 - Constraining Trade Won't Help Climate
Researchers have concluded that interventions in world trade such as carbon emissions tariffs would probably have little impact on global emissions and without world trade, the emission of greenhouse gases in nations such as China could be even higher than today. Read more 

September 23 - Ancient Canadian forest to return
The Canadian province Nunavut is mostly barren now, but as temperatures rise, the forest that once covered it may make a comeback - and it could start happening as early as 2100. Read more.

September 22 - What does 4 degrees warmer mean?
While Australian leaders bandy about ideads in relation to adapting to a 4-degree warmer world, they have little idea of what it means according to a former Chairman of the Australian  Coal Association - it means a world of 1 billion people rather than the present 7 billion. Read more.

September 22 - Malaria in Alaska.
A strain of malaria that only affects birds has been detected in Alaska for the first time. Like other forms of malaria, the avian variety is usually only associated with temperate and tropical areas; raising the spectre of strains that could affect humans could soon appear in the region. Read more.

September 20 - Arctic ice hits record low (again).
The seas around the Arctic may have started freezing again, but not before they hit a new record low of 3.41 million sq km (1.32 million sq mi) - 50% lower than the 1979-2000 average. Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Center (NSIDC) in Colorado, US says few researchers were prepared for how rapidly changes in the Arctic due to global warming would occur. Read more.

September 19 - Australian mega-mine = mega-emissions
Greenpeace has warned Australian plans could turn a region in the state of Queensland into a massive coal mine area could also turn it into the seventh largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions on the planet. Read more.

September 18 - Climate change: we've been here before
Climate change is nothing new for humanity, the only thing that has differed is the cause (us) and the speed of which it's now occurring. Some anthropologists believe early humans evolved in Africa and then migrated elsewhere due to climate change. Read more.

September 17 - Time running out for coral
coral reefs may no longer be prominent coastal ecosystems if global average temperatures exceed 2 just degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level according to researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climal Impact Research. Read more.

September 13 - Coal to make a comeback in the USA
The USA Energy Information Administration expects carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels to decline by 2.4 percent in 2012, but the victory will only be temporary. The EIA believes emissions will increase by 2.8 percent in 2013, as coal regains some of its electric-power-generation market share.  Read more.

September 12 - Water wars on the horizon
New conflicts caused by changes in water supply, both scarcity and flooding are expected to become major trans-boundary water issues says the Interaction Council, a group of elder statesmen who have called on the UN Security Council to recognize water as a pressing concern. Read more.

September 11 - Dengue fever on the cards for the UK
By 2080, the number of heat related deaths in the UK due may skyrocket by 540%. Tropical illnesses such as dengue fever may be contracted within the UK's borders as mosquito populations soar due to more favorable conditions caused by climate change. Read more.

September 10 - A warming climate helping ticks
Mild winters and early springs are giving ticks in the USA a helping hand - and with that an increase in tick-borne disease in humans, some of which can be fatal. Read more.

September 9 - Conspiracy crowd more likely to deny climate change
A survey of more than 1,000 science blog readers has found those who tend to believe in a wide array of conspiracy theories are more likely to reject the fact the Earth is is becoming warmer. Read more.

September 7 - Destroyed coastlines massive carbon emitters
Destruction of coastal habitats could be releasing as much as 1 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere annually, costing roughly $6-$42 billion each year in term of negative effects. Read more

September 6 - Patagonia's diminishing icebergs
Glaciers in the Southern Patagonian Icefield have thinned by about 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) per year since 2000, a 50 percent increase in the rate of melting compared to the three decades prior. Read more.

September 5 - AU plans to scrap coal stations fail
Government-led talks with the goal of closing some of Australia's dirtiest coal fired power stations have collapsed, with the owners of the facilities demanding too much in the way of compensation. Read more.

September 5 - Kenyan farmers adapting to climate change
In Kenya’s Rift Valley region, the climate is changing; making it more difficult to grow corn but easier to cultivate fruit and vegetables. Read more.

September 4 - Bogus petition still used for climate denial
A petition supposedly containing thousands of names of "scientists" which is claimed to prove conensus concerning climate change has not occurred is being mentioned in mainstream media again - but an important point often ignored is some of those scientists are vets, dentists and other professions far removed from climate research. Read more. 

September 3 - Sailboat negotiates Northwest Passage
The first sailboat to navigate the Northwest Passage has done so without any special reinforcements on the craft. The journey was undertaken to raise awareness about climate change and the melting Arctic sea ice. Read more.

September 1 - Drought led to the fall of ancient Egypt?
A massive drought 4,200 years ago coincided with the demise of Egypt's Old Kingdom, during which time most of the nation's pyramids were constructed. Read more. 

September 1 - EU incandescent ban comes into effect
An EU directive to slash energy consumption and emissions has seen the end of incandescent light bulbs being sold in Europe. Read more.

September 1 - Climate change may mean forced vegetarianism
Humanity may be forced to shift to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic water shortages suggests a Stockholm International Water Institute. Read more.

September 1 - Meteorological Society acknowledges climate change
The American Meteorological Society has not only said climate change is occurring, but it is human-caused and attempts to slow greenhouse gas emissions have been unsuccessful so far. Read more.

September 1 - Romney makes a mockery of climate change
U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney launched his campaign on Thursday with a mocking reference to President Obama's efforts to tackle climate change. Read more.

September 1 - Invertebrates threatened by mass extinction
Twenty percent of invertebrates are at risk of extinction, according to a new report from the the IUCN Species Survival Commission and part of the threat is attributable to climate change. Read more