February 2014 Global Warming Headlines

February 28 - Australia Needs To Treble Emissions Target
The Australian Government's Climate Change Authority says the government must reduce greenhouse gases to 15% below 2000 levels by 2020; a view likely to irritate Prime Minister Abbott; who has been white-anting climate and renewable energy efforts in the country. Read more.

February 26 - Storms Moving South
While cyclones may not be more frequent (yet); according to a recent study, as the oceans have warmed, the temperatures necessary to foster cyclone development have been moving further south. Storms in the south-west Indian Ocean have been moving further south also. Read more.

February 25 - Island Refuges Or Death Traps?
With up to 20,000 islands around the world at threat of being entirely submerged; the danger is not just to humans, but also to hundreds of endemic species that could become extinct in such a scenario. Read more.

February 24 - Climate Change Skeptic Heads Renewables Review
The Australian renewable energy sector is unsettled with the appointment of a former oil company chairman to lead a review on the nation's renewable energy target. Read more.

February 23 - Ominous Signs For Pine Island Glacier
Pine Island Glacier, the fastest moving Antarctic glacier currently gives up 46 gigatons of water every year, but that rate will increase above to and above 100 gigatons a year in the decades ahead. Read more.

February 21 - Coal Power Station Closures To Be Fast-Tracked
It's estimated 90% of the 60GW of coal fired power generation capacity due to be shuttered by 2020 in the USA will occur by 2016 due to tougher environmental regulations coming into force soon. Read more

February 20 - Climate Change To Trigger More Crime.
As if we didn't have enough to look forward to in a warming world; it seems by the end of this century, climate change is expected to play a role in an additional 22,000 murders, 1.2 million aggravated assaults and other violent crime according to a study published in the journal of Environmental Economics and Management. Climate change is expected to cause additional crime rates for most offences to rise 1.5% to 5.5% by 2090. Read more.

February 19 - Canada Ice Cap Melt Accelerating
Shrinking of ice caps in Canada’s High Arctic began in the late 1980s and has accelerated rapidly since 2005 according to data from NRCan’s Climate Change Geoscience Program. Read more. 

February 18 - Australian Heatwaves : Hotter, Longer, More Frequent
The latest report from Australia's Climate Council has found hot weather in the capital cities of Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra has already reached levels predicted for 2030. Read more.

February 17 - Kerry: Climate Change A Weapon Of Mass Destruction
In a speech in Indonesia, US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned climate change is possibily the world's most fearsome weapon of mass destruction and that it posed a particularly dangerous threat to the nation. Read more.

February 15 - Adelaide: One Extreme To The Other
After its most extreme summer on record; the South Australian capital city of Adelaide has received its highest rainfall for 45 years; with flooding causing chaos. Prior to the event; Adelaide broke its record for the highest number of days above 40C in a summer. Read more

February 12 - Wind Farm Local Climate Change Myth Busted
Prior reports stating large wind farms can alter local climate have been debunked by a new study that states previous simulations lacked important details. Even in a worst case scenario, wind farm impacts will be far less than normal weather variations. Read more.

February 11 - Thames River Levels Continue To Rise.
The UK's Environment Agency has issued 14 severe flood warnings and some gauges along the Thames are recording the highest water levels since they were installed in the 1980's.  Read more.

February 10 - Global Warming "Speed Bump" Explained
A slow-down (often incorrectly referred to as a "pause") in the pace of which the planet has been warming has been explained as being due to natural variability of strong winds in the Pacific Ocean; a cycle that can last a couple of decades. Read more.

February 9 - UK Weather Woes Continue
The UK continues to be battered by storms and flooding that have plagued parts of the nation for months. Severe gales and heavy rainfall are set to cause further flooding in parts of the south-west. Read more.

February 7 - Climate Change Affecting US Farmers
It's not big news as such, but where the statement came from speaks volumes. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has warned the nation would regret failure to adapt and prepare for a changing climate. Read more.

February 5 - Evacuation Contemplated For Australian Town
After 2 years with next to no rain, authorities in the Queensland town of Cloncurry are considering evacuating the entire township of 3,000 residents if rain doesn't fall soon. Read more.

February 5 - A Trillion Dollar Storm Surge Bill
Storm surges, exacerbated by rising sea levels, will cause trillions of dollars of damage during this century if protective measures are not put in place. Up to 600 million people could be affected. Read more

February 4 - The 37th Year Of Above Average Temperatures
Last year marked the 37th year where global temperatures were above average; roughly a degree warmer. 2013 was among the 10 warmest years since records began in 1880. Read more

February 3 - Alaska's Spring In Winter 
Satellite data has revealed that last half of January was one of the warmest winter periods in Alaska’s history. Temperatures during the period were as much as 40 degrees F (22 C) above average. Read more.

February 2 - Drought Tightens Grip In Australia
The Australian state of New South Wales has had its driest January since 2003 and its capital, Sydney, has recorded the lowest summer rainfall in more than 70 years. Read more.

February 2 - UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inching Up
Britain's greenhouse gas emissions shot up 3.2 percent in 2012 compared to 2011; primarily due to a shift from natural gas for power generation to coal and a colder winter. Read more.

February 2 - UK Heat Related Deaths To Skyrocket
Heat related deaths due to climate change are expected to rise 257% by 2050. On the flip side, cold-related mortalities in winter will decrease due to milder conditions. Read more.