April 2015 Global Warming News
CEOs Urge Real Action On Climate Change
43 CEOs from international companies have signed an open letter urging world leaders to take bold action at the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2015.
Amazon Carbon Sink Fragile
While nearly 20 per cent of the world's carbon in vegetation are contained in the Amazon rainforest, almost half of that is sequestered by just a handful of tree species
Extreme Heat And Rainfall Events Increasing
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology state extreme heatwaves and heavy rain storms are already happening with increasing regularity due to anthropogenic influence on climate. Their findings have been published in Nature Climate Change.
Tanzania's Coffee Industry Threatened
Rising temperatures in Tanzania is affecting coffee yields. Each 1-degree Celsius rise in mean minimum temperature can lead to a loss of nearly half the average small producer’s production.
Lake Mead Dropping To Record Low Levels
The largest capacity reservoir in the USA, Lake Mead, is about to see its lowest level in history as a result of 14 years of severe drought. Lake Mead provides water to many farming operations and 40 million people.
Australia & Canada Public Enemy No.1 On Climate
Professor Peter Doherty, Nobel laureate of medicine, reports people are saying informally "Australia and Canada are emerging as public enemy number one for the Paris talks on climate".
Free Course To Combat Climate Denial
A new free course called "Making Sense of Climate Denial" delivered by the University of Queensland will provide participants with information to understand and combat climate skepticism.
Obama Reminds Floridians Climate Change Is Real
In a state where public officials are discouraged from using the terms "climate change" or "global warming" in official communications; President Obama went some way to making up for it when in Florida.
Australia Under The Spotlight On Emissions Target.
The USA, China and Brazil and other countries have asked Australia to "please explain" the credibility of its controversial Direct Action climate change policy. Australia says it will cut emissions by 5% below 2000 levels by 2020; a target that some feel is not good enough.
Climate Contrarian Gets Millions To Set Up Shop In Australia
Australia's Abbott Government has slashed and burned multiple climate programs since taking power but has provided $4 million to set up the Copenhagen Consensus Centre, a thinktank established by Bjorn Lomborg, a notorious climate contrarian.
Kelp - A Climate Change Canary?
Some underwater kelp forests are thinning and becoming patchy because of warming waters. Australian scientists have undertaken a unique kelp transplantation experience in order to to better understand the impact of climate change.
Climate Change Impacting UK Acorn Abundance
The UK's warmer springs are resulting in flowering that is less synchronised and resulting in oak trees have less opportunity to cross-pollinate over wide areas, reducing the acorn crop.
"Incontrovertible" Removed From APS Climate Change Stance
To some, the latest version of the the American Physical Society's (APS) official stance on climate change improves on a word that may be perceived to conflict with basic principles of scientific research, but others feel it could create confusion in the minds of the general public.
Dutch Government Taken To Court Over Climate Change
A class action lawsuit involving almost 900 citizens of the Netherlands alleges the country's government is failing to protect its citizens from climate change.
Scrap Fossil Fuel Subsidies: World Bank
The president of the World Bank has called for carbon taxes throughout the world and the immediate cessation of subsidies for fossil fuels, saying the support just encourages their continued use.
Yellow Cedar Threatened By Climate Change?
It's claimed Alaska's yellow cedar is rapidly disappearing due to climate change and the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will soon begin a status review to determine if it warrants protection as a threatened or an endangered species.
Glacier Melt Proves Climate Change Is Real
By 2100, Glaciers in Alberta and British Columbia may shrink by 75 percent in area compared to 2005 levels and by 70 percent in volume by 2100 according to a study led by a professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Professor Garry Clarke warns glaciers respond to climate, not weather, and the impact signals that climate change is real.
The Pope As A Climate Change Messenger
Andy Hoffman and Jenna White believe an encyclical letter Pope Francis plans to release addressing environmental issues could have a profound effect on the public climate change debate.
Australian Energy White Paper 'Deluded'
The Australian government's recently released energy white paper is "wilfully deluded" for ignoring the influence climate change should have on energy policy, instead opting for a "technology neutral" approach
Ocean Acidification Caused Mass Extinction
Ocean acidification may have been responsible for killing off more than 90 per cent of marine life 252 million years ago say researchers from the University of Edinburgh. Ocean acidification is currently a looming threat, one that has already caused negative impact on marine organisms in some parts of the world.
A Chicken Based Diet More Climate Friendly
A poultry-based diet as an alternative to beef is a smart and inexpensive way to reduce our impact on the climate says a study from Chalmers University of Technology.
CSIRO Launches Online Climate Prediction Tools
Australia’s Commonwealth scientific and industrial research organisation (CSIRO) has launched a series of public access online tools that will help users determine climate changes in particular geographical locations into the future.
US Climate Change Opinion Map
The Yale Project On Climate Change Communication has produced an interactive map of the USA showing the estimated percentage of adults who think global warming is happening and other related concepts. The estimates are produced using a statistical model based on national survey data gathered between 2008 and 2014.
Just Don't Mention Climate Change
That the term "climate change" has become a dirty word(s) within Florida's government is now no secret; however it's also been recently revealed a scientist was told she must expunge the term "climate change" from her paper; which was concerning how climate change in Florida had affected ciguatera - a commonly reported seafood-borne illness.
Climate Change = Bad Steak?
As rainfall in Australia drops and temperatures rise, cattle farmers may switch to more heat-tolerant, but lower eating-quality, cows says a study by researchers at the University of Melbourne
Another 30 Years Of Drought For Brazil
A meteorologist believes the current drought in southeastern Brazil, which has resulted in the most severe water shortage in the last 85 years and could last for three more decades.
ALEC Strikes Back
According to the Washington Post, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has threatened legal action against activist groups that accuse it of denying climate change. The action follows a number of major corporations dropping membership of ALEC says WP.
Amazon's Carbon Soaking Abilities Decreasing
The amount of carbon soaked up by the Amazon rainforest each year has halved since its maximum in the 1990s. This has implications for climate models based on the Amazon mopping up higher levels of CO2.
Water Restrictions For California
For the first time in the state's history, California Governor Jerry Brown has announced mandatory water restrictions. Last year was the warmest on record in California, and this year’s snowpack was the smallest since records began in 1950.
Climate Change Killed Off Mammoths?
A paleontologist believes climate change and associated geological processes affected the chemical composition of soil and water in the mammoths' habitat that resulted in the animals suffering from chronic mineral shortages and consequently, osteoporosis.
Germany's Carbon Emissions Drop
CO2 emissions in Germany decreased by more than 41 million tonnes in 2014, or 4.3 percent, according to data from Germany’s UBA environment agency. The level was 27 per cent less than 1990 levels.
The Long Road Back
A naturally occurring episode of climate change some 14,700 years ago lowered oxygen levels in the deep ocean and took marine ecosystems around 1,000 years to recover from.
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