Archive for July 18th, 2015

Scientists warn of bad outlook for future ski seasons as climate change affects snowfall

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Recent snowfalls at ski fields in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains may have been good news for holidaymakers, but studies have shown there might be disappointment ahead for snow lovers in the long term. Skiers and other snow lovers have faced a torrid time in the Australian alpine region lately with hardly any natural snow to enjoy since the start of July. While the latest snowfall looks good for both tourists and tourism, recent studies on climate change have highlighted that things may...

California Freeway Firefighting Efforts Hampered By Drones

National Public Radio: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/13/scott-walker-record-republican-presidency

One in five Australians don’t believe climate change

Independent: Nearly one in five Australians do not believe in climate change, making the country the most sceptical about environmental issues in the world, according to a recent study. 17 per cent of Australians disbelieved in climate change, followed by 15 per cent of people in Norway, 13 per cent in New Zealand and 12 per cent of Americans, found research conducted by the University of Tasmania. The research, published in the journal Global Environment Change, surveyed nearly 20,000 people in 14 industrialised...

Come hell or high water: The disaster scenario that is South Florida

Globe and Mail: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is a strange-looking beast. Its south runway, unveiled last September as part of a $2-billion expansion project, rests like an overpass atop six lanes of highway traffic. Across the road, facing the vast turquoise sweep of the Atlantic Ocean, is Port Everglades – home to some of the largest cruise ships on Earth. Between them, the bustling terminals handle a significant portion of the human cargo that fuels Florida’s $70-billion-a-year tourism machine....

Coal miners struggle survive in industry battered by layoffs and bankruptcy

New York Times: There is pain across the nation’s coal fields, but here in West Virginia, the disruption is particularly acute. Mines are closing almost every month. Sawmills that provide wooden support beams for the tunnels are laying off workers, and diners are putting up signs asking their customers to pray for the miners. The coal industry, long the heart that pumped the economy here, is in deep trouble, buffeted by power plants switching to cheap natural gas, crippling debt, mounting foreign competition and...

As species adapt to a warming climate, ecosystems change

Environmental News Network: If it seems like you're pulling more bass than trout out of Ontario's lakes this summer, you probably are. Blame it on the ripple effect of climate change and warming temperatures. Birds migrate earlier, flowers bloom faster, and fish move to newly warmed waters putting local species at risk. To mitigate the trend and support conservation efforts, scientists at the University of Toronto (U of T) are sharing a way to predict which plants or animals may be vulnerable to the arrival of a new species....

The freakish year in broken climate records

Bloomberg: The annual State of the Climate report is out, and it’s ugly. Record heat, record sea levels, more hot days and fewer cool nights, surging cyclones, unprecedented pollution, and rapidly diminishing glaciers. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues a report each year compiling the latest data gathered by 413 scientists from around the world. It’s 288 pages, but we’ll save you some time. Here’s a review, in six charts, of some of the climate highlights from 2014. 1....

Climate Change Is Setting The World On Fire

Gizmodo: What happens when you mix record-smashing heat and exceptional drought? Fire! Lots of fire! But climate change isn`t just bringing more fires to our doorstep, although it`s accomplishing that quite handily. It`s making fire seasons longer. That`s according to a study published this week in Nature Communications, which shows that fire weather seasons have, on average, grown 18.7 per cent longer across the Earth`s surface since 1979. What`s more, the global burnable area affected by fire seasons...