‘It wasn’t long ago that coal executives were openly discussing their dream of Republicans seizing the White House and making Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe — who believes climate change is a “hoax” concocted by greedy scientists — the head of the EPA.’

via If the GOP Takes the Senate, Climate Change Deniers Will Control Key Committees | BillMoyers.com.

‘In a country that boasts an awe-inspiring system of national parks, the Pacific Northwest may be especially lucky. But even remote parks and forests can’t escape the problem of human-induced climate change.’

via Fires and floods: North Cascades federal lands prepare for climate change | UW Today.

‘The European Union continues to lead by example on the issue of climate change. Last week, the union’s 28 members agreed to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent, compared with 1990 levels, by 2030.’

via Europe’s Ambitious Climate Goal – NYTimes.com.

‘Agriculture is particularly vulnerable to climate conditions, according to the EPA, but also a major contributor to climate change because of carbon-emitting practices including deforestation, fertilization, transportation, fermentation, irrigation and the burning of crop residues.’

via Foods That Fight Climate Change.

‘Rick S. Piltz, a climate policy analyst who resigned from the administration of George W. Bush in 2005, accusing it of distorting scientific findings for political reasons and then releasing internal White House documents to support his contention, died on Saturday in Washington. He was 71.’

via Rick Piltz Dies at 71; Quit Bush White House Over Climate Policy – NYTimes.com.

‘When light strikes a photovoltaic panel, part of the energy supplied by the photons is lost as heat instead of being converted into electricity. Masao Nakamura and colleagues from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science have discovered a way to capture this waste heat with a new type of solar cell that generates multiple charge carriers from a single photon.’

via Strongly interacting electrons turn oxide interfaces into magnetically controlled and extra-efficient solar cells.

‘Bonn (AFP) – With a 2015 deadline looming large for a global pact on curbing climate change, six days of UN talks closed in Bonn on Saturday with delegates and observers deflated over a lack of progress.’

via Deep rifts remain at UN talks on global climate pact – Yahoo News.

‘SAN FRANCISCO — Global warming, unsustainable growth and globalization have serious knock-on effects that must be recognized and addressed if we are to secure a future of peace and prosperity, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore asserted in a recent interview with the Nikkei Asian Review.’

via Climate change causes all kinds of chaos: Gore- Nikkei Asian Review.

‘As permafrost soils thaw under the influence of global warming, communities of soil microbes act as potent amplifiers of global climate change, an international study has shown.’

via Recently discovered microbe is key player in climate change.

‘…The scramble to limit the damage from rising waters — practically and symbolically — illustrates the challenges and pitfalls faced by politicians this year in dealing with the divisive issue of climate change. Particularly in hard-hit coastal states such as Florida, where rising sea levels are now an inalterable fact, the effects are becoming harder to ignore or suppress, though officials regularly still try.’

via Florida politicians battle rhetoric as rising seas drive worries over climate change – The Washington Post.