‘WASHINGTON — President Obama made addressing climate change the most prominent policy vow of his second Inaugural Address, setting in motion what Democrats say will be a deliberately paced but aggressive campaign built around the use of his executive powers to sidestep Congressional opposition.’

via Climate Change Prominent in Obama’s Inaugural Address – NYTimes.com.

‘The environmental group Friends of the Earth made its case to federal regulators last week that Southern California Edison should be barred from restarting the San Onofre nuclear plant unless it goes through a trial-like hearing process.’

via Environmental group argues against restarting San Onofre plant – latimes.com.

‘The average global temperature in 2012 was among the 10 hottest since official record keeping began in 1880, with most of the world — from North America to far northeastern Asia — experiencing higher-than-usual temperatures, according to related reports issued Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.’

via 2012 was among the 10 hottest years on record, NASA and NOAA say – latimes.com.

‘WASHINGTON — The impacts of climate change driven by human activity are spreading through the United States faster than had been predicted, increasingly threatening infrastructure, water supplies, crops and shorelines, according to a federal advisory committee.’

via Climate assessment delivers a grim overview – latimes.com.

‘Keeping their outlook for the future of humanity quite dim, the group of scientists also wrote an open letter to President Barack Obama, urging him to partner with other global leaders to act on climate change.’

via End Near? Doomsday Clock Holds at 5 ‘Til Midnight – Yahoo! News.

‘Australia had to add a new color to its weather maps this week. Meteorologists used royal purple to denote an off-the-charts high temperature of 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), part of an unprecedented heat wave and ongoing wildfires occurring down under this month. On the other side of the globe, 2012 proved the hottest year on record in the contiguous U.S., surpassing the previous record-holder by a full degree F (0.6 deg C). In short, global warming is continuing to turn up the heat–so what are we going to do about it?’

via What Will It Take to Solve Climate Change? – Yahoo! Weather.

‘WORCESTER, England — Britons may remember 2012 as the year the weather spun off its rails in a chaotic concoction of drought, deluge and flooding, but the unpredictability of it all turns out to have been all too predictable: Around the world, extreme has become the new commonplace.’

via Extreme Weather Grows in Frequency and Intensity Around World – NYTimes.com.

‘Last year was the hottest year on record for the contiguous 48 states, marked by near-record numbers of extreme weather events such as drought, wildfire, tornadoes and storms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.’

via 2012 was hottest year on record for Lower 48 states – latimes.com.

‘Delaying global action on climate change by 20 more years will put the goal of keeping the world relatively cool out of reach forever, no matter how much money humanity later spends to try to solve the problem, a new study finds.’

via Politics Is Key to Avoiding Global Warming Catastrophe – Yahoo! News.