News: Archive for March, 2013
‘The researchers say the decade 2000-2009 was one of the warmest since modern record-keeping began, and they forecast the planet will be warmer in 2100 than it has been at any time in those 11,300 years, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.’
via Temperatures in last decade highest since end of last Ice Age – UPI.com.
‘GREENBELT, Md., March 11 (UPI) — Growing seasons in Earth’s northern latitudes are shifting and vegetation increasingly resembles lusher latitudes to the south, scientists say.’
via Vegetation types in northern hemisphere shifting with climate change – UPI.com.
‘Cesium levels in the ocean, still elevated, weren’t decreasing as quickly as had been hoped — suggesting that radiation was still being introduced into the Pacific, perhaps through leaks from the plant and from river and groundwater discharge from land, perhaps from the sea floor itself. Bottom-dwelling and freshwater fish still had elevated levels of contamination, too.’
via On Japanese tsunami anniversary, recalling Fukushima effects on ocean – latimes.com.
‘VIENNA (Reuters) – Efforts to enhance global nuclear safety have advanced since Japan’s Fukushima disaster struck exactly two years ago on Monday, the U.N. atomic energy chief said, vowing to help make nuclear power as “safe as humanly possible”.’
via U.N. sees progress in boosting post-Fukushima nuclear safety – Yahoo! News.
‘SAN DIEGO — Citing the danger to whales and other sea life, the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously Friday to reject the Navy’s plan for increased use of sonar and underwater explosives for training off Southern California.’
via Coastal panel rejects Navy’s plan to boost underwater blasts – latimes.com.
‘BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – When China’s environment ministry told attorney Dong Zhengwei he couldn’t have access to two-year old data about soil pollution because it was a “state secret”, it added to mounting public outrage over the worsening environment.’
via In China, public anger over secrecy on environment – Yahoo! News.
‘Although California voters didn’t back the labeling of products made with genetically modified ingredients, the practice will soon be mandatory at Whole Foods Market Inc.’
via Whole Foods to require labels on genetically modified products – latimes.com.
‘In a study published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, researchers used eight indirect temperature indicators — such as pollen and shells from marine organisms — to chart long-term global warming and cooling trends. The research team concluded that temperatures in the last decade had not exceeded the Holocene’s steamiest periods from thousands of years ago. However, if current warming trends hold, those records will be broken by the end of the century.’
via Study of 11,300 years of weather suggests record warming ahead – latimes.com.
‘WASHINGTON (AP) — The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air jumped dramatically in 2012, making it very unlikely that global warming can be limited to another 2 degrees as many global leaders have hoped, new federal figures show.’
via US scientists report big jump in heat-trapping CO2 – Yahoo! News.
‘SYDNEY, Australia — Climate change was a major driving force behind a string of extreme weather events that alternately scorched and soaked large sections of Australia in recent months, according to a report issued Monday by the government’s Climate Commission.’
via Australian Government Blames Climate Change for ‘Angry Summer’ – NYTimes.com.