Adaptation

The thirsty Caribbean.

Caribbean countries are considering options like desalination plants and cloud seeding to confront a drought that threatens the regional economy and which experts warned about years ago. Inter Press Service 05 Mar

Arctic melt to cost up to $24 trillion by 2050: Report.

Arctic ice melting could cost global agriculture, real estate and insurance anywhere from $2.4 trillion to $24 trillion by 2050 in damage from rising sea levels, floods and heat waves, according to a report released on Friday. Reuters 05 Mar

Florida Keys residents confront rising sea levels.

Waters around the Florida Keys are nine inches higher than a century ago. Efforts to battle rising sea levels make the Keys 'a canary in the coal mine,' an indicator of what other areas might need to prepare for. Christian Science Monitor 05 Mar

Vast new refuge weighed for northern Everglades.

To staunch pollution flows into the headwaters of the Everglades, and to provide habitat for animals forced to adapt to climate change, Obama administration officials are considering designating a new 100,000-acre national wildlife refuge north of Lake Okeechobee. Palm Beach Post 04 Mar

Disease

A climate storm ... of bugs.

As climatologists weather the IPCC controversy, another storm is brewing, filled not with bloggers but with beasts, bugs and bacteria. Projected changes in the Earth's climate may unleash a potential plague of infectious diseases. Scientific American 04 Mar

Climate change 'has effects on health.'

The high numbers of people who die during the winter months, particularly as a result of respiratory disease and heart failure, may decrease because of global warming, an all-Ireland conference on the health implications of climate change has been told. Dublin Irish Times 26 Feb

Rising temperatures bring threat of malaria deaths.

Ireland can expect a rise in water- and food-borne deaths, particularly among the elderly, because of climate change. Dublin Irish Independent 26 Feb

Minister's plea on climate change.

Farmers in Tanzania are continuing to dig deep into their pockets to buy pesticides to fight crop diseases that are emerging due to climate change, according to Agriculture minister Stephen Wassira. Dar es Salaam Citizen 25 Feb

Other News

Editorials

Is global warming cooling as an issue?

One cold, miserable winter won’t end the debate about global warning, but the fact is the climate change issue lost its edge when scientists were found to be anything but unanimous about the world’s fate in a future global furnace. Sioux City Journal 10 Mar

On a Redwood City development.

Ecologically sensitive salt ponds on the outskirts of Redwood City are the wrong place to build 12,000 new homes at sea level surrounded by levees. In a time of global warming, the Bay Area should be running away from that kind of development, not approving it. San Francisco Chronicle 04 Mar

Don't let nation's snow blind you on climate change.

So let it snow. But let's also unleash far more investment in new energy sources. Washingtonians getting stuck in snowbanks shouldn't have to mean everyone else has to get stuck in the status quo. Detroit Free Press 20 Feb

It's still a threat.

We must - individually and collectively - become more energy efficient while simultaneously supporting development of renewable energy sources that will sustain, not destroy, Earth. Miami Herald 20 Feb

Validation required.

Transparency and quality control are essential in the highly uncertain business of assessing the impact of climate change on a regional scale. It is intrinsic to this research, after all, that scientists' best judgments will be subject to change. Nature 18 Feb

A complicated argument.

If the Maldives and lower Manhattan are destined to go under water, we won’t be able to avert that outcome with a Copenhagen greenhouse gas policy. When and if such threats become real, we’ll be obliged to take protective action for the particular problems at hand. Columbia Tribune 17 Feb

Climate change: Snow won't slow warming.

Whatever doubts there may be about the credibility of climate claims, they are not an excuse to act irresponsibly. Lakeland Ledger 10 Feb

Climate resolution a lot of hot air.

We note another time-waster in the Utah Legislature with the House's passage of House Joint Resolution 12, which purports to smack down so-called climate alarmists for their inability to connect global warming with the current downturn in global temperatures. Ogden Standard-Examiner 10 Feb

Opinion

The new world order.

Cleo Paskal, a London-based journalist and a scholar at the think tank Chatham House, presents a fascinating geopolitical chessboard, on which the United States and the European Union face off against China and Russia as climate change takes hold. Nature 11 Mar

Climate-change deniers take a lesson from anti-evolution activists.

The similarities between the anti-evolution movement and climate change-denial seem to get more numerous by the day. Washington Post 10 Mar

Lake Turkana ecosystem: Development for ecology?

Lake Turkana is the world’s largest desert lake. The lake's location in a fragile environment makes it particularly prone to climate change. A more immediate threat though is the latest hydroelectric dam on the lake’s permanent inflow, the Gibe III. Nairobi East African 09 Mar

The global crisis of water scarcity.

In recent years, climate change seems to have elbowed out other environmental issues to become the number one global problem. Ceylon Daily News 09 Mar

Today's students face tomorrow's climate problems.

Today's students will inherit a world that has been dramatically changed by the choices their parents' and grandparents' generations have made. At the top of the list of challenges they will face is a changed climate. Melbourne Age 08 Mar

Studies explore how changing climate impacts birds.

As the days get warmer, many of us start migrating from our homes to our backyards and other outdoor areas. Migrating birds are also on the move – like us, spurred to change their behavior by warmer temperatures. Lakeport Lake County News 07 Mar

The heat over bubbling Arctic methane.

One of the great challenges in assessing the meaning of changes in Arctic climate and other environmental conditions is putting today’s observations in long-term context. New York Times 06 Mar

Snow is sign of warming.

While you have all doubtless heard someone snarkily say during the Eastern blizzard bonanza, “Well, how about that for global warming?,” it is the severity of these winter storms that is much more indicative of climate change than an occasional mild winter in the Northwest where all eyes are tuned into the Olympics. Fall River Herald News 06 Mar

Out of step.

OliBac/flickr

Recent changes in the seasonal timing of biological events such as flowering and migration have been linked to warmer temperatures. Now a study shows that such seasonal shifts are becoming increasingly common in the UK and could wreak havoc across ecosystems as they disturb the delicate balance of nature. Nature 11 Mar

Souring seas.

cobalt123/flickr

Marine plankton survived a period of intense ocean warming and acidification some 55 million years ago. But their future descendants might not be so lucky, suggests a new study. Nature 11 Mar

Settling the science on Himalayan glaciers.

The remote glaciers of the Himalayan mountains have been the subject of much controversy, yet little research. Mason Inman looks at the clues scientists have garnered on the fate of these glaciers from ground- and space-based studies. Nature 11 Mar

Seas' acidity threatens life, livelihoods, film says.

Oceans are becoming more acidic, which poses another threat in Virginia to oysters, clams and crabs as well as to water quality and coastal ecosystems, a panel of scientists and environmentalists warned Wednesday. Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot 11 Mar

Flourishing forests.

A recent growth spurt among forests in the Northern Hemisphere may be the result of climate change, suggests new research. Until now, regrowth as a part of natural ecosystem recovery after disturbances such as logging or clearing has obscured the influence of climate change on recent boosts in forest biomass. Nature 11 Mar

Weather changes turn farming into gamble with nature.

Changes in weather patterns have turned agriculture into a gamble with nature for Tanzanian farmers. Climate change experts agree that the only way to prevent major economic impact is to change the way agriculture is done. Inter Press Service 11 Mar

Arctic seed vault sets record, over 500,000 samples.

A "doomsday" vault storing crop seeds in an Arctic deep freeze is surpassing 500,000 samples to become the most diverse collection of food seeds in history, managers said on Thursday. Reuters 11 Mar

Norway doomsday seed vault hits half million mark.

Two years after receiving its first deposits, a "doomsday" seed vault on an Arctic island has amassed half a million seed samples, making it the world's most diverse repository of crop seeds, the vault's operators announced Thursday. Associated Press 11 Mar

Coast Guard icebreaker to be reactivated by 2013.

The U.S. Coast Guard will have its third icebreaker back in service in 2013, filling a critical need as the fleet takes on new responsibilities beyond just crushing ice to respond to climate change impacts, the commandant of the service said Wednesday. Associated Press 11 Mar

Alaskan hopes bike trek will raise awareness of climate change.

As a bush pilot flying around the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, Don Ross says he's seen first-hand evidence of climate change. Ross is cycling from his home in Fairbanks, AK, to Washington, D.C., to bring attention to climate change. Salt Lake Tribune 11 Mar

Climate change affects indigenous peoples most: Scholar.

Indigenous peoples worldwide contribute little to global warming but suffer the most from its impact, a local professor said Thursday at an international indigenous conference in Taiwan. Central News Agency 11 Mar

'Famine marriages' just one byproduct of climate change.

The negative fallout from climate change is having a devastatingly lopsided impact on women compared to men, from higher death rates during natural disasters to heavier household and care burdens. Inter Press Service 10 Mar

Health and life insurers grapple with climate effects.

Biting bugs are buzzing northward and asthma has spread like a dust cloud, but there are deep divisions about how concerned health and life insurers should be about disease and death caused by climate change. ClimateWire 10 Mar

What the Sami people can teach us about adapting to climate change.

As accelerating climate change and other man-made environmental degradations create growing alarm across the planet, the Sami people have much to teach the world about how to adapt, survive, and thrive, says Elina Helander-Renvall. London Guardian 10 Mar

Wild relatives of crops seen aiding climate fight.

Farm experts plan to track down wild relatives of crops such as rice or wheat with traits that make them able to resist global warming in a project costing perhaps $50 million, a leading expert said on Tuesday. Reuters 10 Mar

Int´l scientists to launch environmental studies on "Third Pole".

International scientists are preparing to launch a joint study on the environment of the "Third Pole" region centered on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a Chinese scientist said Monday. Xinhua News Agency 09 Mar

Women hit by climate change to lobby Capitol Hill.

Women hit hard by the effects of climate change -- drought, floods, sea level rise and crop failure -- gathered on Monday to plan a Capitol Hill push for U.S. legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Reuters 09 Mar

Shellfish could supplant tree-ring climate data.

Oxygen isotopes in clamshells may provide the most detailed record yet of global climate change, according to a team of scientists who studied a haul of ancient Icelandic molluscs. Nature 09 Mar

Humans driving extinction faster than species can evolve, say experts.

For the first time since the dinosaurs disappeared, humans are driving animals and plants to extinction faster than new species can evolve, thanks to habitat destruction and climate change, one of the world's experts on biodiversity warns. London Guardian 08 Mar

Group urges localities to plan together for rising sea levels.

As a regional planner, John Carlock knows getting each Hampton Roads community to agree is rarely, if ever, simple. His next task could be even harder: Convince 16 cities and counties to work together to combat rising sea levels. Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot 08 Mar

Climate change could spark crises 'in Arab world.'

There may be a considerable increase in the number of crises and disasters in the Arab world due to climate change, and this could necessitate the distribution of food, water and medicine to millions of people, a top OIC official said. Doha Gulf Times 08 Mar

Growing low-oxygen zones in oceans worry scientists.

Shelby PDX/flickr

Lower levels of oxygen in the Earth's oceans, particularly off the Pacific Northwest coast, could be another sign of fundamental changes linked to global climate change, scientists say. McClatchy Newspapers 07 Mar

Climate change is changing farming methods.

Communities have tried their best to devise resourceful ways to cope with and adapt to the adverse impacts of extreme weather events. Inter Press Service 07 Mar

States at sea over coastal levels.

Australia's six state governments have four different figures for predicted sea-level rise caused by climate change, leaving developers and councils confused and sparking calls for a federal takeover of coastal climate change planning. Sydney Australian 07 Mar

Cars homes drinking water 'under threat.'

The availability of fresh drinking water in the Bahamas could be jeopardised by climate change and hurricanes, warned State Environment Minister Phenton Neymour, who said this country urgently needs proper water networks and management policies. Nassau Tribune 07 Mar

California looks to Australia for lessons on water management.

A delegation of California water leaders recently visited Australia to learn lessons on water management in the face of drought and climate change. Pasadena Star-News 07 Mar

Regional rainfall in a warming world.

noii/flickr

Apart from the obvious warming at the high polar latitudes, which already is affecting Arctic sea ice and the rate of Greenland ice cap melting, new details are beginning to emerge about the impact of global warming in the Tropics - the boiler-room of Earth's climate and weather. Discovery Channel 06 Mar

Africa: facing extreme weather head on, Ibrahim Forum urges action.

Although Africa has contributed little to global warming, the continent and other parts of the developing world are bearing the brunt of the resultant climate change, according to scientists and development specialists. All Africa 06 Mar