Situation Report

Oceans Warming Faster Than They Have Over Past 10,000 Years

Tue, 2013-11-05 22:41 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A new study finds that the oceans could be holding the missing heat from global warming. Photo by Alexis DUCLOS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Greenhouse gas emissions have been rising, but warming has plateaued in recent years. It turns out the heat is likely being absorbed by the ocean depths.

science.time.com - by Bryan Walsh - November 1, 2013

. . . the oceans depths seem to be soaking up the excess heat energy created by the accumulation of greenhouse gases. Researchers led by Yair Rosenthal at Rutgers University reconstructed temperatures in one part of the Pacific Ocean and found that its middle depths have been warming some 15 times faster over the past 60 years than at any other time over the past 10,000 years. It’s as if the oceans have been acting as a battery, absorbing the excess charge created by the greenhouse effect, which leaves less to warm the surface of the planet, where we’d notice it.

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Report: Warming likely to make bad things worse

Mon, 2013-11-04 11:20 — Elhadj Drame

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Many of the ills of the modern world -- starvation, poverty, flooding, heat waves, droughts, war and disease -- are likely to worsen as the world warms from man-made climate change, a leaked draft of an international scientific report forecasts.

Home> U.S. Major Pension Funds Ask for Climate Change Study

Sun, 2013-11-03 15:54 — Maeryn Obley

abcnews.go.com - October 24th, 2013 - Kevin Begos

Some of the largest pension funds in the U.S. and the world are worried that major fossil fuel companies may not be as profitable in the future because of efforts to limit climate change, and they want details on how the firms will manage a long-term shift to cleaner energy sources.

In a statement released Thursday, leaders of 70 funds said they're asking 45 of the world's top oil, gas, coal and electric power companies to do detailed assessments of how efforts to control climate change could impact their businesses.

"Institutional investors must think over the long term, which means that we must take environmental risks into consideration when we make investments," New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli told The Associated Press in a statement.

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Former Irish President, Climate Justice Advocate Mary Robinson Urges Divestment of Fossil Fuel Firms

Sun, 2013-11-03 15:16 — Maeryn Obley

Video: Interview with Mary Robinson

democracynow.org - October 29th, 2013

As the New York region marks the first anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, hurricane-strength winds are battering northern Europe today. At least a dozen people have already been killed across Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and France. Amidst an increase in extreme weather and storms, we discuss the movement to confront climate change with Mary Robinson, former Irish president and U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

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Plan B Updates

Sun, 2013-11-03 15:11 — Maeryn Obley

World Annual Installed Offstore Wind Power Capacity, 1991-2013

Image: World Annual Installed Offstore Wind Power Capacity, 1991-2013

earth-policy.org - October 30th, 2013 - J. Matthew Roney

Offshore wind power installations are on track to hit a seventh consecutive annual record in 2013. Developers added 1,080 megawatts of generating capacity in the first half of the year, expanding the world total by 20 percent in just six months. Fifteen countries host some 6,500 megawatts of offshore wind capacity.

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Seven Strategic Assumptions Of Successful Social Movements

Thu, 2013-10-31 13:28 — gl

Pace e Bene - Bill Moyer

1. Social Movements Are Proven To Be Powerful

2. Movements Are At The Center of Society

3. The Real Issue Is Social Justice Vs. Vested Interest

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The Most Efficient Health Care Systems In The World

Thu, 2013-10-31 13:14 — gl

Huffington Post - Kavitha A. Davidson - August 29, 2013

As supporters and opponents of the Affordable Care Act debate the best way to overhaul a clearly broken health care system, it's perhaps helpful to put American medicine in a global perspective.

The infographic below is based on a recent Bloomberg ranking of the most efficient countries for health care, and highlights enormous gap between the soaring cost of treatment in the U.S. and its quality and effectiveness.

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New Study Predicts Year Your City's Climate Will Change

Thu, 2013-10-24 17:17 — Kathy Gilbeaux

(CLICK ON MAP IMAGE BELOW TO ENLARGE)

smithsonianmag.com - nationalgeographic.com - October 9, 2013

Climate change is a global problem, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to hit us all the same time.

If you live in Moscow, scientists estimate that your local climate will depart from the historical norm in the year 2063. In New York, that date is the year 2047. And if you happen to reside in Mexico City or Jakarta, those numbers are 2031 and 2029, respectively.

See a pattern here? These estimates, which all come from a new study published today in Nature by scientists from the University of Hawaii, reflect a concerning trend that some scientists believe will define the arrival of climate change’s effects on the planet: It’ll arrive in tropical, biodiverse areas first.

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FUKUSHIMA DISASTER: IMPACTS AND CONTINUING THREATS

Wed, 2013-10-23 12:28 — Gina Angiola

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) Report, 2013

More than two years since the nuclear disaster began at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, its impact is massive and widespread. It will be decades before the full scope of the impacts of this ongoing disaster is fully understood but significant health, economic, environmental and social consequences are already evident and quantifiable. Furthermore, independent expert analyses has documented extraordinary industry influence on government regulators, especially widespread collusion among the Japanese government, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the owner/operator of Fukushima, and the nuclear/utility industry. The Fukushima disaster leaves Japan with massive economic loss, radiation exposure to children and others, and a nation grappling with an uncertain nuclear future.

FULL REPORT HERE

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IAEA Expert Remediation Mission to Japan Issues Preliminary Report

Wed, 2013-10-23 00:33 — Kathy Gilbeaux

21 October 2013 | Tokyo -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s international expert mission to review remediation efforts in areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi accident concluded today with the presentation of a Preliminary Summary Report to Japan's Senior Vice-Minister of the Environment, Shinji Inoue.

The Follow-up IAEA International Mission on Remediation of Large Contaminated Areas Off-site the Fukushima Daiichi NPS recognised the huge effort and enormous resources that Japan is devoting to its remediation strategies and activities, with the aim of improving living conditions for people affected by the nuclear accident and enabling evacuees to return home.

The Mission Team highlighted important progress since the first IAEA remediation mission in October 2011, noted that Japan had made good use of advice from that earlier Mission, and offered fresh advice in a number of areas where it is still possible to further improve current practices, taking into account both international standards and the experience of remediation programmes in other countries.

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