Climate Change

"A dramatic warming of the planet 55 million years ago cannot be solely explained by a surge in carbon dioxide levels, a study shows, highlighting gaps in scientists' understanding of impacts from rapid climate change." One implication is that the current warming episode could prove worse than now predicted, as models may not fully account for feedback mechanisms that amplify warming.

"BEIJING -- Top U.S. officials on Wednesday left open the possibility that China might not have to accept a hard cap on its greenhouse gas emissions under a new global climate change treaty."

Middle Georgia summers are going to get hotter, according to a new report on global warming.

The monsoon arrived late and weak in India this year -- a phenomenon some attribute to climate change. As it ponders drought and crop failure, India continues to insist that rich nations must solve the climate problem without its help.

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has bumped back the deadline until Sept. 28 for the six committees working on a comprehensive climate change and energy bill."

The two-degree pledge on climate change made by the G8 is nonbinding, hard to translate to a specific level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere ... and perhaps wishful thinking.

"Climate change could push dengue fever into all corners of the United States, as the mosquitoes that can carry the traditionally tropical virus survive warmer U.S. winters .... scientists at the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a report."

"Hydrofluorocarbons ... are ... many thousands of times more potent than CO2 as climate warming agents, and scientists say their spread could become as much as 50 percent of the global greenhouse gas problem by 2050. Yet the public is barely aware of the issue, and as the White House works to hammer out its policy, it seems to want to keep it that way."

"The world's leading industrial nations tentatively agreed Wednesday to try to prevent global temperatures from rising above a fixed level, after a more far-reaching proposal to slash production of greenhouse gases fizzled... ."