Climate Change

"Carpetbagger Scott Brown is discovering that his newfound refusal to accept climate science may hurt him in November’s New Hampshire Senate election. According to a new poll commissioned by the League of Conservation Voters, 48 percent of New Hampshire voters say they would be less likely to support a candidate who does not acknowledge the reality of climate change, versus only 21 percent who say they would be more likely."

"A day after the National Audubon Society released a report saying that about half of North America’s 650 bird species will be threatened by climate change, a report released Tuesday by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal agencies concluded that nearly one-third of American birds are in trouble."

"Climate change could kill up to 90 percent of the forests covering the Rocky Mountains, warned  the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists today in a new study based in part on projections made by the U.S. Forest Service."

"The death toll from the heaviest rain to fall on Kashmir in 50 years rose to more than 400 on Tuesday, with thousands still trapped on rooftops and residents criticizing Indian and Pakistani authorities for not doing enough to help them."

"Heat waves are quickly becoming one of the world's deadliest weather phenomena. In the United States, extreme heat now kills more people each year than tornadoes, hurricanes, or flooding. And a massive heat wave, like the one that hit Europe in 2003, can kill tens of thousands in a blow."

"PENN COVE, Wash. – Cookie tray in hand and lifejacket around chest, Laura Newcomb looks more like a confused baker than a marine biologist. But the University of Washington researcher is dressed for work."

"GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — With climate change still a political minefield across the nation despite the strong scientific consensus that it's happening, some community leaders have hit upon a way of preparing for the potentially severe local consequences without triggering explosions of partisan warfare: Just change the subject."

"As pressure grows from students who want to see their schools use financial clout to address environmental issues, Yale University’s investment office wrote to its money managers asking them to assess how investments could affect climate change and suggesting they avoid companies that do not take sensible “steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”"

A Massachusetts prosecutor dropped charges against two protestors who claimed global warming was so dire they had no choice but to block a coal shipment. The prosecutor made the announcement clutching an article by Bill McKibben, which he said convinced him that “Climate change is one of the gravest crises our planet has ever faced.”

Faceless on Facebook, a shadowy but aggressive anti-environmental propaganda group called the Institute for Energy Research turns out, documents reveal, to be founded and funded by oil billionaire Charles Koch. It's mission: preserve tax breaks for big oil.