USA Today (August 10)
Much of the U.S. is experiencing another summer heat wave. It should be a reminder. “Too often, climate change is discussed as something to be worried about far off into the future… Both the latest global data and the USA’s sweltering summer suggest, however, that the future might be now.” The newspaper believes “a prudent society would begin moving aggressively to reduce carbon emissions and to develop cleaner energy sources.”
New York Times (July 19)
“It’s time to face the fact that the weather isn’t what it used to be.” Things are getting hotter and moister. Welcome to the new normal. Every decade, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recalculates normal climate data for over 7,000 U.S. locations based on 30-year averages. The latest numbers “show that the climate of the last 10 years was about 1.5 degrees warmer than the climate of the 1970s.” The seemingly small difference is massive. This trend means that summers like the “European heat wave that killed more than 30,000 people during the summer of 2003…. will likely happen every other year by 2040.”
Tags: Europe, Global warming, New normal, NOAA, Temperature, U.S.
The Economist (February 17)
There has been little success in slowing climate change or reducing carbon emissions. Sweeping new international agreements are elusive. The Economist believes it’s time to look at smaller measures that can gain quick agreement. For example, the industrial gas HFC-134 could be eliminated under the existing Montreal protocol. Substitutes are already available for this gas which “delivers more than 1,000 times more warming than carbon dioxide, mass for mass.” Banning HFC-134 would make a difference and could be done quickly. Success in smaller agreements may even “help build the trust, ambition and momentum needed to get further on deals to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions.”
Tags: Carbon, Climate change, Emissions, Global warming
New York Times (August 29)
“If a country sinks beneath the sea, is it still a country?” No idle riddle, the Marshall Islands is consulting experts on this and other tricky questions. What nationality will their people have once the islands are under water? Who will retain the mineral and fishing rights? Will the islanders still be in the U.N.? The predicament points to the urgent need for a comprehensive energy and climate bill in the U.S.
“If a country sinks beneath the sea, is it still a country?” No idle riddle, the Marshall Islands is consulting experts on this and other tricky questions. What nationality will their people have once the islands are under water? Who will retain the mineral and fishing rights? Will the islanders still be in the U.N.? The predicament points to the urgent need for a comprehensive energy and climate bill in the U.S.
Tags: Global warming, Marshall Islands, U.N.
Guardian (August 12)
“2010 is becoming the year of the heatwave, with record temperatures set in 17 countries.” Among the record setters are Pakistan at 53.5° on May 26, Saudi Arabia at 52.0° on June 22, Russia at 44.0° on July 11, and Finland at 37.2° on July 29.
Tags: Global warming, Record heat, Summer
Time (June 14)
“There is no time to lose” on climate change. The first generation to recognize global warming “could also be the last that has a chance of slowing and eventually reversing the process.” Entitled “Leaving a Good Legacy” the commentary declares we must begin combating climate change now.”If we do nothing, we will likely bequeath to them a less habitable — perhaps even uninhabitable — planet, the most negative legacy imaginable.”
Tags: Climate change, Global warming
Washington Post (May 19)
In America, climate change legislation took a backseat to health care reform and financial regulation. The Post says that Senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman “have provided Congress with an opportunity.” The Post calls their climate bill “imperfect,” but a good start “in the right direction” and urges legislators to seize this opportunity. Waiting to pass a climate bill will simply make global warming more difficult (and expensive) to address.
In America, climate change legislation took a backseat to health care reform and financial regulation. The Post says that Senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman “have provided Congress with an opportunity.” The Post calls their climate bill “imperfect,” but a good start “in the right direction” and urges legislators to seize this opportunity. Waiting to pass a climate bill will simply make global warming more difficult (and expensive) to address.
Tags: Climate change, Congress, Global warming, U.S.
