Climate Change

22/06/14
Author: 
Brad Plumer
The Sixth Extinction

There have been five mass extinction events in Earth's history. In the worst one, 250 million years ago, 96 percent of marine species and 70 percent of land species died off. It took millions of years to recover.

10/06/14
Author: 
Steven Chase and Barrie McKenna

Stephen Harper insists he won’t be pressured to alter his business-friendly climate-change policies, saying the Conservative government is simply more upfront than leadership in some other countries about its intention to avoid abatement measures that hurt jobs and economic growth. “No matter what they say, no country is going to take actions that are going to deliberately destroy jobs and growth in their country. We are just a little more frank about that,” the Prime Minister said. This unapologetic tone comes as one of Mr.

02/06/14
Author: 
Nafeez Ahmed
Activists at 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference

During his speech at West Point Military Academy earlier this week, President Barack Obama described climate change as a "creeping national security crisis" that will require the armed forces to "respond to refugee flows, natural disasters, and conflicts over water and food."

The speech emphasised that US foreign policy in the 21st century is increasingly being honed in recognition of heightened risks of social, political and economic upheaval around the world due the impacts of global warming.

02/06/14
Author: 
CBC Staff
Obama announcing plan to cut greenhouse gases June 2014

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officially unveiled the Obama administration’s plan Monday to cut greenhouse gases 30 per cent by 2030, stressing what it says will be the economic benefits of its "clean-air revolution."

Under the plan, carbon emissions would be reduced 30 per cent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, one of the most significant actions to address global warming in U.S. history.

28/05/14
Author: 
Mike De Souza

Weather forecasters at Environment Canada aren’t supposed to discuss climate change in public, says a Canadian government spokesman.

Environment Canada made the comments in response to emailed questions about its communications policy.

. . . the department’s communications protocol prevents the meteorologists from drawing links to changing climate patterns following extreme weather events such as severe flooding in southern Alberta or a massive wildfire in Northern Quebec in the summer of 2013.

28/05/14
Author: 
George Monbiot
Compound growth

The trajectory of compound growth shows that the scouring of the planet has only just begun. As the volume of the global economy expands, everywhere that contains something concentrated, unusual, precious, will be sought out and exploited, its resources extracted and dispersed, the world's diverse and differentiated marvels reduced to the same grey stubble.

22/05/14
Author: 
Bill McKibben

This is an invitation, an invitation to come to New York City. An invitation to anyone who'd like to prove to themselves, and to their children, that they give a damn about the biggest crisis our civilization has ever faced.

. . .

17/05/14
Author: 
George Monbiot
mapping climate change commitments

That didn’t take long. The public interest in the state of the natural world stimulated by the winter floods receded almost as quickly as the waters did. A YouGov poll showed that the number of respondents placing the environment among their top three issues of concern rose from 6% in mid-January to 23% in mid-February. By early April – though the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had just published two massive and horrifying reports – the proportion had fallen back to 11%.
. . .

17/05/14
Author: 
Noam Chomsky

When I hear the phrase “on the edge,” the irresistible image is the proverbial lemmings marching resolutely to the cliff.

10/05/14
Author: 
Democracy Now

One of the country’s most prestigious universities, with one of the world’s largest endowments, has joined the student-led movement to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Stanford University’s Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to stop investing in coal-mining companies because of climate change concerns. The board said it acted in accordance with guidelines that let them consider whether "corporate policies or practices create substantial social injury" when choosing investments. Stanford’s endowment is valued at $18.7 billion.

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