Climate Change

"The massive drought that has dried out Texas over the past year has killed as many as half a billion trees, according to new estimates from the Texas Forest Service."

"FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A bubble rose through a hole in the surface of a frozen lake. It popped, followed by another, and another, as if a pot were somehow boiling in the icy depths. Every bursting bubble sent up a puff of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas generated beneath the lake from the decay of plant debris. These plants last saw the light of day 30,000 years ago and have been locked in a deep freeze — until now. ..."

"China has further revised up its solar power development target for 2015 by 50 percent from its previous plan, state media reported on Thursday."

"SAN FRANCISCO — California Gov. Jerry Brown railed Thursday against politicians who doubt climate change, calling them 'political lemmings' and the chief obstacle in the fight against global warming."

"Police officers investigating the theft of thousands of private emails between climate scientists from a University of East Anglia server in 2009 have seized computer equipment belonging to a web content editor based at the University of Leeds.

"SAN FRANCISCO – Nearly 36,000 people gathered last week in two groups on opposite ends of the Earth to discuss the same thing: Our planet and our future. But their responses are starkly divergent. One group -- scientists at the American Geophysical Union meeting drilling ever deeper into the evidence -- said, in broad terms, 'Change is worse than we thought.' The other group -- delegates at the United Nations climate talks -- countered, 'Mañana.'"

"Canada is formally withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, abandoning the world's only legally binding plan to tackle global warming."

"Countries from around the globe agreed on Sunday to forge a new deal forcing all the biggest polluters for the first time to limit greenhouse gas emissions, but critics said the plan was too timid to slow global warming."

"DURBAN, South Africa, December 8, 2011 (ENS) - With less than 24 hours left before the end of another climate change conference, negotiators in Durban are working around the clock to salvage the talks, with the African Group vowing on Thursday to ensure some kind of deal is achieved.

Progress has been made on several issues, including the structure of the Green Climate Fund, with an agreement imminent on the multi-billion dollar long-term financing instrument.

"For the first time, a US appellate court has ruled that the federal government must continue to protect an animal – in this case, Yellowstone grizzly bears – in part because of consequences of global warming."