“Climate change is already affecting every continent and ocean,
posing immediate and growing risks to people, an international
panel of scientists warned Monday.
“Much of the extreme weather that wreaked havoc in Asia, Europe
and the Pacific region last year can be blamed on human-induced
climate change, the U.N. weather agency says.
“The World Meteorological Organization’s annual assessment
Monday said 2013 was the sixth-warmest year on record. Thirteen
of the 14 warmest years have occurred in the 21st century.”
“There’s not much dispute these days, up and down the [North
Carolina] coast, about whether the ocean is rising. The
question is: How high will it go here, and how fast?
“North Carolinians must wait until 2016 for an official answer.
That’s the law.”
“As part of its campaign to address climate change, the White
House on Wednesday unveiled a website to serve as a one-stop
location for the enormous amount of climate data housed at
different federal agencies.”
“The Obama administration hopes to fight global warming with
the geeky power of numbers, maps and even gaming-type
simulations. …
“The government also is working with several high-tech
companies, such as Google, Microsoft and Intel, to come up with
tools to make communities more resilient in dealing with
weather extremes, such as flooding, heat waves and drought.”
From Bloomberg BNA’s Water Law & Policy Monitor, in an article by
Eric L. Garner, Best Best & Krieger:
“Climate change is essentially a water problem. Whether it is
drought, flood, changing hydrology or rising sea levels, the
impacts of climate change all involve water to some extent. Even
those who deny that human activities cause climate change must
acknowledge that long-term drought cycles in the past (as
evidenced by tree rings and other environmental indicators) and
wide variations in hydrology can be expected to recur and may be
recurring now.
“As international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
stall, schemes to slow global warming using fantastical
technologies once dismissed as a sideshow are getting serious
consideration in Washington.”
“California last week, President Obama and his aides cited the
state as an example of what could be in store for much of the
rest of the country as human-caused climate change intensifies.
“But in doing so, they were pushing at the boundaries of
scientific knowledge about the relationship between climate
change and drought.”
From The Sacramento Bee, in a commentary by Steve Fleischli:
“President Barack Obama visits Fresno today to highlight
federal efforts to confront California’s epic drought, possibly
our worst in 500 years. …
“The president can help us cope with this disaster, prepare for
the chronic water shortages to come and protect future
generations from the widening dangers of climate
change. All three will require federal help.”
From the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Switchboard
blog, in a post by Frances Beinecke:
“I just returned from California and was struck by how
devastating the state’s drought has become. People talked about
it everywhere I went, wondering what it means for people and the
economy. I can see why they are worried.
“High-country blizzards usually bury southern Sierra lake
basins in late January, leaving lodgepole pine and red fir
trees in snow drifts 15 feet deep.
“But snow surveyors making their usual visit this year to Kings
Canyon National Park found something most had never seen at
10,300 feet in January. Bare ground.”
“The White House will announce President Obama’s latest executive
order later today [Feb. 5] — a move aimed at helping farmers,
ranchers, and rural communities combat climate change and adapt
to extreme weather.
“Coca-Cola has always been more focused on its economic bottom
line than on global warming, but when the company lost a
lucrative operating license in India because of a serious water
shortage there in 2004, things began to change.
“Today, after a decade of increasing damage to Coke’s balance
sheet as global droughts dried up the water needed to produce
its soda, the company has embraced the idea of climate change
as an economically disruptive force.”
From the San Francisco Chronicle, in a commentary by David
Sedlak:
“Most Bay Area residents obtain their drinking water from a
system of reservoirs, canals and pipes that was built during the
first half of the 20th century. In the near future, it is likely
that we’ll pump a lot of money into this aging system to adapt it
to rising sea levels and changes in rainfall patterns.
