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Points of No Return
Paul Krugman connects the dots between the latest research showing a point of no return for the melting Antarctic ice sheet and the GOP’s deepening dogma on climate change denial. Read the New York Times article here.
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In California, Climate Issues Moved to Fore by Governor Amid a costly and devastating drought and a wildfire season that has started a month early, climate issues are moving to the top of the priority list in California, led by Governor Jerry Brown, and a few other states. How many other states will follow suit? Read the New York Times article here. 
Science Standards Divide a State Built on Coal and Oil The Republican-controlled legislature of Wyoming, a state where coal and oil are big industries, has rejected new national science standards for schools –arguing that lessons about human activity affecting climate is a form of “coercion”. Read the New York Times article here. 
As if there was any doubt… “Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present,” scientists declared in a major new report assessing the situation in the United States. See article “Climate Change Study Finds U.S. Is Already Widely Affected” 
A new gallop poll shows climate change and global warming are at the bottom of the list of environmental issues that Americans are concerned about. See this article: “Despite Troubling IPCC Report, Most Americans Still Aren't Worried About Global Warming”. Read the entire article here. 
ince most Americans get their news from three cable news networks (CNN, FOX and MSNBC), their coverage of climate science is hugely influential. The Union of Concerned Scientists assesses the accuracy of climate science-related news in this article. You’ll never guess which source is “misleading most of the time”. Read the article here. 
The American Wind Energy Association reported that wind power has cut U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 4.4% (the equivalent of taking 16.9 million cars off the road). Interestingly, as a California resident dealing with statewide drought and record numbers of wildfires, wind power also helped reduce water consumption by 36.5 billion gallons because coal, nuclear and some natural gas-fired units work by boiling water to produce steam that turns turbines to make electricity. Wind turbines don’t use water to produce electricity or for cooling, so it’s a win-win for Wind. Read the whole article here. 
This is a good article from the New York Times on the costs of our leaders dragging their feet on climate change: “UN Says Lag in Confronting Climate Woes Will Be Costly”. To read the article go here. 
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Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University and the author of “The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines” urges scientists to step up to the plate and communicate the URGENCY of acting to avert disaster from climate change. Here is the link to the article.  Image credit here
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