UN

Enough With The Global Population Boom Scare Talk, Please!

July 11, was World Population Day as defined by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989, an outgrowth of the interest generated by the Day of Five Billion, which was observed on July 11, 1987. Family planning is a human right The current United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has a theme

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Levels Grew At Record Pace In 2016, UN Says

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels grew at a record pace in 2016, to 403.3 parts per million (ppm), up from 400.0 in 2015, the UN World Meteorological Organization just revealed as part of its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. The growth rate in atmospheric carbon dioxide in 2016 was thus around 50% faster than the average of

World Environment Day (unep.org/wed/)

World Environment Day–Save The Planet!

Seven billion dreams. One Planet. Consume with care. Those are the messages of today, which is World Environment Day everywhere. It’s the biggest day for positive environmental action! The United Nations declares this day every year to energize worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Stakeholders in over 100 countries celebrate through public outreach every June 5. This

Climate Humor At The UN COP20 Meet (VIDEOS)

Never let it be said that the doomsaying, treehugging, pointy-headed nerds of the climate change adaptation movement lack a fundamental sense of humor. The dark amusements of the UN’s COP20 conference in Lima—as at prior venues—surface daily in the presentation of an award for [Climate] Fossil of the Day. During United Nations climate change talks

Take Three Minutes To Climate Watch This Weekend

It’s still Climate Week, though the marches and summit conference are over. If you’d like to spend some time doing a brief climate watch this weekend, here are a few suggestions. These short takes are the result of surveying over 500 free and publicly available videos. Each takes around three minutes or less to watch.

Climate Synthesis Sent To World Leaders By IPCC

Or do you? It’s time to pay attention to climate change now—as if it wasn’t back in 1800, when our current problems started. We all need to acknowledge that stunning industrial achievements can carry with them enormous unforeseen risks and challenges. Americans should take particular note, because on the whole we are wa-a-a-y behind on this.

Wicked Fires of Climate Change Inflame The West (photo-essay)

There are the good wildfires, and there are the bad. Unfortunately, the latter often overwhelm the beneficial ones. We’ll go on with stories from San Diego in a minute—it’s a long story of an actually short time—but here’s a word about the bright side first. Whoopi Goldberg had a thought that’s worth repeating: When you

100% Renewable Energy Future — How To Get There + Useful Studies

At the United Nations’ upcoming COP 19 event in Warsaw, the REN Alliance is scheduled to “introduce the theme of a 100% renewable energy future, and introduce case studies on how to attain this vision.” The side event is supposed to touch on technical integration of renewable energy resources, policies, financing, and more. Speakers will include

The Great Green Wall Of Africa — A 4,000 Mile Defense Against Climate Change

One of the most unique large-scale international climate change projects is underway in Africa. A 4,000 mile “wall of trees” is being constructed across the east-west axis of the continent as a defense against rapid, expanding desertification of the Sahara. 11 nations — Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti

The Arctic Lost US-Sized Sea Ice in 2012

The UN’s World Meteorological Organisation has released it’s provisional annual statement on the state of the global climate and it shows that, if things keep going as they have for the first 10 months of the year, 2012 will join the ranks of warmest years on record that have been filled by the years 2001

Heartland Institute's Complete Hypocrisy (Continued)

  I’ve written on the Heartland Institute’s complete hypocrisy two or three times (see the related posts at the bottom of this one to check those out). DeSmog Blog recently posted another great piece on this hypocrisy, from yet another angle. Here’s that piece in full: A Heartland Institute front man* phoned a Greenpeace activist

2011 Natural Disasters Cost World More than Ever Before

  The economic toll of natural disasters cost the world a record amount in 2011, it was reported this week. The total cost was around $380 billion, according to the United Nations. The costliest disasters were earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand. However, floods in Thailand (the most costly floods in Thailand’s history) and elsewhere, fires,

NYC Mayor Bloomberg: Mayors Must Take Climate Action

  NYC’s mayor, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, is not the 99%’s favorite politician. However, he has done more to push science-denying Republicans (members of a party he used to belong to) to wake up to the threats of global warming and climate change and take action. The latest news is that he is pushing all mayors

Climate Talks Leading Us to 4° (Catastrophe-Heavy) World

  Following up on my other two posts today on the UN climate change negotiations currently taking place in Durban, South Africa, and adding to what I said in both, here’s the WWF on how bad things are looking: Sam Smith ahead the closing COP17 from WWF on Vimeo. by WWF Durban, South Africa: Government

Global Warming Politics, Environment, and Animal Stories of the Day

Some top global warming and environmental news from the last day or so: Global Warming & Environmental Politics Time to Put People Ahead of Polluters Over on ecopolitology, Sierra Club’s Michael Brune had a good piece on why it’s time to put people ahead of polluters. Senate 2012 Race & Tea Partiers The conservative right

Environmental, Global Warming, and Animal News

Some of the top climate change and environmental stories of the last day or so: Climate Science Graph of the Day: Greenland Ice Sheet Mass Changes Good info and graphs on the page above, but thought I’d share the 3 videos from the post here for you to check out just in case you don’t feel

Global Warming and Environmental Politics News of the Week

Here’s some of the biggest global warming and environmental politics news and commentary from the last week or so, along with some fun cartoons. Rocket Fuel in Our Water? The inspiration for the cartoon above, among other things: information that there is rocket fuel (or a component of it) in water supplies across the U.S.

Increasing Demand for Fish + Failing Fisheries = Huge Problems

Rome, Italy: The conflict between increasing demand for fish and failing fisheries has enormous implications for world food security and the state of our oceans, lakes and rivers, WWF said today. The global environment organisation was welcoming the latest State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report, issued today in Rome by the UN

Environmental News of the Week: Polar Bears, More Plagues Likely, & More

Here’s our roundup of interesting (good & bad) environmental and wildlife news of the week, other than what we’ve covered already. White House: Polar Bears Not ‘Endangered’ The Obama administration is sticking with a George W. Bush-era decision to deny polar bears endangered species status. In a court filing Wednesday, the Fish and Wildlife Service

November Link Drop

I know, it’s not November any more. I’m dropping links here for November stories I never got around to sharing or writing about but really wanted to. I figured it would be better to do so at the end of the week than on Tuesday. So, here are some more stories from November you might

Climategate Scientists Vindicated by Inquiry

An independent report into the climategate scandal has left the involved scientists mostly vindicated, with only a minor slap on the wrist. The panel of inquiry, led by former U.K. civil servant Muir Russell, found that the scientists “rigour and honesty as scientists [is] not in doubt.” The report went on to say that they

Curbing Greenhouse Emissions Will Be A Challenge

Since the monumental failure of the Copenhagen summit in December, one must wonder how we’ll ever avert catastrophe. [social_buttons]Instead of coming out of the climate change conference in Copenhagen with a new international climate treaty we found that countries are more divisive than ever, with industrialized nations, new economic powers like China and Argentina, and

The Hidden Giant #1: "Food" — Vegetarianism

It is one of the least discussed issues when we discuss solutions to the environmental crisis. It is not whether or not the food is organic or sprayed with synthetic chemicals, or whether or not it is grown locally. The underdiscussed issue is the importance of a vegetarian diet for addressing critical environmental issues. As

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