ENVIRONMENT

NASA Confirms Sustained Long-Term Climate Warming Trend

2013updates_nodates_lastStep_2009_2013

By Glynn Wilson – Scientists now say 2013 tied with 2009 and 2006 for the seventh warmest year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures, according to a new report out from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in the 134-year record…

New Study Documents Consequences of Climate Change on North American Forests

fir_fog11

By Glynn Wilson – Climate change due to human induced global warming from the burning of fossil fuels makes North American forests more vulnerable to insects and disease, according to a new study published by a team of researchers from Dartmouth University in the journal Ecological Monographs. After reviewing about 500 scientific studies dating back…

New Report Concludes Human Influence on Global Climate is ‘Clear’

ipcc-co2-630

By Glynn Wilson – As if there was still any doubt in the scientific community, we now know that “human influence on the climate system is clear,” according to a new report just out from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause…

Auburn Scientists Confirm Deadly Bacteria in BP Tar Balls

BonSecour_Beach3b1

By Glynn Wilson – The Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, and the waves of tar balls deposited on the beaches shortly thereafter, prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to produce a tar ball fact sheet. Among the factoids was one stating that those sticky, coin-sized clumps of…

EPA Proposes Carbon Pollution Standards for New Power Plants

miller_steam2b-2

By Glynn Wilson – The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new Clean Air Act standards to cut carbon pollution from new power plants “in order to combat climate change and improve public health,” according to the announcement sent out Friday morning. The new standards are set to go into effect by June 1, 2014. The…

A Groundbreaking Year for Environmental Journalism and Activism

Climate_Rally2-17-13a5

The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – It’s been one of the most interesting and groundbreaking years in a long time for environmental activism, environmental journalism and the Sierra Club nationally and in my home state of Alabama. Since I made the decision to cross the line and join the club to get personally…

Senate Gridlock Breaks: McCarthy Approved at EPA, Perez at Labor

Gina_McCarthy11

By Glynn Wilson – Something has come over the Republicans in the U.S. Senate. Gridlock in Washington is cracking, and President Obama’s nominees are now working their way through confirmation like water through an open dam. A bipartisan deal was reached this week with the Republicans to allow votes on all seven of the pending…

Public Concern About Global Warming is On the Rise Again

GallupGlobalWarming4-13

A Majority in the U.S. Believe Global Warming is Happening Already – By Glynn Wilson – Apparently all the recent attention in the media about global warming and climate change is having an effect on public opinion. Public concern about global warming is on the rise again after several years of growing skepticism due to…

We Can Save the Planet and the Economy Too

Climate_Rally2-17-13a12

Who Needs Jobs on a Dead Planet? – The Big Picture – by Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following folks from all over the country willing to travel thousands of miles and brave freezing temperatures and a bone chilling wind to march from the Washington Monument around the White House and back to bring…

About 35,000 March on Washington for Action on Climate Change

Climate_Rally2-17-13a1

Watch the video here… By Glynn Wilson WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 17 – During President’s Day weekend and in freezing temperatures and against a brutal wind, more than 35,000 activists marched from the Washington Monument around the White House to support immediate action to contain climate change due to global warming. People from more than 30…