Mary Ellen Harte Biologist and author Posted: 09/03/2013 1:38 am

Greenland Mega Canyon Helps Hasten Melt reports Bryan Kahn at Climate Central. Under more than a mile of ice lies this newly discovered canyon, which rivals the Grand Canyon in size, and acts as a giant culvert for meltwater to the sea, easing further melting. What a waterslide!

Greenland meltwater drains into interior. Credit: CIRESNational Referendum Proposed to Keep Biodiverse, Carbon-Storing Rainforest from Drilling destruction, reports Jeremy Hance at Mongabay. After Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, announced that he was abandoning an innovative program to spare Yasuni National Park from drilling, environmental groups and activists quickly responded with another proposal to keep it from drilling destruction: a national referendum. Up with people power!

Macaws are just one of the natural wonders of Yasuni National Park. Credit: Rhett Butler, at MongabayOcean Acidification To Threaten Sea Life, Worsen Climate Change say 2 new studies, reports Bryan Walsh at Time Magazine. Besides slowing marine shell and skeletal formation, increasing acidification attacks fish nerves, causing confused behavior, adds Katie Valentine at Climate Progress. Acidification also reduces marine emissions of sulfur, the largest natural sulfur source to the air. These sulfur emissions block sunlight, creating a slight cooling. So, rising acidity will help speed global warming. It’s a pretty sour future, folks!

Sea creatures like this crinoid are threatened by ocean acidification. Credit AP/NOAAYosemite Fire Shows How Climate-Change-Driven Droughts Amplify Wildfires reports Andrew Freedman at Climate Central. The West has been warming faster than the rest of the Lower 48 since the 1970s, a trend partly tied to climate change. Yosemite’s Rim Fire is burning a forest that has experienced two unusually dry winters and a July heatwave that further created this tinderbox. Ask not for whom the trees burn…

The Yosemite Rim Fire (as of August 26), has been amplified by climate change. Credit ABC7News via Twitter.Cooler Pacific Slows Air Warming, Not Global Warming says a new study, reports Andrew Freedman at Climate Central. Due to a multidecadal climate cycle, part of the Pacific has cooled over the past 15 years, encouraging absorption of global warming heat into the deep ocean, and keeping average global air and surface water temperatures relatively stable. But as the cycle swings back to warming that area, we are going to see a much more accelerated warming of air and sea surface temperatures. As study co-author Shang-Ping Xie (love that name!) puts it, “When it swings up we’re going to be in big trouble.”

Make your very own global temperature graph here! You can use different reputable data sources and time frames, but it will show the same thing: the Earth is warming.

!!!! Check out a whole new crop of EPA Climate Change youtubers here! !!!! ☼☼☼ On the Bright Side ☼☼☼ ___________OO Huge Crop Insurance Payouts Could Shrink With Better Farming Practices

OO Kansas: Grow Less Now To Grow Far More Later

OO London: Giant Living Green Wall Soaks Up Extra Water when there’s a lot of rain….

☼☼☼

OO Four New Wind Farms In The Upper Midwest Could Power 750,000 Homes

OO The Latest Clean Energy Cocktail: Bacteria And Fungus

OO The Inside Story Of The World’s Biggest ‘Battery’ And The Future Of Renewable Energy

Wind turbine installation in the West. Credit Mary Ellen HarteOO Ohioans Promise To Buy Power Generated By The Wind Off Lake Erie – more than 4,500 have signed up, so far.

OO ‘Solar Gardens’ Put Clean Energy Within Reach Of Low-Income Families

OO Cutting Carbon Emissions Can Result In A Better Economy (Updated)
☼☼☼

OO Construction Begins On Nevada Solar Plant To Power 80,000 Homes
OO New Pilot Project Brings Electric Delivery Trucks To Texas
OO How Wave Power Could Yield Freshwater With Zero Carbon Emissions

A solar plane, the Solar Impulse, recently flew across the US. Courtesy, SolarImpulseOO Solar-Powered Travel: Opening Up New Routes Across Sky, Sea And Land pushing technological frontiers.

OO Tesla Outsells Most Other Luxury Cars in California

OO Stats Show Americans Not That Into Driving Anymore driving less in nearly every state.

☼☼☼

OO How Hospitals Can Help Fight Climate Change

OO Climate Change Becoming Health Priority

☼☼☼

OO Squeezing The Future Of The World Into 3 Minutes Of Air Time – Get weather AND climate news all in one place: the Weather Channel…
OO Utah Governor Opposes Drilling In Book Cliffs

OO Five Caribbean States Join Pilot For Energy Efficiency

☼☼☼ Martin Luther King’s Legacy and Climate ☼☼☼OO What We’re Seeing Now: Sit-Ins, Civil Rights And Climate Action

OO We Stand On The Precipice Of Change

OO I Have a (Climate) Dream

☼☼☼

OO Students Press Schools To Drop Fossil Fuel Stocks

OO Obama May Revive $25 Billion Cleaner Auto Loan Program

OO Doctors, Environmental Groups Want Tighter Emissions Limits On Coal Plants

☼☼☼ ***** US Climate Change News ***** _____________OO Yosemite Wildfire Threatens San Francisco’s Power Supply

OO Yosemite Rim Fire Taking Ecological Toll Over Large Area – now the 5th largest in CA history, incinerating large areas of forest, wiping out habitat for spotted owls and goshawks, and probably claiming old-growth trees.

OO Yosemite Fire Impacts Are Many, Extend to Nevada – The giant wildfire burning near Yosemite National Park has destroyed buildings, and threatened water supplies, electricity and sequoias — and created a haze hazardous to the health of people over a 100 miles away in Nevada.

Credit ABC 15 NewsOO Colorado: A Year After a Big Wildfire, Town Faces Flooding

OO Florida: Storms, Tides, and Sea Level Rise Eroding Valuable Coastline

OO Illinois: Extreme Rain Adds Sewage To Detroit’s Woes

OO Texas: Around Oil and Gas Fields, Household Water Disappears

OO Pennsylvania: New Report Tracks Multiple Health Impacts of Fracking

OO Pennsylvania: Officials Tried Suppressing Study That Criticized Shale Gas

<><><><>

OO North Carolina: Officials OK Rule to Force Fracking on Landowners – and more here.

☼☼☼Acting Like You Care: The XL Keystone pipeline will make possible far more climate change, but President Obama might okay it anyway. Credo, 350.org and others are asking people to stand up and be counted as nonviolent resisters or help in other ways. I did. If you ever wanted to do something big for your future, now’s your chance – here.

OO What Does Obama Mean by “All of the Above” on Energy? Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz provided some answers recently.

OO Scientists Are Leaving GOP in Big Numbers – leaving Republicans more ignorant than ever on important matters based on science, like climate change.

OO Personal Touch Motivates One to Act on Climate – reach out and touch someone today.

<><><><>

OO Drought, Heat Waves Costing Federal Government Billions In Crop Insurance Payouts

OO Wind Turbines Do Not Hurt House Values

OO Americans Want More Wind Energy, But Are Not Getting It

<><><><> Via the University of East Anglia Climate Change webpage <<<< Climate Change Round the World >>>> ______________OO Banks Put A Price On Earth’s Life Support – Many plan cutting credit to companies who exploit natural resources without valuing them.

OO Canada: Govt Views Pipeline Key to Oil Sands Production say newly discovered documents.

OO Indonesia: 500 Fires Rage Across Sumatra with fears that hazardous haze will again plague Singapore and Malaysia.
<><><><>

OO Central America: Dengue Fever Epidemic Sparks Public Health Emergency as new climate conditions favor spread of the virus-carrying mosquito.

OO China: New Coal-Fired Power Stations ‘Will Kill Thousands’

<><><><> Ten Global Warming Indicators. Credit NOAA <><><><> (((((((( Seeking the Science )))))))) __________OO The Ocean Is Going To Start Confusing Fish And Dissolving Seashells

OO Vicious Cycle: Extreme Climate Events Beget More Climate Change as events release 11 billion tons of co2 into the air every year.
OO Forest Fragmentation Leading To Higher Extinction Rates
<><><><>

OO Crop Pests Head Polewards To Flee Heat

OO Green Crabs Decimate Maine Clam Flats as the crabs explode with warming temperatures.

Dung beetles aerate decomposing plant matter, which ultimately releases carbon dioxide instead of the more potent greenhouse gas methane. Credit Mary Ellen Harte

OO Dung Beetles Help Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
OO Sea Otters Control An Important Carbon Sink, Kelp Forests by eating kelp predators.

Sea Otter. Credit ShutterstockOO Climate Change and Wildfires: What’s the Connection? The EPA perspective.

OO Thinking About Science Triggers Moral Behavior

OO AccuClimate: The Future of Climate Change Forecasting

<><><><> @@@ Climate Change in the Media @@@ __________ Via Climate NexusOO @@ WEEKLY CLIMATE CHANGE VIDEO SERIES!! @@ Entitled “In Case You Missed It” via the good folks at Climate Nexus on Vimeo – select headlines delivered in less than 90 seconds with good graphics. Cool watching — spread the word!!

@@@ New EPA Climate Change Videos!!! @@@
OO What You Can Do About Climate Change On The Road…

OO What You Can Do About Climate Change At Work …

OO What You Can Do About Climate Change At Home and here‘s the 30 sec PSA.

@@@

OO Learn About the Fuel Economy Label

OO Energy Star Certified New Homes – Better is Better

OO Climate Change And The Economy

OO Green Your Commute

OO Save Energy And Money Just By Changing A Few Bulbs

OO Change A Bulb And Reduce Carbon Emissions

@@@

OO Brighten Up Your Budget With Light Bulbs

OO Light Bulbs Cut Your Carbon Footprint

OO Up Or Down? It Depends On The Season

@@ Make your own Climate Trend Graph using different time frames, reputable data sets, different combination of temperature measurements. No matter what, the results will be the same: Earth is warming.

Meteorological map of summer 2013 systems via Wunderground.com@@ Psychedelic Video of July & August Weather Maps Showing Bizarre Weather

<><><><>
To help you understand just what science does and does NOT do, check this out!

Every day is Earth Day, folks, as I was reminded by this inquisitive phasmatid (stick insect) I photographed in Botswana. Making the U.S. a global clean energy leader will ensure a heck of a lot more jobs, and a clean, safe future. If you’d like to join the increasing numbers of people who want to TELL Congress that they will vote for clean energy candidates you can do so here. It’s our way of letting Congress know there’s a strong clean energy voting bloc out there. For more detailed summaries of the above and other climate change items, audio podcasts and texts are freely available.