Global Climate Change News

A collection of news items taken from the world's newspapers, journals, and magazines that are related to Global Climate Change. This site is updated as news items appear in the popular press. All links will take you to sites outside of the PRISM site. Use your back button to return.

• June 17, 2005 - Bush Still Can't Pronounce "Global Warming" - Spiegel
  A leaked document from papers leading up to the early July meeting of the G8 indicated that the United States is unwilling to sign anything that says the world is getting hotter.
  
  
• June 13, 2005 - The Debate's Over: Globe is Warming - USA Today
  Don't look now, but the ground has shifted on global warming. After decades of debate over whether the planet is heating and, if so, whose fault it is, divergent groups are joining hands with little fanfare to deal with a problem they say people can no longer avoid.
  
  
• June 13, 2005 - Bangladesh Most Vulnerable to Climate Change - The Independent
  Professor Mohan Munashinghe, Vice-Chairman of Intergovernmental Panel said on Climate Change (IPCC) yesterday at a discussion meeting in Dhaka termed developing countries like Bangladesh, and the people living there, to be the most vulnerable to climate change.
  
  
• June 9, 2005 - White House Official Altered Climate Data - International Herald Tribune
  A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down the links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal U.S. government documents. (Similar story by Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• June 7, 2005 - Science Academies Urge Action on Climate Change - Scotsman
  Science academies from the world's leading nations today called on their governments to take urgent action over climate change. The eight institutions, representing the scientific establishment of the developed world, said there was now clear evidence of the harmful effect of greenhouse gas emissions.
  
  
• May 31, 2005 - Hurricane Season Could Renew Global Warming Debate - ENN
  If several serious hurricanes hit the U.S. again this year, you can expect a renewed debate about the role of global warming in their occurence. Most hurricane experts believe last year's pounding was the result of a natural cycle, but some climate experts disagree.
  
  
• May 27, 2005 - Global Warming Likely To Increase Famine - ABC
  The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warned that continued global warming will significantly disrupt food production in many countries and greatly increase the number of hungry people, especially in sub-Saharan African countries.
  
  
• May 26, 2005 - Arctic Leaders Appeal Over Global Warming - ENN (AP)
  Inuit leaders from Arctic regions around the world met with leaders of the European Union and asked them to do more about global warming and to consider giving aid to indigenous groups that are being harmed by it.
  
  
• May 26, 2005 - Rising Sea Levels Pose Global Threat - CNN
  Leaders at a conference in the Netherlands warn that building stronger sea walls will not suffice in the future to hold back the sea if global warming causes the predicted rise in sea level. New methods of control were discussed.
  
  
• May 26, 2005 - Blair Struggles to Win Backing For G8 Plan - The State
  UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has 6 weeks to get the world to back his plan to increase aid to Africa and address global warming. Resistance from George Bush may test Blair's alliance with the U.S.
  
  
• May 23, 2005 - Corporate U.S. Wakes Up To Climate Change - Taipei Times
  Leaders of major US companies, such as General Electric, have decided that global man-made climate change is real, must be controlled, and that business must play a constructive part in the process.
  
  
• May 17, 2005 - Danger of Melting Everest Glaciers - CNN
  Global warming is rapidly shrinking glaciers on the Tibetian side of Mount Everest, putting world water supplies at risk.
  
  
• May 11, 2005 - "Roof of the World" Faces Threat - News 24
  The fragile environment of the Tibet-Qinghai plateau is under threat from pollution and global warming. The plateau has warmed, rains have increased and glaciers shrunk. (Some photos of the plateau)
  
  
• May 11, 2005 - Investors See Growing Risks From Climate - International Herald Tribune
  State treasurers and other financial gurus met at the United Nations to talk about the potential economic impact of global climate change and to discuss ways to pressure more US companies into opening talking about, and dealing with, climate change.
  
  
• May 10, 2005 - Glacier Keeps Its Cool Under Hi-Tech Blanket - SwissInfo
  A ski-lift company in Switzerland is trying to preserve 2,500 square feet of a glacier that was melting due to higher temperatures. They are experimenting with a high-tech blanket of reflective polyester and polypropylene to cover the glacier.
  
  
• May 8, 2005 - Britain Faces Big Chill As Ocean Current Slows - Times Online
  Climate change researchers have detected the first signs that the Gulf Stream may be slowing down. The sinking of supercooled water in the Greenland Sea, a major driver of the oceanic conveyer belt, has weakened significantly.
  
  
• May 7, 2005 - Climate Fear For African Elephants - BBC
  A wildlife expert says that climate change is a bigger threat to endangered species in Africa than poaching. Global warming combined with decreasing ranges may cause the extinction of species such as elephants, rhinoceroses and tigers.
  
  
• May 6, 2005 - Tired of the Heat? ... Brightness May Be Part Of Problem - International Herald Tribune
  The Earth's land surface has become brighter over the past 15 years, but the cause of this is still poorly understood.
  
  
• May 3, 2005 - Ice Is Melting Everywhere - People & Planet
  Recent research by the BAS shows that 87% of the Antarctic glaciers are shrinking, but it's even more striking how quickly ice is melting all over the world.
  
  
• May 2 , 2005 - Idea To Combat Global Warming - Dawn
  A Cambridge University scientist is working on making low-voltage lights that he believes will help CO2 emissions by 15%.
  
  
• May 2 , 2005 - Environmental Threat Aggravating - Islamabad News
  Dr. Ishfaq Ahmed, addressing a conference on Global Change, says that global warming is the biggest threat to global security and the health and well-being of billions.
  
  
• April 29, 2005 - Experts Say New Data Show Global Warming - ENN
  Climate scientists, using data from robotic sensors in the oceans, say the data show that the energy exchange between the Earth and space is seriously out of balance. They say this confirms validity of current climate models. (Similar stories from San Francisco Chronicle and Scotsman)
  
  
• April 28, 2005 - Sea Level May Rise 10 Inches A Century - Detroit News
  A senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research asserts that sea level will rise at least 10 inches per century for several hundred years even if emissions of greenhouse gasses are immediately held at present levels.
  
  
• April 24, 2005 - Let Logic Join The Global Warming Debate - USA Today
  Environmental activist, Laurie David, hopes to stimulate a logical discussion between those who believe global warming is a serious threat and those who believe it is a hoax. He is organizing a "march" through the 50 states over the next year to talk about the issues.
  
  
• April 24, 2005 - Seabed Supplies A Cure For Global Warming Crisis - Guardian Unlimited
  Some scientists have proposed a scheme to bury millions tons of carbon dioxide from power stations under the North Sea to reduce emissions. An added benefit would be that the C02 would "flush out oil reserves".
  
  
• April 21, 2005 - Hundreds of Antarctic Glaciers In Retreat - Space Daily
  More than 200 coastal glaciers in Antarctica are shrinking due to higher temperatures. Data were gathered from analysis of satellite and aerial photos.
  
  
• April 4 , 2005 - Human Damage To Earth Worsening Fast - Yahoo!
  A study by 1,360 experts in 95 nations, concluded that a rising human population had polluted or over-exploited two thirds of the ecological systems on which life depends, ranging from clean air to fresh water, in the past 50 years. They also predicted that the harmful consequences of this degradation could grow worse over the next 50 years.
  
  
• April 4 , 2005 - Adaptation The Key To Surviving Climate Change ... - ABC
  Several scientists at a climate change conference in Canberra, Australia have said that Australia needs to focus monetary efforts on helping adapt to climate change rather than trying to stop global warming.
  
  
• April 1, 2005 - Greenhouse Gases Reach A New High ... - Scotsman
  The latest data from Hawaii's Mauna Loa observatory show that concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere continue to rise, though the rise was smaller than in the previous two years. The director of the observatory comments, "The most striking thing about the data is that we’ve seen an increase in carbon dioxide levels every single year since 1958." CO2 is closely linked to global warming according to most climate scientists.
  
  
• March 31, 2005 - Shutdown of Atlantic Current Would Ravage Food Stocks - Space Daily
  If the North Atlantic Ocean's circulation system stops due to global warming, the impact on the world's food supplies would be catastrophic because of the impact on the phytoplankton. Shutdowns have occurred in the past, most notably at the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago.
  
  
• March 30, 2005 - Ice Ages Blamed On Tilted Earth - Yahoo!
  In the past million years, the Earth experienced a major ice age about every 100,000 years. Scientists have several theories to explain this glacial cycle, but new research suggests the primary driving force lies in a cycle of changes in the tilt of the earth's axis. Ice ages appear to correspond with the periods of greatest tilt.
  
  
• March 23, 2005 - Early Flowers Bring Fears of Spring In Autumn - Scotsman
  A Scottish botanist has noted that the hazel tree is now blooming 55 days earlier than three years ago. This spring-flowering tree actually flowered in November a year ago. He notes that warmer temperatures are to blame.
  
  
• March 22, 2005 - Science Minister Confirms Korea's Commitment to Nuclear Energy - Korea Times
  The Korean government has committed to continuing to develop nuclear energy as a way to address global warming issues.
  
  
• March 21, 2005 - The Biggest Challenge Of Our Time - Independent
  A new study from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the United Kingdom (Defra) shows that while people acknowledge the threat posed by climate change, they tend to see it as remote - a problem for the developing world, for future generations, for industry and Government rather than individuals.
  
  
• March 19, 2005 - Global Warming A Threat To ... Scotland's Lochs - Scotsman
  The waters of Scotland's famous lochs may see marked changes as global warming causes changes of temperature that could cause the lochs to warm and stagnate. This would put the Arctic char, an endangered species of fish, at further risk.
  
  
• March 17, 2005 - No Stopping Global Warming - Yahoo (Reuters)
  Even if people stopped pumping out carbon dioxide and other pollutants tomorrow, global warming would still get worse, two teams of researchers reported on Thursday.
  
  
• March 14, 2005 - Photos Show Climate Change... - Yahoo! (Reuters)
  A photo of Mount Kilimanjaro stripped of its snowcap for the first time in 11,000 years will be used as dramatic testimony for action against global warming as ministers from the world's biggest polluters meet Tuesday. (see photos from BBC)
  
  
• March 12, 2005 - Kyoto Treaty Exploits Poor, Some Say - MSNBC
  Some advocates feel that the ability of rich nations to avoid making some of their mandated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by buying "credits" from nations that pollute less, or by investing in eco-friendly projects in poorer nations smacks of colonialism and exploitation of poor people.
  
  
• March 10, 2005 - Canada's Shrinking Ice Caps - TerraDaily
  Canada's Arctic ice cap is relatively small when compared to Greenland's, but NASA scientists have shown that these glaciers and ice caps have strong potential to contribute to sea level rise as they melt.
  
  
• March 10, 2005 - Mexico's Gulf Coast In Peril From Global Warming - ENN
  Fishing villages on Mexico's Gulf Coast may be among the first victims of global warming if sea level rises the predicted 3 feet by 2100. Mexico is Latin America's worst polluter, making their own situation worse.
  
  
• March 9, 2005 - Polar History Shows Melting Ice-Cap May Be A Natural Cycle - Scotsman
  Scottish scientists who have examined the logs of Arctic explorers spanning the past 300 years have concluded that the outer edge of the sea ice expands and contracts over periods of 60-80 years and corresponds with a cyclical temperature change.
  
  
• March 7, 2005 - Climate Change Caused By The Rich, But .. Felt By The Poor - Taipei Times
  This writer shows how poverty in Africa is linked to global climate change. Drought and changes in the amount of groundwater available and changes in rainfall are affecting many villages negatively.
  
  
• March 5, 2005 - Global Ocean Plants Increasing and Greening - Hindustani Times
  Phytoplankton, the basis of the ocean food web, seem to be increasing again around the coasts according to NASA. This indicates an overall improvement in oceanic health, although it should be noted that those phytoplankton in the mid-ocean gyres are still declining.
  
  
• March 4, 2005 - Forests Could Be Key To Curbing Global Warming - Planet Ark (Reuters)
  Effective control of forest fires may prove crucial in the fight against global warming since blazes from Alaska to Indonesia spew out vast amounts of heat-trapping gases, Canadian foresters said on Thursday.
  
  
• March 2, 2005 - Researcher Downplays Ozone Hole Risk - Yahoo!
  A Swedish director of atmospheric science says he believes that the risk of an expanded ozone hole over the Arctic this winter has been overstated unless the stratosphere stays unusually cold into the spring months.
  
  
• Feb. 18, 2005 - Scientists Say Global Warming Is Undeniable - ABC News
  Scientist in the U.S. have confirmed beyond doubt that global climate change is being driven by human factors. A group of studies looking at oceans and melting Arctic ice leave no doubt that it is getting warmer and that people are to blame. (Similar story with graphics from Space Daily)
  
  
• Feb. 18, 2005 - US Criticized for Rejecting Kyoto Treaty - VOA
  The United States was opening criticized at a United Nations event marking the start of the Kyoto climate treaty.
  
  
• Feb. 16, 2005 - Kyoto Protocol Kicks In Today - Seattle Times
  The Kyoto Protocol, which goes into effect today, commits 35 industrialized countries to reducing their emissions by 5% of six greenhouse gasses by 2012.
  
  
• Feb. 11, 2005 - NASA Calls 2004 The Fourth-warmest Year... - International Herald Tribune
  NASA scientists report that 2004 was the fourth warmest year since systematic temperature measurements began in the mid-19th century. 2005 is likely to be the second warmest year and could be the warmest.
  
  
• Feb. 10, 2005 - Clouds Could Clear Way To Saving Planet - Guardian Unlimited
  Some atmospheric scientists and an engineer have begun to think about designing a device that could increase reflectivity of clouds, bouncing more sunlight back into the atmosphere to give us more time to address global warming.
  
  
• Feb. 10, 2005 - U.S. Firms Said Lagging in Global Warming Fight - Yahoo!
  A British insurance executive reports that financial and insurance firms elsewhere have awakened to the dangers posed by global warming, but U.S. companies have shown little interest so far.
  
  
• Feb. 10, 2005 - Scientists Reveal Earth's Natural Temperature Swings - ABC
  A Swedish meteorologist has published a new climate reconstruction, using wavelet analysis, in the science journal Nature. His model shows that the Northern Hemisphere had a prolonged heat wave about 1,000 years ago, but was plunged into a colder period 500 years later.
  
  
• Feb. 9, 2005 - Armageddon Isn't The Only Option - TimesOnline
  Corporations are beginning to shift their focus, proposing that we would be better off economically if governments would focus on finding ways to adapt to a warming world instead of spending money on rescuing the environment.
  
  
• Feb. 8, 2005 - Gambling With Global Warming - Chilliwack Progress
  The U.K. Meteorological Office hosted a Climate Change Conference to try to determine how much the climate has to change for it to become dangerous. Some of the reflections are captured in this article.
  
  
• Feb. 6, 2005 - Loss of Sugar Maples Sign of Global Warming - TimesUnion
  An estimated impact of global warming is 70% loss of sugar maples in New York state by 2050. (See earlier story related to maple sugar industry and global warming from Boston News)
  
  
• Feb. 4, 2005 - ...Global Warming Enhances Destruction of Ozone Layer - Canada.com
  Growing evidence suggests that global warming correlates with destruction of stratospheric ozone. This may make recovery of the ozone layer more problematic.
  
  
• Feb. 4, 2005 - Climate Change Could Harm India - Hindustan Times
  Climate change may lead to big problems in India if it alters the monsoon season which is important in the country's economy warned a European scientific advisor. India and the UK plan to work together on a climate modeling project to try to determine the effect of rising temperatures on the monsoon season.
  
  
• Feb. 2, 2005 - Ice Caps Melting Faster - News24
  British scientists noted that the west Antarctic ice sheet was melting faster than had been predicted in global sea-rise models. Current data indicate that Antarctica is contributing at least 15% of the current two millimeter annual rise in sea levels.
  
  
• Feb. 2, 2005 - Global Temperature Threatens Reefs, Arctic, Mountains - Bloomberg
  Scientists at a climate-change conference in England have stated that a global temperature rise of 1-2° C could cause damage to many different ecosystems.
  
  
• Jan. 30 , 2005 - Glaciers Are Vanishing Around the World - USA Today
  The Chacaltaya Glacier in the Andes has split in two according to Bolivian glaciologist Edson Ramirez. He predicts the whole thing will disappear in 7-8 years if warming continues. Other glaciers around the world are also retreating. Map and more in-depth information on glacial melt in the Andes.
  
  
• Jan. 24, 2005 - Global Warming Approaching Critical Point - CNN
  An international climate task force has warned that global warming is approaching a critical point after which drought, crop failure and rising sea levels are inevitable and irreversible.
  
  
• Jan. 24, 2005 - Global Warming May Have Caused Extinction - Yahoo
  Global warming caused by volcanoes may have nearly wiped out life on Earth some 250 million years ago. (Similar study by STL Today)
  
  
• Jan. 23, 2005 - NASA Expert Wages Global Warming Fight - Post-Gazette
  Climatologist, James Hansen, who heads NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York says that scientists know enough to conclude that global climate change poses a threat to the world and that efforts to get the word out are being blocked by the U.S. administration.
  
  
• Jan. 21, 2005 - Global Warming Melts Winter Joy At Top German Resort - Yahoo
  A shortage of snow in recent decades has caused the 1936 winter Olympic area, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, to unveil plans to invest in snow-making machines to serve winter sports enthusiasts.
  
  
• Jan. 21, 2005 - UN Storm Brews Over Hurricane-Global Warming Link - ENN
  Paul Lansea, a meteorologist with NOAA, has resigned from the United Nations science panel on climate change because he felt the lead author in the group had too strongly linked global warming to hurricanes.
  
  
• Jan. 20, 2005 - Arctic Rivers 'Flowing Faster' - BBC
  UK scientists report that there is an increase in the amount of fresh water entering the Arctic Ocean from rivers. This could change the global distribution of water and affect the climate system itself.
  
  
• Jan. 20, 2005 - US Forests Cost-Effective Against Global Warming ... - ENN
  The cost of using forests to remove greenhouse gases from the air could be about the same as cutting pollution with fuel switching or energy efficiency improvements, according to a new report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
  
  
• Jan. 19, 2005 - U.S. Tries To Drop 'Distracting' Climate Change From Disaster Conference Plan - Yahoo
  Calling it a "distraction," U.S. delegates worked to expunge the issue of climate change from the United Nations action plan being readied for adoption at a global conference to reduce natural disasters worldwide.(Similar story from MSNBC)
  
  
• Jan. 18, 2005 - Drought Is Here To Stay - News24
  A lecturer in meteorology at the University of Pretoria says that research has shown that the effects of climate changes are already manifesting in South Africa's weather patterns and that drought-resistant crops are a must for that country.
  
  
• Jan. 18, 2005 - The Arctic Goes Bush - SpaceDaily
  Arctic vegetation appears to be undergoing a transition with an increase in shrubby plants. This change is apparently driven by a warming climate.
  
  
• Jan. 16, 2005 - Puzzled Russians Warming Up To Winter - New York Daily
  Winters in European Russia have grown milder over the past 20-30 years, increasing by 5.4° F. the summers, however, are not showing a similar warming, so the reason is unclear.
  
  
• Jan. 16, 2005 - Bear Facts Point to Global Warming In Arctic - Guardian Unlimited
  Bears are hibernating a shorter time in Russia and Estonia due to record or well-above normal temperatures in Scandinavia and northern Europe.
  
  
• Jan. 10, 2005 - Winter Getting Shorter in Seoul - Korea Times
  A recent study of freezing and thawing of the Han River shows that Winter is getting shorter while the spring and summer grow longer. The meteorological agency doing the study explained that the shorter winter was due to global warming and expanded industrialization.
  
  
• Jan. 7, 2005 - In Melting Arctic, Warming Is Now - USA Today
  The Arctic area currently is undergoing a clear ecological change according to scientists and the Inuit who live there.
  
  
• Jan. 7, 2005 - Scientists Study Ocean to Understand Global Cooling - Space Daily
  Scientists are studying changes in the Calcite Compensation Depth, the depth where calcium carbonate dissolves faster than it is deposited, to try to unravel clues to the global cooling that caused the Antarctic ice sheets to form.
  
  
• Jan. 6, 2005 - Hot Weather in 2004 A Sign Of Global Warming - ABC
  2004 was the 10th hottest year in Australia since 1910. The trend in temperature in Australia seems to mirror that seen globally.
  
  
• Jan. 6, 2005 - Tibet's Winters Get Warmer - Times of India
  Tibet has experienced rising winter temperatures over the past 30 years according to an engineer from the local climate center. The effect was especially noticeable in the northeastern part of that country.
  
  
• Jan. 3, 2005 - Antarctic May Have Iced Over When Atmosphere Changed - Space Daily
  New data from ocean core samples challenges the theory that the Antarctic ice sheet developed because of a shift in ocean currents. Fossils of cold-water plankton have been found in Eocene sediments off the Antarctic coast.
  
  
• Jan. 3, 2005 - Trade In Global Warming Credits Includes Pigs - MSNBC
  Nations trying to reduce their emissions as part of the Kyoto protocol have turned to a barter system of credits between industries. This has resulted in some interesting "credit" trades, such as a Chilean pork producer eliminating methane fumes from animal waste and selling the "credits" the Japanese and Canadian utilities.
  
  
• Jan. 2, 2005 - Warming May Melt Away Washington State's Caribou - The State
  The woodland caribou, the most endangered species in the contiguous U.S. may be in danger from rising temperatures. Historically, it appears that some reindeer (caribou) species are quite sensitive to environmental shifts.
  
  
• Dec. 30, 2004 - Global Warming: The Heat Is On - Times of India
  Freakish winter weather in the United Arab Emirates, grass growing in Antarctica, and heat waves in Europe seem to be associated with the steady rise in temperatures worldwide.
  
  
• December 17, 2004 - Crichton's Climate Fear Contention - BBC
  Michael Crichton has written a new book, State of Fear in which he argues that global warming is nonsense. He notes that his work is fiction, but is based on his research into the topic where he found the data weren't as strong as he expected them to be.
  
  
• December 15, 2004 - Disruption of Wildlife Populations in ... Report on Global Warming - Yahoo!
  The first comprehensive assessment of the impact of global warming's likely consequences on North American wildlife notes that there is "sufficient evidence to indicate that many species are already responding to warming" and that changes in the range of many animal populations have been noted.
  
  
• December 15, 2004 - U.S. Faces Legal Fights On Climate - International Herald Tribune
  Representatives of poorer nations and Inuit communities plan to seek a ruling from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the United States, claiming that the U.S. contribution to global warming has caused a situation that threatens the Inuit and other nations' existence.
  
  
• December 10, 2004 - Global Warming: Feeling The Heat - Seattle Times
  President Bush's scientific and policy advisors do not dispute that there has been global warming, they simply do not advise mandating carbon dioxide restriction because they feel it will be ineffective and cost jobs. Instead they want to promote technologies that curb pollution such as hydrogen cars.
  
  
• December 7, 2004 - Hunting Climate Change - BBC
  NASA's research has shown there has been a dramatic thinning of some ice regions in Antarctica, especially in the Amundsen Sea.
  
  
• December 6, 2004 - Global Warming Fast Facts - National Geographic
  National Geographic lists facts and provides photos to document warming across the world.
  
  
• December 5, 2004 - Climate Talks Bring Bush's Policy to Fore - Yahoo!
  Scientists have come up with several new clues related to the extent of global climate change.
  
  
• December 1, 2004 - Melting Arctic Bogs May Hasten Warming... - National Geographic
  A hotspot in western Siberia is home to the world's largest peat bog. If this peatland thaws and dries out due to the current warming trend, it would begin to release vast amounts of carbon dioxide, which could further accelerate global warming.