WWF is on JustCoz! This Is Probably The Funniest, Most Effective Way To Deal With People Who Ignore Science Facts Ever. Texas judge rules atmosphere, air is public trust. HOUSTON (AP) -- A Texas judge has ruled that the atmosphere and air must be protected for public use, just like water, which could help attorneys tasked with arguing climate change lawsuits designed to force states to cut emissions.
The written ruling, issued in a letter Monday by Texas District Court Judge Gisela Triana, shot down arguments by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that only water is a "public trust," a doctrine that dates to the Roman Empire stating a government must protect certain resources — usually water, sometimes wildlife — for the common good. Adam Abrams, one of the attorneys arguing the case against TCEQ, said Triana's ruling could be used as a persuasive argument in lawsuits pending in 11 other states. In Texas, though, a ruling to protect air and the atmosphere has added significance. Republican Gov. Rick Perry is one of the most vocal opponents against widely accepted scientific research that fossil fuel emissions are causing global warming.
April 2012 Third-Hottest April Since 1895. Following the hottest March on record, the contiguous U.S. had its third-warmest April, and so far the year is warmer than any other year since record-keeping began in 1895, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced today.
The 12-month period of May 2011 to April 2012 had an average temperature of 2.8 degrees Fahrenheit above the 1901-2000 average, NOAA said, making it the warmest such period on record. That time frame has also been the second-hottest summer, fourth-warmest winter and warmest March. The year so far has also been unusually warm, departing from the long-term average by 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Even mild global warming could completely melt Greenland’s ice cap. By Agence France-PresseSunday, March 11, 2012 17:43 EDT The Greenland icesheet is more sensitive to global warming than thought, for just a relatively small — but very long term — temperature rise would melt it completely, according to a study published on Sunday.
Previous research has suggested it would need warming of at least 3.1 degrees Celsius (5.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, in a range of 1.9-5.1 C (3.4-9.1 F), to totally melt the icesheet. But new estimates, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, put the threshold at 1.6 C (2.9 F), in a range of 0.8-3.2 C (1.4-5.8 F), although this would have to be sustained for tens of thousands of years. Greenland is second to Antarctica as the biggest source of locked-up water on land. If it melted completely, this would drive up sea levels by 7.2 metres (23.6 feet), swamping deltas and low-lying islands. Current carbon emissions, though, place warming far beyond this objective. Agence France-Presse. Canadian seal cull 'unnecessary due to climate change'
Canada faced fresh calls to shut down its commercial seal hunt on Thursday, following new evidence that death rates among seal pups had dramatically increased due to thinning winter sea ice. The study, by scientists from Duke University and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, was the first to track declining sea ice cover in all four harp seal breeding grounds in the North Atlantic – with devastating effect. David Johnston, research scientist at the Duke University Marine Lab, said: "The kind of mortality we're seeing in eastern Canada is dramatic. Entire year classes may be disappearing from the population in low ice years. Essentially all of the pups die. " Satellite records of ice conditions since 1979 showed that ice cover had fallen by as much as 6% every decade.
The loss of sea ice – and its threat to the future of seal populations – has been confirmed by Canadian government scientists, the International Fund for Animal Welfare said. Senate’s Rejection of Murkowski Attack on Clean Air Act Is a Maj. WASHINGTON - June 10 - The Senate voted by a margin of 47 to 53 today to reject a resolution sponsored by Sen.
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that sought to roll back the Clean Air Act's protections against pollution that destabilizes our climate. Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica had the following response: "Today's vote is a blow to corporate polluters, one that will move our nation away from the fossil fuel dependence that led to the oil spill in the Gulf. The defeat of this resolution means the Obama administration can implement a law that helps to protect our economy from the impacts that are likely to come if our atmosphere is overloaded with climate pollution. "There is one key reason that most senators voted to protect the Clean Air Act today. "But we must not be complacent. "Our fights for a Washington free of polluter influence and for a healthy climate are far from over, but it nevertheless feels good to relish this victory.