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Munich Re on Climate Change in North America: NOT IF, BUT HOW

"Nowhere in the world is the rising number of natural catastrophes more evident than in North America. The study shows a nearly quintupled number of weather-related loss events in North America for the past three decades, compared with an increase factor of 4 in Asia, 2.5 in Africa, 2 in Europe and 1.5 in South America. Anthropogenic climate change is believed to contribute to this trend, though it influences various perils in different ways. Climate change particularly affects formation of heat...

My 3 Days With Al Gore’s Climate Reality in San Francisco

Last week, I was fortunate to be an attendee at the Climate Reality Leadership Corps training with Al Gore. A thousand people from around the world- 58 countries and 47 US states- made the pilgrimage to San Francisco to be part of this training and that alone was truly inspirational. Bette Midler was in the house. Grammy Award winner Kathy Mattea spoke about her story and journey with the Climate Project and the language of nonviolent communication. One very striking point is that while the U...

2012: The Year of the Heat Not Just in Miami

2012 has so far established itself as the year that broke all US extreme weather records. First came the warmest March followed by the warmest spring on record. Then came the second warmest May on record. That was followed by the hot dry June. Dry conditions, high temperatures and high winds exacerbated fires burning in New Mexico, the largest fire in the state's history, and in Colorado. Across the US in June, records were set for the warmest nighttime lows and the highest daytime highs,...

Climate Change: Game Over or Just Beginning

The Club of Rome, a global network of independent thinkers, has also issued a new report this week: The Report says the main cause of future problems is the excessively short-term predominant political and economic model. “We need a system of governance that takes a more long-term view”, said Professor Randers, speaking in Rotterdam. “It is unlikely that governments will pass necessary regulation to force the markets to allocate more money into climate friendly solutions, and must not ass...

Connect the Dots on 5/5/12 With 350.org

As Spring Begins, Record Heat Across the US Has Obama “a little nervous”

As spring is ushered in, a heat wave across the United States sends temperatures hovering 40˚F above normal in some places. In the Southwest, a snow and ice storm. And powerful tornadoes ripped through the Midwest. According to Climatecentral.org,"On March 15 alone, 593 record daily high temperatures were set or tied, along with 445 record warm low temperatures. This compares to just 10 record cold high temperatures, and only 2 record cold overnight lows. In Chicago, temperatures have soared ...