A Welsh village is to sue the government after a climate change report suggested their community would soon be washed away by rising sea levels. The document says Fairbourne will soon be lost to the sea, and recommends that it is “decommissioned”. Angry villagers say predictions of that the sea level will rise by a metre a year are alarmist, and have hit house prices and investment in the village. At a local meeting they voted overwhelmingly in favour of pursuing legal action over the controversial Shoreline Management Plan 2 (SMP2), saying it had “blighted” their community. --
The Daily Telegraph, 11 February 2016
Idyllic islands and bustling cities such as Venice and Miami may be spared from rising sea levels in the near future because parched land is absorbing some of the water released by melting glaciers. The planet’s continents have soaked up and stored 3.2 trillion tons of water in soils, lakes and underground aquifers, according to Nasa. The agency analysed satellite measurements collected over the past decade to show the rate of sea level rise has slowed by 22 per cent – although the effect may be temporary. --Sarah Griffith,
Daily Mail, 12 February 2016
Some 150,000 penguins have died after a massive iceberg grounded near their colony in Antarctica, forcing them to make a lengthy trek to find food, a study has revealed. The study has ‘important implications’ for wider East Antarctic if the current trend of increasing sea ice continues. --Corey Charlton,
Daily Mail, 14 February 2016
The Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) shows currently Arctic sea ice is at its highest level in years for this time of the year. In fact it appears it has reached its highest level ever over the last decade, and its only mid February. The overall trend, however, shows nothing alarming. The chart from the Arctic Climate Research at the University of Illinois shows Arctic sea ice remaining flat over the past decade. --P Gosselin,
No Tricks Zone, 12 February 2016
The sun is in the midst of its quietest period in more than a century. Several days ago, it was in ‘cue ball’ mode, with an incredible image from Nasa showing no large visible sunspots seen on its surface. Astronomers say this isn’t unusual, and solar activity waxes and wanes in 11-year cycles, and we’re currently in Cycle 24, which began in 2008. However, if the current trend continues, then the Earth could be headed for a ‘mini ice age’ researchers have warned. --Ellie Zolfagharifard,
Daily Mail, 12 February 2016
Justice Antonin Scalia’s death could change the course of history on the contentious social and legal issues pending before the Supreme Court this term, especially in closely divided cases where he was expected to serve as a lynchpin of a conservative majority. Obama’s climate policy now hangs in the balance. Obama’s Clean Power Plan could be in the hands of the D.C. Circuit Court. One of Scalia’s last official acts as a justice was to deliver a large dent in Obama’s climate legacy, providing one of five votes to stay the Clean Power Plan, which regulates carbon emissions from power plants. The decision could set back implementation of the rule by years. A 4-4 ideological split on the Supreme Court raises the stakes for the more liberal D.C. Circuit’s eventual decision on the Clean Power Plan, though the high court would still have to lift its stay if the rule is upheld. --
Politico, 14 February 2016
