“On 27 February 2014, the Global Legislators Organisation (GLOBE International) released the 4th edition of the GLOBE Climate Legislation Study – produced in partnership with the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics. The Study is the most comprehensive audit of climate legislation across 66 countries, together responsible for around 88% of global manmade greenhouse gas… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Climate Change
Offshore wind farms could tame hurricanes before they reach land, Stanford-led study says
Bjorn Carey, Stanford News Service: “Computer simulations by Professor Mark Z. Jacobson have shown that offshore wind farms with thousands of wind turbines could have sapped the power of three real-life hurricanes, significantly decreasing their winds and accompanying storm surge, and possibly preventing billions of dollars in damages. For the past 24 years, Mark Z. Jacobson, a… Continue Reading
2014 U.S. Climate Action Report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
“On January 1, 2014, the Department of State submitted the 2014 U.S. Climate Action Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This report, which includes the First U.S. Biennial Report and Sixth U.S. National Communication to the UNFCCC, details actions the United States is taking domestically and internationally to mitigate, adapt to,… Continue Reading
January global temperature is fourth highest on record for month and warmest since 2007
Global Analysis – January 2014 The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for January was the warmest since 2007 and the fourth warmest on record at 12.7°C (54.8°F), or 0.65°C (1.17°F) above the 20th century average of 12.0°C (53.6°F). The margin of error associated with this temperature is ± 0.08°C (± 0.14°F) The… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Computer Matching Act, DHS, Extreme Weather Events, HUD’s Info Tech, Maritime Administration
COMPUTER MATCHING ACT: OMB and Selected Agencies Need to Ensure Consistent Implementation, GAO-14-44: Published: Jan 13, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 12, 2014. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Ammunition Purchases Have Declined since 2009, GAO-14-119: Published: Jan 13, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 12, 2014. EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS: Limiting Federal Fiscal Exposure and Increasing the Nation’s Resilience, GAO-14-364T: Published: Feb 12, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 12,… Continue Reading
Commentary – Floods in UK Caused by Extreme Rains in Indonesia?
Bloomberg: “The U.S. is freezing and the U.K. is flooded. Clearly, Indonesia is at fault. That, in any case, is my layman’s interpretation of a report this week from the U.K.’s meteorological agency, the Met Office. It makes fascinating, if nerdy, reading that can be boiled down to a few basic conclusions: * The extended, extreme weather… Continue Reading
The battle for Trayvon Martin: Mapping a media controversy online and off-line
“One of the biggest news stories of 2012, the killing of Trayvon Martin, nearly disappeared from public view, initially receiving only cursory local news coverage. But the story gained attention and controversy over Martin’s death dominated headlines, airwaves, and Twitter for months, thanks to a savvy publicist working on behalf of the victim’s parents and… Continue Reading
Report – The SEC and Climate Change Reporting
“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not adequately addressed the climate disclosure deficiencies of publicly traded corporations, despite four-year-old formal guidance requiring companies to disclose material climate change risks, according to a report published by Ceres today. The report, Cool Response: The SEC and Climate Change Reporting, is based on a survey of more than… Continue Reading
Report – Tree roots in the mountains ‘acted like a thermostat’ for millions of years
University of Oxford: “For the first time, scientists have discovered how tree roots in the mountains may play an important role in controlling long-term global temperatures. Researchers from Oxford and Sheffield Universities have found that temperatures affect the thickness of the leaf litter and organic soil layers, as well as the rate at which the… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Coal Leasing, Commercial Space Launches, Federal Contracting, Private Health Insurance, Motor Carrier Safety
COAL LEASING – BLM Could Enhance Appraisal Process, More Explicitly Consider Coal Exports, and Provide More Public Information, GAO-14-140, Dec 18, 2013 COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCHES – FAA’s Risk Assessment Process Is Not Yet Updated, GAO-14-328T, Feb 4, 2014 FEDERAL CONTRACTING – Commercial Item Test Program Beneficial, but Actions Needed to Mitigate Potential Risks, GAO-14-178, Feb 4, 2014 PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE – The… Continue Reading
Mayors from 10 Major Cities Unite to Cut Climate Pollution from Buildings
News release: ” The mayors from 10 major U.S. cities today announced they will undertake a united effort to significantly boost energy efficiency in their buildings, a move that combined could cut as much climate change pollution as generated by 1 million to 1.5 million passenger vehicles every year, and lower energy bills by nearly $1… Continue Reading
December 2013 Global State of the Climate report
“Temperature anomalies and percentiles are shown on the gridded maps below. The anomaly map on the left is a product of a merged land surface temperature (Global Historical Climatology Network, GHCN) and sea surface temperature (ERSST.v3b) anomaly analysis developed by Smith et al. (2008). Temperature anomalies for land and ocean are analyzed separately and then merged… Continue Reading
