global warming News

‘Unusually Active’ El Nino Possibly Linked to Climate Change: Researchers

The El Nino weather pattern that can bring drought to Australia and rain to South America was “unusually active” at the end of the 20th century, possibly due to climate change, a University of Hawaii study found. Researchers studied 2,222 …

Small Global Warming Rise Would Have ‘Alarming’ Impact Says World Bank

Much of Bangkok could flood within the next two decades if global warming stays on its current trajectory, as sea levels rise and cyclones intensify, the World Bank said in a new report on Wednesday. The flooding of 40 percent …

Russia Challenges Consensus Rule at Heart of U.N. Climate Talks

It was a historic moment in U.N. climate talks: with most countries in favor and only a group of OPEC members objecting, the German environment minister chairing the conference banged down her gavel to launch negotiations on a treaty to …

Greenhouse Gas Milestone; CO2 Levels Set Record

Worldwide levels of the chief greenhouse gas that causes global warming have hit a milestone, reaching an amount never before encountered by humans, federal scientists said. Carbon dioxide was measured at 400 parts per million at the oldest monitoring station …

Study Finds Long-Term Global Cooling Period Ended in 19th Century

A global long-term cooling trend ended late in the 19th century and was followed decades later by the warmest temperatures in nearly 1,400 years, a sweeping study of temperature change showed. The study, by a consortium of 78 authors in …

IEA Concludes Clean Energy Progress ‘Too Slow’ to Limit Global Warming

The development of low-carbon energy is progressing too slowly to limit global warming, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday. With power generation still dominated by coal and governments failing to increase investment in clean energy, top climate scientists …

UN Report Finds World Climate Change Goal at Risk as Emissions Surge

A global goal for limiting climate change is slipping out of reach and governments may have to find ways to artificially suck greenhouse gases from the air if they fail to make deep cuts in rising emissions by 2030, a …

Report Questions Insurer Readiness, Attitudes on Climate Change

A report out Thursday that details responses to a climate change survey from insurers doing business in California, Washington and New York shows many insurers are prepared to deal with today’s extreme weather events, but not longer-term “baseline changes” driven …

Aon Benfield’s 2012 Cat Review Finds 36% Rise in Insured Losses at $133 Billion

Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, has published its Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report along with the establishment of a new website, Catastrophe Insight, which, it noted, “provides 10 years of catastrophe data, …

In Inaugural Address, Obama Vows to Tackle Climate Change

President Barack Obama said on Monday he will confront climate change in his second term in office, an unexpected vow that puts the politically charged issue among his domestic priorities alongside gun control and immigration reform. Linking climate change to …