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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Earth got so hot last month that federal scientists struggled to find words, describing temperatures as "astronomical," ''staggering" and "strange." They warned that the climate may have moved into a new and hotter neighborhood. This was not just another of the drumbeat of 10 straight broken monthly global heat records, triggered by a super El Nino and man-made global warming.

it is height of irresponsibility and neglect for anybody in a position of authority not to recognize that Florida will be the most at risk from climate change any of our states

Europe's migrant crisis has kicked climate change off the agenda of EU leaders' talks this week, officials said, prompting accusations from green campaigners that the European Union has given up its leadership on environmental issues.

WASHINGTON Climate science has progressed so much that experts can accurately detect global warming’s fingerprints on certain extreme weather events, such as a heat wave, according to a high-level scientific advisory panel.

The US Department of Justice is exploring ways of "bringing climate change deniers to justice," said Attorney General Loretta Lynch in Senate testimony. "Global climate change represents the most severe threat to humanity that has ever existed. It is imperative that we be united in the struggle against this menace. Yet, there are elements of society that undermine this necessary unity by casting doubt in people's minds. We must put a stop to that." Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) urged the DOJ "to use all the tools at its disposal, including civil forfeiture and criminal sanctions, against these abettors of planetary...

The U.S. and Canada are responsible to a great degree for causing the Earth´s temperature to rise and spurring climate change, President Obama said Thursday. "In some ways, as wealthier countries, we can probably adapt and manage better," Obama said in a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "On the other hand, we´re also those responsible for a lot of the carbon pollution that is causing climate change." He added that if the U.S. and Canada are not strong leaders on addressing the issue of climate change, nothing will get done.

The Obama administration sent the first $500 million to the United Nations' Green Climate Fund this week, thumbing its nose at Republican opponents who say taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook for the money. Critics of the U.S. participating in the fund came out against the president's actions Tuesday. "President Obama continues to prioritize his political interests over the interests of the American people," said Tom Pyle, president of the conservative American Energy Alliance. "The administration intends to funnel hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into the U.N.'s climate slush fund while pursuing a domestic agenda that will raise energy...

Global climate patterns have undergone a remarkable shift in the past 600,000 to 1.2 million years. Before the transition, glacial cycles, consisting of cold ice ages and milder interludes, typically lasted about 40,000 years—but those weaker cycles gave way to longer-lasting icy eras with cycles lasting roughly 100,000 years. In between the cold ice ages are periods of thawing and warming known as interglacial periods, during which sea levels rise and ice retreats. Here Past Interglacials Working Group of PAGES identifies and compares interglacial periods over the past 800,000 years, including our current era. Glacial periods give way to interglacials...

You’ve probably heard all the clucking about trucking in snow for the Iditarod Sled Race, but you probably haven’t heard this - “The climate of the interior of Alaska is best described as extreme and is the best example of a true subarctic climate.” – Wikipedia “Most subarctic climates have very little precipitation, typically no more than 380 mm (15 in) over an entire year. Away from the coasts, precipitation occurs mostly in the warmer months.” – Wikepedia 1) In other words, the interior of Alaska, where Iditarod runs through, is a desert. To help visualize this, imagine California’s Death...

Renewable energy advocates like to point out that the cost of renewable fuels, like solar power, have dropped substantially in the last few years. The cost of solar power for instance has fallen by more than two-thirds since 2009. Yet for all the excitement about renewable power, the reality is that the entire energy sector has essentially been in a state of deflation for the last decade. The notable drop in oil prices over the last two years aside, costs of producing oil both in the U.S. and in many parts of the world have fallen dramatically. The phase out...

Researchers have discovered a new species of extinct worm lizard in Texas and dubbed it the "Lone Star" lizard. The species -- the first known example of a worm lizard in Texas -- offers evidence that Texas acted as a subtropical refuge during one of the great cooling periods of the past. Worm lizard is the common name for a group of reptiles called amphisbaenians, whose long bodies and reduced or absent limbs give them an earthworm-like appearance. The group includes extinct species as well as ones still living today. Solastella belonged to a subgroup called Rhineuridae, a group with...

The Pentagon is ordering the top brass to incorporate climate change into virtually everything they do, from testing weapons to training troops to war planning to joint exercises with allies. A new directives theme: The U.S. Armed Forces must show resilience and beat back the threat based on actionable science. The Pentagon is ordering the top brass to incorporate climate change into virtually everything they do, from testing weapons to training troops to war planning to joint exercises with allies. A new directives theme: The U.S. Armed Forces must show resilience and beat back the threat based on“actionable science. The...

I have no clue how many climate science denial myths a Republican presidential candidate can fit onto the head of a pin, but given these zingers are generally huge it's probably not that many. But we do now have some clue how many myths one of those candidates, Senator Ted Cruz, can fit into an eight-minute diatribe. At least six. When asked about climate change at recent hustings, Cruz has been delivering a stock set of answers from the Little Book of Climate Change Denial (not a real book). At one such event in New Hampshire, the representative from Texas...

WASHINGTON • The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked President Barack Obama's federal regulations curbing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, the centerpiece of his administration's strategy to combat climate change. On a 5-4 vote, the court granted a request made by 27 states and various companies and business groups to block the administration’s Clean Power Plan. The move means the regulations will not be in effect while litigation continues over their legality. The brief order from the justices said that the regulations would be on hold until the legal challenge is completed. The court's five conservatives all voted to...

Environmentalist lawyers have been pushing a legal theory that would give the Environmental Protection Agency cover to regulate every facet of state energy policy - effectively eliminating states' authority to craft their own regulations. "Buried in the Clean Air Act is an extremely powerful mechanism that Daily Caller New Foundationeffectively gives EPA carte blanche to tell states to make drastic cuts to their emissions," Brian Potts, a partner at the law firm Foley & Lardner wrote in Politico Monday. "This provision, which can now be used thanks to the completion of the Paris climate deal, raises important questions about national...

Unfortunately few observers have remarked on the obvious religious nature of the Warmers' critique; after all, the screed of their cult begins with human hubris and misdeeds, claims those sins produce utterly fantastic results, predicts catastrophe for generations yet unborn, and demands immediate reform and pietistic obedience to inerrant authority. The cult is Biblical in its self-assurance. Any belief system so constructed should bear a heavy burden of proof before it hijacks governmental power. Of course the dispute continues, but note, please, that it is now fueled by the (simple, but irrelevant) fact that industry produces many tons of carbon...

As speaker of the Florida House of Representatives in 2008, Marco Rubio helped pass a sweeping energy bill - backed by a number of environmentalists - that seemed to reflect a bipartisan interest in renewable energy, climate change and the environment. Rubio's positioning on environmental issues has inarguably changed as he evolved from local Republican legislator to high-profile U.S. senator and, now, presidential candidate. "This nation and ultimately the world is headed for an emissions tax and energy diversification," Rubio told the Legislature. "Those changes will require technological advances that make those measures cost effective. The demand for such advances...

"Proof is for mathematical theorems and alcoholic beverages. It's not for science." - Mann Washington Posts's Steven Mufson and Joby Warrick gave a glowing account of President Obama's warnings on Climate Change:"The growing threat of climate change could define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other," Obama said in a speech at the Le Bourget conference center in Paris's industrial outskirts. "What should give us hope that this is a turning point, that this is the moment we finally determined we would save our planet." Obama, who has staked his legacy on the fight against climate change,...

Hydrothermal activity along the mid-ocean ridge system suggests that the release of molten rock, or magma, in response to changes in sea level plays a significant role in the earth's climate. The last million years of Earth's history was dominated by the cyclic advance and retreat of ice sheets over large swaths of North America. During cold glacial intervals, ice sheets reached as far south as Long Island and Indiana, while during warm interglacial periods the ice rapidly retreated to Greenland. It has long been known that ice ages occur every 40,000 years or so, but the cause of rapid...

At a recent Climate One conference, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, made clear that a leading solution to global warming includes extreme depopulation. Speaking to the organization’s founder Greg Dalton, Figueres had a carefully worded yet startling answer to his question on world population. Dalton: A related issue is fertility rates and population, a lot of people in energy and environmental circles don't want to go near that because its politically charged, it's not their issue, but isn't it true that stopping the rise in population could be one of the...