Free Republic

Experiencing extreme weather is not enough to convince climate change skeptics than humans are damaging the environment, a new study shows. Political bias and partisan news reporting influence whether people report experiencing certain extreme weather events, the research suggests. But Americans who lived in areas where a variety of extreme events were recorded -- flood, tornado, hurricane, and drought -- were ultimately no more likely to share the same beliefs about climate change as scientists. The University of Exeter, University of Michigan and University of Texas research found that Republicans were less likely to report experiencing a polar vortex, while...

Namatakula is a small village in Fiji found on a long stretch of the country’s most beautiful coastline: the Coral Coast. Every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists flock from around the world to this 80 kilometre stretch of white sand and turquoise water. But the village of only 2,522 inhabitants is known for more than its sun and sand. This tiny place has also produced some of the best rugby players in the world. Nemani Nadolo and two brothers, Chris and Tevita Kuridrani, grew up in the village and now play in the top leagues in France and Australia....

Aspen Skiing Company recently unrolled a new activism campaign, called Give A Flake, which invites skiers and non-skiers alike to speak out against climate change inaction, with the launch of a variety of online tools that help activists easily contact their elected officials. However you lean, with a click of a button on the Give A Flake website, you can find out how the elected officials in your area stand on climate change. Then, via Twitter, users can tweet at their local leaders with images and statements that Aspen Skiing Co. has already curated. The campaign also provides a simple...

LONDON - Carbon prices in major advanced economies are too low to cut greenhouse gas emissions and stave off the worst effects of climate change, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Tuesday. Carbon pricing, via taxes or emissions trading schemes, is used by many governments to make energy consumers pay for the costs of pollution, and to spur investment in low-carbon technology. The OECD examined carbon pricing between 2012, 2015 and 2018 in 42 OECD and G20 economies, which represent around 80 percent of global carbon emissions. It found the average pricing level across the countries...

If you ever live at the shore, one thing that crops up in 13-year cycles is what they call Red Tide. The traditional explanation I have always heard is that is caused by farming and the runoff of their pesticides that contaminate the water. I use to hear that in New Jersey and the same thing in Florida. It seems to be linked to the same people who promote Global Warming who want us to starve and stop driving to work. I would ask, where is the runoff from farmers when there are none in this area? It would go...

A warmer world makes for nastier hurricanes. Scientists say they are wetter, possess more energy and intensify faster. Their storm surges are more destructive because climate change has already made the seas rise. And lately, the storms seem to be stalling more often and thus dumping more rain. Study after study shows that climate change, in general, makes hurricanes worse. But determining the role of global warming in a specific storm such as Hurricane Florence or Typhoon Mangkhut is not so simple — at least not without detailed statistical and computer analyses.

Last weekend, Americans weathered a “once in a lifetime” storm for the fourth time in 13 months. After a summer of unprecedented wildfires in the West, hurricane season has (once again) brought “unprecedented” devastation to communities on the East Coast. Faced with such ecological upheaval, our primeval ancestors would be scrambling to discern what they’d done to provoke nature’s wrath. We modern humans are a bit less confused, but much more complacent. We don’t need to ask a shaman why monsters like Florence are paying us such frequent visits. We don’t need burn a witch to find out what’s bringing...

A San Diego State University team received one of the first grants from California’s Climate Change Research Program, created by the state legislature in 2017 to support research on reducing carbon emissions. The nearly $1.8 million award was the second largest of 10 awarded by the California Strategic Growth Council from among nearly 70 proposals submitted. The funding comes from the state cap-and-trade program, which limits and “auctions” rights to greenhouse gas emissions in California. SDSU biologist Rebecca Lewison and senior research scientist Megan Jennings lead the grant-funded project, which will focus on integrating ecosystem and local community planning to...

"As the body of research evidence has grown over the last twenty years, psychologists in general have become increasingly skeptical that repressed memories even exist, but a new study, published this week in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, shows that researchers and practitioners hold different beliefs about whether such memories occur and whether they can be accurately recalled."

The governor of California, Jerry Brown, announced Saturday that his state would join the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg in a sister-state relationship with the goal of strengthening climate protection and economic ties between the two. The sister-state agreement comes at the tail end of a global climate summit, organized by Brown, which attracted thousands of politicians, activists, business leaders and others from around the world. The premier of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, joined Brown at the summit in San Francisco for the signing of the agreement. […] “The German connection is alive and well in California,” Brown said. “The fact...

The “Indiana Jones” star warned attendees that “the future of humanity was at stake” due to climate change.

The president’s moves to dismantle environmental protections are a “major assault” on Americans, California’s governor said at a climate summit Thursday. California Gov. Jerry Brown bashed President Donald Trump’s record on the environment Thursday, saying that Trump will be remembered on climate change as a “liar, criminal, fool — pick your choice.” The Democrat spoke out against the president in introductory remarks at the Global Climate Action Summit that he’s co-hosting in San Francisco. Brown also ripped Trump for taking steps to try to dismantle California’s vehicle emissions standards, rolling back federal controls on power plant pollution, and easing regulations...

A warmer world makes for nastier hurricanes. Scientists say they are wetter, possess more energy and intensify faster. Their storm surges are more destructive because climate change has already made the seas rise. And lately, the storms seem to be stalling more often and thus dumping more rain. Study after study shows that climate change in general makes hurricanes worse. But determining the role of global warming in a specific storm such as Hurricane Florence or Typhoon Mangkhut is not so simple — at least not without detailed statistical and computer analyses. The Associated Press consulted with 17 meteorologists and...

Sarah Silverman — a comedian known for her outlandish and offensive statements — recently claimed that she knows more science than, well, science itself. In an episode of Hulu’s “I Love You, America,” Silverman claimed: “We’re all human, except for fetuses, according to science.” There’s just one problem with that: According to science, fetuses are very human indeed — from their earliest moments. According to the science of embryology: “Human life begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm (spermatozoon) unites with a female gamete or oocyte (ovum) to form a single cell called a zygote....

CNN’s John Avlon agrees with The Washington Post that Trump is “complicit” in the storm. •Why? Because he’s not a global warming alarmist and opposes Obama-era climate policies. •One climate scientist touted the “irony” of a storm coming while Trump is deregulating. President Donald Trump’s critics are not only trying to implicate him in the potentially catastrophic damage of Hurricane Florence, but some seem to be touting the “irony” of a storm coming amid the administration’s deregulatory efforts. CNN political analyst John Avlon agreed with The Washington Post’s editorial board that Trump was “complicit” in the hurricane headed for the...

In the summer of 1987, a woman visiting Alaska was crushed by a 1,000-pound chunk of ice. According to news reports at the time, Thais Grabenauer, 59, had been taking pictures with her husband at the foot of Exit Glacier, a towering wall of ice that’s one of the most popular attractions in Kenai Fjords National Park. A half-ton piece of the glacier calved off as the couple was snapping, killing Grabenauer and injuring her husband. It was one of those wrong place, wrong time tragedies that seem unlikely to happen again. But in the three decades since Grabenauer’s death,...

A new study shows that we have a lot to worry about when it comes to changing hurricanes as the planet warms.

The political leaders coming from around the world for Gov. Jerry Brown’s climate action summit this week will grapple with a lot of urgent deadlines to drive down emissions, but one date is especially exasperating. It is 2035 — the year advocates aim to kill off production of gasoline and diesel powered vehicles.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that if the world doesn't change course by 2020, we run the risk of runaway climate change. Mr Guterres said he was alarmed by the paralysis of world leaders on what he called the "defining issue" of our time. He wants heads of government to come to New York for a special climate conference next September. The call comes amid growing concerns over the slow pace of UN negotiations. Mr Guterres painted a grim picture of the impacts of climate change that he says have been felt all over the world this year,...

More than 18,000 people marched Saturday in Paris as part of an international mobilization to show popular support for urgent measures to combat climate change in advance of a San Francisco summit. Crowds overflowed a plaza in front of City Hall before marching east to the Place de la Republique, carrying an urgent message that it’s up to the public to put global warming at the top of the political agenda. “Planet in Danger,” read some banners. Activists around the world encouraged “Rise for Climate” protests before the summit taking place Sept.12-Sept. 14. California’s governor proposed the event after President...