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Yes, screaming, says a scientist looking at last year's ice melt in the Arctic. "Ominous Arctic Melt Worries Experts"
By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer
An already relentless melting of the Arctic greatly accelerated this summer, a warning sign that some scientists worry could mean global warming has passed an ominous tipping point. One even speculated that summer sea ice would be gone in five years.
Greenland's ice sheet melted nearly 19 billion tons more than the previous high mark, and the volume of Arctic sea ice at summer's end was half what it was just four years earlier, according to new NASA satellite data obtained by The Associated Press.
"The Arctic is screaming," said Mark Serreze, senior scientist at the government's snow and ice data center in Boulder, Colo.
Read the entire article...
Grist has an excellent round-up of the news coming out of of Bali over the weekend, including the fact that CNN has left "due to a lack of probable news". I guess CNN would rather cover O.J. Simpson and Michael Vick than international climate discussions.
An article in today's NYT illustrates the effects global warming is having on ducks in the midwest. This plays into the new challenges hunters, scientists and wildlife officials are encountering in the efforts to manage waterfowl populations.
Bloggers are calling for a science debate between the Presidential candidates. Chris Mooney at The Intersection is taking the lead.
Quick Hits:
Gore Urges Bold Moves in Nobel Speech
A Discussion with NYT's Juliet Eilperin about the Bali Conference
More on Bali:
- Row Over 2020 Emissions Goals Sours Bali Climate Talks
- Good News and Bad News from Bali
- The U.S. is Being it's Usual Obstructionist Self
The Electric Vehicle Acid Test
U.S., China Sign Environmental Cooperative Deal
World Bank Starts Deforestation, Climate Change Funds
Climate Science Manipulation Alleged
Western States Agree on Plan to Make Water Last
Airborne Wind Turbines
Planned Climate Debate a No-Go Due to Low Republican Turnout
Finally, here is Al Gore's Nobel acceptance speech, in full.
To follow-up on last week's green spotlight on the holidays, here are some additional green gift ideas you may be interested in. These ideas are courtesy of NWF's own David Mizejewski. He is co-host of Animal Planet’s "Backyard Habitat" and "Springwatch" shows and has been seen on Today, Good Morning America, Martha, Mike and Juliet, iVillage Live! and several other national programs.
Everyday the headlines reflect a change in the way Americans relate to the environment and the way they live their lives. This holiday season, green is all the rage and now is the time to show your audience exciting ways to spread holiday cheer and do something good for the planet too.
Nature Friendly Gift Ideas:
Bird Houses and Feeders: These inexpensive gifts add personality to any yard and give wildlife a place to call home. Or how about a "do-it-yourself" family project like homemade edible ornaments that will make your yard look festive and feed the birds at the same time?
Organic, Sustainable and Free Trade Products: From coffee and wine to wreaths and flowers, many programs deliver "green" and environmentally friendly products to homes that will be a tasty or beautiful reminder of your holiday spirit.
Magazine Subscriptions for Kids: Get the kids away from the video games with engaging magazines like NWF’s classic, award winning Ranger Rick. It’s fun and interactive just like Wild Animal Baby and Your Big Backyard for the younger kids.
Adopt Wildlife or Wild Places: From polar bears to plots on the great plains, symbolic adoptions offer gift givers and recipients the knowledge that the donations are being used to help protect imperiled wildlife and habitat across America.
Experience Nature: Technology can help you experience nature. Take the new I dentiflyer on a nature hike to identify the calls of 216 birds and frogs. For the less tech savvy, field guides are a traditional way to connect with nature. Both make great gifts!
Recycled Products: From fashions to tableware to yard art, there is new life from what was once headed to the land fill.
Green Holiday Tips:
Christmas Trees and Lights: Buy an organic, locally grown Christmas tree. Trees provide habitat for wildlife and absorb carbon dioxide while they are growing. A better idea is buy a living tree in a pot, plant it and enjoy it for years. New generations of affordable and stylish LED holiday lights are safe and use less energy than ever.
Save Paper: Holiday cards and wrapping paper are two paper-heavy holiday traditions. Green your holiday this year by using cards and wrapping paper made out of recycled materials. Get the kids to make your own wrapping paper or cards. Have some fun and use recycled paper decorated with colorful holiday stamps, stickers or freehand designs or a personal touch.
Entertaining: Make your holiday party earth-friendly by serving organic and locally produced foods. Visit local farmer's markets or natural grocery store for heritage breed turkeys, or really have an impact by going totally vegetarian for the holiday.
Holiday Decorating: Buy an ornament and a portion of the cost goes to wildlife conservation or to plant a tree. That’s a simple way to "green" your tree. Don’t forget about the classics like popcorn, cranberries and ginger bread men to give your tree a nature friendly, homey and nostalgic look.
Have a Green Christmas!
It's December already, and voting in the presidential primary/caucuses is beginning in some states in less than a month. Do you know when you will be voting? Scroll down to see when your state will be voting.
If you live in an early primary state, and haven't yet, please consider asking a presidential candidate a question about global warming. It is important that we make sure global warming continues to be an important part of the dialogue throughout the course of the campaign.
And while you're thinking about the upcoming election, please take a few minutes to sign a pledge stating that you will only vote for candidates who support the 2% solution to global warming.
Republican Primary Calendar (subject to change)
1.3.08: Iowa
1.5.08: Wyoming
1.8.08: New Hampshire
1.15.08: Michigan
1.19.08: Nevada, South Carolina
1.29.08: Florida
2.2.08: Maine
2.5.08: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia
2.9.08: Kansas, Louisiana, Washington
2.12.08: District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia
2.19.08: Wisconsin
3.2.08: Hawaii
3.4.08: Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont
3.11.08: Mississippi
4.22.08: Pennsylvania
5.6.08: Indiana, North Carolina
5.10.08: Wyoming
5.13.08: Nebraska, West Virginia
5.20.08: Kentucky, Oregon
5.27.08: Idaho
6.3.08: South Dakota, New Mexico
Democratic Primary Calendar (subject to change)
1.3.08: Iowa
1.8.08: New Hampshire
1.15.08: Michigan
1.19.08: Nevada
1.26.08: South Carolina
1.29.08: Florida
2.5.08: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah
2.9.08: Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington
2.10.08: Maine
2.12.08: District of Columbia, Maryland, Virgina
2.19.08: Wisconsin
2.26.08: Hawaii
3.4.08: Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Texas
3.8.08: Wyoming
3.11.08: Mississippi
 Holiday decorations don't have to be an energy drain. Nowadays you can deck the halls with boughs of organic holly and string up eco-friendly lights. You can even toast your friends and family with green wines.
When it comes to gift-giving, there are all sorts of green options, like Gavin Hudson's 12 gifts of Christmas. One of our super-activists, Frank Zaski, sent us some great ideas about how we can incorporate giving compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLS) during the holiday season. Hey, it isn't festive, but it's useful! Here's Frank's advice:
"We know that compact fluorescent fight bulbs (CFLs) are a no-brainer when it comes to saving electricity, money and the environment. However, most people are slow to adopt them and CFLs account for only a small percent of US residential lighting.
One way it increase CFL usage is to encourage the giving of CFLs for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, house warming, birthdays, parties, etc. In addition to the many environmental benefits, an $8.00 three-pack of CFLs can actually result in a $120 "gift" of savings spread over five years."
So let's remember while shopping for the new-fangled green gifts that going with the traditional CFL is still doing a load of good, both for your pocket and for wildlife.
Got any other green gift ideas? We'd love to hear them!
 Interested in shopping for gifts through NWF? Here's a quick list of options:
Do you have any green gift ideas? Add a comment!
9 Midwestern governors and the Premier of Manitoba yesterday
signed an historic greenhouse gas accord. This has powerful implications
not just for state and regional progress, but for global warming policy
nationwide.
In addition, it lays out a detailed road map of supporting
policies and regional partnerships to acheive the following, amongst other
things:
25 by 25 in renewable energy and fuels (25% by 2025).
2% energy from efficiency by 2015 and 2% per year thereafter.
Carbon pipeline sited and permitted and carbon storage regs by 2012, all new
coal plants to capture and store CO2 by 2020.
Six governors, the premier of Manitoba, and the UK minister of environment attended in person, as did a who's who of state, industry and NGO energy players.
The full signers of the accord are: MN, WI, IL, MI, IA, KS, and Manitoba with OH, IN and SD signing on as observers. There was a strong bipartisan message, and a strong message particularly from IA governor Culver about how important it was for Presidential candidates to address this issue.
The momentum right now in the conservation movement is really incredible. Not only are we on the eve of mandating an increase in fuel efficiency to 35MPG, but we are also just hours away from seeing the first comprehensive global warming legislation to ever pass through a full Senate committee.
Part of this momentum can be attributed to all of the exposure conservation and environmentalism have had over the past several months. Whether it was Live Earth or The Nobel Prize, global warming and other environmental issues have dominated the headlines in 2007.
Regardless of the many victories we've already seen this year, the real magic is about to take place.
On Wednesday, the House will vote on an energy bill with several great provisions.
- Protects wildlife and public lands from oil and gas development.
- Includes a Renewable Electricity Standard of at least 15 percent by 2020.
- Includes a fuel economy standard requiring cars to go at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020.
Tell the House to pass the energy bill with the above provisions. This will be a great first step toward a comprehensive solution to climate change. Stay tuned, because the Senate will be voting next week.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Senate Energy and Commerce Committee will vote on the Climate Security Act. This strong piece of global warming legislation has the bipartisan support necessary to get further than any global warming bill has before.
On Saturday, the National Wildlife Federation is hosting an awareness-raising fundraiser called Turn the Tables on Global Warming. This event, featuring several popular DJs, is taking place at Fur Nightclub in Washington, DC. You can learn more on the myspace page. If you don't live in the area you can still take the 2% pledge. This pledge says that you will only support candidates who support the 2% solution (pdf) to global warming.
Next week, thousands of NGOs, government officials and policy experts will meet to discuss climate change in Bali. As an NWF employee in our international department points out, if we don't establish and join international carbon emission agreements, our domestic progress will do little good. Hopefully we can see some progress coming out of the discussions in Bali.
Thank you to all of the activists who have worked to make such progress possible. It is more important now than ever that we keep fighting to protect wildlife and our planet. I ask that you take action now to protect wildlife for our children's future.
Technorati Profile
Here are 7 things you can do to quickly and easily take action for wildlife. As NWF President and CEO Larry Schweiger says, "This is not a matter of left or right, it’s a matter of right or wrong."
Is Your Representative one of the Final 50?
Find out if your representative is one of the 50 who need to cosponsor strong global warming legislation today. Help move the House toward passing a bill that protects wildlife and reduces global warming pollution 2% per year.
Help Protect Endangered Plants and Animals!
Congress has a great opportunity to help at-risk wildlife, with a bill called the Endangered Species Recovery Act (S. 700/H.R. 1422). Help reshape how endangered species are managed in the U.S. by speaking up today.
Make Sure the Senate Passes a Strong Farm Bill
Biofuels like corn are a contentious part of the farm bill. The House passed their version of the Farm Bill. Now it's the Senate's turn. Encourage your senators to support more funding for conservation programs and protect the Conservation Reserve Program from efforts to weaken its value for fish and wildlife.
Speak Up for Clean Water Legislation!
Help restore Clean Water Act protections for America's wetlands, streams, lakes and ponds! Urge your representatives to cosponsor and vote for passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007.
Protect Orcas from Global Warming!
Global warming is threatening Washington's Puget Sound, home to one of America's most amazing orca pods. Urge Congress to support strong global warming pollution reductions and make sure wildlife is protected from a changing climate.
Protect Waterfowl in the Chesapeake Bay
Global warming is threatening America's Chesapeake Bay and the millions of ducks, geese and waterfowl that call it home. Urge your representatives to take strong actions to reduce global warming and its impacts on ducks.
Protect Florida's Everglades from Development
Five development projects--including two massive golf course communities--threaten an estimated 1,140 acres of wetlands in the Western Everglades, hurting prime wood stork habitat. Voice your concerns with the federal officials in charge.
Click here to learn about other ways you can speak up for wildlife. With your help we can succeed in protecting wildlife for our children's future.
Thank you.
 Hundreds of scientists say the only way to restore salmon to the Columbia and Snake rivers is to remove four costly dams. But federal agencies aren't listening. Instead, NOAA just released a recovery plan that's more "same ol', same ol'," wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on recovery efforts that don't work.
To make matters worse, prominent orca scientists agree that Puget Sound's endangered orcas won't recover without a lot more salmon to eat--and those salmon must come from the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
Help protect salmon--and orcas too.
 NWF is gathering as many messages from the general public during the federal comment period to help protect the iconic salmon of the Pacific Northwest and the orcas that depend upon them. The time is now for us to show NOAA and our elected leaders that wild salmon and orcas are national treasures that must be protected and restored.
If you can, please forward this link to friends or post it on your blog or website to help spark as many actions as possible!
TAKE ACTION: http://online.nwf.org/protectsalmon
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