Posted on 11 November 2012 by John Hartz

This is a a round-up of selected news articles and blog posts about climate change and its impacts throughout the globe. Readers are encouraged to add relevant articles in the comment thread.

Antarctic Peninsula

Yet more is at risk than ice shelves and rising seas as the Antarctic Peninsula shifts from a cold and dry climate to a warmer, moister, climate. The peninsula's fragile marine ecology, from the smallest bacterium to the largest baleen whale, is being challenged.

Dramatic Impacts of Rapid Climate Change on the Antarctic Peninsula by James B. McClintock, the Huffington Post, Nov 7, 2012

Coffee Plant Extinction?

Writing in the journal PLoS One on Wednesday, research botanist Aaron Davis of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London and colleagues reported that climate warming could drive wild varieties of Coffea arabica to extinction by 2080.

Climate change: taking a toll on coffee? by Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times, Nov 9, 2012

Fewer Clouds and Higher Temps

It turns out that in general, the climate models that do the best job of reproducing real-world, relative-humidity patterns also tend to project higher temperatures.

New Report Says Fewer Clouds and Higher Temps by 2100 by Michael Lemonick, Climate Central, Nov 8, 2012

Memory Lane

A terrifying collection of stories about melting glaciers, cowardly politicians, and stupid weathermen.

The Longform Guide to Climate Change by Max Linsky, Slate, Nov 3, 2012

Military Perils

Climate change is accelerating, and it will place unparalleled strains on American military and intelligence agencies in coming years by causing ever more disruptive events around the globe, the nation’s top scientific research group said in a report issued Friday.

Climate Change Report Outlines Perils for U.S. Military by John M. Broder, New York Times, Nov 9, 2012

Obama's Second Term

Obama will likely stay the course on his current energy and environmental policies. That means more executive orders like the one that raised vehicle fuel efficiency standards, and continued progress on regulatory efforts to restrain greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollution from coal-fired power plants. As market watchers noted last night: coal company stocks plummeted as the election results became clear, while solar companies soared.

Climate Change Action and More Drilling Likely in Obama’s Second Term by David Biello, Scientific American, Nov 7, 2012

Ocean Life

Overfishing and plankton decline may have contributed to collapse of fisheries, risking dire consequences for Caribbean

Caribbean sardine collapse linked to climate change by Marielba Núñez, The Guardian (UK), Nov 7, 2012 

Open Letter to Obama

As president you have helped those who cause climate change more than those affected most by it. Helping the world's poorest adapt is now a matter of urgency, and it can be your great legacy

An open letter to Obama from the world's poorest countries by Pa Ousman Jarju, The Guradian (UK), Nov 8, 2012

Pollen Levels in US

An unseasonably warm winter made 2012 one of the worst years for people with allergies, but scientists say it's just the start of an upward trend. Thanks to climate change, pollen counts are only going to climb higher, more than doubling by the year 2040.

Pollen Levels On The Rise Thanks To Climate Change, Scientists Say by Roxanne Palmer, International Business Times, Nov 9, 2012

Sea Level Rise

Sea level along 600 miles of the Atlantic coast from Cape Hatteras to north of Boston has risen three to four times faster since 1990 than it has globally, says a U.S. Geological Survey study published in June. That alone is enough to add 8 to 11 inches to the global average this century.

North Carolina's coast is 'hot spot' for rising sea levels by Bruce Henderson, The Charlotte Observer, Nov 4, 2012

Sea levels are rising faster than expected from global warming, due to critical feedbacks missing from earlier models, according to the University of Colorado.

Why sea levels are rising ahead of predictions, FutureTimeline.net, Nov 7, 2012

Stark Future

A new international business report warns fossil fuel use is pushing humanity towards a catastrophic overheating of the planet, with temperature increases of four or even six degrees Celsius. No major developed or developing country is doing anything close to what’s needed to prevent large parts of the planet from becoming uninhabitable, the report found.

Mankind Approaching ‘Carbon Cliff’, Report Warns by Stephen Leahy,Inter Press Service (IPS), Nov 6, 2012

Taxing Carbon Consumption

Given the failure of international climate negotiations, a tax on carbon consumption is the most effective way of lowering CO2 emissions. If nations are serious about addressing climate change, then they must pay for the carbon pollution caused by what they consume.

Forget Kyoto: Putting a Tax on Carbon Consumption by Dieter Helm, Yale Environment 360, Nov 8, 2012

US Public Policy

According to OpenSecrets.org, the top 20 House candidates who received money from the dirty energy industry were all members of the Republican Party. Together, these 20 Republican candidates received more than $3.6 million from the industry.

The Real Winner Of US Election – Dirty Energy Money by Farron Cousins, DeSmog Blog, Nov 7, 2012 

A conference on the "Economics of Carbon Taxes" will be held in Washington on Tuesday by AEI and other groups, including International Monetary Fund and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Long-shot US carbon tax suddenly part of fiscal cliff debate by Valerie Volcovici, Reuters, Nov 8, 2012