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Showing posts from January, 2016

James Hansen, father of climate change awareness, calls Paris talks 'a fraud'

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The former Nasa scientist criticizes the talks, intended to reach a new global deal on cutting carbon emissions beyond 2020, as ‘no action, just promises’ John Kerry rejects scientist’s claim Paris talks were ‘fraud’  ‘Many of the conservatives know climate change is not a hoax,’ James Hansen says. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian Oliver Milman @olliemilman Saturday 12 December 2015  07.30 EST Last modified on Monday 14 December 2015 13.49 EST Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+ Shares 38,045 Comments 762   Save for later M ere mention of the Paris climate talks is enough to make  James Hansen grumpy. The former Nasa scientist, considered the father of global awareness of climate change, is a soft-spoken, almost diffident Iowan. But when he talks about the gathering of nearly 200 nations, his demeanour changes. John Kerry rejects leading climate scientist's claim Paris talks were 

Global Warming Helped Exacerbate Biggest Year Ever for U.S. Wildfires

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A warmer, drier climate played a role in fires that burned more than 10 million acres By  Brittany Patterson ,  ClimateWire  on January 8, 2016 Air attack on southern Oregon wildfire, 2015. Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington/Flickr ,  CC BY 2.0 ADVERTISEMENT Scientists and forest agency officials yesterday said they see a link between climate change and the record-breaking 2015 wildfire season. Parsing the exact role a changing climate played in the historic burns can be challenging, especially in Western forests overstocked with woody kindling due to decades of fire suppression and a relatively hands-off forest management policy. But, experts agreed, there is clear evidence that a warmer, drier climate played a central role. “We do see a climate change signal in the fire seasons we’re having,” said Jennifer Jones, a public affairs specialist with the Forest Service’s office of fire and aviation management. “It’s climate change, it’s hazardous fu