EPA Forecasts Longer, Smoggier Summers for US

Country grapples with drought, wildfires, and heat

(NEWSER) - Pummeled by drought, wildfires, and heat, Australia may be offering the world a preview of what’s to come as the planet warms, experts say. “Australia is the harbinger of change,” says a paleontologist. Many say climate change has already taken a human toll in the 173 killed by wildfires and 200 who died in a heat wave—to say nothing of a string of suicides among struggling farmers. The Los Angeles Times reports from a continent in transition. More»

Staff unearths years of shelved proposals

(NEWSER) - More than a dozen environmental initiatives that stagnated under former President Bush are moving forward under Obama, the Washington Post reports. In most of those cases, the decisions were based on reports drafted over several years that, in the face of opposition, were placed on the back burner to await new bosses. “It is kind of how government works, at its best,” said an environmental advocate. More»

Climate change conference insists that humans will have to adapt to survive

(NEWSER) - The European Union set itself an ambitious goal when it pledged to rein in global rises in temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius. That goal is now unlikely to be met, reports a UN-established group that presented its findings in London today. Martin Parry, who leads the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, estimated that the rise could be constrained to between 2C and 3C. More»

Orders plans for regulating greenhouse gases by term's end

(NEWSER) - President Bush stepped up to the plate on global warming today, ordering the the EPA, transportation and other agencies to begin to regulate vehicle emissions by the time he leaves office. Chided by the Supreme Court last month for failing to protect the environment, Bush asked agencies to prepare plans, but offered no other details. More»

(NEWSER) - Arnold Schwarzenegger says he'll take the Environmental Protection Agency to court if California doesn’t get a green light for its tough new auto emissions laws within six months. "The clock is ticking. If we don't see quick action from the federal government, we will sue the EPA," Schwarzenegger said yesterday. More»