National Public Radio: Coral in the Great Barrier Reef is showing significant signs of trouble, apparently the result of human activities. Scientists say one species of coral is growing much more slowly than it was 15 years ago. If current trends continue, this species of coral could stop growing altogether by the middle of the century. Scientists suspect that coral growth is being stunted by warmer ocean waters, as well as increasing acidity caused by carbon dioxide that’s entering the ocean as a …

Telegraph: Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that 630 million years ago the earth had a warm atmosphere full of carbon dioxide but was completely covered with ice. The scientists studied limestone rocks and found evidence that large amounts of greenhouse gas coincided with a prolonged period of freezing temperatures. Such glaciation could happen again if global warming is not curbed, the university’s school of geography, earth and environmental sciences …

Antara: Around one million trees were planted in Aceh Province during 2008 to help mitigate the impact of climate change, a local official said. "Various regreening programs were carried out in 2008, and about one million trees have been planted," Hanifah Affan, head of the Aceh forestry and plantation office, said here on Wednesday. The central government provided 500,000 tree seedlings to support the tree planting program, she said. Each district and city in Aceh Province got …

The Tyee: The year 2009 will witness a tsunami of economic appeals to fix, as disgraced Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan put it, the "flaw" in their thinking. Most will get it wrong. The proposals for bailouts, regulations and government spending sprees all share one tragic flaw: they assume no physical or biological limits to human growth. Most economists cling to an 18th century mechanical universe that conjured an "invisible hand" of God, that would allegedly convert private greed …

Scientfic American: Massive Porites coral, like the one pictured here, in the Great Barrier Reef are not growing as much anymore, most likely because of warmer and more acidic seawater. The largest coral reef system in the world–and the biggest sign of life on Earth, visible from space–is not growing like it used to. A sampling of 328 massive Porites coral (large structures resembling brains that are formed by tiny polyps) from across the 133,000-square-mile (344,000-square-kilometer) reef reveals that …

Christian Science Monitor: Perhaps it`s time to begin talking about global warming and acidifying oceans in the same breath, rather than as related-but-separate issues. In mid-December, The Monitor ran a story on research showing that some areas of the world`s oceans are acidifying faster than marine scientists had predicted even three years ago. The culprit: the excess carbon dioxide that human industrial activity and deforestation are pumping into the atmosphere — and that the oceans are absorbing. (That …

Houston Chronicle: According to U.S. renewable energy statistics from 2007, the most recent year available: * It met about 7 percent of U.S. energy needs. * Electric power production used 51 percent of all renewable output * Hydroelectric sources comprised 71 percent of renewable power production, followed by biomass (16 percent), wind (9 percent), geothermal (4 percent) and solar (0.2 percent) Source: Energy Information Administration Never mind the fall in oil prices. …

It is reported President Bush is closing off some of President-Elect Obama’s immediate climate policy alternatives [ark] with last minute “midnight” environmental regulations. These include barring the Environmental Protection Agency from considering the effects of climate change on protected species [search], and forbidding the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act [search]. These are avenues Obama could have used immediately to begin regulating carbon dioxide (and still can but will take longer to undo Bush’s mess). Some had hoped President Obama would make a dramatic gesture and begin regulating carbon under these existing avenues immediately upon taking office, others would argue it is better to work for more comprehensive national legislation and lead international cooperative measures to achieve binding yet differentiated carbon targets upon all nations.

I would argue for all at the same time and more, as leading NASA climate scientist James Hansen does [ark]. President Obama should begin by banning further coal plants and regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act as soon as possible. He should also begin national measures to establish a dedicated carbon tax, proceeds to be used for renewable energy development and to lower other taxes. Further, if any more time is to be wasted on establishing cap and trade systems, he must unveil an ambitious goal to reduce carbon emissions quickly — perhaps 40% by 2020. Or else he is better off moving on to ending the use of coal and other actions commiserate with the threat. And finally, the world is calling out for international leadership to break the log jam of national interests impeding global enforceable cuts upon greenhouse gas emissions. Let’s hope that Obama lives up to his rhetoric and leads on climate at this crucial juncture. Nothing less than the survival of the world, humanity and all Earth’s creatures is at stake.

Telegraph: The author of the Government’s 2006 report on the economic impact of climate change said that Mr Obama, the US President-Elect, would revolutionise Washington’s approach to the subject. He said an Obama administration gives hope that a new global agreement could be formulated to take over after the expiration of the Kyoto protocol in 2012. "He’s night and day on this issue relative to his prehistoric predecessor George Bush," Lord Stern told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. "That …

Associated Press: The words "Oregon" and "rain" often appear together, but results of round-table talks indicate Oregonians doubt there will be enough water for everyone as the state’s population grows and summers become drier with climate change. The five sessions were held in September and October. Two-thirds of those surveyed at the roundtables across the state doubt whether Oregon will have enough water to cover all its needs 20 years from now. Oregon and Alaska are the only two Western …