IPCC report out: 'Extremely likely' that humans behind climate change

This is The Associated Press's report, but what makes it noteworthy to me, at least, is the fact that I found it on the Daily Oklahoman's Web site. That's the daily serving the Oklahoma City metro area - in the heart of the state served by climate change denier-n-chief U.S. Sen. James Inhofe. Hah.

Warming climate worsening mercury pollution

Mercury pollution will, among many things, lead to the extinction of the Common Loon, THE bird of the North Country. Americans continue to thumb their noses at doing anything to stop the poisoning of our atmosphere. See http://www.livescience.com/39983-climate-change-worsens-mercury-pollution.html

President of Marshall Islands republic calls for climate action

No other nation on Earth faces greater danger and adaptation challenges than does the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific. Sea-level rise caused by the melting of polar ice and glaciers is causing world sea-levels to rise. It's not just a problem for America's East Coast metroplexes (Miami, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Tampa, Houston, etc.), but far, far more of our planet. Solid op-ed here.

IPCC to release its fourth climate assessment

And now, more than ever, the man-made situation is tipping to disaster for people of Earth's future. Read all about it right here.

Is naural gas 'cleaner' than coal (i.e., dirt)?

A wittle bit, I suppose. But it is still a fossil fuel and burning it still releases a greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, into our atmosphere (the only one we have, buckaroos). No matter matter how many holes we cram into Earth to get natural gas, we're still in trouble and future generations are in even more dire straits. But yet another debacle associated with gas and oil drilling remains under the news media's fuzzy umbrella: Drilling means road-building, which means wiping out a ribbon of natural landscape, which means fragmenting wildlife habitat, which means losing more biodiversity. This op-ed looks at the natural gas vs. coal/methane question.

Bark beetle going after N.M.'s pinon pines - again

The battle against tree-killing bark beetles is only to grow more intensive in the future as the globe's climate warns, making winter-killing frosts a thing of the past. Read about New Mexico's plight.

A good walk spoiled

This is the column I wrote for today's Hazleton, Pa., paper. I love to ramble across our land. You can see, hear and smell a helluva lot more than sitting behind the steering wheel of your car allows.