Climate Change News

Researchers Find Cost of Combating Climate Change Surges as World Delays

An agreement by almost 200 nations to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 will be far more costly than taking action now to tackle climate change, according to research published on Wednesday. Quick measures to cut emissions would give …

2012 Was Hottest Year for New Jersey Since Record Keeping Began in 1895

It may not feel like it with the cold temperatures and biting wind of the last few days, but 2012 was the warmest year on record for New Jersey. State climatologists say the average temperature was around 55.9 degrees, the …

Events that Topped World Insurance News in 2012

While 2012 wasn’t as tumultuous as 2011, it had its share of insurance shaking trends and events. Here in roughly chronological order are some of them: 1) The costs of the flooding in Thailand in 2011, wasn’t conclusively calculated until …

UK’s Met Office Sees 2013 as Likely to be One of Warmest on Record

Global temperatures are forecast to be 0.57 degrees [1.026°F] above the long-term average next year, making 2013 one of the warmest years on record, Britain’s Met Office, the UK’s national weather service, said on Thursday. “It is very likely that …

UMass Amherst Scientists Forecast Warmer, Wetter Northeast Winters

A new high-resolution climate study by University of Massachusetts Amherst climate scientists — the first to apply regional climate models to examine likely near-term changes in temperature and precipitation across the U.S. Northeast — suggests temperatures are going to be …

Poor Nations to Seek UN Climate Change Compensation Payments in 2013

Developing nations will push next year for a radical U.N. mechanism to compensate them for the impact of climate change, such as droughts or rising sea levels, despite reluctance among wealthy states which would have to foot the bill. A …

Extreme Weather is New Normal, U.N.’s Ban Tells Climate Change Talks

Extreme weather is the new normal and poses a threat to the human race, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday as he sought to revive deadlocked global climate change talks. Ban’s intervention came as efforts to agree a symbolic …

Climate is ‘Changing before our Eyes’ Says World Meteorological Organization

The fact that Arctic sea ice has melted this year to its lowest recorded level shows, along with other weather extremes, that “climate change is taking place before our eyes,” the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday. The first …

Colombia to Offer Climate Change Insurance to Coffee Farmers

Colombia is launching insurance to protect coffee plantations hit by climate change, which has damaged output in the world’s top producer of high quality Arabica beans in recent years, officials said on Wednesday. After three years of bad weather and …

UN Report: Melting Permafrost Seen as New Peril in Global Warming

Permafrost lands across Siberia and Alaska that contain vast stores of carbon are beginning to thaw, bringing with it the threat of a big increase in global warming by 2100, a U.N. report said on Tuesday. A thaw of the …