Reuters is reporting on two significant new reports on climate change -- in 'Impact of climate change hitting home, U.S. report finds', Reuters reports how climate change is already significantly impacting every region of the United States according to a draft 1,146 page report of the U.S. National Climate Assessment, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Reuters' article 'Emissions limits could cut climate damage by two-thirds - study' reports on a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change that is the first comprehensive assessment of the benefits of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, finding up to two thirds of the damange this century from climate change can be prevented if major steps are taken now to reduce emissions.

(Reuters) - Sea levels from Cape Hatteras to Cape Cod are rising at a faster pace than anywhere on Earth, making coastal cities and wetlands in this densely-populated U.S. corridor possibly more vulnerable to flooding and damage, researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
Note: Link to Reuters article

The ice of Greenland and the rest of the Arctic is melting faster than expected and could help raise global sea levels by as much as 5 feet this century, dramatically higher than earlier projections, an authoritative international assessment says.

The findings "emphasize the need for greater urgency" in combating global warming, says the report of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), the scientific arm of the eight-nation Arctic Council.

Click here to read this Associated Press article in the Cape Cod Times

Falmouth Enterprise article, run in its entirety, with permission.

The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say.

...If the United States does not lead the world in reducing fossil-fuel consumption and thus emissions of global warming gases, proponents of this view say, a series of global environmental, social, political and possibly military crises loom that the nation will urgently have to address.
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Click here to read this article in the New York Times

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Global warming is the biggest public health threat of the 21st century, eclipsing infectious diseases, water shortages and poverty, a team of medical and climate-change researchers concluded.

The phenomenon will be felt first in the developing world, further burdening a population already in crisis from food shortages, said the report from University College London that was published today in The Lancet journal. The changing climate will also cause real and lasting damage to the Western world, affecting generations to come, said Anthony Costello, a pediatrician at University College London.

“Climate change is a health issue affecting billions of people, not just an environmental issue about polar bears and deforestation,” Costello said during a news conference. “We are setting up a world for our children and grandchildren that may be extremely frightening and turbulent.”
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Click here to read this Bloomberg article

The Seven Wonders of the World. The phrase, first used by ancient Greek historians like Herodotus, recalls a simpler time, when the human influence over nature was an awesome mystery. From the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the Great Pyramid of Giza, the magnitude and mastery displayed by the ancient wonders were staggering to our ancestors.  ...The editors decided we need a new list of wonders—one with an eco-enlightened perspective. So we searched the globe. We visited today’s most progressive, iconic structures. And we studied blueprints for projects now under construction that represent a better form of development for tomorrow. We insisted that these eco wonders connect our built and natural realms, cultivating hope for a brighter, greener, more innovative century. And lo and behold, Plenty’s Seven Eco Wonders of the World was born: present and future marvels (in no particular order) that prove our civilization can leave an eco-friendly imprint.

... 3. Nysted Havmøllepark, Denmark
The Eco Wonder: The Dutch are known for windmills, but it’s the Danish who now claim the world’s second-largest offshore wind farm, located in shallow but navigable waters 6 miles off the shore of the bucolic southern coastal town of Nysted. Gently rotating blades reach out more than 130 feet from their colossal 225-foot posts. Seen from the sky, the 72 sleek, marine-gray towers rise from the ocean in neat rows, marking out a parallelogram.

...Eco-touring Tips: Visitors can sail in the unrestricted waters around the Nysted wind farm using sailing directions found on the farm’s website. Frequent tours leave from Nysted, where sport fishing is another popular local pastime. On shore, the Rødsand area is well-liked for its dunes, seaside campsites, game reserves, and a European Union bird sanctuary—and don’t miss the Egholm Ulvecenter, a wolf park and museum.
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Click here to read this Plenty Magazine article on Mother Nature Network

Global warming may be hitting you right where it really hurts: the dinner plate.

New research done by a team of scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center shows that rising temperatures in coastal waters along the East Coast could be lowering overall productivity in the North Atlantic food chain, slowing the growth of fish and shellfish. That means fewer fish in the ocean now than scientists anticipated, and lowered expectations for the size of fish populations once New England's severely depleted stocks are rebuilt to healthy levels in the future.
Note: Click here to read this article in the Cape Cod Times

The world's hypoxic zones—swaths of ocean too oxygen-deprived to support fish and other marine organisms—are rapidly expanding as sea temperatures rise, a new study suggests.
Note: Click here to read this article in National Geographic

Short-term exposure to smog, or ozone, is clearly linked to premature deaths that should be taken into account when measuring the health benefits of reducing air pollution, a National Academy of Sciences report concluded yesterday.
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Click here to read this AP article in the Boston Globe