Today’s top five climate change stories chosen by RTCC
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(Pic: WEF/Flickr)
1. King calls for climate preparations
The UK needs to prepare for more extreme weather events, according to Sir David King, the government’s special envoy on climate change. Sir David King told BBC Radio 5 Live “storms and severe weather conditions that we might have expected to occur once in 100 years, say, in the past may now be happening more frequently.”
2. Antarctic sea ice and climate change
Local weather patterns in the Antarctic tell us little about the wider effects of climate change says Professor John Turner from the British Antarctic Survey. Writing in the Guardian he says “the increase in annual mean sea ice extent is only just over 1% per decade, making it impossible at present to separate natural variability from any human influence.”
3. Four US states confirm fracking pollution
Hundreds of complaints over water contamination linked to fracking have been made in the US states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Texas, reports the AP news agency. “Pennsylvania received 398 complaints in 2013 alleging that oil or natural gas drilling polluted or otherwise affected private water wells, compared with 499 in 2012,” it says.
4. Exxon faces fracking waste case
An Exxon subsidiary stands accused of dumping “thousands of gallons of hydraulic fracturing waste” in Pennsylvania in 2010, reports the ThinkProgress website. XTO Energy are contesting the charges, which relate to the release of 57,000 gallons of contaminated water spilling into the soil.
5. Bats killed by Queensland heat
Thousands of bats have died across Queensland after extremely hot weather at the weekend says the Guardian. One observer says nearly 10,000 bats from one colony may have perished in a summer where temperatures have soared above 40C. Last week the Australian Bureau of Meterology warned average temperatures in the country are increasing significantly year on year.