Clean Start: November 14, 2011

Welcome to Clean Start, ThinkProgress Green’s morning round-up of the latest in climate and clean energy. Here is what we’re reading. What are you?

An Iowan photographer has seen first hand the dramatic changes in the Arctic Ocean and glaciers around the world due to rapid global warming. [Des Moines Register]

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will open a forum in Bangladesh on Monday at which countries most vulnerable to climate change will try to unite ahead of global talks in South Africa in December. [AFP]

Knowing that aid from the government or insurance will fall short, Vermonters have been raising money through benefit concerts, fundraising campaigns and events like barbecues and pie sales to help those whose homes were damaged or lost in the flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Irene. [AP]

Policies to protect the global climate and limit global temperature rise offer the most effective entry point for achieving energy sustainability, reducing air pollution, and improving energy security, according to an article published in the latest issue of Nature Climate Change. [Sicence Daily]

A string of climate disasters and earthquakes has exposed a vulnerability in global supply chains: How do you set up a network that is compact enough to be efficient but spread widely enough that no single unexpected event can knock it out? [Reuters]

Residents of remote Alaska towns and tiny Native villages were working on Friday to tally up damages from a near-record storm that lashed the state’s west coast, officials said. [Reuters]

An execeptionally warm October has brought a freakish, false spring to Great Britain, disrupting the natural cycle of flowers, birds, and bees. [Guardian]

The United States expects Asia Pacific leaders on Sunday to take a “significant step” toward reducing tariffs and other barriers that block trade in environmentally-friendly goods and services, a senior administration official said on Sunday. [Reuters]

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he will step up efforts to supply oil to Asia after Washington delayed a decision on whether to approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline from Canada to the United States. [Reuters]