A round-up of the top climate and energy news.
Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Monday that global warming will accelerate at a dramatic rate unless leaders reach a deal on limiting greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. [Reuters]
A drought gripping the Corn Belt and more than half the United States has reached proportions not seen in more than 50 years, the government reported Monday, jacking up crop prices and threatening to drive up the cost of food. [Washington Post]
Shoppers across the country should stand up and take notice of the Midwestern drought that has already hurt supplies of corn and soybeans. [MSNBC]
Global warming, a concern for its effects on the world’s oceans, is also causing harm to the globe’s freshwater lakes, researchers in Switzerland say. [UPI]
Deploying giant space mirrors and spraying particles from stadium-sized balloons may sound like an engineer’s wild fantasy, but climate models suggest that the potential of geoengineering to offset rising atmospheric carbon dioxide may be significantly overstated. [Wired UK]
The government’s current policies will only deliver one-third of the 150 terawatt hours (TWh) of annual energy savings that are potentially available by 2030, according to new research that should help shape its forthcoming energy-efficiency policy. [Business Green]
A wide swath of the U.S., from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic, was bracing for the onslaught of another heat wave Monday and Tuesday as high temperatures approaching triple digits was in the forecast for cities like Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Chicago. [Climate Central]
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
Angela Merkel would normally not give climate change the time of day, but she’s about to lose her job over the issue so lip service is cheap.
Why have you and Peter M got bees in your bonnets over Merkel? I would remind you that the Europeans have been most constructive in the international negotiations. They have not been trying to inhibit them every step of the way as have some countries I could mention.
They have also made some amazing progress in action on the ground including stopping waste and that is evident right across Europe, ME
Additional energy and climate news from around the world is posted at http://www.marcaccicomms.com/news/energy-and-environment-news-roundup-7-17-12/
Time is out now on climate change. Merkels pleas now seem contrived.