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Sept. 10 News: Shell Officially Begins Exploratory Oil Drilling In The Arctic Sea

With the ice-free drilling season nearing an end, Shell Oil started its first exploration well in the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska on Sunday. [Washington Post]

A new paper, released Sunday in Nature Climate Change, has attempted to lay out just how climate stress affects forests, and how serious the consequences of could be. [Climate Central]

New Zealand’s High Court has dismissed a challenge launched by climate-change sceptics against a government research agency’s finding that the temperature had risen in the past century. [The Australian]

European greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.5 percent in 2011 over 2010, as a mild winter and increase in renewable energy use offset a rise in coal consumption and economic activity, estimates released on Friday said. [AFP]

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Drought and rising temperatures are forcing water managers across the country to scramble for ways to produce the same amount of power from the hydroelectric grid with less water, including from behemoths such as the Hoover Dam. [Washington Post]

A massive Idaho wildfire forced hundreds of people from their homes on Sunday as high winds pushed the blaze to within miles of two communities. [Reuters]

Caribbean coral reefs — which make up one of the world’s most colourful, vivid and productive ecosystems — are on the verge of collapse, with less than 10% of the reef area showing live coral cover. [Guardian]

China will order its dominant electricity distributors to source up to 15 percent of their power from renewable energy including wind, but slow compliance means it may be years before the country’s struggling wind power developers benefit, industry executives say. [Reuters]

An over-reliance on gas-fired power stations risks making it impossible for Britain to meet targets on cutting carbon emissions, the new head of the independent climate change watchdog has warned. [The Independent]