CLIMATE CHANGE - President Biden's Goals

"U.S. seeks to lead by example with emission goals set during global climate summit" PBS NewsHour 4/22/2021

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SUMMARY:  The United States set ambitious new goals today to stop the world from heating up, urging other nations to follow suit.  And some of the world’s largest carbon emitters seemed to heed the call.  But world leaders left open how they would get there as they met in a virtual gathering.  William Brangham has our report.

 

 

"Has the U.S. set realistic goals to combat climate change? A climate scientist weighs in" PBS NewsHour 4/22/2021

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SUMMARY:  To discuss the ambitions of the climate summit and the very real challenges to President Joe Biden's plans, we're joined by Michael Mann, a climate scientist and professor of atmospheric sciences at Penn State University.  He's the author of, "The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet."  This reporting is part of the international journalism collaborative called "Covering Climate Now."

CLIMATE CRISIS - World's Oceans

BELIEVE THE SCIENCE!

"The future of ocean life is bleak if we don’t cut carbon emissions" PBS NewsHour 9/25/2019

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SUMMARY:  The world's oceans and seas have already absorbed an enormous amount of excess heat in our climate system, according to a new UN report [PDF download link].  And the risks of dire consequences for marine and coastal life will get significantly worse if carbon emissions don't change.  William Brangham learns more from study co-author Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University.

ACTIVISM - The Greta Thunberg Interview

The Daily Show
with Trevor Noah

PENGUINS - Warning From Antarctica

"Antarctic penguins have existed for 60 million years.  Can they survive climate change?" PBS NewsHour 4/3/2019

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SUMMARY:  Ron Naveen used to be a lawyer for the EPA, but he left government in the 1980s to start Oceanites, a nonprofit that tracks the health of penguins that breed on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Now, that 800-mile stretch of land is warming faster than almost anywhere else in the world, and the changing climate is affecting the "glorious creatures" Naveen studies.  William Brangham reports from Antarctica.

CLIMATE CHANGE - All-Encompassing Threat

COMMENT:  Understand the difference between Climate Change (Global Warming) and weather.  Weather is what is happening now, in you own back yard.  Global Warming, the key word is 'global,' which means the entire atmosphere of the Earth.  Anyone familiar with boiling water, know that a 1qt pan can heat to a rolling-boil in a few minutes, but a 4qrt pan will take many minutes (if at all depend on you stove).  It takes much more energy (heat) to boil a large quantity of water, now think about that and the entire atmosphere of the Earth.  So a sustained rise in global temperature of 1º+ is significant, and in terms of global history may lead to an Ice Age.

"Why climate change is an ‘all-encompassing threat’" PBS NewsHour 3/1/2019

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SUMMARY:  Although a candidate just entered the 2020 presidential race with a platform centered on climate change, some experts say Americans aren’t fully aware of the scope and seriousness of global warming.  Among them is David Wallace-Wells, who argues in a new book that the severity of the climate crisis has not yet been acknowledged, let alone addressed.  He sits down with William Brangham to discuss.

MIDWEST FREEZE - Consequence of Climate Change?

"Why the Midwest’s deep freeze may be a consequence of climate change" PBS NewsHour 1/30/2019

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SUMMARY:  More than a quarter of the U.S. population is expected to deal with sub-zero temperatures this week.  The extreme cold has sparked some public skepticism over global warming, but scientists actually believe it is a consequence of climate change.  Amna Nawaz talks to Dr. Jennifer Francis of the Woods Hole Research Center for an explanation of this counterintuitive weather relationship.

REMINDER:  "Global Warming" is NOT "Weather."  Weather is what is happening in your backyard now.  "Global Warming" is what it happening to the entire atmosphere of Earth over decades.

CLIMATE CHANGE - Tracking Methane Leaks

"NASA scientists track climate-changing methane leaks from the air" PBS NewsHour 7/11/2018

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SUMMARY:  Science correspondent Miles O’Brien joins us from the atmosphere above Southern California, where NASA engineers leverage state-of-the-art technology to measure methane.  Released through oil and gas production, livestock emissions, and organic waste, methane is about 85 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.  California wants to identify specific methane leaks so it can plug them.

EARTH - Global Warming Truths

"Global Warming Exposed"
by Dr. Gavin Schmidt

ANTARCTICA - Melting Faster

"Antarctica is melting faster than scientists expected" PBS NewsHour 7/2/2017

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SUMMARY:  Scientists predict a sheet of ice 110 miles long -- the size of Delaware -- will break off Antarctica in the coming days or weeks.  In its July issue, National Geographic covers the effects that warming oceans will have on global sea level rise.  Robert Kunzig, the magazine's senior environment editor, joins Hari Sreenivasan from Birmingham, Ala.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION - Not Answering Basic Question

"Look at All the Ways Trump's Staff Is Avoiding Answering This Basic Question" by Nathalie Baptiste, Mother Jones 6/2/2017

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They are endorsing a "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward climate denial.

Nobody at the White House seems to have asked President Donald Trump about his position on climate change.  For years, Trump has been calling global warming a hoax, sometimes alleging that it was invented by China.

So why not just confirm that this is still his opinion?  Especially when, after withdrawing the United States from the most important climate deal in history, aides might want to use the opportunity to show that the President understands the basic science.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, had several opportunities to share the President's current thinking on the issue.  At Friday's press briefing, four different reporters asked Pruitt four variations on this basic question from ABC's Mary Bruce: "Yes or no, does the President believe that climate change is real and a threat to the United States?"

And four different times, Pruitt basically gave this response: "All the discussions we had over the last several weeks was focused on one singular issue; Is Paris good or not for this country?"

But Pruitt isn't alone.  Over the last several days, many of his closest advisers have revealed they spend no time discussing global warming with the President. 

At Tuesday's press briefing, when a reporter asked if Trump believes that human activity contributes to global warming, Spicer replied, "Honestly, I haven't asked him.  I can get back to you." When he appeared at the podium again on Friday, Spicer still didn't have an answer.

On Thursday, after the Paris decision was announced, CNN asked Gary Cohn, Trump's top economic adviser, whether or not the President believes climate change is real.  "You are going to have to ask him," Cohn responded.

During a press briefing following the Paris announcement, a reporter asked about Trump's beliefs on climate change.  "I have not talked to the President about his personal views on climate change," a White House official said.

Earlier on Friday, Trump's adviser Kellyanne Conway also refused to answer if Trump thinks global warming is a hoax.  When pressed by news anchor George Stephanopolous on 'Good Morning America,' she assured him "The President believes in clean environment, clean air, clean water."

Many of his advisers may not broach climate change with Trump, but recently, K.T. McFarland, his Deputy National Security Adviser, slipped him two Time cover magazine stories about global warming to get the President riled up.

The only problem?  One of the stories turned out to be an internet hoax.

IMHO:  It is very obvious Trump does NOT understand the basic science.  And, worst, he does not care.  He wallows in his ignorance.  This is purely political gamesmanship, 'keeping his campaign promise.'

CLIMATE CHANGE - Great Barrier Reef

"Climate change is killing the Great Barrier Reef" PBS NewsHour 3/22/2017

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SUMMARY:  Coral reefs are more than examples of natural beauty; they harbor fish that feed millions and shield us against storms and floods.  Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the largest living structure on the planet, is dying.  As ocean waters steadily warm, extensive coral destruction continues, part of an unprecedented global crisis.  Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on what's at stake.

MILES O'BRIEN (NewsHour):  Half the size of Texas, spanning 1,400 miles, Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet.  It is rich in beauty and diversity, but it is dying, as the ocean waters steadily warm.

DAVID WACHENFELD, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority:  It's a very confronting situation.  And I hope the people of the world take this as a call to action to do more about climate change.

MILES O'BRIEN:  Coral reef ecologist David Wachenfeld is director for reef recovery at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.  It's the second consecutive summer of extensive coral destruction, or bleaching, on the reef.

DAVID WACHENFELD:  We are using aerial surveys and underwater surveys to try and cover that whole enormous area of the Great Barrier Reef to get a handle on the extent and severity of the event.  But, certainly, this year is shaping up to be another very bad year, as was last year.

MILES O'BRIEN:  Last year, two-thirds of the corals in the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef died, the worst die-off in history.  As for this year, it is too early to tell.  But the outlook is grim, as this is one big piece of an unprecedented global coral crisis.

C. MARK EAKIN, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coral Reef Watch:  Since June of '14, we have had continuous bleaching somewhere in the world.  Globally, over 70 percent of the coral reefs around the globe have been exposed to the high temperatures that cause bleaching.

MILES O'BRIEN:  Coral reef ecologist Mark Eakin is the coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch.

He relies on data from scientific satellites operated by NOAA, the Europeans, and the Japanese that measure ocean water temperature.  He, along with David Wachenfeld, is co-author of a new study published in the journal Nature documenting the link between warm waters and dying coral in the Great Barrier Reef.

C. MARK EAKIN:  What we did here at Coral Reef Watch was to provide the satellite data that gives the information on the areas where the high temperatures occurred.

So, there are charts in there showing where the bleaching was worst and where the temperatures were highest for the longest time, and the correlation between that heat stress and where the bleaching occurred was very high.

CLIMATE CHANGE - Propagandized WEB Future? Denial of Science

A 'The Resistance' file.

"Endangered Species Under GOP?  Climate Change Information on the Web" by Andrew Revkin, ProPublica 1/4/2017

A recent reworking of language concerning climate change on a Wisconsin government website could be replicated under a Trump administration.

James Rowen, a longtime Wisconsin journalist and environmental blogger, recently discovered a stark remaking of a state Department of Natural Resources web page on climate change and the Great Lakes.

Until December, the page, dating from the Democratic administration of former Gov. James Doyle, had this headline — “Climate Change and Wisconsin's Great Lakes” — and a clear description of the state of the science, including this line reflecting the latest federal and international research assessments:  “Earth's climate is changing.  Human activities that increase heat-trapping (“green house”) gases are the main cause.”

The page described a variety of possible impacts on the lakes and concluded, “The good news is that we can all work to slow climate change and lessen its effects.”  Nine hyperlinks led readers to other resources.

While the web address still includes /greatlakes/climatechange, the page, managed under agency appointees of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, now has this headline:  “The Great Lakes and a changing world.”  It now says this:

As it has done throughout the centuries, the earth is going through a change.  The reasons for this change at this particular time in the earth's long history are being debated and researched by academic entities outside the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.  The effects of such a change are also being debated but whatever the causes and effects, the DNR's responsibility is to manage our state's natural resources through whatever event presents itself.

There are now just two hyperlinks, one of which goes to a University of Wisconsin website about the environment and climate in the Yahara River watershed, which is not even connected to the Great Lakes.  The other goes to the main page of the Center for Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin.  One has to poke around a while to get back to the issue at hand — the impact of global warming on the Great Lakes.

James Dick, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, sent a response explaining the changes on the web page, asserting that the page “does not say the cause and effects of the change in climate are debatable.”

“It says they are being debated.  There's a difference,” Dick said.  “Many scientists may be in agreement but this topic is still the subject of much debate and discussion among the general public.”

It's not unusual for elected state or national leaders to filter or shape government sources of information on contentious topics, including climate change, to suit their particular policy goals.  Climate scientists decried such efforts through much of the presidency of George W. Bush, particularly when handwritten edits of government climate reports by political appointees were leaked in 2005.

Under President Obama, websites highlight points that supported his carbon-cutting plans, while findings that might point to different policies tended to stay deep in the body of reports.

One example is the treatment of hurricanes in the 2014 National Climate Assessment.  The prominent text blurb of the report home page is, “The intensity, frequency, and duration of North Atlantic hurricanes, as well as the frequency of the strongest hurricanes, have all increased since the early 1980s.  Hurricane intensity and rainfall are projected to increase as the climate continues to warm.”

Buried in the report, there's this line, which seems to qualify the actual threats previously highlighted:  “[F]ewer storms have been observed to strike land during warmer years even though overall activity is higher than average, which may help to explain the lack of any clear trend in landfall frequency along the U.S. eastern and Gulf coasts.”

And so it's entirely likely that the recent web revisions in Wisconsin portend what's to come in Washington, given how Walker's approach to climate change and industry resonates with that of many people in President-elect Donald Trump's circle of advisers.

In a phone interview, the Wisconsin blogger Rowen said he certainly suspects that his state's experience is a troubling template for what could happen now at the federal level.  “If you have one-party control over all units of government and that party has a pro-corporate, anti-environment mindset, everything will be coordinated, whether in law, executive action or judicial review,” he said.

Parties on all sides of the climate policy debate are now watching closely to see what happens to a vast array of web pages on climate change created during the Obama administration as Trump's fossil-fuel friendly Cabinet choices and environmental team get to work.

Early signs, including a 74-question survey sent to Department of Energy employees (which the Trump transition team quickly disavowed as unsanctioned), had environmentalists and scientists deeply worried.

Some scurried to set up independent archives for potentially vulnerable climate data, with a repository established by the Technoscience Research Unit at the University of Toronto.

With Republicans in control in most states, and with the incoming White House and Congress committed to undoing President Obama's climate policies, the “uncertainty” theme around climate change appears likely to become popular.

To be sure, enduring uncertainty does surround many of the most consequential aspects of global warming, like the speed of sea-level rise and extent of warming in this century.  But for decades risk experts and economists with a varied range of political views have agreed that uncertain, but momentous outcomes are the reason to act — not a reason to delay.

And the data continue to accrue, with 2016 now set to be the warmest on Earth since at least 1880, when thorough temperature record keeping began, and a new study finding that, if anything, warming has been underestimated in recent years because of imperfect analysis of ocean data gathered by ships and buoys.

Lately, the wider climate-skeptic chorus has been dominated by Walker-style references to uncertainty or complexity in climate science, crystallized by phrases like “I'm not a scientist” and “the climate has always changed.”

When we wrote to Wisconsin officials seeking an explanation for the changes on the website, Dick, the natural resources department spokesman, sent the following email:

As we do from time to time with other website pages, we updated a web page that had not been updated in several years.  The update reflects our position on this topic which we have communicated for years — that our agency regularly must respond to a variety of environmental and human stressors from drought, flooding, and wind events to changing demographics.

Our agency must be ready to respond to each of these challenges using the best science available to us.  That is our role in this issue.  Adaptation has been our position on this topic for some time.  The recent update to one single webpage on our website was intended to reflect this perspective and approach to the topic.

The updated page does not deny climate is changing and it does not challenge the dedicated work of the scientists who are working on this issue.  In fact, this updated page links to U.W.-Madison programs that include climate change in their research.  It also does not say the cause and effects of the change in climate are debatable.  It says they are being debated.  There's a difference.  Many scientists may be in agreement but this topic is still the subject of much debate and discussion among the general public.

The last line raises a question about the role of government in helping explain to the public what many scientists agree on.

One thing that seems true is that so much information has accrued around climate change science and what it means for policy in recent years, that partisans seeking to purge government websites have their work cut out for them.

If you search the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website, for instance, for the phrase “climate change” there are still some hits, including an educational resource for kids titled, “Global Warming is Hot Stuff!”

There's still an article posted from the February 2011, issue of the magazine of the Natural Resources Department, in which Jack Sullivan, then the director of the agency's Bureau of Science Services, said, “We need to think about what climate change means for our natural resources and get out ahead of this problem, and we're working hard to do that.”

Sullivan, however, retired in 2015, when the agency's science budget was deeply cut under Walker and a Republican-dominated Legislature.

GLOBAL WARMING - Ground Giving Way in Frozen North

"Why in ‘remote, cold corners’ of the world, melting ground is giving way" PBS NewsHour 8/20/2014

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JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Finally tonight, new indications that the planet is warming, especially in the frozen north.  Scientists have been tracking Arctic thawing for decades, and they have seen a dramatic increase since 2000.

When holes opened up in the earth recently in Siberia, a wave of speculation was set off as to their cause.  Scientists now think warming is the culprit.

To help us understand all this, we welcome back Tom Wagner.  He directs studies of the polar regions for NASA.

And it’s good to have you on the program again.

TOM WAGNER, NASA:  Thanks for having me back.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  So, just for those folks who don’t follow the polar region so closely on a regular basis, like you do, remind us, what is the Arctic made out of and how are you seeing it change?

TOM WAGNER:  Yes, so the top of the Arctic is an ocean covered by sea ice, but all around it are the lands of Russia and Alaska and things.  And that’s frozen ground, ground like in your backyard, but it’s frozen solid.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  And what have you been observing, you and other scientists, in terms of the change?

TOM WAGNER:  Well, in general, the Arctic has warming.

We know there’s been less sea ice.  We also know snow melts earlier and things like that.  But this recent story from Siberia took everybody by surprise, because literally holes the size of a football field just opened up in the ground.

WEATHER - Rare, Late-Season Storms in Midwest

"Disasters declared in seven Illinois counties after rare, late-season storms" (Part-1) PBS Newshour 11/18/2013

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GWEN IFILL (Newshour):  They searched for victims and tallied the damage today, after a barrage of tornadoes hit the Midwest on Sunday.  At least eight people were killed, and scores more were hurt.  The most powerful storm cut a path roughly an eighth-of-a-mile-wide, clear across one Illinois town of 16,000 people.

Terrified townspeople watched and prayed as the giant funnel ripped through Washington, Illinois, Sunday.  Winds of almost 200 miles per hour tore at trees and blasted homes to bits.

MAN:  This is what my house looks like after a tornado came through.

GWEN IFILL:  In a matter of minutes, it was all over.  Then, residents surveyed the damage, up to 500 homes damaged or destroyed and cars crushed into mangled metal.

Today, an emotional Mayor Gary Manier vowed, his town will recover.

GARY MANIER, mayor of Washington, Ill.:  That is what this community is about.  We love our neighbors, and we're going to bounce back from this.  And I want to thank the surrounding communities that have reached out in droves of people.  We looked like a parking lot last night, so many people trying to get into our community to help us.  And we had to finally shut the community down and say, no more.  We can't have any more help.

GWEN IFILL:  Deadly storms from the same weather front raged across the Midwest throughout the day on Sunday, pulling trees out of the ground and flipping cars.

DAVID FRAWLEY, tornado survivor:  It's hard.  I couldn't even walk out here last night.  I kept wanting to be inside.  You kind of get like a little depression mode.  So I don't have that drive just of yet to, let's go and rebuild again.

GWEN IFILL:  Illinois Governor Pat Quinn ultimately declared disasters in seven counties.  He too visited the town of Washington today.

GOV. PAT QUINN, D-Ill.:  It's very, very important that at this time, we finish our search-and-rescue efforts all across our state to make sure there is no one in harm's away.  But, upon completion of that, our mission now is to recover.  And we will recover.  We will prevail over these -- these tornadoes.

GWEN IFILL:  In addition to Illinois, twisters and damaging winds hit a dozen states.  In this image from the National Weather Service, red dots symbolize more than 80 tornado reports across the region.  The blue dots stand for high winds from thunderstorms.

Those storms knocked down power lines in town after town, and 800,000 homes and businesses were still in the dark this morning.  Forecasters have sounded an early alert, but it was still highly unusual to see that many storms with that much power this late in the year.  With winter quickly approaching, the focus is now on cleaning up and making neighborhoods livable, as the mayor of Washington pointed out.

GARY MANIER:  The unfortunate thing is, this thing hit in November.  November is not the construction season that we build homes in this part of our state and part of our country.  So it's going to be a longer process than if it happened in March.

GWEN IFILL:  For now, though, police are keeping people out of the worst-hit areas until they are declared safe.

"Timing of widespread wave of strong storms in the Midwest is 'very unusual'" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 11/18/2013

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SUMMARY:  The string of storms that devastated the Midwest over the weekend was very rare for the timing, both time of year and time of day.  Gwen Ifill talks to Howard Bluestein of the University of Oklahoma about the special conditions that triggered the deadly tornadoes.

OPINION - Shields and Ponnuru 9/27/2013

"Shields and Ponnuru Discuss Government Spending Showdown, Iranian Relations" PBS Newshour 9/27/2013

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SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and Ramesh Ponnuru, senior editor at The National Review, join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's top news, including the standoff in Congress over a federal spending bill, consequences of a government shutdown, warming U.S. relations with Iran's president and a UN breakthrough on Syria.

MARK SHIELDS:  I think the (Iran) sanctions are hurting.

I think -- I'm encouraged.  I think that this is a chance to bring some stability in a region that we have seen our own influence quite limited.  Let's be blunt about it.  I mean, Iraq didn't turn out the way we hoped. Afghanistan didn't.  Democracy has not produced flourishing democracies around.

I mean, this is a hope to bring to a region that lacks stability some stability.  And I think there is a mutual self-interest at this point.
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RAMESH PONNURU:  But with Syria, again, there are some reasons for skepticism, that -- does this resolution actually have teeth?  And you will note that it doesn't even actually call the regime to account for using chemical weapons.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  But there is language in there about consequences, isn't there?

RAMESH PONNURU:  But, again, the question is enforceability.  And, again, as with anything at the U.N., what are the Russians going to do if it comes to enforcing?

MARK SHIELDS:  The glass is more than half-full here.

This is the Security Council moving.  It isn't perfect.  It isn't ideal, but it is real progress.  The one reservation I have is, it leaves in power the status quo in Syria.  But we have learned over the last week, Judy, that the alternative is not terribly appealing in itself.

ALASKA - Sudden Torrents of Water From Glacier Threaten Juneau

Visitors leaving the ice caves under the Mendenhall Glacier, near Juneau, Alaska.
Unpredictable flood surges have elevated concerns.

"Alaska Looks for Answers in Glacier’s Summer Flood Surges" by KIRK JOHNSON, New York Times 7/22/2013

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The idea that glaciers change at a glacial speed is increasingly false.  They are melting and retreating rapidly all over the world.  But the unpredictable flood surges at the Mendenhall Glacier, about 14 miles from downtown Juneau, Alaska’s capital, are turning a jog into a sprint as global temperatures and climate variability increase.

Starting in July 2011, and each year since, sudden torrents of water shooting out from beneath the glacier have become a new facet of Juneau’s brief, shimmering high summer season.  In that first, and so far biggest, measured flood burst, an estimated 10 billion gallons gushed out in three days, threatening homes and property along the Mendenhall River that winds through part of the city.  There have been at least two smaller bursts this year.

“That first one caught us by surprise,” said Tom Mattice, the emergency programs manager and avalanche forecaster for the City and Borough of Juneau.

That the Mendenhall Glacier is thinning, and has been for decades, is only part of the explanation.  Water from snowmelt, rain and thawing ice are also combining in new ways, researchers said — first pooling in an ice-covered depression near the glacier called Suicide Basin, then finding a way to flow downhill.

What prompts a surge, and the urgent search for a way to anticipate and prepare by scientists and safety officials like Mr. Mattice, is pressure.  As water builds up in the basin and seeks an outlet, it can actually lift portions of the glacier ever so slightly, and in that lift, the water finds a release.  Under the vast pressure of the ice bearing down upon it, the water explodes out into the depths of Mendenhall Lake and from there into the river.

Glaciologists even have a name for the process, which is happening in many places all over the world as climates change: jokulhlaup, an Icelandic word usually translated as “glacier leap.”

“We don’t have a sense yet how much of a threat this poses, or how much water you could store up there,” said Jason Amundson, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Alaska Southeast, in Juneau.

What elevates the concern is the proximity of people, and lots of them.  Glaciers may be leaping in many places, but it mostly happens in isolation.

The roughly 12-mile-long Mendenhall, by contrast, is one of the most visited glaciers in the world, and an urban one.  About 400,000 tourists a year, 80 percent of them from the cruise ships that stop at the Port of Juneau, are drawn to the glacier.

“We’re a drive-up glacier,” said Nikki Hinds, the assistant director at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, which is operated by the Forest Service.  “In how many places can you have that?”

This summer, glacier-monitoring intensified.  A pressure transducer to gauge water buildup, partly paid for by the city, was installed in a deep crack on the edge of the basin, with a satellite link sending back real-time data about the glacier’s hidden waterworks.  A time-lapse camera was also positioned at the main pooling site for the first time to track bulges in the ice that could suggest dammed-up water.

MICHIGAN - Great Lakes Water Level Record Low

Note, this is just one example of the impact of Global Warming.

"Economic Problems Wash Ashore as Lake Michigan's Water Level Hits Record Low" PBS Newshour 2/11/2013

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JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  Now: why some of the Great Lakes are dropping to record low levels, and the economic bite that's accompanying this environmental change.

Elizabeth Brackett of WTTW Chicago has the story.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT, WTTW:  Leland Harbor is the heart of this northern Michigan town.  The small town is quiet in the winter.  But the population jumps 10-fold in the summer, when tourists flock to Leland Harbor, beaches and quaint shops.

That tourist economy is now in jeopardy because of the dramatic drop in Lake Michigan's water level.  Harbor master Russell Dzuba says the lake is down more than two feet from its average.  And that drop is threatening to close the harbor.

RUSSELL DZUBA, Harbor Master:  The economic impact this harbor has on the community is strong.  And when things are slow, the guy at the grocery store, the guy at the restaurant comes down and asks me what's going on.

AMERICA - Hurricane Sandy Recovery Still Slow

"Sandy Recovery Continues at Slow Pace as People Wait for FEMA Relief" PBS Newshour 1/1/2013

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SUMMARY: While storm victims of Sandy find hope as some businesses re-open in hard-hit areas, debate on how to rebuild the shore has slowed the pace of recovery. Jeffrey Brown talks to New York Times' Sarah Maslin Nir and New Jersey Public TV's Mike Schneider on how federal disaster relief aid will be used to rebuild smarter and better.

CLIMATE CHANGE - Coral Reefs and Ocean Acidity

"Endangered Coral Reefs Die as Ocean Temperatures Rise and Water Turns Acidic" PBS Newshour 12/5/2012

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SUMMARY: In addition to negative consequences caused by overfishing and pollution, coral reefs face another major existential threat: increased acidity from warming oceans. Hari Sreenivasan reports from Florida about the dire outlook for coral reefs, as well as efforts and research to try and save them.

GWEN IFILL (Newshour): Next: the decline of coral reefs and the connections with rising levels of carbon dioxide.

New reports this week show there were nearly 38 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted around the globe last year. That, among other things, is having a very real effect in places like the Florida Keys.

Hari Sreenivasan traveled there recently and filed this report for our series Coping With Climate Change.

CLIMATE CHANGE - Coming From Behind, CO2 Emissions

"World Faces a Fight from Behind to Keep Up With Rising Rate of CO2 Emissions" PBS Newshour 12/3/2012

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GWEN IFILL (Newshour): ...... new findings showing the planet is heating up even more quickly than expected. The journal "Nature Climate Change" reports global carbon dioxide emissions rose by 3 percent last year, and are expected to rise by nearly as much again this year.

At least part of the reason for the jump, more than 38 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. This latest data, being presented at a climate change summit in Doha, Qatar, this week, suggests nations trying to tackle the problem may already be fighting from behind.

For more on this, I am joined by Coral Davenport, the energy and environment correspondent for "National Journal."