Things Might Be Worse Part 2

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=warmer-nights-india-rice

Climate change has made nights warmer in India over the past decade, an ominous sign for the nation's vital rice crop.  This development could have a far-reaching impact on the yield of rice, causing a shortfall in an important staple crop in a crowded country already grappling with food security and inflationary issues....South Asia's agriculture will be hard hit by rising temperatures and irregular rainfall associated with climate change, according to experts. Since witnessing a near tripling of yields between the 1950s and 2000s due largely to the technological advances of the first green revolution, India's yields of rice have leveled off in recent years, according to data from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.

Oh - shit!

Reporting on Climate Change in India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Snowfall-in-Kashmir-declining-temperature-rising-Study/articleshow/5440807.cms

Analysing the snow accumulation and ablation patterns in Pir Panjal and Shamshawari regions of the valley during the winters of 2004-05 to 2006-07, scientists have shown that the seasonal snow cover has reduced while the maximum temperature was increasing steadily.  "This decreasing trend in areal extent of snow cover, rise in maximum temperature and decreasing trend in total snowfall may be the indicators of global warming or climate change," senior scientist H S Negi of DRDO's Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment, said reporting his findings in the Journal of Earth System Sciences.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Climate-change-far-worse-than-thought-before/articleshow/5406955.cms

Global alarm over climate change and its effects has risen manifold after the  2007 report of the International Panel on climate change (IPCC.) Since then, many of the 2,500-odd IPCC scientists have found climate change is progressing faster than the worst-case scenario they had predicted.

North American media don't seem to be nearly as concerned about the consequences of climate change ......

in my opinion, they contribute to collective denial. 

It Is The Worst of Times: It Is the Best of Times

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/arctic-sea-ice-has-nearly-vanished-expert-fears/article1381174/

One of Canada's top northern researchers says the permanent Arctic sea ice that is home to the world's polar bears and usually survives the summer has all but disappeared. Experts around the world believed the ice was recovering because satellite images showed it expanding.  But David Barber says the thick, multiyear frozen sheets crucial to the northern ecosystem have been replaced by thin “rotten” ice which can't support the weight of the bears. “It caught us all by surprise because we were expecting there to be multiyear sea ice – the whole world thought it was multiyear sea ice,” said Dr. Barber, who just returned from an expedition to the Beaufort Sea.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/indias-shift-to-cut-back-emissions-raises-hope-for-climate-agreement/article1381167/

Word that India will soon roll out emission reduction targets signals an emerging consensus toward a climate-change agreement next month at Copenhagen, despite the Canadian government's much-noticed ambivalence.  India, one of the last holdouts in the fight against global warming, will announce the move within the next few days, French President Nicolas Sarkozy revealed yesterday.  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon placed added pressure on Canada yesterday, chiding Ottawa for its inaction on climate change at a Commonwealth meeting of heads of government, in which climate issues are dominating the agenda.

The push for action in Trinidad reinforces recent progress toward a climate-change agreement ahead of the summit in Copenhagen.

The permanent sea ice is gone - faster than the IPCC models predicted -but, perhaps, the world is finally taking this issue seriously.   Now, if we can get Canadian politicians to commit to action on climate change.....I live in Hope.

My Paper Boat

But climate change doesn't matter ...
I found this video at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2009/nov/05/one-minute-to-save-the-world