The Most Recent Living Planet Report (May 2012), Compiled By The Zoological Society Of London, Examined

Avg. daily precipitation in the U.S. over the course of a year

Source: MetricMaps

Historic drought in California affects more than California. Local impacts of climate change have broader implications.

The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature study just released an analysis of land-surface temperature records going back 250 years, about 100 years further than previous studies. The analysis shows that the rise in average world land temperature was approximately 1.5 degrees C in the past 250 years, and about 0.9 degrees in the past 50 years. This graph displays decadal average land surface temperatures reported from multiple sources.

"Hotspot watersheds" with 10 or more at-risk fish and mussel species are concentrated in the Southeastern United States.  This reflects both the freshwater diversity of rivers and streams in this region, and the significant conservation threats.

“Employment in the U.S. solar business grew 12 times faster than overall job creation... Fed by state initiatives to spur clean energy and innovative financing measures offered by companies such as SolarCity Corp., developers are adding workers at record rates to install rooftop panels. Oil and gas producers by contrast have slashed 351,410 jobs worldwide since prices began to slide in the middle of 2014, according to Houston-based Graves & Co.... This increase is being driven by declining renewable energy technology costs and enabling policy frameworks. We expect this to continue as the case for renewables strengthens and countries move to achieve climate targets... The group projects the workforce in clean energy will grow to 24 million by 2030 if United Nations targets are met on climate change and development.” - Bloomberg

A recent report from the Energy Information Administration found that U.S. plant owners and operators are getting ready to retire 27 gigawatts’ worth of coal generation, or about 8.5 percent of the coal fleet, between now and 2016. Considering the substantial contribution of burning coal to climate change, coal plant retirements are one of the greatest ways to reduce carbon emissions.

Good read by Brad Plumer on the recent drop in China’s CO2 emissions.

Coal's share of U.S. electricity generation has been steadily declining, a result of market forces, particularly the low price of natural gas and the expense of building new coal plants. Since throughout its life cycle coal is arguably our dirtiest fuel source (from mountaintop removal mining, to mercury and air toxics released during combustion, to carbon emissions, to hazardous coal ash), a move away from reliance on coal benefits public health, the environment and the climate.

Everglades (and south Florida, including Miami) with 2ft of sea level rise