Category: RT Newswire

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“Reporters who have tried to interview the
report’s lead author, Federal Highway
Administration official Michael Savonis, have
been explicitly told by DOT officials that the
author and the press cannot communicate with each
other.”

“Federal scientists must be allowed direct
communication with the press, unimpeded by
politically-driven gatekeepers with an interest
in blocking the truth and playing down the
significance of climate research and assessment
findings.”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2008
1:25 PM

Government Accountability Project

Climate Change Report Buried by DOT; Author Blocked From Reporters

WASHINGTON, DC – March 14 – This past Wednesday,
March 12, the U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT) and the U.S. Climate Change Science Program
quietly released a major assessment report on the
likely impacts of global climate disruption on a
wide range of transportation infrastructure in
the Gulf Coast region. This report release was
buried by the DOT, and officials have been
blocking journalists from speaking with the
report’s lead author.

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Tucson Citizen

Winter warmer despite storms

The Associated Press
Published: 03.14.2008

WASHINGTON – Winter storms and snow notwithstanding, this winter was still warmer
than average worldwide, the government reported Thursday.The global temperature
for meteorological winter – December, January and February – averaged 54.38 degrees,
which was 0.58 degrees warmer than normal for the last century, according to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Temperatures have been rising in
recent years, raising concerns about the effects of global warming, generally
attributed to human-induced impacts on the atmosphere. While it was warmer than
normal, the current winter – which ends Thursday – was the coolest since 2000-01.
Climate experts attribute that to La Niña, the cooling of the tropical Pacific
Ocean, which can affect conditions around the world. For the U.S., this winter’s
average temperature was 33.2 degrees – 0.2 degrees above the average for the 20th
century. The NOAA said this winter has been unusual for the above-average rain and
snowfall in the Southwest, where La Niña usually brings drier-than-average conditions.
Mountain snowpack exceeded 150 percent of average in large parts of Colorado, New
Mexico, Arizona and Oregon at the end of February. Spring run-off from the above
average snowpack in the West is expected to be beneficial in drought-plagued areas.
Record Northern Hemisphere snow cover in January was followed by unusually high
temperatures across much of the mid- and high-latitude areas of the Northern
Hemisphere in February, reducing the snow cover.In the Northeast, February rain and
snow helped make the winter the fifth wettest on record.

additional information
Key points
• Winter temperatures have been warmer than average from Texas to the Southeast and
along the Eastern Seaboard.
• Temperatures have been cooler than average from the upper Midwest to the West Coast.
• Severe winter storms have struck southern China, and the causes are still under
study.

The Associated Press

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“This sets a new low in a long line of irresponsible, disturbing decisions
made of late by the Bush administration,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark,
a spokesman for Defenders of Wildlife and former director of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Missoulian (MIssoula, Montana, U.S.)
March 11, 2008

Government denies protected status
for wolverines in mainland U.S.
<http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/03/11/news/local/news03.prt>
By JOHN CRAMER of the Missoulian

Wolverines in the contiguous United States were
denied federal protection Monday at a time when
new studies suggest they could become extinct
within 45 years if climate change eliminates the
snow zone they depend upon.

Scientists say they are still puzzling out new
revelations and investigating unanswered
questions about wolverines’ year-round dependence
on remote mountains that have a deep spring
snowpack, from denning, foraging and mortality to
traveling “superhighways” in search of mates.

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Environmental Groups Sue Bush Administration to Force Polar Bear Protection
Faced With Overwhelming Scientific Evidence, Government Continues Delay on Endangered Species Act Listing Due to Global Warming
 
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – March 10 – Today the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sued the Bush administration for missing its legal deadline for issuing a final decision on whether to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act due to global warming.
“The Bush administration seems intent on slamming shut the narrow window of opportunity we have to save polar bears,” said Kassie Siegel, climate program director at the Center for Biological Diversity and lead author of the 2005 petition seeking the Endangered Species Act listing. “We simply will not sit back and passively allow the administration to condemn polar bears to extinction.”

Polar bears live only in the Arctic and are totally dependent on the sea ice for all of their essential needs. The rapid warming of the Arctic and melting of the sea ice pose an overwhelming threat to the polar bear, which could become the first mammal to lose 100 percent of its habitat to global warming.

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