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Climate Change

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Tall waves bash Arctic ice, another sign climate change is warming the seas. Obama talks about climate change as he walks a trail in the Everglades. MIAMI, Fla. — President Barack Obama spoke about climate change during his first visit to the Florida Everglades Wednesday.

Obama talks about climate change as he walks a trail in the Everglades

He said the global threat is putting the national park in danger. Before his speech, the president and park rangers walked the Anhinga Trail, the national park’s most popular tourist stop. They passed baby alligators and a pair of black vultures. Whale fossils hold clues about ancient climates. Scientists think they have found important evidence that can help them understand how early human beings evolved, or developed.

Whale fossils hold clues about ancient climates

The evidence is the remains, or fossil, of a whale. The whale likely took a wrong turn up an African river about 17 million years ago. Scientists said the fossil helps to show when the climate became drier in an area called the East African Plateau. Penguins. Global Warming and the American Pika. The tiny pika, a cousin of the rabbit that lives on mountain peaks in the western United States, is running out of options.

Global Warming and the American Pika

In fact, they have already disappeared from over one-third of their previously known habitat in Oregon and Nevada. Now, the situation is so dire that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering the pika for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Because these small mammals have adapted to cold alpine conditions, pikas are intolerant of high temperatures and can die from overheating when exposed for just a few hours. Support National Wildlife Federation's work to protect pikas and other wildlife struggling to survive climate change, habitat loss and other threats >> Adapted to Cold Weather Pikas, which once lived across North America, have been retreating upslope over the past 12,000 years.

Coral reefs are sensitive to warming waters. The coral reefs along the United Arab Emirates (UAE) coast are not known for their diversity.

Coral reefs are sensitive to warming waters

Other reefs have many different types of plants and animals. But they are special in their own way. Scientists think they might hold clues that could help other reefs survive. The Earth has been heating up. As the climate has changed, reefs have become damaged. Coral reefs in most climates can only handle temperatures as high as 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit). PRO/CON: Sooner or later, U.S. must act on climate change laws. PRO: Sooner would help push other countries GREEN BAY, Wis. — In a new report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that Earth's climate system is definitely getting warmer.

PRO/CON: Sooner or later, U.S. must act on climate change laws

The IPCC is a group of scientists set up by the United Nations. The report was based on information from dozens of experts. The study also found that humans have probably been the biggest cause of climate change. Our burning of oil, gas and coal is mostly to blame. But, countries can't agree to lower greenhouse gases. Leading The Way A big reason that little has happened is the United States. Haiku on climate change condense a long report into its essence. SEATTLE — The language of the United Nation's most recent international report on climate change is not exactly what you'd call poetic.

Haiku on climate change condense a long report into its essence

The report is crammed with technical details about greenhouse gases, rising sea levels and our atmosphere. Haiku on climate change condense a long report into its essence. Polar bears find themselves between an iceberg and a hard place. Surfers worry climate change is hitting their waves. Teens Sue Government for Failing to Address Climate Change for Future Generations. Many young people feel they have too much at stake to wait for our leaders to get their act together and take meaningful action on climate change.

Teens Sue Government for Failing to Address Climate Change for Future Generations

In the words of one young climate activist, Alec Loorz, we need to demand our political leaders “govern as if our future matters.” With their future at stake, many youth have taken their case to the courts in the hopes that the judiciary will require the legislature to take action. “We are all in imminent danger,” Loorz, who founded the nonprofit Kids vs. Global Warming, told Outside Magazine. “Scientists have said we have 10 years to make changes if we want to stabilize the climate by 2100—and that was back in 2005 … We care more about money and power than we do about future generations.

On Bill Moyer’s show last month, Mary Christina Wood, law professor at the University of Oregon and author of Nature’s Trust: Environmental Law for a New Ecological Age, explains what is being called the “Children’s Climate Crusade.” Turns out, yes. Teen Activist Walks Across America for Climate Action. Are you tired of hearing how apathetic young people are?

Teen Activist Walks Across America for Climate Action

Then listen to Kelsey Juliana. Her parents met in ’90s while protesting logging in Oregon’s old-growth forests, and she’s a chip off the old blocks. Now 18, she’s a plaintiff in a lawsuit to force Oregon to act to reduce carbon emissions that are driving climate change. She’ll be in New York City for the People’s Climate March but she’s in the midst of a longer walk. She’s joined other environmental activists in the Great March for Climate Action, which stepped off in Los Angeles on March 1 and winds up in Washington D.C. on Nov. 1. The 14-Year-Old Voice of the Climate Change Generation. This post first appeared at In These Times.

The 14-Year-Old Voice of the Climate Change Generation

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, 14, is on a crusade to stop climate change. (Photo: Xiuhtezcatl Martinez) ‘This problem is happening so humanity can come together, rebuild, reconnect, recreate and rebirth a new world.’ Earth Guardians - Standing up for the Earth, Water, Air. Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, a 13 year old indigenous environmental activist from Boulder, Colorado, came into the world through the Aztec culture on his father's side, and environmental activism on his mother's side.

Earth Guardians - Standing up for the Earth, Water, Air

His name was chosen by Aztec elders of Mexico based on the cosmology of the Aztec calendar and given to him when he was six weeks old in the Black Hills of South Dakota by elders Arvol Looking Horse and Xolotl Martinez. Xiuhtezcatl has been participating in ceremonies and Aztec dancing since he could walk, and is very connected with his culture. He grew up learning to respect and care for the Earth and all life upon it. His deep connection with the Earth inspired him to become a voice for protecting the Earth at a young age, giving his first speech at a climate change rally when he was six years old (see Xiuhtezcatl is the youth director of Earth Guardians, a non-profit environmental organization that is committed to protecting the water, air, earth, and atmosphere. Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez, 14, wants to save the world. BOULDER — Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez is only 14 years old, but already he's a seasoned superstar in the world of political and environmental activists.

Enter his name — an Aztec word pronounced "Shu-TEZ-caht" — on a search engine, and nearly 5,000 results pop up.