Will a carbon tax prevent snake bites!? Modeling Study: Climate change could bring poisonous snakes northward in U.S.

Using models to predict the ranges of 78 venomous snake species across the Americas, researchers at the University of Kansas’ Biodiversity Institute found snakebite risk areas could increase significantly. By 2050, they could reach as far north as Alberta and Quebec and southward into Argentina and Chile.

The increasing risk of snakebites would especially threaten remote, rural areas that are ill-equipped to handle poisonings.

Lead researcher Dr. Carlos Yañez-Arenas said in an interview he was interested in developing models predicting poisonous snake invasions because snakebites are already a major health problem in many countries. In the Americas, around 300,000 people are bitten annually and between 650 to 3,500 die from the bite.…

He’s Back: Mitt Romney urges action on ‘climate change’

Romney said he shared the feeling of many Americans that Washington has failed them and urged national leaders to tackle big problems such as climate change, poverty, education and income inequality.

“We’re just mad as hell and won’t take it anymore,” Romney said of the national electorate. He harshly criticized “the failure of current political leaders to actually tackle major challenges, or to try at least, or to go out with proposals.”…

Long Satellite Temperature Pauses Ending (Now Includes January Data)

Long Satellite Pauses Ending (Now Includes January Data)

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/03/02/long-satellite-pauses-ending-now-includes-january-data

Guest Post by Werner Brozek and Nick Stokes, Edited by Just The Facts: Image Credit: Nick Stokes Before beginning the discussion, I just want to comment on the authors. It is said that you are entitled to your interpretation, but not to your facts. Werner Brozek and Nick Stokes are presenting you with just the […]

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The non-disaster of 150,000 missing penguins? They just went somewhere else.

The non-disaster of 150,000 missing penguins? They just went somewhere else.

http://joannenova.com.au/2016/03/the-non-disaster-of-150000-missing-penguins-they-just-went-somewhere-else/

The media hype and the story of the false Penguin Panic Image: UNSW/Chris Turney Much fuss was made of 150,000 missing penguins in Antarctica as if climate change had killed them. A monster iceberg had washed in, stopping the cute swimming tuxedos from getting to dinner and the colony of 160,000 suddenly shrank to 10,000. Where did all those penguins go? In previous tough times, when they could be tracked they just split up and went to different colonies. Given that the penguins have survived repeated ice ages and warming for millions of years who would have thought that they would have a strategy for dealing with the odd big iceberg? The penguin catastrophe: [Grist] Researchers found that a colony of Adélie penguins in Antartica’s Cape Denison has decreased from 160,000 to just 10,000 since 2011, when a huge iceberg ominously named B09B became grounded in nearby Commonwealth Bay. The penguins were once a short waddle from their food source, but the arrival of the iceberg — which is nearly the size of Rhode Island — has turned that jaunt into a 75-mile round trip. Talk about a long lunch. Cry for those penguins: “It’s eerily silent now,” expedition leader Chris Turney told […]Rating: 8.4/10 (8 votes cast)

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