For 2016, La Niña Proves to be an Unreliable Sibling to El Niño

Mashable

With stabilizing sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, climate forecasters announced Thursday that they have canceled the La Niña watch that had been in effect since April. Story here.

Fall of the Wild: Study Documents 'Catastrophic Decline' in World's Untouched Places

CommonDreams

Great Blue heron. PinP photo.

With 10 percent lost in just 20 years, researchers say wilderness is being lost at a 'staggering' pace. Story here.

End The Use Of Secret Corporate Courts! PLEASE SIGN!

SumOfUs

What if corporations were allowed to sue governments because its laws to protect people and the environment but hurt corporate profits? What if there was a tribunal where corporate executives were able to literally get away with murder? What if there were elite educated lawyers out there whose jobs were to figure out how to sue struggling nations to make huge amounts of profit? Sign here.

The Climate Cost of Free Trade

Bilaterals.org

On Earth Day 2016, the U.S. joined 175 countries in signing the United Nations Paris climate agreement setting a path forward to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. A few months earlier, the U.S., along with 11 other countries, signed the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade and investment deal.1 Remarkably, neither agreement acknowledged the other. The Paris agreement was silent on trade, and the TPP ignored the climate. As countries take action to protect the climate, conflicts between trade rules and climate goals will escalate. The intentional separation of these two global priorities is becoming increasingly untenable. Story here.

Climate Change Has Greatly Increased Chances of Rainstorms the Size of the One in Louisiana in August

World Weather Attribution

Torrential rains drenched south Louisiana in mid August, with parts of the state receiving nearly 30 inches of rain from August 10 to the 17.  Story here.

Humans Have Pushed Oceans to Their Absolute Limit, Warns Report

CommonDreams

Oceans protected us from worst effects of climate change by absorbing most of humans' CO2 emissions, report finds, but they can't take anymore—and will soon release that CO2 back into the air. Story here.

Enbridge Spreads Tentacles to Acquire Spectra, Creating 'Pipeline Enemy #1'

CommonDreams

Merger 'would only enhance the power of the oil and gas industry to manipulate the energy marketplace and encourage the continued use of fracking,' says Wenonah Hauter. Story here.

The Southern Ocean is Getting Less Salty. Here’s What That Could Mean for the Rest of the World

The Washington Post

The ocean surrounding Antarctica has become substantially less salty over the past couple of decades — and until now, scientists weren’t really sure why. But because changes in the Southern Ocean’s salinity have the potential to affect all kinds of important processes, including ocean circulation and its transport of heat and nutrients around the world, researchers have been eager to figure it out. Story here.

Oil, Gas And Coal Are Multi-Billion Dollar Businesses, Yet Every Year Fossil Fuel Companies get Billions in Tax Breaks and Handouts.

IISD International Institute for Sustainable Development

In a world that’s shifting to cleaner sources of energy, those subsidies don’t make sense—especially when they work against the other actions we’re taking to fight climate change. Story here.

Ten States Report Crop Damage From Illegal Dicamba Use on Monsanto’s GMO Seeds

Nation Of Change

To the horror of farmers across America’s farm belt, hundreds of thousands of crop acres have been adversely impacted by the apparent misuse of the drift-prone herbicide dicamba onMonsanto’s Roundup Ready Xtend soybean and cotton plants. Story here.

It's Official: The Anthropocene Epoch Is Here

EcoWatch

The Anthropocene Epoch has begun, according to a group of experts assembled at the International Geological Congress in Cape Town, South Africa this week. Story here.