You can now see a map of worldwide disease outbreaks that is updated hourly. It utilizes a mashup of Google Maps and health info from around the world.

Climate change is widely expected to affect disease outbreaks as areas become wetter, drier, more hospitable to insects and animals that transmit disease and as local populations begin moving away from unhealthy areas, carrying disease with them.

Apocalyptic.

Nasa just announced two new pages monitoring sea temperatures and the el Nino/laNina effect. As any northeastern weather fan knows, el Nino has a major effect on the severity of our winters in that when it is in place in the Pacific we tend to have milder winters.
The surface temperature of the tropical oceans is a key factor in the development of hurricanes which gain power as surface temps rise. Since many climatologists believe that rising ocean temperatures will drive the trend toward larger and more powerful hurricanes, having this tool can give us nonscientific types a means of forming our own opinions regarding weather and warming.
FYI, Buffalo got two feet of snow yesterday, an October record. Here in Rochester, 60 miles away, it’s sunny, green and cool- no snow at all.

just disappeared one day. How quickly would the planet recover from the negative effects of its dominant species? This fascinating speculation takes that scenario and applies some scientific thought to come up with what might be good news for the rest of the planet should we suddenly teleport to another place (nice scenario) or be decimated by disease (more likely scenario). Great reading.

Not surprisingly, the insurance industry is leading the drive to increase corporate awareness of the looming climate change disaster. Unlike oil or manufacturing companies, they will be the first to get hurt as waterfront properties become valueless, as worsening weather creates disasters and as tourism economies lose their viability. Claims are already skyrocketing and the insurance companies are starting to refuse to insure waterfront homes.
They aren’t just saying no however. As this article details, they are offering discounts for driving hybrid cars and incentives to build greener buildings. This is a long term strategic (and practical) approach that other industries would be well advised to take seriously. After all, these are the guys who track the likelihood of practically anything happening. If their actuarial tables show losses due to warming then you can bet it’s real.