Australia has just sweltered through at least five of its 10 warmest days on record, authorities estimate.
An extreme heatwave has afflicted the nation since Saturday, causing wildlife deaths, bushfires and an increase in hospital admissions.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said preliminary readings showed daily national temperature highs of 40C.
The town of Noona in New South Wales meanwhile recorded a night-time temperature of 35.9C.
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Democracy Now!
Published on Jan 17, 2019
https://democracynow.org – Senate confirmation hearings began Wednesday for former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, whom President Trump has nominated to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Wheeler has been the acting head of the EPA since Scott Pruitt resigned in July amid an onslaught of financial and ethics scandals. We speak with Heather McTeer Toney, national field director for Moms Clean Air Force and former Southeast regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration. We also speak with Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign.
See:
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Jan 17, 2019
In more climate news, a new study finds Earth’s oceans reached their warmest temperature in recorded history in 2018—an ominous sign that greenhouse gas emissions are fueling rising seas and ever more powerful storms. The analysis published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences finds ocean warming has accelerated sharply since the 1990s, at a pace that’s much faster than previously recognized.
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Jan 17, 2019
President Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, told senators Wednesday he believes climate change is real, but doesn’t consider it the biggest crisis facing the planet. This is Andrew Wheeler being questioned by Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders at his Senate confirmation hearing.
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “Mr. Wheeler, President Trump has indicated his belief that climate change is a hoax, perhaps perpetrated by the Chinese. Do you agree?”
Andrew Wheeler: “Well, I believe that climate change is real. I believe that man has an impact on it. And”—
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “President has said that climate change is a hoax. Do you agree with him?”
Andrew Wheeler: “I have not used the ‘hoax’ word myself.”
Wheeler has been the acting head of the EPA since Scott Pruitt resigned in July amid an onslaught of financial and ethics scandals. Wheeler is a former lobbyist for Murray Energy, the nation’s largest underground coal mining company. We’ll have more on Andrew Wheeler after headlines.
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Greeted with coast-to-coast acclaim on publication, Fernández-Armesto’s ambitious history of world exploration sets a new standard. Presenting the subject for the first time on a truly global scale, Fernández-Armesto tracks the pathfinders who, over the past five millennia, lay down the routes of contact that have drawn together the farthest reaches of the world.
The Wall Street Journal calls it “impressive…a huge story [told] with gusto and panache.” To the Washington Post, “Pathfinders is propelled by an Argonaut of an author, indefatigable and daring. It’s a wild ride.” And in a front-page review, the Seattle Times hails its “tart and elegant presentation…full of surprises. Fernández-Armesto’s lively mind, pithy phrasing, and stunningly thorough and diverse knowledge are a constant pleasure.”
A plenitude of illustrations and maps in color and black and white augment this rich history. In Pathfinders we have a definitive treatment of a grand subject.
About the Author
Felipe Fernández-Armesto, the William P. Reynolds Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, is the author of Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration and Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States. He lives in South Bend, Indiana, and London.
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1492: The Year the World Began is a look at one of the most fascinating years in world history, the year when many believe the modern world was born. Historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, author of Millennium, covers such iconic figures as Christopher Columbus and Alexander Borgia and explores cultures as diverse as that of Spain, China, and Africa to tell the story of 1492, a momentous year whose lessons are still relevant today
About the Author
Felipe Fernández-Armesto is currently the William P. Reynolds Professor of History at Notre Dame University, and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Global History. Fernández-Armesto is also a member of the history faculty at Queen Mary College, University of London. The author, coauthor, or editor of more than twenty-five books, Fernández-Armesto’s work has been translated into twenty-two languages. His books include Before Columbus; The Times Illustrated History of Europe; Columbus; Millennium: A History of the Last Thousand Years (the subject of a ten-part series on CNN); Civilizations: Culture, Ambition, and the Transformation of Nature; Near a Thousand Tables; The Americas; Ideas That Changed the World; Humankind: A Brief History; The Times Atlas of World Exploration; Reformations; Truth; and The Times Guide to the Peoples of Europe.
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