The Effects of Global Warming being Felt in the US

Michigan is seeing crazy amounts of flooding this week — and some people are taking advantage of the record-breaking river levels. Joe Matulis, who works at Matuli Paddle Surf in East Lansing, Mich., posted pictures this week of himself and friends catching a wave on the Red Cedar River, which runs through the Michigan State University campus.

BERLIN — Rising river levels are still threatening vast parts of eastern and southern Germany and hundreds of people were being evacuated in Dresden. A city spokeswoman told German news agency dpa on Wednesday some 600 people needed to leave their homes and electricity was turned off in some parts of the eastern city that was flooded by the Elbe river. Spokeswoman Heike Grossman said the peak of the flood in Dresden was expected later in the day.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An ice-clogged river in Alaska’s interior that submerged much of a remote town was flowing again Thursday, sparing another nervous community in its path. Floodwaters were dropping in Galena after the 50-kilometre ice jam downriver on the Yukon River broke and began moving Wednesday evening, emergency responders said.

DOHA — Cheap, short-cut ideas to cool the planet such as shading sunlight are failing to win support from U.N. delegates looking to improve on the slow progress made by existing technologies. Many scientists say the proposed solutions, known as geo-engineering, are little understood and might have side effects more damaging than global warming, which is projected to cause more floods, heatwaves, droughts and rising sea levels.

Sea levels were likely eight metres higher around 125,000 years ago when polar temperatures were 3-5 degrees C warmer, says a new study published Wednesday to show the effects of global warming.The research by the US universities of Harvard and Princeton was released in the journal Nature as the world's nations met in Denmark to forge a strategy to head off harmful effects of global warming blamed on greenhouse gases.

If climate models are correct, then Hurricane Sandy, and the flooding it brought, gave us a gentle preview of the not-so-distant future.

Two degrees Celsius. According to scientists, that's the rise in global temperature, measured against pre-industrial times, that could spark some of the most catastrophic effects of global warming.