Costly mandate. Port Fourchon's strategy -- raising facilities, strengthening a barrier island, building a bridge -- underscores the potentially crippling effects of sea-level rise on the economy of Louisiana and the nation. [News Source]

More than 2 trillion tons of ice melted in Artic since 2003. More than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003, according to new NASA satellite data that show the latest signs of what scientists say is global warming. [News Source]

State’s global warming emissions plan unveiled. New Jersey unveiled a series of steps it wants to take – such as expanding the capacity of mass transit and limiting future development — to meet the state’s goals of aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. [News Source]

Likely EPA pick hit for Jersey record. Lisa Jackson, who President-elect Barack Obama is expected to name Monday evening to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, is already being hailed as a historic choice. But Jackson’s critics, including a senior scientist who quit her department in frustration, say she has been too close to industry, withheld information from the public and fallen well short of the pledge she made when taking office in February 2006 to fix the state’s beleaguered toxic waste program. [News Source]

Climate science must evolve to tackle the challenges of warming, researchers say. As the science of climate change matures, scientists must change their focus to advise local and regional leaders on how best to adapt to a warmer future, senior climate researchers said Monday. [News Source]

Momentum builds for energy independence. A confluence of factors that didn't exist--or played lesser roles--in previous "energy independence" efforts has congressional leaders and environmental groups thinking that reducing oil imports and replacing fossil fuels may still be possible. [News Source]

Cities threatened by global warming. Canada's government was warned nearly two years ago by its own experts that climate change was threatening critical infrastructure across the country, putting public health and the economy in jeopardy, according to newly released federal documents. [News Source]

Arctic melt passes the point of no return. Scientists have found the first unequivocal evidence that the Arctic region is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the world at least a decade before it was predicted to happen. [News Source]

Climate change may make Humboldt squid easy prey. One of the most formidable predators in the Pacific ocean, the Humboldt squid, may become more vulnerable to attacks from other marine beasts as changing water conditions make them more sluggish swimmers, a study has found. [News Source]

Murray-Darling authority wrestles with climate change. Climate change will be one of the greatest challenges for the new Murray-Darling Basin Authority, which begins operations this week. [News Source]

Climate change could hit Rogue Valley hard. If global warming continues unabated, summer temperatures in the Rogue River Valley could rise up to 15 degrees by 2080, making the weather in the southern Oregon valley similar to Sacramento's, Oregon researchers said in a report released today. [News Source]