Pacheco, Frank, Ballard speak at global warming meeting (The Taunton Gazette) A panel of political leaders and a famous oceanographer advised students at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth to make the best of a bad situation and embrace global warming. [News Source]

MELTING POINT: Heavy hitters discuss global warming at UMass (Fall River Herald News) VIDEOS WITH THIS ARTICLE Oceanographer Robert Ballard, known for discovering the remains of the Titanic, said at a global warming panel Wednesday that there is “no exit strategy” to avoid the effects of climate change and that empowering women may be the best way to solve the crisis. [News Source]

Global warming can no longer be avoided (UPI) BOULDER, Colo., April 15 (UPI) -- U.S. government scientists say their research indicates the effects of significant global warming on Earth can no longer be avoided. [News Source]

Global warming could impact local ag industry (The Hanford Sentinel) Kings County's $1.7 billion-a-year ag industry could be in for tough times, if predictions in a recent University of California climate change report come true. The report on global warming, announced last week, forecasts reduced snowpacks, less water available for agriculture, saturation of the air with carbon dioxide, more fertilizers needed to keep plants alive and worsening problems with ... [News Source]

Valley fever blowin’ on a hotter wind. Harsher weather conditions – hotter temperatures and more intense dust storms fueled by global warming – are spreading the transmission of valley fever, a fungal disease endemic to the southwestern United States. [News Source]

Coral transplant surgery prescribed for Japan reefs. Beneath the waves of this sapphire-blue corner of the East China Sea, a team of divers was busily at work. This undersea work site may look like a scene from a Jules Verne novel, but it is part of a government-led effort to save Japan’s largest coral reef. [News Source]

Valley fever blowin’ on a hotter wind. Harsher weather conditions – hotter temperatures and more intense dust storms fueled by global warming – are spreading the transmission of valley fever, a fungal disease endemic to the southwestern United States. [News Source]

Offshore resources go beyond oil wells. Federal officials want to encourage renewable energy development in the nation's coastal waters and will address the topic Thursday at a hearing in San Francisco on all forms of offshore energy production, including oil. [News Source]

Environmental bill seen as boost for Chesapeake Bay. Few saw it coming, but the General Assembly approved a sleeper environmental bill that will require thousands of homes in Maryland to install more costly, nitrogen-removing septic systems to keep the polluting nutrient out of rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. [News Source]

UK government’s biofuels target increases carbon emissions, environmentalists warn. The government's scheme to introduce biofuels as a way to cut carbon emissions from road transport has led to extra emissions equivalent to putting 500,000 more cars on UK roads, according to environmentalists. [News Source]

Dam water levels dwindling to historic low. Melbourne's dwindling water storages are on the verge of a historic low, a quarter of a century after the Thomson Dam was promised to drought-proof the city. [News Source]