Situation Report

Ocean and sky (stock image) / Iakov Kalinin / Fotolia

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Atlantic and Pacific multidecadal oscillations and Northern Hemisphere temperatures

sciencedaily.com - February 26, 2015

The recent slowdown in climate warming is due, at least in part, to natural oscillations in the climate, according to a team of climate scientists, who add that these oscillations represent variability internal to the climate system. They do not signal any slowdown in human-caused global warming.

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Image:  Faced with a budget shortfall of $19.4 million, FEGS Health and Human Services recently announced it would be closing its programs. Credit Bryan R. Smith for The New York Times

nytimes.com - February 8 2015 - Rachel L. Swarns

The bombshell dropped on a quiet Friday evening. Steven Banks, the commissioner of the city’s Human Resources Administration, was in his office when he got the call.

On the line was Kristin M. Woodlock, the new chief executive of FEGS Health and Human Services, one of New York City’s largest social service agencies, a venerable institution often praised by corporate titans and community leaders alike.

But this was no social call: FEGS, the Human Resources Administration’s biggest provider of job placement services to the impoverished and disabled, had discovered a gaping hole in its budget and was suddenly struggling to stay afloat.

Forecast snowfall accumulation from the Euro model through Wednesday morning. This is just one model forecast. Final snow accumulation depends heavily on the track the storm takes, and how quickly the storm develops. (weatherbell.com)

abc.com - AP - by Verena Dobnik - January 25, 2015

A "potentially historic" storm could dump 2 to 3 feet of snow from northern New Jersey to Connecticut starting Monday, crippling a region that has largely been spared so far this winter, the National Weather Service said.

A blizzard warning was issued for New York and Boston, and the National Weather Service said the massive storm would bring heavy snow and powerful winds starting Monday and into Tuesday.

"This could be a storm the likes of which we have never seen before," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio at a news conference Sunday.

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New EPA standards will aim to significantly cut methane emissions from oil and gas sites in the U.S.

The Obama administration makes its latest move to take on climate change.

usnews.com - by Alan Neuhauser - January 14, 2015

In the Obama administration’s latest use of executive authority to address climate change, the White House announced plans Wednesday to impose new regulations on the oil and gas industry that would nearly halve methane emissions from wells, drill sites and pipelines in 10 years.

The new standards, to be developed by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act, would aim by 2025 to cut methane emissions by up to 45 percent from levels recorded in 2012. They would also slash the spread of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, key components of ground-level smog that have been linked to cancer, neurological conditions and other illnesses.