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Two years after Katrina, in 2007, the Pentagon released its first major report on climate change, warning of an “age of consequences” in which “altruism and generosity would likely be blunted.” An EU security report followed which said climate change “threatens to overburden states and regions which are already fragile and conflict prone.” And soon, the national security strategies of the global north would be rewritten to offer the same dystopian vision.

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Released during an international symposium taking place in Istanbul, the Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change is signed by 60 Muslim scholars and leaders of the faith who acknowledge that—despite the short-term economic benefits of oil, coal, and gas—humanity's use of fossil fuels is the main cause of global warming which increasingly threatens "a functioning climate, healthy air to breathe, regular seasons, and living oceans."

Ninety seven percent of scientific papers find that climate changing is occurring and that it is caused by human activity. Only 44 percent of Americans agree. What is the cause of this disparity, and is there any way to close the gap between the scientific consensus and the public perception?

While many species are migrating toward the poles as the climate warms, many North American and European bee species are failing to colonize new habitats, according to a new study. “Climate change is crushing [bumblebee] species in a vice,” says ecologist Jeremy Kerr, the study's lead author. “There's no way you can nail a bee with neonicotinoids, invasive pathogens, and climate change and come out with a happy bee.”

Last month, the historically ultra-conservative and oil-rich province of Alberta, Canada, did the unthinkable: It elected a left-wing government. And that new government just made one of its first big moves: It announced a serious clamp-down on climate change, including doubling its carbon tax.

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In recent decades, of course, the Republicans have lurched rightward on many topics and now regularly attack scientific findings that threaten their political platforms. In the 1980s, they generally questioned evidence of acid rain; in the 1990s, they went after ozone science; and in this century, they have launched fierce attacks not just on climate science, but in the most personal fashion imaginable on climate scientists.