“Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg delivers scathing speech at U.N.”

“‘How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,’ Thunberg said.”

“Teen environmental activist Greta Thunberg delivered an emotional and scathing speech at the United Nations on Monday [Sept. 23], accusing world leaders of stealing her dreams and her childhood with their inaction on climate change.

“‘I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back at school on the other side of the ocean,’ the 16-year-old from Sweden told the United Nations Climate Action Summit. ‘Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.'”

“Thunberg slammed the members of the U.N. for caring more about money and ‘fairytales of eternal economic growth’ than collapsing ecosystems, mass extinctions and people suffering due to climate change,” quoting Kalhen Rosenblatt, NBC News. Click here to see Thunberg’s UN speech!

“Climate change threatens health in Northwest”

“While smoke from wildfires might be climate change’s most obvious impact in Washington, other threats still loom. Some predicted health effects include heatstroke, dehydration, worsened pollen allergies and increased cancer risk. And while local scientists have a plan to fix it, they say they are concerned that no one is carrying it out.”

“Meanwhile, climate scientists predict more smoky summers. On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a study that found that during one year, wildfire smoke in Washington state caused 245 deaths, directly and indirectly. The study pegged the costs of those “premature deaths” at $2.2 billion, and $55 million spent dealing with associated illnesses.”

“‘I’m seeing things that I did not think would happen until 2050,’ said Dr. Kristie Ebi, a professor in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington. ‘Climate change is coming at us much faster, and the speed of change and how that’s going to affect extreme events is going to be very problematic.’ Heat waves and floods are becoming more frequent and intense sooner than expected, she said,” by Ryan Blethen, The Seattle Times. Read more

“US bird numbers drop by nearly 3 billion in 48 years”

“In the last five decades US bird numbers have plummeted by 29%. As populations dwindle, so do the chances of species survival,” by Tim Radford, Climate News Network. Read more