[By Les Blumenthal, McClatchy Newspapers. July 4.]

WASHINGTON -- A sobering new report warns that oceans face a "fundamental and irreversible ecological transformation" not seen in millions of years as greenhouse gases and climate change already have affected temperature, acidity, sea and oxygen levels, the food chain and possibly major currents that could alter global weather.

HALF the Earth could become too hot for human habitation in less than 300 years, Australian scientists warn.

By Juliet Eilperin from the Washington Post
Friday, September 25, 2009

Climate researchers now predict the planet will warm by 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century even if the world's leaders fulfill their most ambitious climate pledges, a much faster and broader scale of change than forecast just two years ago, according to a report released Thursday by the United Nations Environment Program.

The new overview of global warming research, aimed at marshaling political support for a new international climate pact by the end of the year, highlights the extent to which recent scientific assessments have outstripped the predictions issued by the Nobel Prize-winning U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007.

With the world's oceans absorbing six million tonnes of carbon a day, a leading oceanographer warns of eco disaster

The Bureau of Meteorology has released a report revealing that August 2009 was the hottest on record. The paragraphs below are quotes from the report (emphasis added):

Based on Australia’s statements at UN climate talks in Bonn it appears that Australia has not recognized the critical need to implement climate policies that include the protection of Australia’s and the Worlds forests, and reduce carbon emissions from logging and landclearing.

Australia made a statement at the climate change talks on REDD at the first formal meeting to discuss among other things a possible REDD mechanism.

REDD is a mechanism that should be designed to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
MIT News

New analysis shows warming could be double previous estimates.

By Stephen Leahy

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Apr 30 (IPS) - Climate scientists are calling for a phase-out of fossil fuels because humans are now pumping so much carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere that the '2-degree-C climate balloon' will burst otherwise, new studies show.