Front

“I want to provide for the country the cheapest energy possible … I don’t want us to be the only people out there in front of the rest of the world.” (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/28/climate-change-energy-bills-george-osborne)

There are leaders, and there are sleepers who find themselves embarrassingly naked in public.

Current

“Some small mammal species on forest islands, created by a hydroelectric reservoir, in Thailand became extinct in just five years.” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24229723)

Not because of being surrounded by water and electricity.

Strine

“In Australia, an increase in the frequency and intensity of heatwaves is expected to lead to more heat-related deaths, while warmer temperatures, changing rainfall and an influx of pests will ‘negatively impact’ many temperate crops, such as fruit and nuts.” (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/27/climate-change-report-hotter-australia)

I believe the vernacular is ‘cactus’.

Overindulging

Whatever the weather, it’s going to intensify. “High latitude countries, such as in Europe or North America, are expected to receive more rainfall, but many … subtropical arid and semi-arid regions will likely experience less precipitation … Over wet tropical regions, extreme precipitation events will very likely be more intense and more frequent.” Consequently “a hot world is a hungry world.” (http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/sep/27/climate-change-poor-countries-ipcc)

Like drinking alcohol, your starting mood gets more intense, then you get the munchies. Then you get the hangover.

Toast

“If you’re lucky enough to own a piece of land, depending on what tree species are planted, you could be coppicing your own firewood within a decade.” (http://www.woodlandtrust.presscentre.com/News-Releases/Landowners-in-Northern-Ireland-invited-to-warm-to-the-benefits-of-woodland-f7c.aspx)

Meanwhile, gather your eggboxes and thistledown, and snuggle in.

Articulate

Greenpeace protests Russia’s arrest of activists

“Russia has opened a criminal case against Greenpeace activists who boarded an Arctic oil rig belonging to energy giant Gazprom” in protest at its drilling offshore in the Arctic. Greenpeace protested at Gazprom’s Berlin headquarters demanding the release of the activists. (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/24/russia-greenpeace-piracy-oil-rig-protest)

I hope fellow pedants will join me to Save the Articulate.

Summer

“The prospect of an ice-free Arctic in the summer has spurred oil and gas exploration and shipping in the north, which threaten fragile ecosystems, and scientists are also beginning to tie the disappearing ice to extreme weather events in Europe.” (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/20/arctic-sea-ice-decline-melting-summer)

The Arctic looks set to become a cheap flight holiday destination.

Nutkin

“In terms of their natural diet, red squirrels love pine cones and the magnificent Monterey pines we have here on Tresco means there’s a huge supply of cones.” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-24164247)

The Monterey Pine is native to California rather than Cornwall, but it’s an adorable start.

Forestry

The proposed site of a large-scale wind farm “is completely encircled by globally important peatland habitats, protected under European and Scots law. The area proposed for development would have been given similar protection were it not for inappropriate planting with conifers in the 1980s.” (http://www.rspb.org.uk/media/releases/353694-rspb-scotland-set-to-object-to-a-damaging-wind-farm-proposal-threatening-the-flow-country)

Some wag arranged the trees in blatantly pornographic poses and from a nearby hill their placement clearly spells ‘arse’.

Waves

“Waters near big chunks of land and ice are literally pulled up onto shores by gravity. … If Greenland melted enough to raise global seas by an average of 1 metre, for example, the gravitational effect would lower water levels near Greenland by 2.5 metres and raise them by as much as 1.3 metres far away.” (http://www.nature.com/news/climate-science-rising-tide-1.13749)

Greenland is so named because, like the moon, it’s made of green cheese – with special tidal powers.