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Oil up 1 pct.; weather outlook sinks natural gas

NEW YORK (AP) - The price of oil rose 1 percent Friday as traders weighed a new debt deal in Europe and political bickering in the U.S. over looming tax increases and budget cuts.

U.S. benchmark crude rose 84 cents to close at $88.91 per barrel in New York. In London, Brent crude rose 47 cents to close at $111.23 per barrel. Natural gas continued to tumble on forecasts for a warm beginning to December. It fell 2.4 percent to close at $3.56 per thousand cubic feet and has dropped 5.5 percent since Tuesday.

German lawmakers approved further aid to Greece Friday, raising hopes that Europe will continue to slowly heal from its debt crisis. In the U.S. lawmakers reported no progress in talks to avoid a series of tax increases and spending cuts that economists say risk a recession if they go into effect at the start of next year.

If Europe emerges from its debt crisis, increased economic activity there could push up global oil demand. But a slower U.S. economy would reduce demand.

Traders still don't believe, though, that U.S. lawmakers will fail to come to a deal, said Bob Yawger, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA. Even with Republican House Speaker John Boehner saying Friday that lawmakers were 'almost nowhere' on reaching a compromise.

Oil had its first monthly gain since August, but is still trading below the 2012 average of $94.65 per barrel. The price wavered between $84 and $89 per barrel in November with few dramatic moves up or down. Analysts say oil would be even lower if not for events in the Middle East.

Julian Jessop, an analyst at Capital Economics in London, estimates that oil is priced $10 to $20 per barrel higher because of worries that the violence in the Middle East could spread and disrupt future oil supplies.

Oil supplies are relatively high and economies around the world are growing slowly. So demand for fuels to ship goods and for travel is weaker than expected.

Capital Economics estimates oil will average $80 per barrel next year, which would be the lowest level since 2010, when crude averaged $79.84.

U.S. retail gasoline prices dropped steadily - if slowly - in November. Friday the national average fell less than a penny to $3.40 per gallon, according to the Oil Price Information Service, AAA and Wright Express. That's 12 cents lower than at the start of the month.

The difference in prices around the country is wider than usual. Drivers in some Northeastern states are paying almost $4 per gallon on average because supplies remain tight in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, which closed refineries, pipelines and fuel terminals for a time in New York and New Jersey. In the Southeast and southern Midwest drivers are paying closer to $3 per gallon.

New York drivers are paying $3.88 per gallon, on average, the highest in the country behind Hawaii. Missouri drivers pay the least at $3.15 per gallon.

Natural gas prices are near where they were at the beginning of the month, though trading was volatile. Natural gas rose to nearly $4 per thousand cubic feet for the first time since September of 2011 on expectations of a cold winter and an increase in heating demand.

Then prices tumbled back down this week when forecasters said early December temperatures should be warm and the Energy Department reported that national supplies of natural gas grew at a time when usually they fall.

In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:

- Heating oil finished unchanged at $3.06 per gallon.

- Wholesale gasoline finished unchanged at $2.73 per gallon.



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UN climate boss: No support for tough climate deal

DOHA, Qatar (AP) - The United Nations climate chief is urging people not to look solely to their governments to make tough decisions to slow global warming, and instead to consider their own role in solving the problem.

Approaching the half-way point of two-week climate talks in Doha, Christiana Figueres, the head of the U.N.'s climate change secretariat, said Friday she didn't see 'much public interest, support, for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions.'

Figueres said 'each one of us needs to assume responsibility. It's not just about domestic governments.'

Her comments came as negotiators from nearly 200 countries were struggling to prepare draft agreements on how to move forward on greenhouse emissions cuts and climate aid for poor countries.



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Weather service warns bay area residents of strong winds, high surf, flash floods

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What to Do in the Bay Area This Weekend: November 30-December 2

With Thanksgiving leftovers mostly consumed and many of the Bay Area Christmas decorations already up, the holiday season has arrived as we turn the last of the 2012 calendar pages to December this weekend. With a less than brilliant weather forecast for the Bay Area, head for outdoor events with an umbrella in one hand and fingers crossed on the other.



The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party
Every weekend through December 23, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Cow Palace Exhibition Halls
2600 Geneva Ave., San Francisco
$25 adults, $21 student/senior/military, $12 children (5-11), children under 5 free. $10 parking.
Bring a new, unwrapped donation for Toys for Tots for a $3 discount on adult admission.



While the Victorians would be flabbergasted, modern folks can take a free shuttle to The Great Dickens Fair from the Glen Park BART. Come in your Victorian finery, if you like. The 34th annual party features hundreds of folks in Dickensian duds for a fully staged recreation of Ye Olde London Towne, complete with pubs pouring ales, gift shoppes with wares, and street hawkers roasting chestnuts. Punch & Judy puppet shows, Father Christmas, Victorian fairies, Tiny Tim, and Bob Cratchit are among the cast of characters providing entertainment on seven stages.



Jack London Square Holiday Tree Lighting
Friday, Nov. 30, 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m
Jack London Square, Oakland
Free



Have you heard of the famous tap-dancing Christmas tree act? Check it out here. Photos with Santa start at 4:30 p.m. at the annual lighting ceremony, and the tree will feature over 5,000 lights. The reindeer will be real, but the snow flurries will be of the fake variety. There will be a "Holiday Pop Up!" craft fair for early-bird shoppers, and Miss California 2012, a strolling puppet theater, Radio Disney performers, and more will be on hand.



Pac 12 Championship: Stanford Cardinals vs. UCLA
Friday, Nov. 30, 5 p.m.
Stanford Stadium
601 Nelson Road, Stanford
$80-$120





Stanford will host UCLA in the second annual Pac-12 Football Championship Game. If Stanford wins the Pac-12 title game, the Cardinals will play in the Rose Bowl on January 1 against the winner of the Big Ten championship game between Nebraska and Wisconsin, which takes place on Saturday. If you can't get tickets to the game, check it out in sports bars around the Bay Area with fellow college football fans.



Downtown Berkeley Holiday Tree-Lighting Celebration
Friday, Nov. 30, 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
BART Plaza, Berkeley
Free



Downtown Berkeley is hosting a tree-lighting event that's not on a school night, so bring the kids along for cookies and hot chocolate, too. Santa is coming and so is the mayor, so there will be photo opportunities all around. The Cal Jazz Choir will provide the carols that make any tree-lighting ceremony complete. Tents will be available in case of rain.



ZooLights
Friday, Nov. 30, 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
Oakland Zoo
9777 Golf Links Road, Oakland
$8 adults, $6 children general admission, free parking



Hundreds of thousands of LED lights create the Bay Area's largest display. Oakland Zoo transforms the night skies over the city for the holidays. Kids love the themed rides on Candy Cane Lane and the Christmas trees in the children's zoo. It's a special adventure to ride the Outback Express train or take Santa's sleigh ride at night. Winter-warmer Ghirardelli hot chocolates will be available at the cafe. Evenings through December 31, except December 24 and 25. Santa visits the zoo daily in December from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.



Chris Botti With the San Francisco Symphony
Friday, Nov. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m.
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
$15-$68





Five-time Grammy Award nominee Chris Botti and his trumpet will deliver cool, sophisticated evenings of jazz and holiday classics this weekend, with Richard Kaufman conducting the San Francisco Symphony. Meet Botti at his CD signing after the show.



22nd Annual Union Street Fantasy of Lights
Saturday, Dec. 1, 3 p.m.-7 p.m.
Union Street from Van Ness to Steiner, Fillmore Street between Union and Lombard, San Francisco
Free





Union Street dresses up in twinkling white lights, and jugglers, face painters, balloon artists, costumed singers, and entertainers appear for this annual holiday event. Ponies dressed like reindeer delight the younger set. Activities include a new hay ride, cupcake decorating at the Cudworth Mansion (2040 Union St.) from 3 p.m.-5:30 p.m., a sidewalk prance with the Snow Queen, and photos with Santa, who appears at 5:30 p.m. New toys will be collected by the San Francisco Firefighters' Toy Program. The festival will go on rain or shine.



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Ice sheets melting at poles faster than before

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fueled by global warming, polar ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are now melting three times faster than they did in the 1990s, a new scientific study says.

So far, that's only added about half an inch to rising sea levels, not as bad as some earlier worst case scenarios. But the melting's quicker pace, especially in Greenland, has ice scientists worried.

One of the biggest wild cards in climate change has been figuring out how much the melting of the massive sheets of ice at the two poles would add to the seas. Until now, researchers haven't agreed on how fast the mile-thick sheets are thawing - and if Antarctica was even losing ice.

The new research concludes that Antarctica is melting, but points to the smaller ice sheet in Greenland, which covers most of the island, as the bigger and more pressing issue. Its melt rate has grown from about 55 billion tons a year in the 1990s to almost 290 billion tons a year recently, according to the study.

'Greenland is really taking off,' said National Snow and Ice Data Center scientist Ted Scambos, a co-author of the paper released Thursday by the journal Science.

Study lead author Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds in England, said their results provide a message for negotiators in Doha, Qatar, who are working on an international agreement to fight global warming: 'It's very clear now that Greenland is a problem.'

Scientists blame man-made global warming for the melting. Burning fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, emits carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap heat, warming the atmosphere and oceans. Bit-by-bit, that erodes the ice sheets from above and below. Snowfall replenishes the ice sheets, but hasn't kept pace with the rate of melting.

Because the world's oceans are so big, it takes a lot of ice melting - about 10 trillion tons - to raise sea levels 1 inch. Since 1992, ice sheets at the poles have lost nearly 5 trillion tons of ice, the study says, raising sea levels by about a half inch.

That seemingly tiny extra bit probably worsened the flooding from an already devastating Superstorm Sandy last month, said NASA ice scientist Erik Ivins, another co-author of the study. He said the extra weight gives each wave a little more energy.

'The more energy there is in a wave, the further the water can get inland,' Ivins said.

Globally, the world's oceans rose about half a foot on average in the 20th Century. Melting ice sheets accounts for about one-fifth of sea level rise. Warmer water expands, contributing to the rise along with water from melting glaciers outside the polar regions.

Just how much ice is melting at the two poles has been difficult for scientists to answer. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change did not include ice sheet melt in its calculations of future sea level rise because numbers were so uncertain.

It's an important factor because if all the polar ice sheets somehow melted - something that would take centuries - global sea levels would jump by more than 200 feet, said Pennsylvania State University ice scientist Richard Alley, who wasn't part of the research.

Some past studies showed melting on the polar ice sheets, while others said that the Antarctic ice sheet was growing and offsetting melting in Greenland. The new work by 47 scientists around the world combines three methods and measurements from 10 satellites to come to a scientific consensus on what's happening to the polar ice sheets.

In the 1990s, the two ice sheets combined on average lost 110 billion tons of ice each year to melting, the researchers reported. That increased and by 2005 to 2010, they were losing three times as much - 379 billion tons yearly. The numbers don't include the summer of 2012 when Greenland experienced a melt that hadn't been seen in more than a century, researchers said.

The consensus says that as a whole the Antarctic ice sheet is melting. Part of the issue is that the southern continent is not reacting to climate change uniformly, with some areas growing and others shrinking. The entire Antarctic ice sheet is about the size of the U.S. and Mexico combined.

NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati, one of the few top ice researchers who wasn't part of the study, praised the work.

'Understanding how and why the ice sheets are changing today better equips us for understanding and predicting how much and in what ways they will change in the future,' he said.

___

Online:

Science: http://www.sciencemag.org

Ice sheets: http://nsidc.org/cryosphere/quickfacts/icesheets.html

___

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears



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Drought expands, blankets High Plains

(Reuters) - Drought is tightening its grip on the central United States as winter weather sets in, threatening to ravage the new wheat crop and spelling more hardship for farmers and ranchers already weary of the costly and ongoing dry conditions.

While conditions started to improve earlier in November, they turned harsh to close out the month as above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation proved a dire combination in many regions, according to the Drought Monitor, a weekly compilation of data gathered by federal and academic scientists issued Thursday.

Forecasts for the next several days show little to no relief and weather watchers are predicting a drier than average winter for much of the central United States.

'The drought's impacts are far reaching,' said Eric Luebehusen, a meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in the report.

The U.S. High Plains, which includes key farm states of Nebraska, South Dakota, and Kansas, are the hardest hit. In that region, almost 58 percent of the land area is in extreme or exceptional drought, the worst categories of drought. A week ago, the tally was 55.94 percent.

Nebraska is by far the most parched state in the nation. One hundred percent of the state is considered in severe or worse drought, with 77.46 percent of the state considered in 'exceptional' drought - the worst level, according to the Drought Monitor.

Overall, roughly 62.65 percent of the contiguous United States was in at least 'moderate' drought as of November 27, up from 60.09 percent a week earlier,

The portion of the contiguous United States under 'extreme' or 'exceptional' drought - the two most dire classifications - expanded to 20.12 percent from 19.04 percent.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said this week that U.S. farm income will drop by 3 percent this year due in part to the ravages of the worst drought in half a century. So far, crop insurers have paid $6.3 billion on losses this year, USDA said. Some analysts say the still-persisting drought in the Farm Belt will drive indemnities to $20 billion.

On top of the crop losses in 2012, more losses are likely for 2013 if soil moisture does not improve. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said this week that the condition of the winter wheat crop fell to an all-time low for late November with only 33 percent of the new crop rated good to excellent, and 26 percent was rated poor to very poor as the plants headed into winter dormancy.

In South Dakota, 64 percent of the crop was rated poor to very poor; and at least 40 percent of the wheat crop in Texas, Nebraska and Oklahoma was also rated poor to very poor. Top producer Kansas had 25 percent of its crop rated poor to very poor.

Though light showers are possible through the Mississippi Valley and possibly into southern Texas in the next few days, dry, warm conditions are expected across the remainder of the contiguous United States, the Drought Monitor said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast warmer-than-average temperatures in much of Texas, northward through the Central and Northern Plains and westward across the Southwest. A drier-than-average winter is forecast for Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas and through the upper Midwest.

(Reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City)



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DFW Weather To Start Getting Warmer

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Study Finds Sea Level Rise was 60 Percent Higher Than UN Projection

According to NBC News, a newly released peer-reviewed study has concluded that sea levels between 1993 and 2011 rose by 3.2 millimeters per year. This number is nearly 60 percent more than the 2-millimeter annual projection made by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change over the same time period. The disparity between the two numbers raises a point that the projections for the upcoming decades could also be too low and that sea level could rise much more than current estimates predict.



Here are some facts and details about the new study and what it could mean for upcoming climate reports:

* The new study entitled "Comparing climate projections to observations up to 2011" was a collaboration between three researchers: Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, Grant Foster of the consulting firm Tempo Analytics in Maine, and Anny Cazenave of the Laboratory of Geophysics and Spatial Oceanography Studies in France

* The study entitled has been published in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters and was presented at U.N. climate change conference in Qatar, which will run until Dec. 7, noted Reuters.

* The IPCC's most recent report was issued in 2007 and projected that sea level could rise between 18 and 59 centimeters this century, but Rahmstorf, lead author of the new study, estimates that sea level rise would be between 50 centimeters to a meter.

* The Huffington Post reports that the new study had five more years of data and utilized satellite technology, which offers a broader picture than tide gauges. Additionally, it analyzed the relationship between sea level and temperature, which is a more sophisticated analysis method.

* However, while the researchers found a difference between the projected and observed numbers in sea level rise, they did find that their numbers matched the IPCC's projections regarding a temperature rise of about 0.16 degree Celsius.

* The IPCC projections also matched the researchers' findings on the rise in carbon dioxide concentration.

* Such changes in sea level and average temperatures could mean more extreme weather events, including floods, droughts, and heat waves.

* Low-lying coastal areas like New York City and Tokyo are especially at risk for feeling the impacts of sea level rise. Such changes raise the risk of storm surges and erosion.

* The next IPCC report, which combines numerous scientific studies, is scheduled to be released in March of 2014 and is expected to offer more details on the quantitative changes in sea level, temperature, and the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere.



Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. Currently pursuing her master's degree in environmental science, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.



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Northern California Flood Threat Now Through Weekend

Bay Area commuters struggled through driving rain on Wednesday morning, surprised not at its appearance, which had been forecasted, but at its intensity. The National Weather Service in Sacramento issued a flood watch for Northern California on Tuesday, as the Bay Area enjoyed sunny skies followed by a fine moonlit evening. A weather system comprised of a series of powerful rainstorms is forecasted to last through the weekend.



Buckets of water periodically spilled onto pedestrians from bulging shop awnings and from the tops of bus stop shelters in San Francisco, and swirling gullies appeared around drains blocked with autumn leaves, creating ankle-deep puddles impossible to avoid. Drivers faced their own set of challenges. A burst of sunshine appeared by noon in downtown San Francisco, but the five-day forecast calls for significantly more rainfall.



While Northern California typically enjoys some of the nation's most enviable weather, local residents are aware of the adage regarding California's four seasons: earthquake, fire, flood, and drought. Flooding is one of the most common natural disasters in the United States, according to FEMA. We are all under heightened awareness in the wake of Hurricane Sandy's widespread and severe damage in October 2012.



Drivers are advised to prepare for longer journey times at reduced speed due to necessary precautions on wet road surfaces and to avoid low-lying areas. Under windy conditions, drivers are reminded to be alert to falling tree branches and debris and cross winds on exposed routes and bridges.



Both pedestrians and drivers are reminded to avoid walking through moving water, as a few inches of moving water can prompt a fall. If you must walk in water, look for where the water is not moving, and use a branch or a stick to check the depth, as well as whether the ground is firm ahead of you.



Home preparation advice calls for inspecting drains and gutters to clear leaves, checking seals on windows and doors, lowering water levels in outdoor pools and clearing filters, and keeping your heating system inspections up to date. FEMA advises putting together and maintaining an emergency supply kit, including canned foods and a manual opener, non-perishable food and camping cooking equipment, a good supply of drinking water, any essential medicines, flashlights, candles and a lighter, a battery-operated radio, fresh batteries of various sizes, and a first-aid kit.



The flood watch is issued across a wide region from the Oregon border to coastal San Diego County, with high surf advisories and wind advisories into interiors across California and into Nevada. Wind gusts are forecasted to reach as high as 70 mph in coastal areas.





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Arctic sea ice larger than US melted this year

DOHA, Qatar (AP) - An area of Arctic sea ice bigger than the United States melted this year, according the U.N. weather agency, which said the dramatic decline illustrates that climate change is happening 'before our eyes.'

In a report released at U.N. climate talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, the World Meteorological Organization said the Arctic ice melt was one of a myriad of extreme and record-breaking weather events to hit the planet in 2012. Droughts devastated nearly two-thirds of the United States as well western Russia and southern Europe. Floods swamped west Africa and heat waves left much of the Northern Hemisphere sweltering.

But it was the ice melt that seemed to dominate the annual climate report, with the U.N. concluding ice cover had reached 'a new record low' in the area around the North Pole and that the loss from March to September was a staggering 11.83 million square kilometers (4.57 million square miles) - an area bigger than the United States.

'The alarming rate of its melt this year highlighted the far-reaching changes taking place on Earth's oceans and biosphere,' WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said. 'Climate change is taking place before our eyes and will continue to do so as a result of the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which have risen constantly and again reached new records.'

The dire climate news - following on the heels of a report Tuesday that found melting permafrost could significantly amplify global warming - comes as delegates from nearly 200 countries struggled for a third day to lay the groundwork for a deal that would cut emissions in an attempt to ensure that temperatures don't rise more than 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) over what they were in preindustrial times. Temperatures have already risen about 0.8 degrees C (1.4 degrees F), according to the latest report by the IPCC.

Discord between rich and poor countries on who should do what has kept the two-decade-old U.N. talks from delivering on that goal, and global emissions are still going up.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, urged delegates to heed the science and quickly take action.

'When I had the privilege in 2007 of accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, in my speech I asked the rhetorical question, 'Will those responsible for decisions in the field of climate change at the global level listen to the voice of science and knowledge, which is now loud and clear,' ' he said. 'I am not sure our voice is louder today but it is certainly clearer on the basis of the new knowledge.'

Delegates in Doha are bickering over money from rich countries to help poorer ones adapt to and combat the impacts of climate change, and whether developed countries will sign onto an extension of a legally binding emissions pact, the Kyoto Protocol, that would run until 2020.

A pact that once incorporated all industrialized countries except the United States would now include only the European Union, Australia and several smaller countries which together account for less than 15 percent of global emissions. And the United States is refusing to offer any bolder commitments to cut its emissions beyond a non-binding pledge to reduce emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

'For developed country parties like the United States and the European Union, the pledges and commitments ... put forward on the table are far below what is required by the science,' Su Wei, a member of the Chinese delegation, told reporters. 'And far below what is required by their historical responsibility.'

Developing countries have said they are willing to take steps to control emissions, but that they must be given space to build their economies. Although China is the largest carbon polluter and India is rapidly catching up, both countries lag far behind the industrial countries in emissions per person and still have huge populations mired in poverty. They don't see emissions peaking anytime soon.

'We are still in the process of industrialization. We are also confronted with the enormous task of poverty eradication,' said Wei, acknowledging that the country's emissions won't peak by 2020.

'In order to eradicate poverty, to try to improve the living standards, certainly we need to develop our economy,' he said. 'So the emissions will need to grow for a period of time.'

___

Karl Ritter contributed to this report.

___

Follow Michael Casey on www.twitter.com/mcasey1 or Karl Ritter on www.twitter.com/karl_ritter



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Flu Has Little to Do With Cold Weather

Although most children grow up hearing that they'll catch the flu if they play in the snow without a scarf, weather has very little to do with which regions get more flu, doctors say.

'It's actually not that predicable,' said Dr. Jon Abramson, who specializes in pediatric infectious diseases at Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina.

Mississippi has had the most reported cases of influenza-like illness in the United States so far this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even though Mississippi had an average temperature of 53.3 degrees this month, it is the only state in the country with a flu-like activity level of 'high.' Louisiana and Alabama are right behind it with moderate activity levels. Most other states -- with colder climates -- have had lower levels.

Click here to read about flu facts and fiction.

Abramson said the flu season tends to start in October and last through April, mostly coinciding with the school year rather than the temperature. He said studies have shown that the flu spreads mostly from school-age children, who often have poorer hygiene and catch the virus because they are in close contact with one another. Then, they pass it along to adults.

Weather becomes a contributing factor mostly because it forces children indoors, where they mix together and spread germs, said Allison Aiello, a professor and epidemiologist at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health.

Scarves, hats and gloves are useless if you come in contact with someone with the flu and either breath in their virus or touch a surface with the virus and touch your mouth, Aiello said.

'You can tell you mom it's OK for you to go outside with no hat on,' she laughed, adding that even her own relatives remind her to put on a hat to avoid getting the flu. She said weather can perhaps make people more susceptible, but it can't give them the virus.

Since Sept. 30, about 2,400 influenza cases have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including 28 cases of H1N1. Despite its tropical temperatures, even Hawaii has reported flu cases this season.

Abramson said his North Carolina hospital has already had 25 influenza cases this season. In contrast, by the same time last year, the same hospital didn't have a single case.

'This is the South. It's fairly warm, so you wouldn't expect it this early,' he said. 'It doesn't seem to behave exactly by the coldness.'

The flu can spread any time of year, Abramson said, citing this summer's swine flu outbreak. The H3N2V strain jumped from 29 to 145 cases in less than a week in August of this year, with most of them in Indiana and Ohio.

The best way for families to protect themselves is to encourage hand-washing and get vaccinated.

Click here to read about other flu-fighters.

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Bucks County Residents Welcome Winter Weather

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UN climate scientist: Sandy no coincidence

DOHA, Qatar (AP) - Though it's tricky to link a single weather event to climate change, Hurricane Sandy was 'probably not a coincidence' but an example of the extreme weather events that are likely to strike the U.S. more often as the world gets warmer, the U.N. climate panel's No. 2 scientist said Tuesday.

Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, the vice chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, predicted that as stronger and more frequent heat waves and storms become part of life, people will stop asking whether global warming played a role.

'The new question should probably progressively become: Is it possible that climate warming has not influenced this particular event?' he told The Associated Press in an interview on the sidelines of U.N. climate negotiations in Qatar.

Ypersele's remarks come as global warming has re-emerged as an issue in Washington following the devastating superstorm - a rarity for the U.S. Northeast - and an election that led to Democratic gains.

After years of disagreement, climate scientists and hurricane experts have concluded that as the climate warms, there will be fewer total hurricanes. But those storms that do develop will be stronger and wetter.

It is not correct to say Sandy was caused by global warming, but 'the damage caused by Sandy was worse because of sea level rise,' said Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer. He said the sea level in New York City is a foot higher than a century ago because of man-made climate change.

On the second day of a two-week conference in the Qatari capital of Doha, the talks fell back to the bickering between rich and poor countries that has marked the negotiations since they started two decades ago. At the heart of the discord is how to divide the burden of cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases, including carbon dioxide.

Such emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, have increased by 20 percent since 2000, according to a U.N. report released last week.

Van Ypersele (vahn EE-purr-say-luh) said the slow pace of the talks was 'frustrating' and that negotiators seem more concerned with protecting national interests than studying the science that prompted the negotiations.

'I would say please read our reports a little more. And maybe that would help to give a sense of urgency that is lacking,' he said.

Marlene Moses, the head of a coalition of island nations that view the rising sea levels as an existential threat, said that was good advice.

'These are the kind of people that it is probably a good idea to listen to,' she said. 'It is very much in the interest of small islands to focus on the science, which is why we have always based our positions on the latest research and why here we are calling for dramatically higher ambition.'

Since 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, has released four reports with projections on how global warming will melt glaciers and ice caps, raise sea levels and shift rainfall patterns with impacts on floods and droughts. The panel shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with climate campaigner Al Gore, the former U.S. vice president.

The IPCC is set to start releasing portions of its fifth report next year. Van Ypersele would not discuss the contents except to say the report will include new research on the melting of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, boosting previous estimates on sea level rise.

He said the scientific backing for man-made climate change is now so strong that it can be compared to the consensus behind the principles of gravity.

'It's a very, very broad consensus. There are a few individuals who don't believe it, but we are talking about science and not beliefs,' Van Ypersele told AP.

Climate change skeptics say IPCC scientists have in the past overestimated the effect of the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere and underplayed natural cycles of warming and cooling. Others have claimed the authors, who aren't paid for their work, exaggerated the effects that climate change will have on the environment and on human life.

Negotiators in Doha are supposed to start talks on an elusive global treaty to rein in emissions. They have set a deadline of 2015 to adopt that pact, which would take effect in 2020.

Among other topics, they are discussing how to help poor countries convert to cleaner energy sources and adapt to a shifting climate, as well as extending the expiring Kyoto Protocol, an agreement that limits the greenhouse emissions of industrialized countries.

The U.S. rejected the Kyoto deal because it didn't cover world-leading carbon polluter China and other fast-growing developing countries. Other rich countries including Canada and Japan don't want to be part of the extension, which means it will cover less than 15 percent of global emissions.

'Japan will not be participating in a second commitment period, because what is important is for the world is to formulate a new framework which is fair and effective and which all parties will join,' Japanese delegate Masahiko Horie said.

Meanwhile, a series of recent climate reports have underscored the depth of the challenge before the U.N. climate negotiators. A report released Tuesday by the U.N. Environment Program warned current climate projections are likely too conservative because they don't factor in the thawing of permafrost - a layer of soil that stays frozen year-round in cold climates.

Lead author Kevin Schaefer, of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado, said 1,700 gigatons of carbon are locked up in permafrost primarily in the U.S., China, Russia and Canada. He called for further studies on the potential climate impact if it's released, saying up to 39 percent of total emissions could come from permafrost by 2100.

___

AP Environment Writer Michael Casey contributed to this report.

__

Karl Ritter can be reached at www.twitter.com/karl_ritter



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Rich, poor spar at climate talks

DOHA, Qatar (AP) - The first signs of tensions emerged at the U.N. climate talks on Tuesday as delegates from island and African nations chided rich countries for refusing to offer up new emissions cuts over the next eight years which could help stem global warming

The debate mostly swirled around the Kyoto Protocol - a legally-binding emissions cap that expires this year and remains the most significant international achievement in the fight against global warming. Countries are hoping to negotiate an extension to the pact that runs until at least 2020 but several nations like Japan and Canada have said they won't be party to a new one.

Marlene Moses, chairwoman of a coalition of island countries, said she was 'gravely disappointed' with rich nations, saying they have failed to act or offer up any new emissions cuts for the near term. The United States, for example, which is not a signatory of Kyoto, has said it would not increase earlier commitments to cut emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

'In our view, these actions are an abdication of responsibility to the most vulnerable among us,' Moses said.

In its current form, a pact that once incorporated all industrialized countries except the United States would now only include the European Union, Australia and several smaller countries which together account for less than 15 percent of global emissions he Japanese delegation defended its decision not to sign onto a Kyoto extension, insisting it would be better to focus on coming to an agreement by 2015 that would require all countries to do their part to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), compared to preindustrial times.

'As we have been explaining, only developed countries are legally bound by the Kyoto Protocol and their emissions are only 26 percent,' said Masahiko Horie, speaking for the Japanese delegation.

'If we continue the same, only one quarter of the world is legally bound and three quarters of countries are not bound at all,' he said. 'Japan will not be participating in a second commitment period because, what is important, is for the world is to formulate a new framework which is fair and effective and which all parties will join.'

The position of Japan and other developed countries has the potential to reignite the battles between rich and poor nations that have doomed past efforts to reach a deal. So far that hasn't happened, but countries like Brazil are warning that it will be difficult for poor nations to do their part if they continue watching industrialized nations shy away from legally-binding pacts like Kyoto.

'This is a very serious thing,' said Andre Correa do Lago, who heads the Brazil delegation and is the director general for Environment and Special Affairs in the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

'If rich countries which have the financial means, have technology, have a stable population, already have a large middle class, if these countries think they cannot reduce and work to fight climate change, how can they ever think that developing countries can do it,' do Lago said. 'That is why the Kyoto Protocol has to be kept alive. It's the bar. If we take it out, we have what people call the Wild West. Everybody will do what they want to do. With everyone doing what they want to do, you are not going get the reductions necessary.'

Many scientists say extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Sandy's onslaught on the U.S. east coast, will become more frequent as the Earth warms, although it is impossible to attribute any individual event to climate change. The rash of violent weather in the U.S., including widespread droughts and a record number of wildfires last summer, has again put climate change on the radar.

'It's probably not a coincidence,' Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, vice chairman of the U.N. climate panel, told The Associated Press. 'Climate is defined by trends and not by single events so it's never possible to attribute a single event to a changing climate. But what is clear over time is that the climate context is evolving and in that climate context many extreme events become either more intense or more frequent. And the kind of things that we have seen in the U.S. are likely to happen more in the future, together with heat waves and that kind of thing.'

Meanwhile, a United Nations report warned that thawing permafrost covering almost a quarter of the northern hemisphere could 'significantly amplify global warming' at a time when the world is already struggling to reign in rising greenhouse gases, a U.N. report said on Tuesday.

The U.N. said the potential hazards of carbon dioxide and methane emissions from warming permafrost has until now not been factored into climate models. It is calling for a special U.N. climate panel to assess the warming and for the creation of 'national monitoring networks and adaptation plans' to help better understand the threat.

In the past, land with permafrost experienced thawing on the surface during summertime, but now scientists are witnessing thaws that reach up to 10 feet deep due to warmer temperatures. The softened earth releases gases from decaying plants that have been stuck below frozen ground for millennia.

'Permafrost is one of the keys to the planet's future because it contains large stores of frozen organic matter that, if thawed and released into the atmosphere, would amplify current global warming and propel us to a warmer world,' said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner in a statement.

Kevin Schaefer, of the University of Colorado National Snow and Ice Data Center, said 1,700 gigatons of permafrost exist. The lead author on the U.N. report, he warns that that melting could permanently amplify what is already a worrisome threat.

'The release of carbon dioxide and methane from warming permafrost is irreversible: once the organic matter thaws and decays away, there is no way to put it back into the permafrost,' Schaefer said.

___

Associated Press writer Karl Ritter contributed to this report.



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At climate conference, UN warns that thawing permafrost will cause increased global warming

DOHA, Qatar - Thawing permafrost covering almost a quarter of the northern hemisphere could 'significantly amplify global warming' at a time when the world is already struggling to reign in rising greenhouse gases, a U.N. report said on Tuesday.

The warning comes as United Nations climate negotiations enter a second day, with the focus on the Kyoto Protocol - a legally-binding emissions cap that expires this year and remains the most significant international achievement in the fight against global warming. Countries are hoping to negotiate an extension to the pact that runs until at least 2020.

The U.N. said the potential hazards of carbon dioxide and methane emissions from warming permafrost has until now not been factored into climate models. It is calling for a special U.N. climate panel to assess the warming and for the creation of 'national monitoring networks and adaptation plans' to help better understand the threat.

In the past, land with permafrost experienced thawing on the surface during summertime, but now scientists are witnessing thaws that reach up to 10 feet deep due to warmer temperatures. The softened earth releases gases from decaying plants that have been stuck below frozen ground for millennia.

'Permafrost is one of the keys to the planet's future because it contains large stores of frozen organic matter that, if thawed and released into the atmosphere, would amplify current global warming and propel us to a warmer world,' said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner in a statement.

At the climate talks in Doha, Qatar, negotiations over Kyoto started on Tuesday. Many rich countries such as Japan, Russia and Canada have refused to endorse the extension, and talks are expected to be heated. The United States was the lone industrialized country not to join the original pact because it did not include other big greenhouse gas emitters like China.

In its current form, a pact that once incorporated all industrialized countries except the United States would now only include the European Union, Australia and several smaller countries which together account for less than 15 per cent of global emissions.

'We want to send a very clear message. We will not accept a second commitment period that is not worth the paper that it's written on,' Asad Rehman of the Climate Justice Now! network told delegates. 'We will not collude in a lie if that locks us into eight years of inaction and that condemns people and planet to a climate catastrophe.'

The Japanese delegation defended its decision not to sign onto a Kyoto extension, insisting it would be better to focus on coming to an agreement by 2015 that would require all countries to do their part to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), compared to preindustrial times.

'As we have been explaining, only developed countries are legally bound by the Kyoto Protocol and their emissions are only 26 per cent,' said Masahiko Horie, speaking for the Japanese delegation.

'If we continue the same, only one quarter of the world is legally bound and three quarters of countries are not bound at all,' he said. 'Japan will not be participating in a second commitment period because, what is important, is for the world is to formulate a new framework which is fair and effective and which all parties will join.'

The position of Japan and other developed countries has the potential to reignite the battles between rich and poor nations that have doomed past efforts to reach a deal. So far that hasn't happened, but countries like Brazil are warning that it will be difficult for poor nations to do their part if they continue watching industrialized nations shy away from legally-binding pacts like Kyoto.

'This is a very serious thing,' said Andre Correa do Lago, who heads the Brazil delegation and is the director general for Environment and Special Affairs in the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

'If rich countries which have the financial means, have technology, have a stable population, already have a large middle class, if these countries think they cannot reduce and work to fight climate change, how can they ever think that developing countries can do it,' do Lago said. 'That is why the Kyoto Protocol has to be kept alive. It's the bar. If we take it out, we have what people call the Wild West. Everybody will do what they want to do. With everyone doing what they want to do, you are not going get the reductions necessary.



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UN says thawing permafrost to boost global warming

DOHA, Qatar (AP) - Thawing permafrost covering almost a quarter of the northern hemisphere could 'significantly amplify global warming' at a time when the world is already struggling to reign in rising greenhouse gases, a U.N. report said on Tuesday.

The warning comes as United Nations climate negotiations enter a second day, with the focus on the Kyoto Protocol - a legally-binding emissions cap that expires this year and remains the most significant international achievement in the fight against global warming. Countries are hoping to negotiate an extension to the pact that runs until at least 2020.

The U.N. said the potential hazards of carbon dioxide and methane emissions from warming permafrost has until now not been factored into climate models. It is calling for a special U.N. climate panel to assess the warming and for the creation of 'national monitoring networks and adaptation plans' to help better understand the threat.

In the past, land with permafrost experienced thawing on the surface during summertime, but now scientists are witnessing thaws that reach up to 10 feet deep due to warmer temperatures. The softened earth releases gases from decaying plants that have been stuck below frozen ground for millennia.

'Permafrost is one of the keys to the planet's future because it contains large stores of frozen organic matter that, if thawed and released into the atmosphere, would amplify current global warming and propel us to a warmer world,' said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner in a statement.

At the climate talks in Doha, Qatar, negotiations over Kyoto started on Tuesday. Many rich countries such as Japan, Russia and Canada have refused to endorse the extension, and talks are expected to be heated. The United States was the lone industrialized country not to join the original pact because it did not include other big greenhouse gas emitters like China.

In its current form, a pact that once incorporated all industrialized countries except the United States would now only include the European Union, Australia and several smaller countries which together account for less than 15 percent of global emissions.

'We want to send a very clear message. We will not accept a second commitment period that is not worth the paper that it's written on,' Asad Rehman of the Climate Justice Now! network told delegates. 'We will not collude in a lie if that locks us into eight years of inaction and that condemns people and planet to a climate catastrophe.'

The Japanese delegation defended its decision not to sign onto a Kyoto extension, insisting it would be better to focus on coming to an agreement by 2015 that would require all countries to do their part to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), compared to preindustrial times.

'As we have been explaining, only developed countries are legally bound by the Kyoto Protocol and their emissions are only 26 percent,' said Masahiko Horie, speaking for the Japanese delegation.

'If we continue the same, only one quarter of the world is legally bound and three quarters of countries are not bound at all,' he said. 'Japan will not be participating in a second commitment period because, what is important, is for the world is to formulate a new framework which is fair and effective and which all parties will join.'

The position of Japan and other developed countries has the potential to reignite the battles between rich and poor nations that have doomed past efforts to reach a deal. So far that hasn't happened, but countries like Brazil are warning that it will be difficult for poor nations to do their part if they continue watching industrialized nations shy away from legally-binding pacts like Kyoto.

'This is a very serious thing,' said Andre Correa do Lago, who heads the Brazil delegation and is the director general for Environment and Special Affairs in the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

'If rich countries which have the financial means, have technology, have a stable population, already have a large middle class, if these countries think they cannot reduce and work to fight climate change, how can they ever think that developing countries can do it,' do Lago said. 'That is why the Kyoto Protocol has to be kept alive. It's the bar. If we take it out, we have what people call the Wild West. Everybody will do what they want to do. With everyone doing what they want to do, you are not going get the reductions necessary.



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UN: Thawing permafrost to cause increased warming

DOHA, Qatar (AP) - The United Nations is warning that a thawing in the permafrost that covers almost a quarter of the northern hemisphere could 'significantly amplify global warming.'

The warning came in a U.N. report released as climate talks intensified on Tuesday in Qatar.

The report says the dangers of carbon dioxide and methane emissions from warming permafrost are becoming an emerging issue among climate scientists. These dangers have so far not been factored in projections about future temperature rises.

Representatives from over 200 countries are negotiating a climate deal in Doha that would keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees C (3.6 F) - compared to preindustrial times - by 2100.

The World Bank has projected temperatures to increase by up to 4 degrees C (7.2 F) by then.



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New York, New Jersey put $71 billion price tag on Sandy

(Reuters) - New York state and New Jersey need at least $71.3 billion to recover from the devastation wrought by Superstorm Sandy and prevent similar damage from future storms, according to their latest estimates.

The total, which could grow, came as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday the state will need $41.9 billion, including $32.8 billion to repair and restore damaged housing, parks and infrastructure and to cover lost revenue and other expenses. The figure also includes $9.1 billion to mitigate potential damage from future severe weather events, Cuomo said.

Neighboring New Jersey, which saw massive damage to its transit system and coastline, suffered at least $29.4 billion in overall losses, according to a preliminary analysis released by Governor Chris Christie's office Friday. The preliminary cost estimate includes federal aid New Jersey has received so far.

By some measures, Sandy was worse than Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which tore into the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, Cuomo said.

Sandy destroyed 305,000 houses in New York state - a still provisional number that's likely to grow - compared to the 214,700 destroyed in Louisiana by Katrina and Rita.

Sandy also caused nearly 2.2 million power outages at its peak in the state, compared to 800,000 from Katrina and Rita in Louisiana, and impacted 265,300 businesses compared to 18,700, Cuomo said.

While Sandy may have damaged more homes and businesses, Katrina took a far greater toll on human lives, killing more than 1,800 people directly or indirectly. Sandy, by comparison, is believed to have killed at least 121 people.

'Hurricane Katrina got a lot of notoriety for the way government handled -- or mishandled, depending on your point of view -- the situation,' Cuomo said at a press conference.

But considering the dense population of the area Sandy impacted and costs to the economy, housing, and businesses, the damage done 'was much larger in Hurricane Sandy than in Hurricane Katrina, and that puts this entire conversation, I believe, in focus,' Cuomo said.

Sandy made landfall in New Jersey on October 29. It blasted through the Northeastern U.S., devastating homes, forcing evacuations, crippling power systems and shutting down New York City's subway system for days.

TAKING SANDY COSTS TO CONGRESS

The total cost to the region is still not known as estimates of the damage, as well as future repair and prevention costs, continue to come in from states, cities and counties.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday he will ask Congress for $9.8 billion to pay for Sandy costs not covered by insurance or other federal funds.

In a letter to New York's congressional delegation, Bloomberg said public, private and indirect losses to the city from the devastating late-October storm stood at $19 billion.

Of that, private insurance is expected to cover $3.8 billion, with Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements to cover at least an additional $5.4 billion, Bloomberg said in a statement.

The city still will need the additional $9.8 billion to help pay for costs that FEMA does not cover, like hazard mitigation, long-term housing, shoreline restoration and protection efforts, he said.

Whatever the final tally, officials are beginning to pressure Congress for federal assistance.

Cuomo met on Monday with the state's Congressional delegation and county officials. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement that New York's Congressional delegation will push hard for additional federal funding.

'The federal government has a clear responsibility to commit all of the necessary resources to help us rebuild,' she said.

Getting federal funds could be a tough fight, because of pressure on lawmakers to cut spending and raise taxes in order to shrink the federal deficit.

'This will be an effort that lasts not weeks, but many months, and we will not rest until the federal response meets New York's deep and extensive needs,' said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer in a statement.

NUMBERS GAME

Cuomo's earlier estimates had pegged the total amount of damages for the region at $50 billion, with about $33 billion of that incurred in New York state.

In New York City, Bloomberg said on Monday that the city had about $4.8 billion of uninsured private losses, $3.8 billion of insured private losses, and $4.5 billion in losses to city agencies.

Reconstructing the city's damaged roads alone could cost nearly $800 million, Bloomberg said. New York City, a financial and tourism center, also lost about $5.7 billion in gross city product, he said.

Included in Cuomo's nearly $9.1 billion of mitigation costs are what he called 'common sense' actions, like flood protection for the World Trade center site, roads, subway tunnels and sewage treatment plants, as well as power generators for the region's fuel supply system and backup power for health care facilities.

'We will see new projects,' said Mysore Nagaraja, former president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Capital Construction Co.

'In order to justify whatever money they finally end up getting, they have to come up with this list of projects that need to be done so that the future Sandy will not have the impact it had this time,' he said.

Nagaraja is currently chairman of Spartan Solutions LLC, an infrastructure consulting firm.

(Reporting by Hilary Russ; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Maureen Bavdek, Bill Trott and Phil Berlowitz)



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Soybeans gain on forecast for dry spell in Brazil

NEW YORK (AP) - Soybeans edged higher on concern that dry weather conditions in Brazil will harm this year's crop.

Soybeans for January delivery gained 6 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $14.2475 a bushel on Monday. The futures contract climbed as high as $14.35 during the day. Soybean prices are recovering, after slipping from their highest level in more than a decade in the summer.

A dearth of rain is forecast for the next ten days. That may have an impact on the current planting season in southern Brazil, where much of the country's crop is grown.

'We are turning drier at a critical early phase of the growing season' in Brazil, said Mike Zuzulo, president of Global Commodity Analytics and Consulting.

In other agricultural trading, corn also rose. The December contract gained 1.75 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $7.4725 a bushel. The gains for corn were driven by concern that too much rain in Argentina would harm the season's crop.

'Argentina is turning wet again,' Zuzolo said. 'That is going to delay some planting and cause some problems.'

December wheat gained 1.25 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $8.49 a bushel.

The price of oil fell below $88 a barrel as a truce between Israel and the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip appeared to hold despite a confrontation last week. Benchmark oil fell 54 cents to $87.74 a barrel.

Metals were little changed.

December gold edged lower, falling $1.80, or 0.1 percent, to $1,749.60 an ounce. Silver for December delivery rose 2.1 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $34.137 an ounce. Both metals gained strongly on Friday and are trading at or near their highest levels in more than a month.

Platinum for January delivery fell $6.10, or 0.4 percent, to $1,611 an ounce and December palladium fell $6.40, or 1 percent, to $661.20 an ounce. Copper rose 0.85 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $3.5365 a pound.



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Late rains, cooler weather save most Tenn. crops

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - With most of the harvest done in Tennessee, farmers are lamenting the loss of corn but say timely rains that began midsummer saved most other crops.

Cotton is expected to finish among the best per-acre yields ever.

Richard Buntin, extension director for the University of Tennessee Extension in Crockett County, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 861 pounds per acre.

'That would be the fourth-largest yield on record,' Buntin said.

Tobacco also is strong.

Burley tobacco specialist Dr. Paul Denton, with the University of Tennessee and the University of Kentucky, said the crop was of high quality and average yield.

Denton said the prices leaf is commanding are approaching those seen before the 2004 tobacco buyout. And while floor sales quickly reflect demand, Denton said at least one tobacco company that contracts for leaf is rewriting agreements with producers to pay them more.

He explained that the burley crop fared much better than corn during a summer drought because of a fundamental difference between the crops.

'You're growing leaves, not seeds,' Denton said of tobacco.

Still, he was amazed by how well burley rebounded from a deep drought in June.

Soybeans also rebounded after the rain began falling in July.

Willis Jepson and his father, William, farm about 4,000 acres around Portland near the Kentucky line. The younger Jepson said he got a soybean yield of 55 bushels per acre. The crop usually makes around 40 bushels an acre on his land.

The corn was another story. Jepson said his yield of about 50 bushels per acre was a pale shadow of usual production, around 150 bushels an acre.

The crops were insured, but he said 'we'd a lot rather have a crop to sell than collect insurance.'

It costs the Jepsons about $600 per acre to plant corn, and a yield of 100 bushels per acre is the break-even point.

The farm lost about $500,000 on the corn, which was their largest acreage.

Tom Womack, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, said the corn crop in Tennessee was the lowest in 20 years. He also said how well farmers fared depended a lot on where their fields were.

'There are a number of farmers in northwest Tennessee that never did recover from the drought,' Womack said.

Cooler temperatures and timely rainfall in the latter half of summer also is helping livestock producers by keeping pastures in decent condition, Womack said.

'Livestock farmers aren't having to feed (hay) as much this year as they sometimes do,' he said.

Other crops struggled with an April freeze and then a late spring drought. Womack said the loss in berries ranges from partial to complete, but irrigated berry crops fared better. Apples were somewhat smaller than usual, but also sweeter.

The freeze brought an unusual event in the vineyards - a secondary blooming.

'At harvest, some varieties had two crops on one vine,' Womack said.



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US defends 'enormous' climate efforts at UN talks

DOHA, Qatar (AP) - The U.S. defended its track record on fighting climate change on Monday at U.N. talks, saying it's making 'enormous' efforts to slow global warming and help the poor nations most affected by it.

Other countries have accused Washington of hampering the climate talks ever since the Bush administration abandoned the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 treaty limiting emissions of heat-trapping gases by industrialized countries. As negotiators met for a two-week session in oil and gas-rich Qatar, U.S. delegate Jonathan Pershing suggested America deserves more credit.

'Those who don't follow what the U.S. is doing may not be informed of the scale and extent of the effort, but it's enormous,' Pershing said.

He noted that the Obama administration has taken a series of steps, including sharply increasing fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, and made good on promises of climate financing for poor countries. A climate bill that would have capped emissions stalled in the Senate.

'It doesn't mean enough is being done,' Pershing said. 'It's clear the global community, and that includes us, has to do more if we are going to succeed at avoiding the damages projected in a warming world.'

The two-decade-old U.N. talks have not fulfilled their main purpose: reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are warming the planet.

The goal is to keep the global temperature rise under 2 degrees C (3.6 F), compared to pre-industrial times.

Efforts taken so far to rein in emissions, reduce deforestation and promote clean technology are not getting the job done. A recent projection by the World Bank showed temperatures are expected to increase by up to 4 degrees C (7.2 F) by 2100.

Scientists warn that dangerous warming effects could include flooding of coastal cities and island nations, disruptions to agriculture and drinking water, the spread of diseases and the extinction of species.

Attempts to forge a new climate treaty failed in Copenhagen three years ago, but countries agreed last year to try again, giving themselves a deadline of 2015 to adopt a new pact.

Several issues need to be resolved by then, including how to spread the burden of emissions cuts between rich and poor countries. That's unlikely to be decided in the current talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, where negotiators from nearly 200 countries are focusing on extending the Kyoto Protocol, and trying to raise billions of dollars to help developing countries adapt to a shifting climate.

'We owe it to our people, the global citizenry. We owe it to our children to give them a safer future than what they are currently facing,' said South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who led last year's talks in Durban, South Africa.

The U.N. process is often criticized, even ridiculed, both by climate activists who say the talks are too slow and by those who challenge the scientific near-consensus that the global temperature rise is at least partly caused by human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil.

The concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide has jumped 20 percent since 2000, according to a U.N. report released last week. The report also showed that there is a growing gap between what governments are doing to curb emissions and what needs to be done to protect the world from potentially dangerous levels of warming.

'Climate change is no longer some distant threat for the future, but is with us today,' said Greenpeace climate campaigner Martin Kaiser, who was also at the Doha talks. 'At the end of a year that has seen the impacts of climate change devastate homes and families around the world, the need for action is obvious and urgent.'

Many scientists say that extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Sandy's onslaught on the U.S. East Coast, will become more frequent as the Earth warms, although it is impossible to attribute individual weather events to climate change.

The Kyoto Protocol is seen as the most important climate agreement reached in the U.N. process so far. It expires this year, so negotiators in Doha will try to extend it as a stopgap measure until a wider deal can be reached.

The problem is that only the European Union and a handful of other countries - that together are responsible for than 15 percent of global emissions - are willing to set emissions targets for a second commitment period of Kyoto.

The U.S. rejected the Kyoto accord because it didn't impose binding commitments on major developing countries such as India and China, which is now the world's top carbon emitter.

China and other developing countries want to maintain a clear division, saying climate change is mainly a legacy of Western industrialization and that their own emissions must be allowed to grow as their economies expand, lifting millions of people out of poverty.

That discord scuttled attempts to forge a climate deal in Copenhagen in 2009 and risks a recurrence in Doha, as talks begin on a new global deal that is supposed to be adopted in 2015 and implemented in 2020.

Environmentalists found the choice of Qatar as host of the two-week conference ironic. The tiny Persian Gulf emirate owes its wealth to large deposits of gas and oil, and it emits more greenhouse gases per capita than any other nation.

Qatar has not even announced any climate action in the U.N. process, and former Qatari oil minister Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Attiyah didn't do so when he opened the conference Monday.

'We should not concentrate on the per capita (emissions). We should concentrate on the amount from each country,' al-Attiyah told reporters. 'I think Qatar is the right place to host' the conference, he said.

___

AP Environment Writer Michael Casey contributed to this report.

__

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