now with the climate changes and the weekly news that we see of climate changes, the sea rises, the el ninot occurs that caused a lot of erosion. in fact, some parts of the beach reseeded some 40 feet as a result of el nino inthn the 200- to a dozen 10 years. y just the responsibility of an agency. one week give ideas on how to protect the nature and how to manage it, we also have to keep in mind that in the long term, there are things that we have to do to respect nature. we cannot keep fighting it. that is also something that, if we have a special attention as well. but we have got graded for a stretcher. we have the zoo that has recovered and is very successful. thousands of kids every year. thanks to tanya in your great leadership there for bringing this institution back to life for all of us. and one of the diverse uses. again, i want to thank spur. i want to recognize the great effort here and let you know that this work will be appreciated by all the agencies, certainly by me as we prioritize and engage in theaters around what we can do to continue this work and implement the great i

the ocean was undergoing serious erosion because of the el nino years. out here and try to figure out. previous efforts were made by different agencies to cause different kinds of revetments across the beach to try to stem that tide. that was my introduction to laura at the time, and i think she was just opening her cafe down there and trying to organize the people who used the beach. of course, my introduction to java beach house coffee shop at the time. so we went through some intense -- ed dpw, and want to thank the staff that continues to be here. mohammed nuru, you have got it now, but i think we have moved a lot of sand already. and what we did in those earlier years, at least to me, was to begin on what we could do to contribute to a larger picture, and this is what i got introduced to, the germans -- the tremendous diversity of people and activities that are taking place along our ocean with these new -- the zoo across the street, the ocean waters, the dog walkers, the kite gliders. people love walking our national parks. seniors, elders, and a di

>> already, we've seen the decline very slowly the last few months from the la nina phase into the el nino. again, if that trend continues, at least according to noaa, we'll be in at least a weak el nino by the time we get into the latter half of the fall. >> pelley: maybe more rain then. >> hopefully so. >> pelley: david bernard from wfor t.v., thanks so much. and we got another bit of surprising climate news today. the government says june set a record for melting sea ice at the north pole. this is the top of the world and the sea ice as it existed in 1979. now look at 2011. last month the arctic lost more than a million square miles of ice. it was largest loss on record for june since satellite records began. there's another kind of meltdown coming at the end of the year that will affect millions of american taxpayers, that's when the bush tax cuts are set to expire. democrats and republicans, of course, can't agree on this. the democrats want the cuts to expire for the wealthy. today democrats threatened to let the tax cuts expire for everyone if the republicans refuse to compromise. t

the winter. looks like we are setting up in el nino pattern and the '50s drought was that we were brought out of it by going into the el nino pattern which brought lots of moisture into texas, so it's very a very good sign that we are going into the el nino right now, and very likely in the winter we may see the conditions improving. >> thank you, chad. we appreciate it. >>> it is not just the farmers getting hit by the drought. we will feel the effects of the grocery bills and alison kosik isoining us. where do we expect to see the higher prices? >> well, at the meat counter and dairy. because corn that is affected by the drought is going to the feed to feed the chicken and the pig and if it is more expensive to feed them, it is going to roll downhill that the food coming from the animals is going to cost more. that means that the average cost of beef which rang up at $4.35 a pound last year, could jump more than .40 this year, but remember, it would not happen overnight, and maybe we would see this sort of happen maybe at the end of this year, and fwe gining of next year, and it is, suzanne, th

the last 17 years, 16 of those have been the hottest of the last 17. 1996 is the one exception, the big el nino. the last 17 years have been the hottest, the last 16 years have been the hottest ever. and so this is consistent with models of climate change. the big hurricanes are consistent with models of climate change. the big storms, the dehydration of the forest in colorado and forest fires are consistent with models of climate change. you can say since no one event is provable, that dismisses the whole thing, but it's not good science. >> if you were in a position of power to do something, what would you do? what can we do? >> well, i would -- the old saying is we would do everything all at once. this is to say we would make the distribution grid much more efficient. you hear the saying smart grid. we would invest in research for better electrical storage systems, batteries, extraordinary ways to store energy. for later use in electricity. and invest in wind and solar power. i'm open minded to the idea of nuclear power, but right now, it's so dangerous that i don't think our technology is u

el nino watch. we typically look out towards the pacific. that is starting it warm and of course this will mean, you know, widespread ramifications for the bay area with el nino conditions stay in place. primarily looking at increased convection. so basically stronger storm systems. possibly even much wider storms than we had this time last year. then also the temperatures look to be trending here below average as we head into fall. more to come on this. of course as we head throughout the next couple of months. the seven-day forecast a little bit later on. >> thanks, jeff. >>> still ahead at 6:00, it was over before it even started. so what went wrong? fireworks fiasco in southern california that is now under investigation. >> also ahead, check your phone. the app now being pulled from on-line stores. >>> and the next record that sent the bay area company stocks soaring. back in a moment. s. >>> 1 billion hours. that's the hours of netflix watchers just last month. the satellite company released the news on the heels of the update of the com

- the biggest reason for the heat is the transition in the pacific from the la nina weather pattern. similar to this year's el nino. >> now, this year, we have a growing el nino. the warm phase. and we're already seeing all- time temperature records being broken for global temperatures. and that's because the pacific waters now are warming. >> reporter: scientists at noaa have also announced the first scientific connection between extreme weather events, like last year's drought in texas. and man made climate change. a new study found that man made heat made the texas drought roughly 20 times more likely. >> there definitely is a connection between greenhouse gases and extreme weather. we're seeing very strong evidence to suggest that not all but many of the extremes that we're seeing around the planet, are being enhanced by greenhouse gases. >> reporter: and every day, in this record-setting heat takes more of jeff fisher's crop and his livelihood away. >> it's stressful. it's stressful on myself and my family. or my father and i, it's a family farm. >> and a live look outside at the weather here in maryland. ano

the record heat is the transition in the pacific from the la nina weather pattern, which is typically cooler, to this year's warmer pattern, el nino is the chief of the climate office at noaa. >> now this year, we have a growing el nino. the warm phase. and we're already seeing all-time temperature records being broken for global temperatures. and that's because the pacific waters now are warming. >> reporter: scientists at noaa have also announced the first scientific connection between extreme weather events, like last year's drought in texas, and manmade climate change. a new study found that manmade heat made the texas drought roughly 20 times more likely. >> there definitely is a connection between greenhouse gases and extreme weather. we're seeing very strong evidence to suggest that. not all, but many of the extremes that we're seeing around the planet are being enhanced by greenhouse gases. >> reporter: and every day in this record-setting heat takes more of jeff fischer's crop and his livelihood away. >> it's stressful. it's stressful on myself and my family, my father and i, it's a family farm. and we've watched it go do

the big exception. there was a big el nino. the last 16 years have been the hottest ever.istent with models of climate change. the big hurricanes are consistent with models of climate change, the big storms. the dehydration of the forest in colorado and the forest fires are consistent with models of climate change. you can say since no one event not provable but that is not good science. >> if you were in a position to power, what would you do? what can we do? >> the old says is we would do everything all at once. we would make our electrical distribution grid much more efficient. you will hear the expression smart grid. we would invest in research for better electrical storage systems, these would be batteries, extraordinary ways to store energy for later use as electricity and invest in wind and solar power. i'm open-minded to the idea of nuclear power, but right now it's so dangerous that it's -- i don't think our technology is up to it. instead we'd invest in more conventional energy sources. this would be a national effort. we would lead the world in these new technol

. >> the la nina is slowly weakening, and in fact, we're transitioning, at least potentially, to a weak el nino as we go into the autumn and winter. now, if that does occur, that does have the potential to at least bring some drought relief to parts of the country. >> while millions anxiously await that to happen, some are approaching the drought with some humor. in indiana, where some communities have instituted a watering ban, one man took some unconventional landscaping steps, painting his lawn a lush green. and at least one area affected by the drought is getting rain, and a lot of it. severe storms hit the tucson area again on monday after getting soaking rains over the weekend. last night's storms triggered floods that closed a half dozen roads. >>> a wildfire along the central california coast has forced residents in about 50 homes to evacuate. the so-called cat fire has burned more than 750 acres in san luis obispo county, started yesterday afternoon. pushed by strong winds, it quickly spread to the dry brush and woodlands. the fire is about 20% contained. >>> to politics now and a repo

the planet for about three years. we were concerned about effects such as el nino and the gulf stream.hose cause variations, too, and we're able to see that, but they were short lived. the remarkable thing is when we took those out, the fingerprint of solar variation was just absence. the shock to me was the carbon dioxide curve was right on. at that point, i was very surprised. i had to been, i'd like to think, coming pleatly open minded, and so when we got that fit in a relatively simple way, in way that doesn't need programs, the curve certainly matches that of carbon dioxide. at that point my opinion finally formed. >> you go on to say correlation is not cause sigs because the correlation is very strong. an alternate explanation for why temperatures have gone the way they have. given what you see in the correlation between carbon dioxide and temperatures, do you think that the level of reduction we'd have to have in carbon dioxide is so great in order to affect temperature that it would have to be a global economic shock, or would we be able to reduce carbon dioxide in a way that's

the planet for about three years. we were concerned about effects such as el nino and the gulf stream.hose cause variations too, we are able to see that, but they also tend to be short lived. the remarkable thing was, when we took those out, that the solar variation, the fingerprint of solar variation was just absent. and then we looked for the other things, we tried various different fits to it. the shock, to me, was that the carbon dioxide curve was right on. at that point, i was -- i was very surprised. i had been -- i like to think completely open-minded, and so when we got that fit, in a relatively simple way, in something that doesn't require elaborate computer programs, the curve of global warming simply matches that of carbon dioxide. at that point, my opinion finally formed. >> you go out of your way to say that correlation is not causation, but that this correlation is very strong. that something else needs to correlate better with the data, if it is going to be an alternate hypothesis, an alternate explanation for why temperatures have gone the way they have. given what you

the government concluded that global climate change le.yed a role. > what's happening is these normal fluctuations between la evna and el nino events that and to some of the extreme tnditions become more extreme, more intense than they might otherwise have been because we've got increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leading to a warmer planet. >> pelley: wyatt, n.o.a.a. made a point of saying today that the climate change they've fientified is man made. why did they say that? >> reporter: scott, you know, going back 50 years, they know what temperature and dryness conditions are associated with texas drought. when they put that in the emputer, nothing explained the duratiity and duration of what la saw last year in texas until they factored in the added heat coming from climate change. you're going to see a lot of scientists criticizing this as a less, but n.o.a.a. for the first time is arguing, scott, that this is science. >> reporter: thank you, wyatt. all of this talk about warming got us debating in the news room ouday about who invented the air inditioner. our research department settled to re for us. the modern air conditioner was inve

nina was the warmest ever and, again, the government concluded that global climate change played a role. >> what's happening is these normal fluctuations between el nino and la nina events that lead to some of the extreme conditions become more extreme, more intense than they might otherwise have been because we've got increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leading to a warmer planet. >> noaa scientists are not claiming that climate change causes a specific tornado or a specific drought, but what they are saying for the first time ever is that science has advanced to the point they can lay the odds. wyatt andrews, cbs news, washingto. >>> francesco schettino, the captain of the costa concordia, the cruise ship that ran aground off an italian island says he was distracted by a phone call at the time. during an interview broadcast yesterday, he says he was on the phone when his ship hit a reef but he was not at the helm. when the costa concordia capsized. passengers described the confusing evacuation. 32 people were killed. >>> clayton osbon, the pilot had a brief psychotic disorder due to a lack of sleep according to a psychologist. osbon ranted

i wonder what the fall and winter are going to be like. we have an el nino forming. make his alaskan dream come true next how he is preparing to raise the oiditera. with hotwire's low prices, we can afford to take an extra trip this year. first boston... then san francisco. hotwire checks the competitions' rates every day so they can guarantee their low prices. so our hotels were half price. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e... ♪ ♪ hotwire.com ♪ the chicago area man at setting aside for a dream that will take him 3,500 mi. away to alaska. i did auroranot only does he have geographic challenges he has a medical condition and he is a rookie but none of that gets in the way for charlie. under the summer sun at charlie's dog still enjoys the heat these retired racing huskies maybe in illinois now but they have spent most of their lives here. in the back country of alaska, this is her in action at mushing last january and yes, that is 200 mi.. it's not exactly florida here he has raced in three events enough to qualify him for the grand daddy of all sled dog races, the iditerad there are o

the summer of 2001. >> i have to ask you about corn, as well, considering we have been having droughts and people saying we will have a massive el nino in around the third quarter, as well. what is the trade there? do you sell the cereal makers? buy the fertilizing stocks? >> i like the fertilizing stocks. cme is one that's there. i'll move it back to the energy space and tell you i think natural gas is a place to go because as things get hot across the midst of the country you have a big build-up of natural gas usage that goes on and everybody is waiting for that. that drawdown of the huge stockpiles of natural gas going on so i think as opposed to a corn trade you might be looking at buying natural gas plays and go for the next two quarters. >> good. thank you for your trades. >> all right, mandy just ahead, is netflix a streaming buy? why it could be the end of ly lin-sanity of new york. >>> why the muscle men of venice are not so pumped up about google coming in on their turf. >>> here's today's "return on retirement." 72 million americans said so long to hidden 401(k) fees this week. the department of labor's new rules require p

. >> certainly on the seasonal, the 30 day to 90 day, when there are conditions like el nino conditionsin the pacific, the predictions are reliable. as early as summer 2010, we were able to say the likelihood of drought developments in the southern states was high. the seasonal forecasts are fairly reliable. moving out to the year, what ends up creating issues related to predict the and reliability has to do with the variability of the 10-year time scale. linking the seasonal forecast and the reliability of those forecasts to what's happening in the background, the atlantic oscillation, pacific, natural variety, the changes and relittle of the forecast is an area of research and application. >> very close to the end of my questions so i'll recognize ms. johnson for her five minute questions. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. noaa recently released the 2011 state of climate report detailing global climate indicators and notable weather eventing inning details on a number of extreme weather events like deadly tornado outbreaks in the u.s. and the extreme drought in texas. also release

the scientist said. in other words, it la nina and el nino that made the difference. in yesterday's tulsa world there was an opinion piece that directly addressed this el known yoa debate and how it affects oklahoma specifically, that's my state of oklahoma. the editorial mentions an interview in april of 2008 with the tulsa national weather service meteorologist nicole mcgavvett regarding record rainful that -- rainfall that month. she said don't go blaming global warming but rather la nina which happens when the weather is cooler near the equator along the pacific ocean. has nothing to do with global warming. so that same question, the opinion piece mentioned another article published in december of 2011 which is about oklahoma's drought-filled summer of 2011. in it, associate state climatologist gary mcmahon uz said this hot summer happen due to global warming? no, i think when we study this summer we will find we would have had the warmest summer regardless of global warming. with all this in mind it's no wonder that when "time" magazine asked the question now do y

is the, as i say, 16 warmest years on record of the last 17. 1996 was not one of the warmest because there was a big el ninothat aside everybody i think has a sense that the world in the united states anyway, the world is getting warmer. the storms are being -- are stronger than ever, and our ability to respond to them is not especially good to combine all of these ideas. >> bill nye -- >> so the wildfires in colorado are probably another symptom of the subtle slow change that's happening around the world. >> you threw that probably word in which is why people are confused. >> what are you going to do? you can't prove every weather event, but sooner or later everybody let's change the world. let's work together and make life for future generations as good as it was, for example, mine. really, everybody. >> thank you. >> probably doesn't mean it's all wrong, really. good morning. >> good morning. thanks for joining us. bill nye, the science guy. let's talk about health care. another non-controversial topic. it's now a battle between the "t" word and the "p" word. the talk back question. is the health care ma

the yield is going to be ridiculously low this year. >> reporter: today government forecasters said a likely el nino weather effect could begin as soon as this month, much earlier than expected. and that could contribute to more extreme weather not only in this country but from south america to asia. kate? >> john yang once again in chicago tonight. thank you. >>> now to the west from montana to new mexico. record-setting wildfires are charring mountains, valleys, and houses. nearly 1,000 homes have been destroyed already this fire season. firefighters were hopeful today that thunderstorms and monsoon rains might help them douse the flames but as we're about to hear, it could make their jobs harder not easier. chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson reports on the impact of these increasingly bigger and more destructive fires. >> reporter: when the fires finally go out, this is when the environmental impact really begins. >> after a fire, what's set into place is the series of events especially on steep slopes of massive erosion where the soils can literally be stripped from the land, leaving a barren wasteland. >> re

it says, plus, asia, europe and africa aren't experiencing any of the stuff north america is experiencing. so it's definitely an el ninoa -- >> we have more hot air here -- >> well, hot air. but there's different times when different parts of the globe, but here we are on the east coast sweltering, and it's like, i'm telling you, al gore, he's a genius. he's a genius. who's good? what about alex? he's sticking with that. he's got nothing. he's got nothing but heat. it's hot. alex, you know what? we spend so much time on weather some days, the minutia, this is happening here and this is happening. if you've got nothing, say it! and he did. >> i like that. i should say that sometimes. >> i think alex probably had nothing in his ifb is what he was saying. i don't have anything. >> just skipping it. it's hot out, folks. >> how hot is it? >> it is so hot. >> so hot. >> that didn't work. >> what do you mean it didn't work? people thought it was funny. i thought it was funny. you missed the whole "it's so hot." >> so hot, bernanke traveled to new jersey to get a big gulp. >> chickens are laying hard-boiled eggs. >> the best o

we got off to a quick start but the past three or four weeks has been very quiet. el ninohe eastern atlantic, we have a little something developing here and couple models take us closer to it. we're getting to the more active part of hurricane season now that august is on our doorstep. >> thank you very much. >> soledad o'brien is here to tell us what's coming up on "starting point." >> we're going to continue the conversation about the "newsweek" cover story, is mitt romney a wimp. we'll talk to the guy who wrote that article, he asked the question if mitt romney is to insecure to be president? my question is what do you mean by is he a wimp? mr. romney is on the final leg of his international tour to poland. he had a tough week. we'll see if he's able to find better footing. the co-chair of the national security committee was in the situation room during the osama bin laden raid. john mccain of arizona and kelly ahot. richa richard williamson will be our guest. reigning world champion united states gymnast jordyn wieber doesn't qualify because the only two rule. we'll ta

>> certainly on the seasonal, the 30-day to 90-day when there are conditions such as el niÑo events inthe pacific, the forecasts are fairly reliable. in fact, as early as summer of 2010 because of the events noaa was able to say the likelihood of drought development in the southern states was pretty high. so from the standpoint of reliability, the seasonal forecasts are fairly reliable. moving out to the year what ends up, um, creating issues related to predictability and the reliability of forecasts has to do with the background variability on the ten-year time scale. so from our standpoint linking the seasonal forecast and the reliability of those forecasts to what's happening in the background, the atlantic multidecadal oscillation, the pacific decadal, natural variability changes the reliability of the forecast as an area of research and, in fact, an area of applications. >> very chose to the -- very close to the end of my questions, so i'll recognize mrs. johnson for her five minute questions. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. noaa recently released the 2011 state of climate r

variability patterns and changes in a take place in our pattern and if it's the transition that takes place that's worse, el el ninothings up here i seen a map of the sglufrnings, the states that are experiencing record temperatures, let's say usually in the 100 degree range. right? the entire freaking country is red it's a sea of red. have you ever seen that before? >> no. i think i was about 15 when i watched the weather on t.v., i saw that. i haven't seen it lately. it's been one of those things i haven't seen a lot, even where we are in the northeast, you know, i haven't seen at a time record heat until recent last couple of years, some really good records. >> one thing is i remember bigger snow storms in the northeast. i know the northeast, new england has been hit hard, but i remember when i was 8, 9, 10 years old and when i started at accuweather 20 years ago, we had some big storms then too. snow storms. >> no. if you do some short range forecasting for us, when is it going to get cooler around here. >> i think places are changing now. the corn belt area is going to stay dry and will not be essentially hot

the united states probably by tenfold because they simply don't understand how the whole system is put together. as el niÑoque you have heard from the scholars. [lauter] wi te heroh ce eaain microphone has reached you so you can then give your name and your organization if you wish and en ask your question. let's start in the back. get a microphone npee r ahek question. we will see if the microphone is on. >> stand up. >>quonfoe solicitor general and t components during the oral arguments i was wondering if afterwards have you read t mo hihv[naudible]ere was eve a since i was wonderin in the court ruled and theappel de was there any indication or what was that the motion? >> i will repeat the question for the audience that is watching and that is question thtsutreformance and how might it have been upgraded if it were seen at play analso what were your thoughts were you vindicated by the decision? >> let me answer that question thy. weloualtlee da ofs arrp is to protect criticism of government officials and exercise of their professional responsibilities and efficient responsibilies. m a vernntic cciiky th

[laughter] >> certainly on the seasonal, the 30-day to 90-day when there are conditions such as el niÑo la nina events in the pacific, the forecasts are fairly reliable. in fact, as early as summer of 2010 because of the climate prediction center of noaa was able to say that the likelihood of drought development in the southern states was pretty high. so from the standpoint of reliability, the seasonal forecasts are fairly reliable. moving out to the year, what ends up creating issues related to predictability and the reliability of forecasts has to do with the background variability on the ten-year time scale. so from our standpoint linking the seasonal forecast and the reliability of those forecasts to what's happening in the background, the atlantic multidecadal oscillation, natural variability, changes the reliability of the forecast as an area of research and, in fact, an area of applications. >> i'm very close to the end of my questions, so i'll recognize mrs. johnson for her five-minute questions. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. noaa recently released the 2011 state of clim