Did global cooling wipe out the cave bears?

(PhysOrg.com) -- Enormous cave bears, Ursus spelaeus, that once inhabited a large swathe of Europe, from Spain to the Urals, died out 27,800 years ago, around 13 millennia earlier than was previously believed, scientists have reported.

The new date coincides with a period of significant climate change, known as the Last Glacial Maximum, when a marked cooling in temperature resulted in the reduction or loss of vegetation forming the main component of the cave bears' diet.

Is a liberal think tank behind Obama's bizarre climate change "plan"?

On the heels of the announcement that Carol Browner will be the Obama administration's "climate czar" comes this question from Plenty: What exactly does a climate czar do?

First things first, don't call her a czar. "It's unlikely that Browner's business cards will actually read "Climate Czar," since Obama reportedly dislikes the title's autocratic resonances.

Still, the media won't let her abandon the title so easily, and conservatives are already trying to use the appointment to paint Obama as another high-handed, big-government Democrat." So think of her more as a high-powered "adviser to the President."

Her tasks: "Browner's precise job description isn't yet clear, but it's likely that she'll serve as a high-level White House adviser, coordinating the work of Cabinet officials and perhaps heading a National Energy Council modeled on Bill Clinton's National Economic Council. That, at least, is the plan put forward by the Center for American Progress, the liberal think-tank that's provided the intellectual muscle for Obama's transition effort (and whose head, John Podesta, is co-chair of Obama's transition team).

"You've got Energy, Interior, EPA, Agriculture, Transport, State, all are going to have something to do with energy and global warming," says Daniel J. Weiss, the group's director of climate strategy. "This would provide a person who could coordinate those activities."

Clearly, Obama is VASTLY overestimating public support for an expensive fight against carbon dioxide

...only 18 percent of survey respondents strongly believe that climate change is real, human-caused and harmful.