News bites: Climate change worsens allergies, oil prices continue to rise amid Libyan unrest, and more

Scientists warned Tuesday that climate change could result in as many as 50 million environmental refugees by 2020.

Fast Company reports: “At the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting this weekend, scientists warned about looming food shortages and other climate change-induced migration catastrophes. ‘When people are not living in sustainable conditions, they migrate,’ said UCLA Professor Cristina Tirado.”

It turns out, significantly more Canadians than Americans believe that climate change is caused by human activity.

“A survey released Wednesday found that 80 percent of Canadians polled said they believe there is solid evidence of global warming, compared to 58 percent of Americans,” The Gazette of Montreal, Canada, says.

Kenneth Feinberg, who is in charge of BP’s $20 billion oil-spill fund, began sending out offers for final compensation payments Tuesday.

“Kenneth Feinberg said he has sent 1,489 offers for final payment to victims of BP Plc’s oil spill, the first round since completion of a methodology for calculating future losses,” Bloomberg reports.

And oil prices continued to rise amid the political unrest in Libya.

“Crude-oil futures continued to rise Wednesday after major political upheaval in Libya interrupted oil production in the country,” The Wall Street Journal says.

The Journal adds: “With Libya’s ports closed, the oil market is bracing to lose most or all of the country’s estimated 1.3 million barrels a day of exports. Much of that oil is of a relatively high quality, making it more difficult to quickly replace.”