September Bookends the Warmest 12 Months on Record
NOAA’s latest State of the Climate roundup shows that September marked the 16th month in a row of above-average temperatures for the Lower 48 states of the U.S. Over the month, the mercury averaged 67°F, which is 1.4°F higher than the long-term average. The period April-September, which is considered the “warm season in the continental U.S., was … Read More
Report: Can U.S. Carbon Emissions Keep Falling?
A Climate Central analysis of the American energy economy shows that the nearly 9 percent reduction in annual carbon emissions in the U.S. since 2005 is unlikely to continue in the years ahead without major departures from the ways energy is currently produced and used. Recent declines in carbon emissions are the result of a combination of factors… Read More
Report: The Age of Western Wildfires
The 2012 wildfire season isn't over yet, but already this year is shaping up to be the worst on record for fires in the American West. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, with two months still to go in the fire season, the total area already burned this year is 30 percent more than in an average year and fires burning right now acros… Read More
Biochar’s Potential to Help is Rich, but Hurdles Remain
To hear some of its proponents talk, the substance known as biochar — a form of charcoal made from logging and agricultural waste — has properties that verge on the magical. It not only cuts down dramatically on the carbon emissions that cause global warming; it also has the potential to create millions of jobs, and helps soil retain nutrients and … Read More
Global Carbon Trading System Has ‘Essentially Collapsed’
The world's only global system of carbon trading, designed to give poor countries access to new green technologies, has "essentially collapsed", jeopardising future flows of finance to the developing world. Billions of dollars have been raised in the past seven years through theUnited Nations' system to set up greenhouse gas-cutting projects, such… Read More
Coral Reefs of the Caribbean Facing Collapse
Caribbean coral reefs — which make up one of the world's most colorful, vivid and productive ecosystems — are on the verge of collapse, with less than 10% of the reef area showing live coral cover. With so little growth left, the reefs are in danger of utter devastation unless urgent action is taken, conservationists warned. They said the drastic … Read More
Snowstorms and Climate Change . . . On Mars
Scientists have known since the mid-1600s that the Red Planet isn’t entirely red. That’s when Giovanni Cassini described two whitish patches, one at each of Mars’ poles; a little more than a century later, William Herschel noted that they grew and shrank with the seasons. They must, Herschel said, be ice caps, just like the ones at Earth’s North … Read More
2012 Record Temperatures: Which States Led the Nation
The summer of 2012 has been one for the record books in the lower 48 states. On the heels of the country’s warmest-ever spring, several record-breaking June and July heat waves kept the Southwest, Midwest and Atlantic Coast sweltering. July went on to become the all-time warmest month on record for the country. [add statistic from August once we’ve… Read More
