Climate Change Will Harm Mekong Basin Harvests
One of the most fertile areas of south east Asia, the Lower Mekong Basin, faces a bleak future from the impacts of climate change, according to a U.S.-funded study. The lead author of the study, Dr. Jeremy Carew-Reid, says some of its findings are “very shocking.” Hotter and wetter rainy seasons and more long-lasting dry seasons in Cambodia, Laos,… Read More
Shorter Winters Chip Away at a Logging Town’s Future
Scott Lizotte was hopeful as he pulled his iPhone out of the breast pocket of his flannel shirt. "It's going to be six degrees tonight," he said, studying the 10-day forecast. It's mid-March, and he's standing between a skidder and a log loader in a snowy clearing of a 12,000-acre private forest near Tupper Lake, a former lumber town in New York's … Read More
Recent Storms Highlight Flaws In Top U.S. Weather Model
The emerging “modeling gap” could erode the accuracy of U.S. weather forecasts and also cause greater economic losses from weather events. A 2011 study found that routine weather variability alone affects the American economy to the tune of approximately $485 billion each year, not including the billions that are lost when major storms strike.… Read More
Fukushima Two Years Later: Decommissioning Begins
Radiation levels in the abandoned communities near Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have fallen 40 percent in the past year. Inside the wrecked facility, construction workers rush to complete state-of-the-art equipment that will remove dozens of dangerous radioactive nuclides from cooling water. Soon, a steel shield will be driven into the sea… Read More
U.S. Drought Intensifies in Texas and Florida
While much of the East Coast has seen heavy precipitation over the past two weeks, very little of that has extended into the Florida peninsula. According to the Drought Monitor, “abnormal dryness” pushed into all of southern Florida, while conditions of “severe drought” expanded in the eastern and central parts of the state. Meanwhile, relatively w… Read More
Shell to Suspend Arctic Offshore Drilling Program
Shell shut down its 2013 drilling season in the Arctic waters off Alaska on Wednesday, after a series of mishaps and mechanical failures. The oil company said in a statement it was putting its operations off the coast of Alaska on pause for 2013, but remained committed to drilling at a later stage. The decision raises further doubts about the futu… Read More
NOAA to Map Alaska’s Increasingly Ice-Free Arctic Waters
And as sea ice recedes, said NOAA Coast Survey director Rear Admiral Gerd Glang in a press release, “vessel traffic is on the rise.” The world as a whole is warming due to heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions, but the Arctic is warming faster than average thanks to something called “Arctic Amplification."… Read More
Solar Forecasts Could Help Electric Utilities and Climate
It’s even more important to electric utilities that want to tap into solar power as a non-polluting, climate-friendly alternative to the coal- or gas-fired power plants that spew heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to warm the globe. Solar is certainly better for the climate, but as Drobot explained, it can also be risky to count on.… Read More
