Climate Change is Already Damaging Global Economy
Climate change is already contributing to the deaths of nearly 400,000 people a year and costing the world more than $1.2 trillion, wiping 1.6 percent annually from global GDP, according to a new study. The impacts are being felt most keenly in developing countries, according to the research, where damage to agricultural production from extreme … Read More
As the U.S. Warms, Power Plants Face New Water Limits
Thermoelectric plants need large amounts of water for cooling purposes, taking in relatively cool water from rivers, lakes, or the ocean, pumping that water through heated components in the plant to bring temperatures down, and discharging warmer water in return. Such plants use once-through cooling systems. Other power plants take in less water an… Read More
Key Weather Satellite Goes Offline, May Affect Forecasts
The outage began late on Sept. 23, after a period when the satellite, known as GOES-13, had been experience increasing interference, or “noise, that was degrading its performance.… Read More
With Extreme Weather, Will Insurers Come to the Rescue?
Following a damaging episode of extreme weather, communities turn to insurance companies to help them rebuild, but with costly extreme weather and climate events on the rise as the climate continues to warm, insurers may stop coming to the rescue, a new report warns. The report from Ceres, a nonprofit group that advocates for sustainable busines… Read More
Green Climate Fund to Discuss Billions Already Pledged
The fate of billions of dollars of promised funding from rich countries to help the developing world adapt to climate change will be discussed on Thursday in Geneva, at the first meeting of the UN's Green Climate Fund. The fund is meant to be the biggest single funding route for the $100bn (£63bn) that developed countries have pledged should flow … Read More
Lack of Warning on Drought Reflects Forecasting Flaws
In May, the U.S. Agriculture Department predicted a record corn yield after farmers planted the largest area of corn and soybeans since 1937. Three months later, after a searing drought engulfed a wide swath of the continental U.S., those crops lie in ruin. Despite all of the resources at forecasters’ disposal, the worst drought to strike the U.S.… Read More
City Temps May Soar From Urbanization, Global Warming
According to a paper just published in Nature Climate Change, the combination of global warming and urbanization could drive local temperatures up by a whopping 7°F by 2050 in some parts of the U.S. — some two or three times higher than the effects of global warming alone.… Read More
July Sizzles, Records Fall: Warmest Month on Record
July 2012 was officially not only the warmest July on record, but also the warmest month ever recorded for the lower 48 states, according to a report released Wednesday by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center. The average temperature for the month came in at 77.6°F overall, which is 3.3°F… Read More
