Six to See: Slideshow on Week’s Top Climate News
Toxic algae blooms, binding emissions cuts, policy changes and more in in a slideshow of the week's top climate news … Read More
Heavy, Dam-Busting Rainstorms To Increase, Study Finds
Boosted by the added moisture from warming air and ocean temperatures, the heaviest precipitation events, of the sort that can cause dams to fail, rivers to spill over their banks, and cities to flood, are likely to become significantly heavier by the end of this century, according to a new study.… Read More
In Wake of Sandy, NOAA Alters Hurricane Warning Policy
Ahead of the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season and in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the National Weather Service announced today that it is changing its policy on the issuance of tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings. Beginning on June 1, the agency will be permitted to leave these watches and warnings in effect even if a hurricane transiti… Read More
U.S. Dominated Global Disaster Losses in 2012: Swiss Re
The insurance industry had its third-most expensive year on record in 2012, with global economic losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters totaling $186 billion, according to a report released March 27 by the reinsurance giant Swiss Re. The total insured losses for the year was $77 billion, which was well below the losses seen in 2011… Read More
Research Finds Drier Climate Will Spread Diarrhea
Diarrhea, which kills 1.5 million children annually, is likely to become more prevalent in many developing countries as the climate changes, a report says. But the authors found an unexpected twist in the way the climate is likely to affect the disease. Kathleen Alexander, an associate professor of wildlife at Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Re… Read More
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
Climate Change: One More Problem for Pakistan
The Indus river, originating on the Tibetan Plateau and flowing for nearly 2,000 miles through the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir and finally down to the province of Sindh and out into the Arabian Sea, is key to life in Pakistan. The majority of Pakistan’s 190 million people are involved in agriculture: the Indus, fed by glaciers high up… Read More
