Catastrophic Oil Spill Threat to Canadian River Basin
The Mackenzie River Basin, a vast globally important area in Canada, is at great risk from climate change and a catastrophic oil spill from the tailing ponds of tar sands mining, according to a panel of nine Canadian, American and British scientists. The warning came just days after the Canadian Oil Producers Association says it expects oil produc… Read More
Fire & Rain, Western Woes and Big Plans in NYC
Learn about NOAA's newly released reports, NYC's resiliency plan, and how to easily track the fires blazing out West.… Read More
Western Drought Intensifies, Leads to Deadly Wildfires
A western heat wave allowed drought to intensify and expand in Idaho, Oregon and Montana last week. 72.25 percent of the land area in the ten western states is now under drought conditions, according to the latest update to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The worst impacts of the drought are concentrated in the Southwest: New Mexico, Texas, Southern… Read More
$110 Billion Price Tag for Extreme Weather Events in 2012
Now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has totaled the losses caused by the 11 most expensive extreme weather and climate disasters in 2012, each of which cost upwards of $1 billion. According to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., these billion-dollar events cost the U.S. a total of $110 billion, which … Read More
Coral Fights Back Gradually From Ocean Heating
Marine biologists’ worst fears seem to be confirmed: coral colonies take a long time to recover from catastrophic climate events. British and Brazilian biologists report in the Public Library of Science One – better known simply as PLoS One – that the richest habitats of the sea could also be among the most vulnerable to climate change. For more … Read More
Jellyfish Surge in Mediterranean Threatens Environment
Scientists across the Mediterranean say a surge in the number of jellyfish this year threatens not just the biodiversity of one of the world's most overfished seas but also the health of tens of thousands of summer tourists. "I flew along a 186-mile stretch of coastline on April 21 and saw millions of jellyfish," said Professor Stefano Piraino of … Read More
Squid Threatened by Ocean Acidity Caused by Rise in CO2
That jet-propelled cephalopod of the seas, the squid, could be in for a hard time. As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise, so the oceans become more acid, and this is not good news for one of the most important animals of the ocean ecosystem. Aran Mooney of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the U.S. and other colleagues decided to take… Read More
Extreme Weather Events in U.S. Carry Heavy Price Tag
America has some of the wildest weather on the planet, and it turns out those extremes – which run from heat waves and tornadoes to floods, hurricanes and droughts – carry a heavy price tag. Climate studies have associated more frequent and intense weather events – such as heavy storms and heat waves – with climate change. The wild swings in weath… Read More
