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
Life Out West and On the Edge (of Wildfire)
When the Waldo Canyon fire ignited in the mountains near Colorado Springs this June, Cindy and Mark Maluschka started packing. The evacuation zone mapped out by city officials ended two streets away from them, but the Maluschkas have seen fires spread faster than expected before. The 2002 Hayman Fire — until this summer, the most destructive … Read More
U.S. Heartland Sees No End in Sight to Epic Drought
The drought that has been pummeling the U.S. for much of the summer shows no signs of letting up, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday. While the overall area under drought was largely unchanged over the previous week’s figures, the nature of the drought has gotten more dire. Conditions in the nation’s agricultural heart… 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
Hansen Study: Extreme Weather Tied to Climate Change
Extreme weather events, such as the heat waves that have broiled the High Plains and Midwest this summer, smashing thousands of temperature records, are a direct consequence of global warming, according to a new study led by prominent climate scientist, James Hansen of NASA… Read More
Study Shows Planet Keeping Pace With CO2 Emissions
Climate change is a serious enough problem, but it could be a lot worse. About half of the carbon dioxide we’ve pumped into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels has been re-absorbed by plants and oceans, rather than staying in circulation to drive up temperatures. Scientists are convinced this can’t go on forever — but a new study in Nature shows… Read More
Drought Helps Dry Up Tornadoes as July Sees Record Low
"2012 has really been the most incredible tornado season anyone out here on the Prairies has seen," a Canadian storm chaser told The Weather Network. According to The Weather Network’s website, American storm chasers have migrated north to chase severe storms.… Read More
Scientists Defending Against The Methane Bomb
Most of the worry over greenhouse gases centers on carbon dioxide, and rightly so: thanks mostly to the burning of fossil fuels, levels of this heat-trapping pollutant have soared to nearly 400 parts per million in the atmosphere, far above the 270 ppm that prevailed before 1800 or so, and they’re still rising — triggering a rise in sea level, temp… Read More
