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
Overseas Demand Breathes New Life into U.S. Coal
The good news is that U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are continuing to decline. “Over the last four years, our emissions of the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet have actually fallen,” said President Obama in his State of the Union address last month. The bad news is the U.S. is exporting its polluting gases, particularly i… Read More
The World’s Poorest Nations Say Yes to Emissions Cuts
In what could be a far-reaching move, the world's poorest countries say they are now prepared to commit themselves to binding cuts in their emissions of greenhouse gases. The move has the potential to quicken the pace of the glacially-slow U.N. negotiations, which have for years been trying to agree an effective way to cut emissions in order to … Read More
Two Key Climate Change Concepts Are ‘Misunderstood’
Damon Matthews of Concordia University in Montreal and Susan Solomon of MIT make the case that policymakers, the media, and to some extent the public have misunderstood the implications of two key concepts — the “irreversibility” of climate change, and the amount of global warming already in the pipeline due to historical greenhous… Read More
Drought Has Stranglehold on West; Southeast Sees Relief
The extended drought continues to choke the Western half of the country, with water supply concerns rising in New Mexico and Texas as anxiety about another bone-dry summer is raised. This week, the dryness grew worse in Texas while expanding into California, Montana, and Oregon, so that most of the land west of the Mississippi River was under some … Read More
UK Government Is Warming to Nuclear Power
Companies wishing to prospect for shale gas in the UK have been granted 10-year tax breaks and will get special planning permission from the Government if they go for large scale projects. To avoid delays, the Government also used its budget to announce plans to tempt local communities with cash to accept these developments. This controversial … Read More
For Engineers, Climate Failure Becomes an Option
Civil engineers build rugged things designed to last for decades, like roads, bridges, culverts and water treatment plants. But a University of New Hampshire professor wants his profession to become much more flexible. In a changing climate, civil engineer Paul Kirshen argues, facilities will have to adapt to changing conditions over their useful … Read More
Africa’s Energy ‘Can Drive its Growth,’ Say Researchers
Africa can go a long way towards lifting itself out of poverty and ending its chronic shortage of energy by using its own resources, a report says. The report, entitled Powering Africa through Feed-in Tariffs – advancing renewable energies to meet the continent’s electricity needs, says renewable energy feed-in tariff policies (REFiTs) can unlock r… Read More
