Report Underscores Vulnerabilities of U.S. Coastlines
No part of the U.S. will escape the harsh consequences of climate change, which has already begun to cause trouble from Alaska to Florida, and from Maine to Hawaii, and which will worsen as the century goes on. But according to a report released January 28, the nation’s coastlines — Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific and Great Lakes — are likely to get the wo… Read More
Species on the Move Present a Conservation Challenge
The American redstart has an enviable calendar. The tiny songbird spends its winters in Central and South America, then beats the sweltering heat of tropical summers by flying north to breed. For scientists, the globe-trotting habits of migratory species like the redstart pose an immense challenge: As the climate warms, how do you protect a… Read More
Waste Heat From Cities May Be Altering Weather Patterns
The heat that leaks directly into the environment from hot exhaust pipes, boilers and chimneys has also contributed to temperature increases in some places, according to a study published Sunday in Nature Climate Change, especially in winter— not directly, but rather because the waste heat may be altering the flow of the jet stream, and thus the wa… Read More
CO2 Emissions Expected to Rise Significantly by 2030
Warnings that the world is headed for "peak oil" – when oil supplies decline after reaching the highest rates of extraction – appear "increasingly groundless," BP's chief executive said.… Read More
Greenland’s Ice Sheet More Stable Than Once Believed
The enormous sheets of ice that lie atop Greenland may not be as prone to catastrophic melting as many scientists thought, even if the planet continues to warm and temperatures remain high for hundreds of years. But while that may sound like good news, new evidence also suggests that parts of the even vaster ice sheets that lie atop Antarctica … Read More
Climate Change Moves to Forefront in Obama’s Address
"We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations," Obama said. He made a carefully calibrated appeal to Republicans, situating a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy in a religious and conservative framework of God and constitution.… Read More
NASA Warns of Climate Change’s Impact on the Amazon
A team of scientists led by the agency found that an area of the Amazon rainforest twice the size of California continues to suffer from a mega-drought that began eight years ago. The new study shows the severe dry spell in 2005 caused far wider damage than previously estimated and its impact persisted longer than expected until an even harsher dro… Read More
Global Food Crisis Will Worsen as Heat Waves Increase
The world's food crisis, where 1 billion people are already going hungry and a further 2 billion people will be affected by 2050, is set to worsen as increasing heat waves reverse the rising crop yields seen over the last 50 years, according to new research.… Read More
