Frozen Spring: When Great Lakes’ Ice Doesn’t Melt
This winter was brutal. Polar vortex brutal. My salt-caked boots and dry skin can attest to the frigid temperatures that covered more than 90 percent of the Great Lakes in ice. Much of that ice is still there — though some of it has run aground in an ice tsunami(!). Over the decades, ice coverage on the lakes has been on the decline, but for the… Read More
Picture This: U.S. Cities Under 12 feet of Sea Level Rise
Maps are one way to understand what collapse of West Antarctic glaciers could eventually mean. Photos show it another way. In 2013, Climate Central shared some of its sea level rise mapping data with artist Nickolay Lamm so that he could develop photorealistic images of U.S. city scenes under different future scenarios. One scenario was 12 feet of… Read More
Since 1st Earth Day, U.S. Temps Marching Upward
It’s been 44 years since the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, and since that time, average temperatures have been rising across the U.S. Our interactive graphic shows a state-by-state analysis of these temperature trends. Average temperatures across most of the continental U.S. have actually been rising gradually for more than a century, … Read More
6 Degrees: Cool Pics, Climate Reports and Massive Storms
From the next climate phenomenon to Australia's climate future, we breakdown the best from the week of climate news. … Read More
Increase in Western Wildfires Fuels Obama’s Budget Move
President Obama announced plans Monday to change how the federal government manages the rising costs of fighting wildfires. According to his proposal, the federal agencies largely responsible for fighting wildfires will be able to draw from a special disaster account, similar to the way other federal disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricane… Read More
‘Atmospheric River’ May Put a Dent in California Drought
The most severely dry soils in California are in Central and Northern California, which means the storms hitting during the next few days are likely to target the areas where precipitation is most sorely needed, Murphy said. If the drought continues through the rest of the wet season, it could reverberate throughout the U.S. economy, considering th… Read More
Time is Running Out for California Drought Relief
More than halfway through the state's wet season and the Sierra Nevada snowcap all but non-existent, California's prospects for making up its precipitation deficit are slim. The snowcap will yield precious little water and the state would need to get about a foot or more of rain in the next two months to make up the difference. Forecasts are not of… Read More
6 Degrees: Sunsets, Cows, Obama and More
Six hot climate stories you may have missed this week. … Read More
