Focus on Carbon Removal a ‘High-Stakes Gamble’
The manmade emissions fueling global warming are accumulating so quickly in the atmosphere that climate change could spiral out of control before humanity can take measures drastic enough to cool the earth’s fever, many climate scientists say. The most important way the earth’s rising temperature can be tempered is to reduce the use of fossil… Read More
Sharp Rise in Flooding Ahead for World’s Poorest
Coastal residents of poor and fast-growing tropical countries face rapid increases in the numbers of once-rare floods they may face as seas rise, with a new statistical analysis offering troubling projections for regions where sea level data is sparse. Stark increases in instances of flooding are projected for Pacific islands, parts of Southeast … Read More
Warmer Temperatures Drying the Rio Grande
The intensifying effects of warming temperatures on water shortages have been detected in remote northern New Mexico, where melting snowfall feeds one of the Southwest’s most important rivers. Researchers seeking to improve forecasts for how much water from the Rio Grande will be available for 5 million people each year found that rising … Read More
Happy(?) Birthday Temperature Spiral
It was a year ago this week that climate scientist Ed Hawkins unveiled a climate visual that wowed the world: an animated spiral showing the inexorable rise of global temperatures thanks to humanity’s release of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The graphic featured, in eye-catching rainbow colors, the progression of temperatures from the late 19th … Read More
Swath of States Experiencing Hottest Year to Date
For a swath of states from New Mexico over to Florida and up to Ohio, 2017 has been the hottest year on record through April. For the Lower 48 as a whole, the year is the second warmest in records going back to 1895. Several states in the mid-Atlantic had their hottest April on record and a few Southeastern states were near-record warm, according… Read More
The EPA’s Obama-Era Snapshot Is Missing Information
Last Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate change pages were shuttered for revisions. A week later, they’re still not back. In their place is a page explaining that they’re being updated to “reflect EPA's priorities” under President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, and that users can check out a snapshot of the entire EPA … Read More
Climate, Energy Programs Get Budget Reprieve
Lawmakers are set to vote this week on a bipartisan appropriations bill that would keep the government running through the remainder of the 2017. The spending package fully funds the government and keeps many climate, renewable energy and environmental programs funded at close to 2016 levels. The deal almost fully funds most agencies compared to… Read More
The Larsen C Ice Shelf Crack Just Sprouted a New Branch
Winter has descended on Antarctica. Even as cold and darkness blankets the bottom of the world, the region’s most watched ice shelf is is continuing its epic breakdown. A crack started spreading across the Larsen C ice shelf in 2010, reaching 100 miles in length in February. Researchers with Project MIDAS, a British group monitoring the ice shelf… Read More
