Climate Change Could Slash Staple Crops
Climate change, and its impacts on extreme weather and temperature swings, is projected to reduce global production of corn, wheat, rice and soybeans by 23 percent in the 2050s, according to a new analysis. The study, which examined price and production of those four major crops from 1961 to 2013, also warns that by the 2030s output could be cut … Read More
El Niño Again? This Is Why It’s Hard to Tell
The tropical Pacific Ocean is once again carrying on a will-it-or-won’t-it flirtation with an El Niño event, just a year after the demise of one of the strongest El Niños on record. The odds right now are about even for an El Niño to develop, frustrating forecasters stuck in the middle of what is called the spring predictability barrier… Read More
America’s Most Vulnerable to Rising Seas
Coastal communities are enduring growing flood risks from rising seas, with places like Atlantic City, sandwiched between a bay and the ocean, facing some of the greatest threats. Guided by new research by Climate Central’s Scott Kulp and Benjamin Strauss, reporter John Upton and photographer Ted Blanco chronicled the plight of this city’s… Read More
U.S. Drought at Lowest Level in Nearly Two Decades
After years of intense, record-setting drought across the U.S., particularly in the Great Plains and California, the country is now experiencing its lowest level of drought in the 17 years since the U.S. Drought Monitor began its weekly updates. Less than 5 percent of the U.S. was in some stage of drought as of May 4, the most recent update… Read More
The Overlooked Risk of Levees As Rainfall Rises
Thousands of miles of levees stretch across the U.S., built to keep swollen waterways from inundating towns, farmland and critical infrastructure. But, as the residents of Pocahontas, Ark., found out this week when drenching rains caused the Black River to overtop and breach the local levee system, living behind a levee is not an absolute guarantee… Read More
U.N. Risk Chief: Put a Price on Disasters
Calculating the costs of natural disasters is a valuable way for governments to recognize and limit the potential for damage, especially as extreme weather linked to climate change occurs more often, the United Nations' disaster prevention chief says. Recent deadly landslides caused by floods in Peru and Colombia show the urgent need for … Read More
100 Days of Climate
Addressing climate change using sound science is crucial not just for the U.S., but for the world. Unfortunately, that appears unlikely over the next four years under the Trump administration, which has shown signs of being apathetic if not outright hostile to climate science and science-based policies to rein in carbon pollution. Trump has… Read More
The Fingerprints of Global Warming on Extreme Weather
When climate scientists examine whether the warming of the Earth has made extreme weather events such as heatwaves or downpours more likely, they generally do it on a case-by-case basis. But a group led by Stanford climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh has aimed to develop a more global, comprehensive approach to investigating how climate change has… Read More
