Extreme weather renews focus on climate change as scientists update forecasts
A child looks on as water floods through a fence in Wessem, Netherlands, July 16, 2021. REUTERS/Eva Plevier/File PhotoJuly 26 (Reuters) – As scientists gather online to finalize a long-awaited update on global climate research, recent extreme weather events across the globe highlight the need for more research on how it will play out, especially…
Western Drought Has Lasted Longer than the Dust Bowl
It has lasted longer than the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. It’s dropped water levels perilously low at two of the nation’s largest reservoirs, forced ranchers to sell off herds and helped propel scorching wildfires. And worst of all, the drought blanketing the western United States is not going away. A group of experts featuring…
Thawing Permafrost Is Artificially Chilled to Stabilize Alaska Oil Pipeline
Thawing permafrost threatens to undermine the supports holding up an elevated section of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, jeopardizing the structural integrity of one of the world’s largest oil pipelines and raising the potential of an oil spill in a delicate and remote landscape where it would be extremely difficult to clean up. The slope of permafrost…
The current drought is worldwide. Here’s how different places are fighting it
The world is facing unprecedented levels of drought. In the U.S., nearly half the mainland is currently afflicted, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The situation is especially dire in the Northwest, which is facing some of its driest conditions in over a century following a heat wave that killed hundreds of people.…
US drilling approvals increase despite Biden climate pledge
Approvals for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. public lands are on pace this year to reach their highest level since George WBy MATTHEW BROWN Associated PressJuly 13, 2021, 3:29 AM• 5 min readBILLINGS, Mont. — Approvals for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. public lands are on pace…
Western Heat Wave ‘Virtually Impossible’ without Climate Change
The blistering heat wave that scorched the Pacific Northwest last month would have been “virtually impossible” without the influence of climate change, scientists say. In fact, it was nearly impossible even with it. That’s according to a new study from World Weather Attribution, a climate research initiative that investigates the influence of climate change on…
Record June temperatures point to more ‘extraordinary’ extremes
By Justin RowlattChief environment correspondentmedia captionWatch: Canadians say the conditions are “unbearable”North America experienced its warmest June on record, according to the EU’s Earth observation programme.That will come as no surprise given the unprecedentedly high temperatures recently recorded during the heatwave that hit Canada and parts of the US.But UK residents may be startled to…
Unprecedented Heat Wave in Pacific Northwest Driven by Climate Change
A blistering heat wave obliterated high temperature records in Oregon and Washington over the weekend, ratcheting up risks for deaths and fires, and underscoring the dangers of climate change. Portland, Oregon’s biggest city, hit a sweltering all-time high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday at its international airport, the National Weather Service said. That broke a…
Climate lawsuits undermined by a failure to utilize scientific evidence
Lawyers are using outdated data, or no data at all, in climate change litigation, which researchers say is lowering the potential success of the lawsuits. File Photo by tlegend/Shutterstock June 28 (UPI) — The lawyers litigating climate-related lawsuits aren’t keeping up with the science, according to a new survey, hindering their ability to hold governments…
Giant Ice Shelf Crumbling Faster than Expected
Antarctica’s monster Pine Island Glacier—one of the fastest melting glaciers on the continent—is giving climate scientists new reasons to worry. The trouble has to do with its ice shelf, a frozen ledge at the edge of the Pine Island Glacier. The ice shelf helps stabilize and contain the vast flow of ice behind it. But…
U.S. seeks less costly clean hydrogen in climate fight
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 8, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File PhotoThe Biden administration on Monday set a goal of reducing the cost of producing clean hydrogen, a fuel that could reduce dependence on others that emit greenhouse gases that cause climate change.The…
Carbon dioxide concentration levels hit record high, show no impact from pandemic
The concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere reached historic levels in May after emissions plunged in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, according...
Hurricanes Threaten 32 Million U.S. Homes
More than 32 million homes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at risk of sustaining hurricane wind damage, according to a report released yesterday that provides the first measurement of wind risk in an era of climate change. The at-risk properties have a combined value of $8.5 trillion, the real estate analytics firm CoreLogic…
Biden opening summit with ambitious new US climate pledge…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will open a global climate summit with a pledge to cut at least in half the climate-wrecking coal and petroleum fumes that the U.S. pumps out, a commitment he hopes will spur China and other big polluters to speed up efforts of their own. Biden is offering Americans and…
Amazon ramps up purchases of renewable energy amid worker battle on climate change
Amazon is now the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in Europe, after establishing new wind and solar energy projects in Sweden, the retail giant announced Monday. The company became the world’s largest buyer of renewable energy last year.The company now has 206 renewable energy projects worldwide that can generate 8.5 GW of electricity to…