Research finds cities join companies to lead on water security development following climate change and urban population pressure. This new infographic from CDP helps explain some of the challenges – and solutions.
(All figures are from the 2014 National Climate Assessment draft.) Later today (Tuesday, May 6), at 8 a.m. EDT, the National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee of experts meets by conference call to approve the final version of the Third National Climate Assessment. The gist of their message, as Suzanne Goldenberg of The Guardian
Deadly storms strike the coast, snow blankets the interior, drought cripples rural communities, and flooding inundates the poor. Scientists expect natural disasters such as these — and worse — to grow in magnitude and increase in regularity as global warming takes its toll on the planet, and in many situations there is not much we
It is not news that climate change is having a devastating impact on African communities, causing droughts, floods, and any number of other sorts of disasters. These climatic interruptions are also having a trickle down impact on social and other aspects of Africa society. Now, a group of researchers with the Climate Change and African
Trees, coral, and ice cores provide us a very reliable method of looking at the past climate, but there isn’t as much human recorded data. New research has analysed scholarly writings from Iraq written during the Islamic Golden Age between 816 and 1009 AD in an effort to reveal more information about our planet’s
No, no single weather event can be definitively linked to global warming, statistically. But everyone knows what global warming has been predicted to cause, and everyone can see it’s happening. More from Think Progress: CoreLogic “estimates flood losses in the U.S. this year at approximately $10.67 billion, based on various flooding and storm events recorded
The tropical tourist paradise of Thailand is currently suffering through enormously costly floods, resulting from a “weak” La Niña monsoon season. Following September’s extremely heavy rains — five feet of rain for the month — the monsoon season continues virtually unabated into this month, where it also coincided, last weekend, with the highest tides of the month. It is estimated that 10 % of the nation’s rice crop has been destroyed, so far, costing nearly 4 billion USD, and growing. This will have certain impact on global food prices (driving them higher) and on food security for tens of millions of people.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), in a letter to Chu, said the public’s understanding of climate change is “diminishing” in part because there are “powerful vested interests in the oil and coal industries successfully fanning disbelief.”
Dr. Jeff Masters, a world-leading meteorologist, just finished a compilation of what he considered 2010’s top 20 extreme weather events. All in all, he considers 2010 to be the most extreme year for weather since records began and, unfortunately, with a good understanding of climate change, he hints at what we could be in for if we don’t turn things around quickly.
I had a post on some of Dr. Jeff Masters’ recent comments on the ridiculous extreme weather we’ve been seeing this year just about one week ago, but he just published a new analysis on these issues that I thought was worth covering as well.
The key, general points are as follows…
This is an excellent video of what was already an excellent piece by Bill McKibben in the Washington Post.
Stephen Thomson of Plonomedia.com apparently decided to read McKibben’s op-ed while adding screenshots and videos of the incidents and information mentioned. It is a must-see…
Aside from the 73 or so stories we’ve covered in the past week, here are 13 more great green news stories I wanted to highlight (but didn’t have the time to…
While the U.S. faces tremendous flooding of the Mississippi River and concurrent droughts in Texas and the Southwest, other nations around the world are suffering from global weirding as well.
Northern Australia has suffered its fair share of trials and tribulations these past few months, with floods burying huge swathes of Queensland under water only to be hit by one of the most powerful cyclones ever to hit the country. Extreme rain events such as these may be a growing trend though, according to new
It won’t come as a big surprise, but La Niña – or “the girl” in Spanish – is to blame for recent extreme weather events that have taken place in Africa and Australia. Scientists at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), part of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, expect “moderate-to-strong” La Niña conditions
Other than all the big news we wrote about last week (click on our Global Warming or Science categories above), here are a number of climate science stories I thought were worth sharing: Climate Science Human Impact of Climate Change While many might think that environmentalists only want to protect the environment for its own
While we see more extreme weather events hit the U.S., Australia, and other places around the world (no doubt, related to global weirding / climate change), those in Pakistan are still struggling to recover from one of the greatest, if not the greatest, humanitarian disaster in modern history. Here’s a good video on the situation
I included the video above in my global weirding news of the week wrap-up on Monday. But, seriously, it’s worth another share in case you don’t read through those. Excellent coverage by ABC. Additionally, here are two more videos on recent extreme weather events. The first, on the tremendous, horrific floods in Australia that “ripped
Residents of Queensland’s flood hit communities have been returning to their homes to find devastation, and to begin the long process of cleaning and rebuilding. At least 31 have died, with an additional 40 currently listed as missing. Already there are claims of governmental mismanagement, and blame is being heavily laid at the feet of
This detailed astronaut photograph illustrates flooding in suburbs of the Brisbane, Australia metropolitan region. The Brisbane area experienced catastrophic flooding following unusually heavy rainfall on January 10, 2011. With surficial soils already saturated from previous rainfall events, eastward-draining surface flow caused the Brisbane River to flood—inundating an estimated 20,000 homes in suburbs of the capital
My home is Australia, and I woke up this morning to hear that 8 people were dead and another 72 currently missing, with the death toll expected to rise, as floodwaters sweep through the north of our country. “There’s no doubt that we are now in a very different sort of disaster,” said Australian prime
Amazing footage of the East Creek on Monday the 10th of January, washing cars downstream as if they’re little toys. And make sure you watch this video of an amazing rescue in the midst of the raging floodwaters.
Below is a video of the flood waters rushing through Toowoomba, Queensland.
Other than what we’ve already covered, of course, here’s our weekly global weirding news link drop. A little more than normal given our extensive coverage of the mass bird and fish deaths that are occurring right now (and, thus, our inability to get to other important news). Coal prices soar as warmest sea surface temperatures
This is a difficult list to come up with when you cover these topics every day. There are so many big stories, many of which never even hit the mainstream media. Well, I know these are popular (I’m drawn in to them, too) and it’s always useful to reflect a little… So, here’s my Top
Remember AIDS awareness ads like the one above? Newspaper articles and PSAs were appearing with increasing frequency in newspapers and magazines in the early 1990’s. But that trend has been dramatically reversed, according to recent findings. In a survey of newspaper (broadsheet) content conducted by the Trends in Sustainability (TIS) Project, coverage of AIDS-related issues
In his alarm-ringing NY Times op-ed on Climate Change, professor Homer-Dixon* draws a comparison with the 2008 financial “meltdown” which finally led to new financial regulations, even though warnings of a housing bubble (and an emerging recession) were being made prior to the crisis. He advocates societies designing a contingency plan (‘Plan Z’ ) to deal with the immediate after-effects of one or more climate change disasters.
The global warming news I have to share this week transitions from the floods and fires we discussed last week to the issue of food and water (including how they are affected by floods and fires) and other effects of global climate change you may not be thrilled to hear about. Additionally, I have a
Wasted food energy in the U.S. totals some 2150 trillion kilojoules per year–more than the U.S. could produce in ethanol (grain) biofuels. Further, an article in the New Scientist asserts that this amount is greater than the energy produced annually from all the oil and gas extracted from the Gulf of Mexico.
In addition to the numerous climate change stories we reported on this week, here are 7 more definitely worth a share.
Climate change is at risk of damaging the unpredictable mountainous regions according to a new study. [social_buttons]Each year we are learning more and more about our climate and the affect that we are having on it. A new study from the University of Exeter and Austrian researchers has analysed the effects of two extreme weather
After much arm wrestling, the Senate came to an agreement on energy tax breaks which are set to expire later this year. Both Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), of the Senate Finance Committee, made the announcement on Tuesday. The tax package will provide $17 billion in renewable energy tax breaks. It will
If you have visited Planet Save for any length of time you will no doubt have seen me talk about the increasing amount of ‘dead zones’ cropping up across our planets watery surface. In particular, the Gulf of Mexico is home to what is believed to be the largest dead zone in the world: an
