You are here

Climate

Scientists Link Hurricane Harvey’s Record Rainfall to Climate Change

           

Evading a wave in Houston after Hurricane Harvey hit on Aug. 25. Credit Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Attributable human-induced changes in the likelihood and magnitude of the observed extreme precipitation during Hurricane Harvey

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Attribution of extreme rainfall from Hurricane Harvey, August 2017

nytimes.com - by Henry Fountain - December 13, 2017

Climate change made the torrential rains that flooded Houston after Hurricane Harvey last summer much worse, scientists reported Wednesday.

Two research groups found that the record rainfall as Harvey stalled over Texas in late August, which totaled more than 50 inches in some areas, was as much as 38 percent higher than would be expected in a world that was not warming.

While many scientists had said at the time that Harvey was probably affected by climate change, because warmer air holds more moisture, the size of the increase surprised some.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Credit Rating Firm Warns New Orleans, Coastal Cities to Prepare for Climate Change

           

An aerial view of the Industrial Canal after its levee failed during Hurricane Katrina. (NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune file photo)

nola.com - by Tristan Baurick - December 11, 2017

One of the country's largest credit rating agencies has put New Orleans and other coastal cities on notice: prepare for the effects of climate change or risk a hit on your credit score.

In a new report, Moody's Investors Service warned that it will evaluate efforts to adapt to sea level rise, flooding, severe storms and other impacts from rising global temperatures when setting its ratings for loans and bonds. The report mentions New Orleans and Louisiana several times as high risk areas.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

NASA Map of Earth's Seasons Over 20 Years Highlights Climate Change

The visualization shows spring coming earlier and the Arctic ice caps receding over time

NASA - theguardian.com - AP - November 17, 2017

Nasa has captured 20 years of changing seasons in a striking new global map of planet Earth​.

The data visualization, released this week, shows Earth’s fluctuations as seen from space.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - NASA - The Living Planet - The Changing Colors of our Living Planet

CLICK HERE - NASA - Our Living Planet from Space

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Global Climate Risk Index 2018: Who Suffers Most From Extreme Weather Events? Weather-related Loss Events in 2016 and 1997 to 2016

CLICK HERE - Global Climate Risk Index 2018

germanwatch.org - reliefweb.int - 9 November 2017

Climate Risk Index shows vulnerability of small island states

Increased intensity of storms takes a toll on small island states and poor countries / Since 1997, over 520,000 people have been killed by more than 11,000 extreme weather events

Bonn (9th Nov. 2017). Small island states are amongst the countries most impacted by extreme weather events worldwide. A number of developing countries regularly already have to address weather catastrophes, especially poorer countries like Haiti, Sri Lanka or Viet Nam are facing great challenges. These are some of the key findings of the Climate Risk Index published by Germanwatch today at the climate summit in Bonn.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Puerto Rico's Storm of Misery

       
 
Devastation in Puerto Rico - CBS News
 
cbsnews.com - by Steve Kroft - November 5, 2017
 
Many Puerto Ricans have endured the longest blackout in American history following a direct hit from Hurricane Maria. Due to a multitude of factors, some say the lights won't be coming back on anytime soon.
 
It's safe to say that of all the places in the country, the one that is suffering the most right now is the hurricane-ravaged island of Puerto Rico . . . For the past 46 days, most of them have been without power, the longest blackout in American history. FEMA says it has distributed more food and water there than any disaster its ever been involved in.
 
 
Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Our Moral Opportunity on Climate Change

           

Floodwaters filled the streets after heavy rains in Bangladesh in July. Credit Munir Uz Zaman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

nytimes.com - by Justin Welby - Nobember 3, 2017

. . . “As people of faith, we don’t just state our beliefs — we live them out. One belief is that we find purpose and joy in loving our neighbors. Another is that we are charged by our creator with taking good care of his creation . . .

. . . The moral crisis of climate change is an opportunity to find purpose and joy, and to respond to our creator’s charge. Reducing the causes of climate change is essential to the life of faith. It is a way to love our neighbor and to steward the gift of creation . . .

. . . People of faith have a unique call to address the causes of climate change. As we stand together in our support for the survivors of extreme weather, let us act together in ways that will safeguard our shared gift of creation — and the lives of those who will inherit it from us.” . . .

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

U.S. Report Says Humans Cause Climate Change, Contradicting Top Trump Officials

           

Smoke rose from trees burned in a wildfire in Wrightwood, Calif., last year. A report from 13 federal agencies says extreme weather events have cost the United States $1.1 trillion since 1980. Credit Jonathan Alcorn/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

CLICK HERE - Climate Science Special Report - Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), Volume I

nytimes.com - by Lisa Friedman and Glenn Thrush - November. 3, 2017

Directly contradicting much of the Trump administration’s position on climate change, 13 federal agencies unveiled an exhaustive scientific report on Friday that says humans are the dominant cause of the global temperature rise that has created the warmest period in the history of civilization.

Over the past 115 years global average temperatures have increased 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to record-breaking weather events and temperature extremes, the report says. The global, long-term warming trend is “unambiguous,” it says, and there is “no convincing alternative explanation” that anything other than humans — the cars we drive, the power plants we operate, the forests we destroy — are to blame.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Climate Change Isn’t Just Hurting the Planet – It’s a Public Health Emergency

           

‘Local air pollution around the world kills about 6.5 million people annually.’ Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Doctors have revealed that millions are already suffering the effects, in the spread of infectious diseases, uneven crop yields and longer allergy seasons

CLICK HERE - STUDY - The Lancet - Health and climate change - The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: from 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health

theguardian.com - by Christiana Figueres - October 31, 2017

A report just published in the Lancet from the specially created Lancet Countdown initiative, reveals just how bad climate change is for public health. The diagnosis reveals that hundreds of millions of people are already suffering the health impacts of climate change. Its insidious creep is being felt in multiple ways: rising temperatures are hastening the spread of infectious diseases; crop yields are becoming uneven and unpredictable, worsening the hunger and malnourishment for some of the most vulnerable people on the planet; allergy seasons are getting longer; and at times it is simply too hot for farmers to work in the fields.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Congressional Auditor Urges Action to Address Climate Change

           

Members of the Wyoming Hot Shots firefighting crew battling the Lizard Fire near Willcox, Ariz., in June. Credit Kyle Miller/Wyoming Hot Shots, via Associated Press

CLICK HERE - U.S. GAO - CLIMATE CHANGE: Information on Potential Economic Effects Could Help Guide Federal Efforts to Reduce Fiscal Exposure

nytimes.com - by Lisa Friedman - October 23, 2017

WASHINGTON — Fires, floods and hurricanes are already costing the federal government tens of billions of dollars a year and climate change will drive those costs ever higher in coming years, a new federal study warns.

The report by the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s auditing arm, urges the Trump administration to take climate change risks seriously and begin formulating a response.

The study, scheduled to be released Tuesday, says that different sectors of the economy and different parts of the country will be harmed in ways that are difficult to predict.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Ocean Acidification Poses Threat to Sea Life, Research Finds

CLICK HERE - BROCHURE SUMMARY - Exploring Ocean Change - BIOACID - Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification (24 page .PDF file)

CLICK HERE - BIOACID - Exploring Ocean Change

news.sky.com - by Rebecca Taylor - October 23, 2017

Increased acidity in the oceans could affect many species including molluscs and corals, an eight-year study has found.

The research from more than 250 scientists also highlighted the risk of knock-on effect up the food chain.

Increased acidity in the oceans, called by some the "evil twin of global warming", compounds the effect of rising temperatures.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

CLICK HERE - More acidic oceans 'will affect all sea life'

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Pages

Subscribe to Climate
howdy folks