Category: Climate

BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Low rainfall linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon has led to drought in parts of Central America, causing widespread damage to crops, shortages and rising prices of food, and worsening hunger among the region’s poor. An unusually hot season and extended dry spells have brought drought to areas in eastern and western Guatemala and El Salvador, southern Honduras and northern and central Nicaragua, destroying swathes of bean and maize crops, the region’s staple foods, and putting pressure on subsistence farmers and food prices. “Extremely poor households across large areas of Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador will experience a rapid deterioration in their food security in early 2015. "Atypically high levels of humanitarian assistance, possibly the highest since Hurricane Mitch in 1998, will likely be required in order to avoid a food crisis,” said a recent report by the Famine Early Warning Systems […]

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Antarctica glaciers melting because of global warming may push up sea levels faster than previously believed, potentially threatening megacities including New York and Shanghai, researchers in Germany said. Antarctica’s ice discharge may raise sea levels as much as 37 centimeters (14.6 inches) this century if the output of greenhouse gases continues to grow, according to a study led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. The increase may be as little as 1 centimeter, they said. “This is a big range, which is exactly why we call it a risk,” Anders Levermann, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “Science needs to be clear about the uncertainty so that decision-makers at the coast and in coastal megacities can consider the implications in their planning processes.” Related: Bet Against the Seven Horsemen of the Apocalypse The Antarctic ice sheet contains enough water to raise sea levels by over […]

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A crater, discovered recently in the Yamal Peninsula, in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. (AP Photo/Associated Press Television) Researchers have long contended that the epicenter of global warming is also farthest from the reach of humanity. It’s in the barren landscapes of the frozen North, where red-cheeked children wear fur, the sun barely rises in the winter and temperatures can plunge dozens of degrees below zero. Such a place is the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia, translated as “the ends of the Earth,” a desolate spit of land where a group called the Nenets live. By now, you’ve heard of the crater on the Yamal Peninsula. It’s the one that suddenly appeared, yawning nearly 100 feet in diameter, and made  several rounds in the global viral media machine. The adjectives most often used to describe it: giant, mysterious, curious. Scientists were subsequently “baffled.” Locals were “mystified.” There were whispers that aliens were responsible. Nearby residents peddled theories […]

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Federal forecasters on Thursday downgraded their outlook for the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, predicting "below normal" activity with seven to 12 named storms, no more than two of which are expected to reach major hurricane status. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said it was more confident of a below-normal season than when it issued its initial advisory in May, when a "near or below normal" season was predicted. The revised forecast predicts 70 percent chances of a below-normal season, compared to the 50 percent odds issued by NOAA’ forecasters in May. A typical season has 12 named storms, with six hurricanes and three hurricanes reaching major Category 3 status. The six month-long hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. In its new outlook, the agency cited the strengthening of climate conditions that are not favorable to hurricane development, […]

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Hurricane Iselle grounded flights, shut tourist areas and closed government offices as it approached Hawaii and threatened the first direct strike on the islands in 22 years. Iselle had top winds of 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour and was 70 miles southeast of Hilo as of 8 p.m. local time on Aug. 7, the U.S. Central Pacific Hurricane Center said . It’s forecast to strike the Big Island overnight, and if it retains hurricane strength, it would be the first such system to hit the state since 1992. “Iselle is expected to make landfall as a Category 1 storm, and in doing so would become the first recorded hurricane landfall on the Big Island of Hawaii,” Scott Stransky, principal scientist at catastrophe-modeling firm AIR Worldwide based in Boston , said by e-mail. Farther east, Hurricane Julio had top winds approaching 115 mph and was traveling west. The storm […]

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Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration A new component of EIA’s Energy Mapping System allows users to view critical energy infrastructure that may be vulnerable to coastal and inland flooding. These new map layers enable the public to see existing energy facilities that could potentially be affected by flooding caused by hurricanes, overflowing rivers, flash floods, and other wet-weather events. The mapping tool combines flood hazard information from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with EIA’s existing U.S. Energy Mapping System that shows power plants, oil refineries, crude oil rail terminals, and other critical energy infrastructure. The maps can help readers understand what energy infrastructure assets are currently exposed to flood risk. The maps show areas that have a 1% and 0.2% annual chance of flooding (essentially a 1-in-100 and 1-in-500 chance, respectively). The tool also contains regulatory floodways, levees, areas with levees (and therefore reduced flood risk), and areas […]

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Resilience Published on Resilience (http://www.resilience.org) Published by National Geographic Newswatch on 2014-08-05 Original article:tellites of NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Using data from this mission, scientists have determined that a vast volume of groundwater has been depleted from the Colorado River Basin over the last decade. Credit: NASA/JPL Let’s step back for a minute and consider the implications of  the study  released last week on the depletion of groundwater in the Colorado River Basin. For anyone concerned about the future of the American West, the findings of this study – which was published online in the journal  Geophysical Research Letters  and conducted by a team of scientists from NASA, the University of California-Irvine, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado—can make the heart pound. Let’s start with a little context above ground, before going below. Lake Mead […]

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One of the worst North American droughts in history could be getting a whole lot worse. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Map released on Tuesday, more than 58 percent of California is in an “exceptional drought” stage. That’s up a staggering 22 percent from last week’s report. And, in its latest drought report released earlier today, the National Drought Mitigation Center warned that “bone-dry” conditions are overtaking much of the Golden State, and noted that, overall, California is “short more than one year’s worth of reservoir water, or 11.6 million acre-feet, for this time of year.” All across California, streams are drying up, crops are dying off and local communities are struggling to maintain access to water , thanks to 3 years of persistent drought conditions. The situation is so dire that on Tuesday, California […]

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The Sierra Club said Energy Department steps to reduce methane emissions tied to the natural gas sector are vital tools in the fight against climate change. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz unveiled ways to minimize the amount of emissions generated from the natural gas sector. Deb Nardone, a campaign director at the Sierra Club, said the department’s efforts must be matched by equal efforts from the Environmental Protection Agency. "Together, actions by the DOE and the EPA can move the ball forward to break our reliance on all fossil fuels, including dirty fracked gas, while ushering in clean energy and energy efficiency," she said in an emailed statement. Critics of hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking, say the process could lead to higher emissions of methane, which could in part offset the low-carbon footprint of natural gas. Moniz unveiled a four-point plan for what he said […]

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