Category: Climate

Within weeks, President Barack Obama’s administration is set to unveil unprecedented emissions limits on power plants across the U.S., much to the dismay of many Democratic candidates who are running for election in energy-producing states. Fearful of a political backlash, they wish their fellow Democrat in the White House would hold off until after the voting. Unlike the Keystone XL oil pipeline, whose review the administration has delayed, probably until after November’s elections, the clock is ticking for the power plant rules – the cornerstone of Obama’s campaign to curb climate change. Unless he starts now, the rules won’t be in place before he leaves office, making it easier for his successor to stop them. So even though the action could bolster Republican attacks against some of this year’s most vulnerable Democrats, the administration is proceeding at full speed. Obama’s counselor on climate issues, John Podesta, […]

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Within weeks, President Barack Obama’s administration is set to unveil unprecedented emissions limits  on power plants across the United States, much to the dismay of many Democratic candidates who are running for election in energy-producing states. Fearful of a political backlash, they wish their fellow Democrat in the White House would hold off until after the voting. But Obama can’t wait that long. Unlike the Keystone XL oil pipeline, whose review the administration has delayed , probably until after November’s elections, the clock is ticking for the power plant rules — the cornerstone of Obama’s campaign to curb climate change. Unless Obama starts now, the rules won’t be in place before he leaves office. If they’re not set when he leaves, it will be easier for his successor to stop them. So even though the action could bolster Republican attacks against some of this year’s most vulnerable Democrats, the […]

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A U.S. government report published Tuesday finds the change in weather patterns over the least 50 years is tied largely to the burning of fossil fuels. The National Climate Assessment finds the U.S. average temperature has increased by as much as 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit since record keeping began in 1895, and most of that increase has occurred since the 1970s. "The global warming of the past 50 years is primarily due to human activities, predominantly the burning of fossil fuels," the report finds. The 840-page report said that climate change has "moved firmly into the present," with the economies in all U.S. territories feeling the impact. "This National Climate Assessment concludes that the evidence of human-induced climate change continues to strengthen and that impacts are increasing across the country," it said. The report finds the amount of warming projected during the next few decades […]

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The effects of human-induced climate change are being felt in every corner of the United States, scientists reported Tuesday, with water growing scarcer in dry regions, torrential rains increasing in wet regions, heat waves becoming more common and more severe, wildfires growing worse, and forests dying under assault from heat-loving insects. Such sweeping changes have been caused by an average warming of less than two degrees Fahrenheit over most land areas of the country in the past century, the scientists found. If greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane continue to escalate at a rapid pace, they said, the warming could conceivably exceed 10 degrees by the end of this century. “Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present,” the scientists declared in a major new report assessing the situation in the United States. “Summers are longer and hotter, and extended […]

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President Barack Obama will argue this week that the effects of climate change must be confronted now, intensifying his focus on the issue a month before new and contentious rules are due out that will regulate emissions from existing power plants. Tuesday’s release of a report called the national climate assessment will kick-start the administration’s push on an issue the president views as a key component of his legacy. The document, mandated by Congress and written by a federal advisory panel, will assess the impact global warming will have on specific regions of the country and sectors of the economy. The report and a series of events in the next few days offer Mr. Obama an opportunity to reassure his liberal allies, who have long urged a more aggressive approach to climate change. Mr. Obama has told environmental leaders, including some top Democratic donors, his administration is ready to […]

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The satellite images viewed by President Obama before a meeting with eight Western governors were stark, showing how snowpack in California’s mountains had shrunk by 86 percent in a single year. “It was a ‘Houston, we Continue Reading

The return of tornado season with a vengeance has people asking again about a possible link to climate change. At the same time, tantalizing new preliminary research finds “some evidence to suggest that tornadoes are, in fact, getting stronger.” I talked to the lead scientist behind that research. Tom Karl, the director of the National Climatic Data Center, explained in a 2011 email: What we can say with confidence is that heavy and extreme precipitation events often associated with thunderstorms and convection are increasing and have been linked to human-induced changes in atmospheric composition. Insured losses due to thunderstorms and tornadoes in the U.S. in 2013 dollars. Data and image from Property Claims Service, Munich Re . And a September 2013 study from Stanford, “ Robust increases in severe thunderstorm environments in response to greenhouse forcing ,” points to “a possible increase in the number of days supportive of […]

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The climate change debate currently pits the  bulk of the scientific community against holdout deniers who don’t believe rising temperatures are the result of human activity. But in California, a state suffering from a historic drought, why the phenomenon is happening is less important than the simple fact that it is. Forecasters and fire agencies have now tossed aside their normal fire calendar – mid-May to mid-October – and prepare for what some call a “new normal” of a greatly extended fire season. They are hiring extra staff and issuing more warnings. Some local officials have warned that fire season in some parts of California is basically a year-round phenomenon now. The National Weather Service has been issuing an unprecedented number of fire forecasts and alerts in the thick of the usually-wet season, months earlier than normal. Its forecast offices have kicked into fire-season mode well ahead of schedule. […]

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The odds are increasing that an El Nino weather system will form this year, portending drought for Australia and Asia and a warmer winter in the U.S. Northeast. The U.S. Climate Prediction Center now says there’s a 65 percent chance the Pacific Ocean warming pattern will develop after August. It put the odds at 52 percent last month. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology, which expected neutral conditions at the start of the year, says the phenomenon may start as soon as July. The World Meteorological Organization of the United Nations sees an El Nino at midyear. “We should know more clearly in a month exactly whether this is going to wimp out on us or if it’s really going to take off,” Kevin Trenberth , distinguished senior scientist in the climate analysis section of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado , said in an April 14 […]

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The odds are increasing that an El Nino weather system will form this year, portending drought for Australia and Asia and a warmer winter in the U.S. Northeast. The U.S. Climate Prediction Center now says there’s a 65 percent chance the Pacific Ocean warming pattern will develop after August. It put the odds at 52 percent last month. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology, which expected neutral conditions at the start of the year, says the phenomenon may start as soon as July. The World Meteorological Organization of the United Nations sees an El Nino at midyear. “We should know more clearly in a month exactly whether this is going to wimp out on us or if it’s really going to take off,” Kevin Trenberth , distinguished senior scientist in the climate analysis section of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado , said in an April 14 […]

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