Map showing the coefficient of variation of precipitation (CVP) and its historical and projected changes in the continental United States. (A and B) Historical (1981–2010) CVP from PRISM for the cool and warm seasons, respectively. The bounding box in (A) indicates the Southwest region used for subsequent regional analyses. (C and D) PRISM-estimated historical change in CVP (∆CVPhistorical) from the early 20th century (1901–1930) to the late 20th/early 21st century (1981–2010) for the cool and warm seasons. Graphic: Dannenberg, et al., 2019 / Science Advances

Extreme rainfall variability driving tree growth reductions in western U.S. – “Key Southwest tree species may be at risk as precipitation extremes intensify”

By Rosemary Brandt 2 October 2019 (UA News) – As the Earth’s temperature warms, its hydrological cycle kicks into overdrive – wet years get wetter, and dry years get drier. According to a new University of Arizona-led study, these increased rainfall extremes could have dire consequences for the semi-arid forests of the western U.S. “In […]

Girls in Durban South Africa march in the Global Climate Strike, 20 September 2019. Photo: Rajesh Jantilal / AFP / Getty Images

Bad ancestors: does the climate crisis violate the rights of those yet to be born?

By Astra Taylor 1 October 2019 (The Guardian) – What if climate breakdown is a violation of the rights of those yet to be born? Finally, this urgent question seems to be getting the attention it deserves. Last month an astonishing 7 million people from nearly 200 countries took to the streets as part of […]

Aerial view of damaged mangroves from a 2019 monitoring trip in the Gulf of Carpentaria. A cascade of impacts including rising sea levels, heatwaves and back-to-back tropical cyclones has created 400km of dead and badly damaged mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria. A cascade of impacts including rising sea levels, heatwaves and back-to-back tropical cyclones has created 400km of dead and badly damaged mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Photo: Norman Duke

Shocked scientists find 400 km of dead and damaged mangroves in Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria – “We are getting these compounding effects that we just didn’t expect”

By Graham Readfearn 3 October 2019 (The Guardian) – A cascade of impacts including rising sea levels, heatwaves and back-to-back tropical cyclones has created 400 kilometers [249 miles] of dead and badly damaged mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria, a scientific monitoring trip has discovered. Prof Norman Duke, of James Cook University, spent 10 days […]

Greg Wood, a Fairfax County, Virginia firefighter supporting USAID, sits in the dining tent of the camp set up on the tarmac at the Marsh Harbour Airport on 25 September 2019. The outfit has been on the ground since the hurricane, providing support to the Bahamian government. Photo: Andrew West / The USA Today Network-Florida

Bahamas struggles to right itself a month after Category 5 Hurricane Dorian brutalized islands – “Our very existence as a country of many low-lying islands and over 2,400 cays is under grave threat”

By Amy Bennett Williams 1 October 2019 NASSAU, Bahamas (Fort Myers News-Press) – Stooped and heavily laden, Keri Pierre trudged slowly uphill under blazing Bahamian sunshine. She was running out of time. As the days of her free temporary stay at Paradise Island’s Sunrise Beach Club dwindled, Pierre mounted an increasingly frantic search through Nassau for […]

The distribution of threatened tree species, Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable (CR, EN, and VU), in Europe. Data: European Red List of trees 2019. Graphic: IUCN

More than half of Europe’s endemic trees face extinction – “This report shows how dire the situation is for many overlooked, undervalued species that form the backbone of Europe’s ecosystems”

GLAND, Switzerland, 27 September 2019 (IUCN) – Over half (58 percent) of Europe’s endemic trees are threatened with extinction, according to assessments of the state of the continent’s biodiversity published today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The introduction of invasive species, unsustainable logging and urban development are key threats causing the […]

Storm King dam near Stanthorpe in regional Queensland used to be a popular swimming spot, but there is hardly any water left now. Photo: William West / AFP Photo

“Day Zero” looms in Australian Outback as climate change bites – “It’s that core of the country, where mum and dad and the kids work together, they’re the ones that are going to be pulled down”

By Holly Robertson 19 September 2019 Stanthorpe (Australia) (AFP) – An unprecedented water shortage in drought-stricken eastern Australia is driving home the brutal realities of climate change and threatening the much-mythologised Outback way of life. From sunny Queensland all the way to Sydney, more than a dozen small towns are facing their own “Day Zero” […]

Paul J. Ferraro, PhD (Cornell University), is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Business and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Photo: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University

Why effective climate change solutions remain so elusive – “When there is this asymmetry in costs and benefits, our behaviors don’t change”

By Saralyn Cruickshank 26 September 2019 (The Johns Hopkins University Hub) – Johns Hopkins Professor Paul Ferraro has spent a lot of time thinking about climate change, and he’s uncovered a major barrier to combating the rise in global temperatures: the human psyche. “The problem is that what we need to achieve is so daunting and taxes […]

A montage of photos that were submitted to the Environmental Photographer of the Year 2019 award. “Journey by Launch” by Azim Khan Ronnie; “Polluted New Year” by Eliud Gil Samaniego, “Remains of the Forest” by J Henry Fair, “Tuvalu Beneath the Rising Tide” by Sean Gallagher, “My Climate Future” by Souray Karmakar, “Looking Beyond What is There” by Graham Earnshaw, “Where the City Ends and the Ships Begin” by Azim Khan Ronnie, and “Tuvalu Beneath the Rising Tide” by Sean Gallagher (second entry). Photo: CIWEM

Photo gallery: Striking images from the 2019 Environmental Photographer of the Year competition – “Climate change is the defining issue of our time and now is the time to act”

23 September 2019 (CIWEM) – The CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year exposes the terrible impacts being wrought on our planet by humans, but also celebrates humanity’s innate ability to survive and innovate, lending hope to us all that we can overcome challenges to live sustainably. [See all of the submissions: Environmental Photographer of the […]

Map showing 2015–2019 five-year average temperature anomalies relative to the 1981-2010 average. Data: NASA GISTEMP v4. through June 2019. Graphic: WMO

Landmark “United in Science” report brings together world’s leading climate science organizations

NEW YORK, 22 September 2019 (WMO) – The world’s leading climate science organizations have joined forces to produce a landmark new report  [pdf] for the United Nations Climate Action Summit, underlining the glaring – and growing – gap between agreed targets to tackle global warming and the actual reality. The report, United in Science, includes details on the […]

Satellite view of Humboldt glacier Venezuela in 1985, 2008, and 2019. Photo: Maxar Technologies

Hardy scientists trek to Venezuela’s last glacier amid chaos – “More than 50 million people in South America rely on water provision from the Andes”

By Christina Larson and Federica Narancio 24 September 2019 MERIDA, Venezuela (AP) – Blackouts shut off the refrigerators where the scientists keep their lab samples. Gas shortages mean they sometimes have to work from home. They even reuse sheets of paper to record field data because fresh supplies are so scarce. As their country falls […]

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