By Nick Ralston and Saffron Howden6 January 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – NSW is facing its most dangerous bushfire threat in 12 years as the state swelters through a record-breaking heatwave and fire officials express concern about the public’s preparedness. Across the country, fire crews were battling more than 100 bushfires on Saturday. The NSW […]
By Andrew Darby and Nick Ralston5 January 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – AT LEAST 80 homes have been lost and one man is feared killed by a bushfire that swept down onto the Tasmanian town of Dunalley, less than 60 kilometres from Hobart, in catastrophic conditions. The bushfire sent hundreds fleeing and was on Friday […]
By Dr. Jeff Masters 31 December 2012 The 2012 U.S. fire season was the 3rd worst in U.S. history, with 9.2 million acres burned – an area larger than the state of Maryland. Since the National Interagency Fire Center began keeping records in 1960, only two years have seen more area burned – 2006, when […]
By Andrew Freedman, Michael Lemonick, and Dan Yawitz27 December 2012 (Climate Central) – From unprecedented heat waves that shattered “Dust Bowl” era records from the 1930s, to Hurricane Sandy, which devastated coastal New Jersey and New York, 2012 was the year Mother Nature had it out for the U.S. No country on Earth rivaled the […]
State, nation also note low rainfall totals for 2012By Jeff Montgomery and Molly Murray 29 December 2012 (The News Journal) – When the New Year rings in at midnight Monday, scientists will book 2012 as the hottest and one of the driest on record for the nation and the Northeast – including Delaware and New […]
NEW YORK, 24 December 2012 (UPI) – A projected drop in the Colorado River’s flow could disrupt longtime water-sharing agreements between farms and cities in the U.S. Southwest, researchers say. Climate modelers at Columbia University report a predicted 10 percent drop in the river’s flow in the next few decades may signal water shortages for […]
By SANDRA BLAKESLEE24 December 2012 LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico (The New York Times) — Everywhere, trees are dying. The boreal forests of Canada and Russia are being devoured by beetles. Drought-tolerant pines are disappearing in Greece. In North Africa, Atlas cedars are shriveling. Wet and dry tropical forests in Asia are collapsing. Australian eucalyptus […]
By Jim Salter23 December 2012 ST. LOUIS (AP) – From sunken steamboats to a millennium-old map engraved in rock, the drought-drained rivers of the nation’s midsection are offering a rare and fleeting glimpse into years gone by. Lack of rain has left many rivers at low levels unseen for decades, creating problems for river commerce […]
By Emma Whitford 20 December 2012 Despite the hysteria, it’s safe to say that tomorrow’s Mayan Doomsday will end up as nothing but the latest apocalyptic hype. But even after December 21, Earth will hardly be in the clear. While we may have dodged one gigantic, irreversible blow to humanity (for now, at least), various […]
By Seth Borenstein20 December 2012 WASHINGTON (MSN News) – As 2012 began, winter in the U.S. went AWOL. Spring and summer arrived early with wildfires, blistering heat, and drought. And fall hit the eastern third of the country with the ferocity of Superstorm Sandy. This past year’s weather was deadly, costly and record-breaking everywhere — […]
