By JUSTIN GILLIS 1 October 2011 WISE RIVER, Mont. — The trees spanning many of the mountainsides of western Montana glow an earthy red, like a broadleaf forest at the beginning of autumn. But these trees are not supposed to turn red. They are evergreens, falling victim to beetles that used to be controlled in […]
By Jim Forsyth; Edited by Karen Brooks and Cynthia Johnston30 September 2011 SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – A devastating Texas drought that has browned city lawns and caused more than $5 billion in damages to the state’s farmers and ranchers could continue for another nine years, a state forecaster said on Thursday. “It is possible that […]
By Michel Comte, AFP 29 September 2011 The economic impact of climate change on Canada could climb to billions of dollars per year, according to a study published Thursday by a policy group that advises the Canadian government. The report, Paying the Price: The Economic Impacts of Climate Change for Canada, by the National Round […]
By Shaun McKinnon, The Arizona Republic25 September 2011 A dry winter and a weak monsoon fueled record wildfires, record heat and a succession of dust storms that played like a broken record, pushing Arizona deeper into a drought that has persisted since 1999. Now, forecasters say La Niña, the ocean force responsible for the scant […]
By Jane Sutton; Editing by Cynthia Osterman17 August 2011 MIAMI (Reuters) – The United States has already tied its yearly record for billion-dollar weather disasters and the cumulative tab from floods, tornadoes and heat waves has hit $35 billion, the National Weather Service said on Wednesday. And it’s only August, with the bulk of the […]
By Alexandre Billette, Guardian Weekly 9 August 2011 Only a year ago Russia was overwhelmed by an exceptional heat wave, triggering hundreds of fires that destroyed thousands of hectares of woodland. Burning peat bogs around Moscow stifled the city in a thick cloud of bitter smoke. Now, Russia is burning again. Since the beginning of […]
US contact: Terese Rosenthal, Tel.: +1 609 243 4339 12 July 2011 An exceptional accumulation of very severe natural catastrophes makes 2011 the highest-ever loss year on record, even after the first half-year. Already, the approx. US$ 265bn in economic losses up to the end of June easily exceeds the total figure for 2005, previously […]
MEDIA CONTACT: James Leonard, 209-228-440625 July 2011 MERCED — An increase in wildfires due to climate change could rapidly and profoundly alter the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, according to a new study authored by environmental engineering and geography Professor Anthony Westerling of the University of California, Merced. The study by Westerling and his colleagues — which […]
By BETSY BLANEY, Associated Press14 July 2011 LUBBOCK, Texas – The unrelenting Texas drought has produced a cruelly ironic twist: cattle dying from too much water. Agriculture officials in parched Texas said Wednesday there are no hard numbers on how many head of cattle have died but reports of deaths from too much water or […]
[It would be very wrong of Desdemona to connect this with the largest wildfires in Arizona’s recorded history.] By MARY HUDETZ, Associated Press6 July 2011 PHOENIX – The air around the Phoenix area was a hazy shade of brown and a layer of dirt coated cars and buildings Wednesday following a massive dust storm the […]
