19 April 2016 (Climate Nexus) – Heavy rains and flooding in Houston have taken six lives and put much of the city under water. Dozens of schools, roads, and freeways were closed after rainfall dumped more than a foot of water. More storms are predicted across the region, posing the threat of renewed flooding. The […]
[cf. Scientists say climate change could cause a ‘massive’ tree die-off in the U.S. Southwest and Drought-induced tree mortality accelerating in forests] By Diana Madson18 April 2016 (Yale Climate Connections) – New research predicts that nearly all coniferous forests in the American Southwest could be lost to climate change by the end of the century. […]
18 April 2016 (UN) – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today it will launch an emergency operation in Haiti to assist one million people devastated by three years of prolonged drought exacerbated by the El Niño weather phenomenon. An estimated 3.6 million people – or one-third of Haiti’s population – face food […]
By Sarah Loff15 April 2016 (NASA) – This image of early ice breakup of the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, was taken by the Suomi NPP satellite’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument infrared channel, at around 1148 UTC on 13 April 2016. Every year, the cap of frozen seawater floating on top of […]
By Mike Gaworecki 13 April 2016 (mongabay.com) – China’s demand for swim bladders from a giant Mexican fish called the totoaba is putting the species at risk. It’s also pushing a small porpoise known as the vaquita, one of the most endangered mammals in the world, to the brink of extinction. Vaquita or vaquita marina […]
By Adam Frank 12 April 2016 (NPR) – You don’t need me to tell you how unusual this primary season has been. Every day, more news sites offer more commentary seeking to explain how American politics reached its current, seemly surreal state. But here at 13.7, our goal is to offer commentary on places where […]
CHAMPAIGN, Illinois. – Scientists have finalized a five-year study of newborn and fetal dolphins found stranded on beaches in the northern Gulf of Mexico between 2010 and 2013. Their study, reported in the journal Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, identified substantial differences between fetal and newborn dolphins found stranded inside and outside the areas affected by […]
9 April 2016 (Our Children’s Trust) – U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin of the Federal District Court in Eugene, Oregon, decided in favor of 21 young plaintiffs in their landmark constitutional climate change case against the federal government. Judge Coffin ruled Friday against the motion to dismiss brought by the fossil fuel industry and federal […]
By Alan Gomez10 April 2016 MIAMI (USA TODAY) – Anyone familiar with Panama’s economic history isn’t surprised by revelations of shell companies and hidden assets created by a law firm based in the small nation. “I’ve been screaming about it for decades,” said Jack Blum, an attorney and former U.S. Senate staffer who focused on […]
By John Seewer 10 April 2016 TOLEDO, Ohio (Associated Press) – Responding to the crisis in Flint, Michigan, school officials across the country are testing classroom sinks and cafeteria faucets for lead, trying to uncover any concealed problems and to reassure anxious parents. Just a fraction of schools and day care centers nationwide are required […]
