Graph of the Day: Increases in Very Heavy Precipitation for Each U.S. Region, 1958-2007

This map shows the percentage increases in very heavy precipitation (defined as the heaviest 1 percent of all event) from 1958 to 2007 for each U.S. region. There are clear trends toward more very heavy precipitation for the nation as a whole, and particularly in the Northeast and Midwest. Updated from Groisman, et al., via […]

Built on sinking ground, Norfolk tries to hold back tide amid sea-level rise

By Darryl Fears17 June 2012 NORFOLK, Virginia – At her cozy house by the river, Julie Faella spoke as though a monster lurks nearby. It rises under a tidal moon, she said, or when the winds howl, or when rains crash down. She’s seen it with her own eyes. It crept under the front door […]

Scientists confirm ancient cycle of megadroughts in Sierra Nevada

Media Contact: Mike Wolterbeek, mwolterbeek@unr.edu Media Relations OfficerUniversity Media RelationsUniversity of Nevada, Reno/108Reno, NV 89557Media newsroom: http://newsroom.unr.edu775-784-4547 phone24 May 2012 RENO, Nevada – The erratic year-to-year swings in precipitation totals in the Reno-Tahoe area conjures up the word “drought” every couple of years, and this year is no exception. The Nevada State Climate Office at […]

As politicians debate climate change, our forests wither

By Sophie Quinton, staff reporter (politics) for National Journal15 June 2012 DILLON, Colorado – Dan Gibbs keeps dead beetles in the back of his beat-up Chevy Silverado. He has a wooden block with beetles impaled on it, each insect about the size of a grain of rice. He’s got vials of embalmed beetles and their […]

North Carolina Senate approves law that denies sea-level science

[Next up: Outlawing hurricanes.] [UPDATE: Here’s the language of the bill: From House Bill 819 (Proposed Senate Committee Substitute H819-CSLH-38 [v.18]): “The Division of Coastal Management shall be the only State agency authorized to develop rates of sea-level rise and shall do so only at the request of the Commission. These rates shall only be […]

Mercury contaminating bird eggs in oilsands region: Environment Canada

By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News 31 May 2012 OTTAWA – Environment Canada scientists have observed evidence of toxic contamination of wildlife upstream from Alberta’s natural bitumen deposits that coincides with the oilsands industry’s expansion, Environment Minister Peter Kent was told last summer. According to internal documents obtained by Postmedia News, the government was urged […]

U.S. cities struggle with blighted bank-owned homes

By Tim Reid, Reuters8 June 2012 LOS ANGELES – The smell of rotting food and decay inside 10956 South Wilmington Avenue, Los Angeles, was overwhelming. A burst pipe in the kitchen ceiling leaked water onto a floor littered with half empty cans, razor blades, odd shoes, stained clothing and an upturned, mold-ridden sofa. Windows were […]

Western banks ‘reaping billions from Colombian cocaine trade’

Anti-Drugs Policies In Colombia: Successes, Failures And Wrong Turns, edited by Alejandro Gaviria and Daniel Mejía, Ediciones Uniandes, 2011 By Ed Vulliamy, www.guardian.co.uk 2 June 2012 The vast profits made from drug production and trafficking are overwhelmingly reaped in rich “consuming” countries – principally across Europe and in the US – rather than war-torn “producing” […]

Graph of the Day: Asia Coal Imports, 1980-2009

Today, close to 99% of the coal mined in the Powder River Basin is consumed in domestic U.S. coal markets. However, a depressed domestic market and increased foreign demand, especially from the Pacific Rim, has piqued the interest of the largest U.S. coal producers in potential export markets. Chris Ruppel, an energy analyst at Execution, […]

Nuclear, coal power face climate change risk as cooling water becomes becomes scarce

By David Fogarty; Editing by Ed Davies3 June 2012 SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Warmer water and reduced river flows will cause more power disruptions for nuclear and coal-fired power plants in the United States and Europe in future, scientists say, and lead to a rethink on how best to cool power stations in a hotter world. […]

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