New Scientist: The rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change may be to blame for more frequent prolonged spells of extreme weather in Europe, Asia and North America, such as heat waves, freezing temperatures or storms.
These are relatively short-term periods of bizarre weather, like the cold snap that paralysed North America earlier this year, rather than longer-term rises in temperature.
They are related to “stuck” weather patterns, Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University in New Brunswick,…
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Guardian: One of the main objectives of this week’s New York climate summit was to mobilise finance to tackle climate change. Slow progress in scaling up finance has been a key bottleneck in negotiating a global climate treaty.
The World Bank estimates that adapting to a warmer climate could cost $70bn to $100bn per year by 2050, assuming warming is kept to the target of 2C. However, the real costs could be far higher, as recent analysis shows the world is currently on course for 4C of warming, a level…
USA Today: U.S. emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide have risen 6% in the last two years despite the Obama administration’s efforts to curb global warming, federal data show.
Reversing several years of declines, its emissions from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) rose 2.7% during the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2013, and 6% compared to 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration’s “Monthly Energy Review.”
This increase is a setback for President…
Slate: The Aral Sea–a huge part of it at least–is no more. According to NASA, “for the first time in modern history, the eastern basin of the South Aral Sea has completely dried.’ Humans have been farming the Aral Sea area in Central Asia for centuries, and the lake has gone through spectacular boom-and-bust cycles in the past. But the lake hasn’t been this dry in a long, long time. Speaking with NASA, Philip Micklin, a geographer emeritus from Western Michigan University, said, “it is likely the first…
Associated Press: New York state agencies are required to consider the future likelihood of extreme weather in their decisions on public works projects, industrial and commercial permits and regulations, according to a new law signed this week. For New York, those calculations include rising sea levels, more flooding and more severe storms. “The new reality of extreme weather has had painful consequences for New Yorkers in virtually every region of our state,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. ” This new law contains a comprehensive…
ClimateWire: Concrete is the most-used construction material in the world and a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. But by using a different chemical formula to make the material, new research suggests it’s possible to significantly reduce concrete’s carbon footprint.
Concrete has a complex molecular structure made of a mixture of sand, gravel, water and cement. The cement is made by heating a calcium-rich material, typically limestone, with a silica-rich material, typically clay, at temperatures…
Science: The Western Hemisphere is experiencing a drought of crisis proportions. In Central America, crops are failing, millions are in danger of starvation, and if the drought doesn’t break soon, even vessels transiting the Panama Canal will need to lighten their loads, which will increase prices for goods transported globally. In the western United States, the drought-stricken region spans a vast area responsible for much of the nation’s fruits, vegetables, and beef. As the drought’s grip has tightened,…
Wyoming Business Report: An Affordable Energy Rally attended by both Wyoming U.S. senators and Gov. Matt Mead drew about 300 people in Gillette Thursday, though organizers expected as many as 1,000. The meeting was a rallying cry against proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2030. While environmentalists say such action is necessary to abort or slow global warming, many Wyoming and national leaders are saying the measure will slow economic growth while…
Leader Post: China surpassed the European Union in pollution levels per capita for the first time last year, propelling to a record the worldwide greenhouse-gas emissions that are blamed for climate change.
The findings led by scientists at two British universities show the scale of the challenge of reining in emissions damaging the climate. They estimate that humans already have spewed into the atmosphere two-thirds of the fossil-fuel emissions allowable under scenarios that avoid irreversible changes to…
Washington Post: The Obama administration appears to be losing ground in its efforts to cut U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases, according to new government figures that show pollution levels rising again after several years of gradual decline. Data released Friday by the Energy Department show American factories and power plants putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during the first six months of 2014 compared with the same period in each of the past two years. The figures confirm a reversal first seen…