The Caldor Fire breached Echo Summit on Monday, crossing the Sierra Nevada and posing a direct threat to the population centers around Lake Tahoe, forcing more than 50,000 people to evacuate. A wildfire has crossed over the Sierra Nevada just once before in recorded history: less than two weeks ago the Dixie Fire crossed the […]
The approach of summer in the U.S. means that it’s time to be ready for hurricanes and wildfires. The incidence of weather and climate disasters is increasing in the U.S., a trend due partly to climate change but also to human decisions. By Erik Salna, Florida International University The Conversation Since the 1950s, population growth […]
In recent days, now-houseless survivors of Oregon’s Bootleg Fire surveyed their incinerated communities, dozens huddled in a Colorado tunnel seeking shelter from a mudslide, and across the Eastern Hemisphere fires and landslides forced evacuations and took lives. These, and other, impacts of human-caused climate change come as the U.S. Senate considers an infrastructure package largely […]
A wildfire burning in dry mountain forest swept through the Gold Rush town of Greenville, California, on Aug. 4, reducing neighborhoods and the historic downtown to charred rubble. Hours earlier, the sheriff had warned Greenville’s remaining residents to get out immediately as strong, gusty winds drove the Dixie Fire toward town. At the same time, […]
A drumbeat of climate-fueled heatwaves, compounded by water management practices, will likely kill nearly all juvenile chinook salmon in the Sacramento River, California wildlife officials warn. “It’s an extreme set of cascading climate events pushing us into this crisis situation,” California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Jordan Traverso told reporters. Salmon need river water […]
Reported increases in major hurricanes in the North Atlantic over the satellite era are potentially a “recovery from a deep minimum in the 1960-1980s”, rather than being part of a longer-term trend, a new study suggests. By Robert McSweeney Carbon Brief The research, published in Nature Communications, develops a new complete record of Atlantic hurricanes from […]
If you’re headed out into the wild this summer, you may need to jump online and book a reservation before you go. For the second consecutive year, reservations are required to visit Yosemite, Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks. Other popular sites, including Maine’s Acadia National Park, encourage visitors to buy entrance passes in advance. […]
The last time Congress attempted to pass sweeping climate legislation was 11 years ago. Democrats held the presidency and both houses of Congress, and were poised to take action to spark a transition to clean energy and get us off the path toward catastrophic climate change. But they were stymied by an obsolete piece of […]
Ten years ago, on March 11, 2011, the biggest recorded earthquake in Japanese history hit the country’s northeast coast. It was followed by a tsunami that traveled up to 6 miles (10 kilometers) inland, reaching heights of over 140 feet (43.3 meters) in some areas and sweeping entire towns away in seconds. By Kiyoshi Kurokawa, […]
Most of Northern California’s kelp forest ecosystem is gone, replaced by widespread ‘urchin barrens’ that may persist long into the future, according to a new study By Tim Stephens UCSC Species-rich kelp forests have been replaced by “urchin barrens,” where purple sea urchins cover a seafloor devoid of kelp and other algae. A new […]
Texans who made it through February’s extreme cold weather without losing power or natural gas must have felt lucky. But for some, keeping their electricity through the blackout may turn out to be more traumatic than losing it. An undetermined number of homeowners have been shocked to receive bills running into the thousands of dollars […]
On Sunday 7 February, a sudden flood devastated a Himalayan valley in the Indian province of Uttarakhand. It tore through two hydroelectric dams, killing dozens of people and trapping hundreds more in construction tunnels. The risks of development in an area vulnerable to accelerated #climatechange: The Himalayan range, Hindu Kush, Tibetan Plateau and their peaks […]
Editor’s note: Amid record cold temperatures and skyrocketing energy demand, utilities across the central U.S. have ordered rolling blackouts to ration electricity, leaving millions of people without power. Energy expert Michael E. Webber explains why weather extremes can require such extreme steps. By Michael E. Webber, University of Texas at Austin The Conversation 1. The […]
The year 2020 broke disaster records across the country in destructive and expensive ways. The Atlantic had so many hurricanes, meteorologists ran out of tropical storm names for only the second time. Across the Midwest, extreme storms flattened crops and tore up buildings. Western states repeatedly broke records for their largest wildfires on record. Globally, […]
It was clear before the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season started that it was going to be busy. Six months later, we’re looking back at a trail of broken records, and the storms may still not be over even with the season’s official end on Nov. 30. James H. Ruppert Jr., Penn State and Allison Wing, […]