• Stalling Shifting Sand Dunes, Protecting Infrastructure and Ecosystems

    As deserts continue to expand, sand dunes pose an increasing risk to the built environment: swallowing up roads and houses whole as they engulf the land. In a similar way, dunes on the seabed can block shipping routes and even compromise the safety of underwater cables and pipelines.

  • Groundwater Flow to Colorado River May Decline by a Third over Next 30 Years

    A new study projects that a hot and dry future climate may lead to a 29 percent decline in Upper Colorado River Basin “baseflow” at the basin outlet by the 2050s, affecting both people and ecosystems. Baseflow is the movement of groundwater into streams and, on average, accounts for more than 50 percent of annual streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin.

  • Extreme Ice Melting in Greenland Raises Global Flood Risk

    Global warming has caused extreme ice melting events in Greenland to become more frequent and more intense over the past 40 years, raising sea levels and flood risk worldwide. Over the past decade alone, 3.5 trillion tons of ice has melted from the surface of the island and flowed downhill into the ocean.

  • The Ripple Factor: Weather Extremes Amplify Economic Losses

    Weather extremes can cause economic ripples along our supply chains. A new study shows that if they occur at roughly the same time the ripples start interacting and can amplify even if they occur at completely different places around the world.

  • Extreme Events and Major Impacts

    In a sobering new report, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says that record atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and associated accumulated heat have propelled the planet into uncharted territory, with far-reaching repercussions for current and future generations

  • Managing Water Resources in a Low-to-No-Snow Future

    With mountain snowpacks shrinking in the western U.S., a new Lab study analyzes when a low-to-no-snow future might arrive and implications for water management.

  • Warning Issued Over the Unintended Consequences of Wind for Achieving Net Zero Targets

    In the run-up to the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow, an expert on geoengineering and energy transition highlights the need for joined up thinking if the U.K. is going to find the optimal use of the North Sea to achieve Net Zero targets.

  • How Climate Change Contributes to Global Violence

    Whether through drought, extreme heat waves, food insecurity, lack of potable water, changing disease vectors or any number of other impacts, large swaths of the globe will increasingly suffer from unhealthy and dangerous conditions brought about by climate change. Climate change can amplify intolerance and persecution and facilitate violent conflict, including war and genocide. Collective violence doesn’t just erupt spontaneously but is brought about by specific triggers and situations, and many of these relate to the consequences of climate change.

  • Climate “Chain Reactions” Feared

    Climate hazards such as extreme heat, drought and storms could trigger “cascading impacts” that may be felt around the world within the next decade, warns a study released ahead of the UN climate summit, COP26.

  • Historical Analysis Finds No Precedent for the Rate of Coal, Gas Power Decline Needed to Limit Climate Change to 1.5C

    Limiting climate change to the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Climate Agreement will likely require coal and gas power use to decline at rates that are unprecedented for any large country, an analysis of decadal episodes of fossil fuel decline in 105 countries between 1960 and 2018 shows.

  • Increasing Hydrogen Energy Requires All Technologies to Be Pushed Forward

    No single hydrogen technology should be prioritized, says a new study, and the production, distribution, and use of hydrogen needs to be optimized.

  • Extreme Rain Heads for California’s Burn Scars, Raising the Risk of Mudslides – This Is What Cascading Climate Disasters Look Like

    Wildfires strip away vegetation and leave the soil less able to absorb water. A downpour on these vulnerable landscapes can quickly erode the ground as fast-moving water carries debris and mud with it. Wildfires strip away vegetation and leave the soil less able to absorb water. A downpour on these vulnerable landscapes can quickly erode the ground as fast-moving water carries debris and mud with it. Such consecutive events lead to human disasters. Studies show climate change is raising the risk of multiple compound disasters.

  • Biden Administration Places Climate Change at the Center of U.S. Security Planning

    The administration on Thursday has released a series of reports addressing the increasingly severe impact of climate change on U.S. national security – an impact which is only going to grow in severity and scope. Taken together, the reports signal a new stage in U.S. policy, one which places climate change at the center of the U.S. security planning.

  • Rising Temperatures Reshaping, Exacerbating Global Security Landscape

    More than just altering the environment, climate change is threatening to permanently and dangerously reshape the global security landscape. These are the conclusions of a series of new assessments by U.S. military, intelligence, and security officials. “As climate change converges with other drivers — especially geostrategic competition, emerging technology and global-demographic trends — it is reshaping the risk landscape,” DHS said in its assessment. “The corrosive impact of these trends will make nations increasingly vulnerable to domestic instability, with sweeping implications for regional and border security and core national security interests.”.

  • Urbanites Face Heightened Flood Risk as a Result of Forest Loss

    The devastating impact of flooding in Queensland’s north, exacerbated by forest loss, is badly affecting urban areas. Researchers found that deforestation near urban areas exposes these areas to much larger amounts of water flowing on the soil surface soon after a rainfall.