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Global Flash Droughts Expected to Increase in a Warming Climate
The rapid development of unexpected drought, called flash drought, can severely impact agricultural and ecological systems with ripple effects that extend even further. Researchers are assessing how our warming climate will affect the frequency of flash droughts and the risk to croplands globally.
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Modeling Catastrophic Impacts, Risk Assessment of Climate Change
The insurance and reinsurance sector are at the forefront of translating weather and climate information into financial and societal risks, but the industry’s focus has been on use of catastrophe models rather than incorporating climate change data and projections that can help characterize future conditions.
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Self-Repairing Oyster Reefs to Protect Florida’s Coastlines
Engineers and scientists are developing oyster-based shoreline protection for U.S. coastlines. The researchers seek to create self-repairing, biological and human-engineered reef-mimicking structures. The reef structures will be used to mitigate coastal flooding, erosion, and storm damage that threaten civilian and DOD infrastructure and personnel.
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In Years After El Niño, Global Economy Loses Trillions
In the years it strikes, the band of warm ocean water known as El Niño that spans from South America to Asia triggers far-reaching weather changes resulting in devastating floods, crop-killing droughts, plummeting fish populations, and an uptick in tropical diseases.
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Long-Term Coastal Cliff Loss Due to Climate Change
The dangers of coastal erosion are an all-too-familiar reality for the modern residents of California’s iconic mountainous coastal communities. New tool brings historical perspective to the topic of how to manage these disappearing coastlines.
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High-Resolution Western Drought Forecast Could Be on Horizon
A new computer modeling technique offers the potential to generate months-ahead summertime drought forecasts across the Western United States with the capability of differentiating between dry conditions at locations just a couple of miles apart.
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Colorado Law Will Require Homes to Be More Wildfire Resistant
The state will develop building standards for homes in high-risk areas after ProPublica’s reporting showed previous efforts to require fire-resistant housing materials had been repeatedly stymied by developers and municipalities.
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A Lawsuit to Protect Streams Could Take Away an Important Firefighting Tool
The U.S. Forest Service uses millions of gallons of fire retardant to fight wildfires. There have long been concerns about what happens when that mix of ammonium phosphate, emulsifiers, and colorants finds its way into water.
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One in Six Properties in England Will Be Affected by Flood Risk by 2050: Study
Flood risk affects English residential property values. New report shows that residential properties at risk of flooding are sold at 8.14% lower on average compared to non-affected properties. The report shines a light on the extent to which climate change and the increased propensity of natural disasters is affecting the housing market.
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Commercial Investors Shift Perspective of Coastal Properties in Face of Climate Change
Investors in commercial real estate are rethinking the values of coastal properties exposed to flood risk — even in northern U.S. locales that haven’t suffered flood damage, according to researchers. This shift in perspective has implications for investors and developers alike as they determine the value of coastal properties amid a changing climate.
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Controlled Burns Help Prevent Wildfires, Experts Say. But Regulations Have Made It Nearly Impossible to Do These Burns.
Even though the 2021 Marshall Fire made it clear that the fire threat posed by Colorado’s grasslands endangers large urban areas, federal, state and local rules continue to make it difficult to address the risk.
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“Statistically Impossible” Heat Extremes Are Here: Study Identifies the Regions Mmost at Risk
In the summer of 2021, Canada’s all-time temperature record was smashed by almost 5℃. Its new record of 49.6℃ is hotter than anything ever recorded in Spain, Turkey or indeed anywhere in Europe. One of the most important questions when studying these extreme heatwaves is “how long do we have to wait until we experience another similarly intense event?”. This is a challenging question but, fortunately, there is a branch of statistics, called extreme value theory, that provides ways in which we can answer that exact question using past events.
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Deadly Lessons from Fukushima Changed Japan and the World
The strongest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history triggered a massive tsunami in 2011. Together, the two natural disasters claimed close to 20,000 lives, making the event one of the deadliest in Japan’s history. But the crisis didn’t end there.
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Colorado River Water Plan Could Trigger Unprecedented Supply Cuts, Ripple Effects on Key Industries
Decades of drought and overuse have brought the river’s water levels to historic lows. States in the Lower Colorado River Basin — Arizona, California and Nevada — now must choose between one of three options proposed by the federal government. The economic impact of the river’s dwindling water supplies is could be disastrous.
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Creating a Tsunami Early Warning System Using Artificial Intelligence
Tsunamis are incredibly destructive waves that can destroy coastal infrastructure and cause loss of life. Early warnings for such natural disasters are difficult because the risk of a tsunami is highly dependent on the features of the underwater earthquake that triggers it.
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The long view
Trump Aims to Shut Down State Climate Policies
President Donald Trump has launched an all-out legal attack on states’ authority to set climate change policy. Climate-focused state leaders say his administration has no legal basis to unravel their efforts.