Environment

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”.
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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.
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Cities Worldwide Aren’t Adapting to Climate Change Quickly Enough
Climate change is magnifying threats such as flooding, wildfires, tropical storms and drought. cities are quickly becoming more vulnerable to extreme weather events and permanent shifts in their climate zones. The problem is that the pace of climate change is accelerating much more rapidly than urban areas are taking steps to adapt to it.
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Nuclear War's Smoke Would Cause Climate Change, Threatening Global Food Supplies
Nuclear war would cause many immediate fatalities, but smoke and soot from the resulting fires would also cause climate change lasting up to fifteen years, threatening worldwide food production and human health, according to a new study.
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How Marsh Grass Protects Shorelines
As climate change brings greater threats to coastal ecosystems, new research can help planners leverage the wave-damping benefits of marsh plants.
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U.S. Hit with $18 Billion Weather and Climate Disasters So Far This Year
The United States saw an unprecedented eighteen separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the first nine months of the year, September 2021 was the 5th-warmest September on record.
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Urban Areas More Likely to Have Precipitation-Triggered Landslides
Urban areas may be at greater risk for precipitation-triggered landslides than rural areas, according to a new study that could help improve landslide predictions and hazard and risk assessments. Researchers found that urban landslide hazard was up to 10 times more sensitive to variations in precipitation than in rural areas.
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Assessing Global Electricity Generation Potential from Rooftop Solar Photovoltaics
The first detailed global assessment of the electricity generation potential of rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) technology has important implications for sustainable development and climate change mitigations efforts.
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Nuclear Physics Used to probe Floridan Aquifer Threatened by Climate Change
Florida is known for water. Between its beaches, swamps, storms and humidity, the state is soaked. And below its entire surface lies the largest freshwater aquifer in the nation. As rising sea levels threaten coastal areas, scientists are using an emerging nuclear dating technique to track the ins and outs of water flow.
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Record-Breaking Texas Drought More Severe Than Previously Thought
In 2011, Texas experienced one of its worst droughts ever, with the dry, parched conditions causing more than $7 billion in crop and livestock losses, sparking wildfires, pushing power grids to the limit, and reducing reservoirs to dangerously low levels. A new study finds that the drought was worse than previously thought.
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