Drought

Southwest Megadrought: Climate-Driven Drop in Lake Powell could Leave Residents with no Water or Electricity

By Autriya Maneshni (Cronkite News ) PHOENIX – Water levels on Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir in the U.S., have dropped below 3,525 feet – a critical level that threatens water supplies and hydroelectricity for millions of people. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had predicted the threshold wouldn’t be reached until August. The reservoir’s […]

Climate Crisis

Russia-driven Energy Crisis leads Wind Superpower Scotland to Floor the Accelerator on Renewables

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Scotland actually has a “Net Zero and Energy Minister,” Michael Matheson. Jane McLeod at the National writes that Matheson sees the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a wake-up call for Scotland to hit the accelerator regarding its green energy plans. Scotland already gets nearly 100% of […]

Agriculture

UN Climate Panel: 50% of Species have fled toward Poles, as Extinctions and Food and Water Shortages Burgeon

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued its 2022 report and the scientists have bad news for us. This report is far more pessimistic than its predecessors. The climate emergency is being caused by humans burning coal, petroleum and methane gas for electricity and heating and cooling buildings. […]

Climate Crisis

UN: Pace of Climate Change too fast for many Plant and Animal Species to Adapt

China Dialogue

Shifting seasons, intensifying wildfires and noise pollution are flagged as increasingly urgent environmental issues in a bleak report by the UN Environment Programme. ( China Dialogue ) – The pace of climate change is accelerating too fast for many plant and animal species to adapt, and leading to profound impacts on species’ ability to survive […]

Climate Crisis

Scorching the Earth: When Big Oil and Gas Flare, the Methane traps 80x as Much Heat as C02

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Nicole Sadek, Zoha Tunio and Sarah Hunt | Howard Center for Investigative Journalism< When companies flare, they do more than burn natural gas. They burn money ( Cronkite News ) – Every year, U.S. oil and gas companies set fire to billions of cubic feet of natural gas and directly vent an additional unknown […]

Climate Crisis

Climate-related damage to German forests ‘unprecedented’: German Aerospace Center

Clean Energy Wire

By Edgar Meza | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have for the first time determined how much of Germany’s forests have been lost due to heat, drought and pest infestation using satellite-based Earth observation data. The results are alarming: From January 2018 through April 2021, tree […]

Climate Crisis

Climate data reveals a hottest, driest Southwest in 1,200 Years, with more extremes possible

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Alexia Stanbridge | – ( Cronkite News ) – WASHINGTON – The megadrought that’s gripped Arizona and the Southwest since 2000 is the driest in more than 1,200 years, and it is likely to continue for the near future, according to a new report. Those findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, […]

Climate Crisis

First solar canal project is a win for water, energy, air and climate in California

The Conversation

By Roger Bales | – Mounting evidence suggests the western United States is now in its worst megadrought in at least 1,200 years. Groundwater supplies are being overpumped in many places, and the dryness, wildfires and shrinking water supplies are making climate change personal for millions of people. As an engineer, I have been working […]

Climate Crisis

Climate-Driven Heat Waves stop Carbon Absorption by Forests like Tasmania’s Eucalyptus Stands

The Conversation

By Tim Wardlaw | – Southern Tasmania’s tall eucalyptus forests are exceptionally good at taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converting it into wood. For many years, we have believed these forests had a reasonable buffer of safety from climate change, due to the cool, moist environment. Unfortunately, my research published today shows these […]