climate change

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Climate Change's Next Victim: NYC?

Critics say city isn't doing enough to prepare for rising oceans, bigger storms

(Newser) - Rising oceans and increasingly violent storms are worrying officials in New York City, as scientists warn that if action isn't taken soon, flood waters could prompt thousands to lose their homes or paralyze the city's transportation system, reports the New York Times . The city is considering a number...

Caribbean Coral Reefs Are Mostly Dead
Caribbean Coral Reefs
Are Mostly Dead
report says
Sep 7, 2012 4:53 PM CDT

Caribbean Coral Reefs Are Mostly Dead

Less than 10% of the reefs have live coral, says report

(Newser) - The coral reefs of the Caribbean are mostly wiped out, according to a new report from a major conservation group. Scientists have found that the reefs have about 8% of live coral coverage, down from about 50% to 60% in the 1970s, reports National Geographic . Some main culprits cited by...

Record Arctic Melt 'Like Doubling CO2'

Oblivion looms for summer sea ice, expert warns

(Newser) - The accelerating loss of Arctic sea ice is having an effect equivalent to doubling the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the problem in the first place, warns one of the world's leading sea ice experts. The ice reflects sunlight, but as it disappears, the energy is absorbed by...

Boston: Faneuil Hall Could End Up Underwater

City begins to prepare for expected flooding

(Newser) - Parts of Boston could end up looking a lot more like Venice, thanks to climate change. The city is prepping for rising water and floods prompted by global warming—certain locations, including the area around historic Faneuil Hall, could actually end up under as much as 10 feet of water....

Arctic Ice Nears Record Melt
 Arctic Ice Nears Record Melt  
Aug 21, 2012 3:16 AM CDT

Arctic Ice Nears Record Melt

It 'just doesn't look like the Arctic Ocean any more'

(Newser) - The amount of sea ice in the Arctic is on course to hit a record low well before the end of melting season, scientists warn. The previous record was set in 2007, but that was a result of a "perfect storm" of conditions, while this year's melt is...

US CO2 Emissions Dive to 20-Year Low

Cheap natural gas has made a huge difference

(Newser) - America's carbon emissions have, amazingly, dropped to levels near where they would be in an alternate reality where President Al Gore signed the Kyoto Protocol. Emissions of the greenhouse gas are at their lowest in 20 years and government officials say the dramatic fall is thanks to cheap natural...

Audit: Feds Have Lousy Oversight of Climate Funds

Tens of millions being allocated, with little accountability

(Newser) - An obscure agency of the State Department has doled out tens of millions of dollars around the world for programs designed to fight climate change, but it's done a remarkably bad job of making sure the money isn't being wasted, according to an internal audit picked up by...

Islands to Be Built in India ... and Towed to Maldives

Dutch design features private islands, golf course with underwater club

(Newser) - Many of the islands that comprise the Maldives could soon be submerged—so replacements are under way. A Dutch firm is designing artificial islands to join some 1,192 islands that sit an average of five feet above sea level, making the Maldives the world's lowest country. Now, the...

NASA Scientist: Global Warming Behind Killer Heat Waves

James Hansen hammers away with statistical analysis

(Newser) - The relentless, weather-gone-crazy type of heat that has blistered the US and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare that it can't be anything but man-made global warming, says a new statistical analysis from a top government scientist. The research by a man often called...

Scientists Find Ancient Rainforest—in Antarctica

Continent was downright balmy 52M years ago

(Newser) - It turns out Antarctica wasn't always an inhospitable expanse of ice. Drilling in the seabed off Antarctica has dug up sediment cores that, scientists say, reveal that a "near-tropical" forest covered the continent about 52 million years ago, the AFP reports. "There wouldn't have been any...

UN Scientist: Blame Extreme Weather on Climate Change

Dire warnings heard at first congressional hearing in two years

(Newser) - Get used to droughts, hurricanes, heat waves, and wildfires, scientists warned Congress today, because the extreme weather is a result of global warming. The comments were made to the Senate's environmental committee during the first hearing on the subject in more than two years, reports the Guardian . "There...

Koch-Funded Climate Skeptic: Oops, Humans Are to Blame

Richard Muller now believes man is 'almost entirely' at fault

(Newser) - Physicist Richard Muller co-founded the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project three years ago to debunk global warming fears, even getting a hefty grant from the conservative Koch brothers for his work. Last fall, he backtracked a bit , admitting the evidence for global warming was solid, but denying you could prove...

New Threat to Ozone Layer: Summer Storms
 New Threat to 
 Ozone Layer: 
 Summer Storms 
study says
Jul 26, 2012 4:08 PM CDT

New Threat to Ozone Layer: Summer Storms

Study points to US skin cancer risk

(Newser) - New research links two major environmental concerns: ozone depletion and climate change. Soaring water vapor from summer storms can damage the ozone layer right over the US, researchers find, and global warming can increase the frequency of such storms. Once the vapor reaches the stratosphere, it can interact with chemicals...

Heat, Drought Savaging US Infrastructure

Roads crack, nuclear plants shut down as weather grows extreme

(Newser) - Farming isn't the only thing being devastated by the country's ongoing drought—much of the US' infrastructure is getting pounded, too, as the record-setting heat takes its toll on concrete, steel, and pavement, reports the New York Times . In Washington, DC, 100-degree temperatures caused a subway to...

To Fight Climate Change, Dump Iron in Water?

Old theory gains traction following experiments

(Newser) - Algae growing around Antarctica is short on iron. For decades, scientists have theorized that iron dumped in the oceans there could help fertilize the algae—and that algae could in turn absorb carbon dioxide, thus battling global warming. While tests have shown that iron can, in fact, fuel algae blooms,...

Mammoth Iceberg Splits From Greenland Glacier

Changes to glacier 'disturbing,' say alarmed scientists

(Newser) - A colossal iceberg twice the size of Manhattan has broken away from the end of Greenland's Petermann glacier. Another, even bigger, iceberg broke from the northerly glacier in 2010 , and scientists had been keeping an eye on a crack near the glacier's tip for years, reports AP . "...

US Had Hottest 12 Months Ever
 US Had Hottest 12 Months Ever 
Jul 9, 2012 2:38 PM CDT

US Had Hottest 12 Months Ever

And the hottest first half of a year ever

(Newser) - If you're still reeling from this weekend's heat wave, this is going to sound especially credible: The US just completed its hottest 12-month stretch ever recorded, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today. That's in part thanks to a warmer-than-average June, which saw 170 all-time high...

Heed These Wildfires, Climate Change Skeptics

Things are only going to get worse unless we change ways: Essayist

(Newser) - Political scientist Mark Lubell has been trying to convince his nuclear engineer dad of the dangers of global warming for years now, and he just got a big helper in the form of Colorado's Waldo Canyon wildfire. Lubell's parents were among those who had to evacuate, he writes...

Climate Change Caused Wildfires
 Climate Change 
 Caused Wildfires 
scientists say
Jul 2, 2012 6:33 PM CDT

Climate Change Caused Wildfires

Warmer temperatures leave states susceptible to record fires

(Newser) - Officially, lightning and suspected arson caused Colorado's record wildfires—but scientists say the real culprit is climate change. The science is simple: Warmer temperatures diminish winter snow and kill off spring rain, leaving state land a parched tinder box ready to go up in flames. And Colorado is not...

Sea Levels Rising Way Faster Than We Thought

National Research Council revamps earlier estimates

(Newser) - Living near a coastline? Sea levels are expected to rise by up to 55 inches worldwide over the next century, according to a study that radically reinterprets the results of climate change. The US National Research Council study, released yesterday, concludes that sea levels will increase 20 to 55 inches...

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