• Climate change to deplete some US water basins, reduce irrigated crop yields

    A new study by MIT climate scientists, economists, and agriculture experts finds that certain hotspots in the country will experience severe reductions in crop yields by 2050, due to climate change’s impact on irrigation.

    The most adversely affected region, according to the researchers, will be the Southwest. Already a water-stressed part of the country, this region is projected to experience reduced precipitation by midcentury. Less rainfall to the area will mean reduced runoff into water basins that feed irrigated fields.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Most comprehensive database on past global changes is online

    Climate scientists will now be able to more accurately study the pattern and causes of global surface temperature changes than was previously possible, thanks to a large international team of scientists contributing to PAGES (Past Global Changes), one of the University of Bern’s affiliated climate organizations.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Huge Antarctic iceberg finally breaks free

    After months of ‘hanging by a thread’ a vast iceberg the size of Norfolk has finally broken off Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf.  Around 30 metres of this 190m thick block of ice sits above the sea surface.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • The most effective individual steps to tackle climate change aren't being discussed

    Governments and schools are not communicating the most effective ways for individuals to reduce their carbon footprints, according to new research.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Water scarcity hotspots shifting

    Reservoirs, dams and irrigation systems have shifted global patterns of water scarcity over three decades, “causing a distinct pattern of beneficiaries and losers”, according to recent research.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • "Big Muddy" Missouri River needs a plan

    As the Missouri River flows across the Great Plains to where it meets the Mississippi River at St. Louis, it accumulates such a large sediment load that it has earned the nickname “Big Muddy.”  A recent University of Illinois study looks at the history of the river, damages and changes from the 2011 flood, and its current post-flood condition. The study concludes that the river needs a comprehensive plan with multi-state cooperation.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Warmer Artic linked to weaker vegetation growth

    To the vexation of school children and elation for their parents, residents living along the I-95 corridor of the northeastern United States know that El Niño in the Pacific will result in a dryer, warmer, and less snowy winter throughout the Appalachian, as certain as the adage ‘April showers bring May flowers.’ Such meteorological patterns where interannual variability in ocean temperatures affects climate have been long established in the field.

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Stalagmites from Iranian Cave Foretell Grim Future for Middle East Climate

    New study showed relief from current dry spell unlikely within next 10,000 years

    >> Read the Full Article
  • NASA Found Heavy Rainfall in Hurricane Eugene

    When Hurricane Eugene was nearing its peak, NASA analyzed the storm's heavy rainfall over the open waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. That rainfall has lessened as Eugene has weakened to a tropical storm on July 11.

    Hurricane Eugene formed on July 7, 2017, in the eastern Pacific Ocean south of the Baja Peninsula. On July 8 at 10:36 p.m. EDT (July 9 at 0236 UTC) the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed over the storm and measured rainfall intensity. 

    >> Read the Full Article
  • Warm winter events in the arctic are becoming more frequent, lasting longer

    Arctic winter warming events – winter days when temperatures peak above minus 10 degrees Celsius – are a normal part of the Arctic climate over the ice-covered Arctic Ocean, but new research finds they are becoming more frequent and lasting longer than they did three decades ago.

    new study analyzing winter air temperatures over the Arctic Ocean from 1893 to 2017 shows that since 1980, an additional six Arctic winter warming events are occurring each winter at the North Pole and these events are lasting about 12 hours longer, on average. In December 2015, scientists recorded a temperature of 2.2 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Central Arctic, the warmest temperature ever recorded in this region from December through March.

    >> Read the Full Article