Washington Post: “…By 2100, visitors walking the grounds of California’s Joshua Tree National Park may view exhibits showing what will have been lost — the spiky yucca palms that inspired the park’s name, dwindled to a few rare husks. Climate change could kill most of the park’s iconic trees, wildfires may transform the towering conifer… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Climate Change
National Parks Hit Harder By Climate Change Than Rest of the U.S.
Yale Environment 360: “America’s national parks are warming up and drying out much faster than the rest of the United States, according to a new study on the impacts of climate change on U.S. parks published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The changing conditions are threatening protected ecosystems from the Everglades in Florida to… Continue Reading
How rumors spread on social media during weather disasters
National Science Foundation – New research shows that social media can spread information quickly, but its accuracy cannot be assumed “After hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research to investigate the broad impacts of these disasters. A year later, some of the researchers funded by awards from the agency’s Social, Behavioral,… Continue Reading
Potential Insurance Bill From Hurricane Florence Could Take Toll on Wallets Far From NC Coast
ProPublica – Insurance companies retreated from some communities amid stronger storms, leaving a “last-resort” plan to fill the growing gap: “For years, North Carolina has bet against a storm like Hurricane Florence. Even as nationally known insurance companies pulled out of the state’s coastal communities, development boomed along the shore, despite the threat from a… Continue Reading
The Marine Conservation Planning Database
The Conservation Planning Database: “Given international policy targets and growing recognition of a biodiversity crisis, the number and total extent of protected areas is set to increase significantly in the next few decades. To ensure this planned expansion is effective in halting biodiversity loss, it is critical that new protected areas (and other conservation actions)… Continue Reading
12+ tools and resources useful during hurricanes and other disasters
Poynter, Ren LaForme: “After a quiet summer, hurricane season seems to have awoken with a vengeance. Three hurricanes are churning in the Atlantic, and at least one seems likely to make a destructive landfall on the United States. At the same time, the Pacific is also oddly active. We know this script. On this day… Continue Reading
California Climate Tracker – 1895 to present
“The analysis of climate variability and trends is necessary in managing natural resources and monitoring and understanding the role of climate change. California has a diverse climate, driven by its latitudinal extent, proximity to the Pacific Ocean and cold coastal waters, and complex terrain. From the snow-capped Sierra Nevada to the agricultural lands of the… Continue Reading
Google Launches Environmental Insights Explorer
“The Environmental Insights Explorer analyzes Google Maps data to provide rich insights into the vital signs of our planet. These insights can be used to create carbon baselines and accelerate climate action plans…Climate change’s many environmental, social and economic impacts will continue to escalate if not enough is done to mitigate emissions. Right now, there’s… Continue Reading
NOAA – State of the Climate 2017
“Each year from January to June, hundreds of scientists from around the world crunch the numbers on the previous year’s climate, reviewing and cataloging everything from sea level, to the number and strength of hurricanes in every part of the ocean, to the size of the Arctic sea ice pack. Led by scientists from NOAA’s… Continue Reading
Yale Climate Opinion Maps 2018
The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication released their 2018 Climate Opinion Maps last month (August 2018). Users may create queries that will deliver results specific to “how Americans’ climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, and policy support vary at the state, congressional district, metro area, and county levels.” “…Public opinion estimates are produced using a… Continue Reading
Study – Climate change could render many of Earth’s ecosystems unrecognizable
Washington Post: “… researchers are reporting Thursday in the journal Science [in a] sweeping survey [that] global fossil and temperature records from the past 20,000 years suggests that Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems are at risk of another, even faster transformation unless aggressive action is taken against climate change…” “Even as someone who has spent more than… Continue Reading
How plastic bags came to rule our lives, and why we can’t quit them.
Via TOPIC: “The story of the plastic bag—the kind that is so ubiquitous in grocery stores, in gutters, in the branches of trees—is a story of persuasion, one that began with a battle between paper and plastic in the hearts of the American people. “People are fond of the old paper bag,” Peter Bunten explained… Continue Reading
