Climate Change
Analysis
- Asheville tragedy shows there are no climate change safe havens: Experts (ABC, September 30, 2024)
- Scientists identify new Antarctic ice sheet ‘tipping point,’ warning future sea level rise may be underestimated (CNN, June 25, 2024)
- Climate change is deadly. Exactly how deadly? Depends who’s counting (NPR, June 10, 2024)
- Scientist raises concerns after climate models fail to explain record heat last year: ‘We need answers for why 2023 turned out to be the warmest year’ (TCD, May 15, 2024)
- New poll uncovers what nearly 70% of Americans believe the US should do immediately to curb rising temperatures: ‘There’s a sense of urgency’ (TCD, May 6 ,2024)
- With Climate Damages At $38 Trillion Annually, The Economy Needs Action Now (Forbes, April 22, 2024)
- 2023 was warmer than any year before it, will this year be even hotter? (USA Today, April 12, 2024)
- Coastal Cities Need To Be Better Built To Survive Our Warming Future (Forbes, April 11, 2024)
- After climate tipping points, change will come slowly, then all at once (The Hill, April 11, 2024)
- A new way to quantify climate change impacts: “Outdoor days” (MIT, March 22, 2024)
- Risk experts warn of global catastrophe predicted to occur within next decade: Risks Could Hit the Point of No Return (TCD, February 29, 2024)
- Turns Out Earth’s Temperature Timeline Is Wrong (Popular Mechanics, February 15, 2024)
- Have we been talking about climate change all wrong? (National Geographic, February 9, 2024)
- Visualizing Climate Disasters’ Surprising Cascading Effects (Scientific American, February 1, 2024)
- Climate change has killed 4 million people since 2000 — and that’s an underestimate (Grist, January 30, 2024)
- Why cold weather doesn’t mean climate change is fake (National Geographic, January 16, 2024)
- Thousands of U.S. Cities Could Become Virtual Ghost Towns by 2100 (Scientific American, January 11, 2024)
- The climate future arrived in 2023. It left scars across the planet. (Washington Post, December 31, 2023)
- UK government is not prepared for climate disasters, says spending watchdog (The Guardian, December 6, 2023)
- Earth on verge of five catastrophic climate tipping points, scientists warn (The Guardian, December 5, 2023)
- Global Warming Is Even Worse Than We Thought, Scientist Says (Futurist, November 5, 2023)
- New study warns climate is warming even faster than some think (Axios, November 2, 2023)
- Why it matters that Earth is on the brink of 1.5 degrees Celsius in warming (ABC News, November 1, 2023)
- Why many scientists are now saying climate change is an all-out emergency (Washington Post, October 30, 2023)
- Antarctica is melting and we all need to adapt, a trio of climate analyses show (NPR, October 27, 2023)
- Our Fragile Earth: How Close Are We to Climate Catastrophe? (Scientific American, September 26, 2023)
- A new climate change report offers something unique: hope (NPR, September 26, 2023)
- Climate-linked ills threaten humanity (Washington Post, September 9, 2023)
- Heat waves hitting U.S. and Europe ‘virtually impossible’ without climate change, researchers say (NBC, July 25, 2023)
- World is on brink of catastrophic warming, U.N. climate change report says (Washington Post, March 20, 2023)
- Will global warming make temperature less deadly? (Washington Post, February 16, 2023): “But cold is far more deadly. For every death linked to heat, nine are tied to cold.”
- So-called Doomsday Glacier is ‘in trouble,’ scientists say after finding surprising formations under ice shelf (CNN, February 15, 2023)
- Biggest climate toll in year of ‘devastating’ disasters revealed (The Guardian, December 27, 2022)
- From unnatural disasters to climate shadow: How will we talk about climate change in 2023? (Euronews, December 20, 2022)
- 20 climate photographs that changed the world (The Guardian, November 5, 2022)
- New Measure of Climate’s Toll: Disasters are now Common Across U.S. (New York Times, November 16, 2022)
- We Need to Rethink How to Adapt to the Climate Crisis (New York Times, October 30, 2022)
- ‘Doomsday glacier,’ which could raise sea level by several feet, is holding on ‘by its fingernails,’ scientists say (CNN, September 6, 2022)
- Greenland ice losses set to raise global sea levels by nearly a foot, new research shows (CNN, August 29, 2022)
- Why the Middle East may be too hot to live in by the end of the century (CNN, August 19, 2022)
- Do these heat waves mean climate change is happening faster than expected? (MIT Technology Review, July 21, 2022): “General warming predictions are still on track, but recent heat waves are a stress test for the modeling of extreme events.”
- Humanity faces ‘collective suicide’ over climate crisis, warns UN chief (The Guardian, July 18, 2022): “António Guterres tells governments ‘half of humanity is in danger zone’, as countries battle extreme heat”
- Methane much more sensitive to global heating than previously thought – study (The Guardian, July 5, 2022): “Greenhouse gas has undergone rapid acceleration and scientists say it may be due to atmospheric changes”
- The Nightmare Politics and Sticky Science of Hacking the Climate (Mother Jones, July 2, 2022): “Spraying aerosols and sucking carbon from the air will lower temperatures—but beware the unintended consequences.”
- Graphic shows all the changes in global temperature since 1850 (CNN, June 24, 2022)
- Australia’s Spy Chief to Assess Climate Change Security Risks (Bloomberg, June 21, 2022): “A 2021 report by the US National Intelligence Council warned of a growing risk of conflicts over water and migration, and more food insecurity, by 2040 due to climate change. The report labeled island nations near Australia in the Pacific as among the most highly vulnerable in the world.”
- Earth Has a 50-50 Chance of Hitting a Grim Global Warming Milestone in the Next Five Years (Inside Climate News, May 10, 2022): “The World Meteorological Organization projects global temperatures will briefly break the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming mark soon, but that won’t mean it’s broken the Paris Agreement limit.”
- ‘It’s now or never’: UN climate report’s 4 urgent takeaways (National Geographic, April 4, 2022)
- ‘A year after year disaster:’ The American West could face a ‘brutal’ century under climate change (USA Today, April 2, 2022): “The West, once a beacon for all that was new and hopeful in America, could become an example of the grim, apocalyptic future the nation faces from climate change.”
- UN report: Climate change is so severe we’re running out of time to adapt (Axios, March 6, 2022)
- Climate emergency a ‘national security’ concern, says Red Cross (The Guardian, February 27, 2022)
- Historic U.S. weather events in 2021, by the numbers (Washington Post, December 27, 2021): “Record heat, frigid cold snaps, torrential downpours and relentless drought are among the memorable weather events this year.”
- Unprecedented Midwest wind storm caps 2021’s siege of extreme weather (Washington Post, December 16, 2021)
- From floods and wildfires to inaction and urgency: These are the top climate and weather stories of 2021 (CNN, December 22, 2021)
- A warming world could add more fuel to tornadoes, scientists say (Washington Post, December 12, 2021)
- The American West went through climate hell in 2021. But there’s still hope (LA Times, December 1, 2021): “There’s still hope for the future. But in a part of the country mythologized for its rugged individualism, going it alone will be a recipe for disaster, climate experts say. States and tribes, big cities and rural towns, liberals and conservatives alike will need to cooperate.”
- This is what the world looks like if we pass the crucial 1.5-degree climate threshold (NPR, November 8, 2021)
- Climate policies could spark an ‘even worse’ energy crisis, Saudi finance minister says (CNBC, October 21, 2021)
- ‘This is our last chance’: Biden urged to act as climate agenda hangs by a thread (The Guardian, October 18, 2021)
- Climate-fueled disasters are increasing, FEMA chief warns (Roll Call, October 5, 2021): “Criswell described how the agency pre-positioned food, water and other supplies, but Ida’s power still took many by surprise. Fueled by warmer-than-normal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, the storm’s wind speeds rose from 85 miles per hour to 150 miles per hour in less than 24 hours. It continued as a major storm after landfall and eventually wreaked havoc across parts of the Northeast.”
- U.N. weather agency says world ill-prepared for ‘looming water crisis’ (The Seattle Times, October 5, 2021): “Currently, more than 2 billion people live in “water-stressed countries” where they lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation, according to the report, “The State of Climate Services 2021: Water.”
- At least 85% of the world’s population has been affected by climate change, new study shows (Washington Post, October 12, 2021)
- Triple jeopardy: Children face dark future of climate disasters (NBC News, September 27, 2021): “A child born in 2021 will live on average through seven times as many heat waves, twice as many wildfires and nearly three times as many droughts, crop failures and river floods as their grandparents, according to a study released Sunday that looks at how different generations will be affected by climate change.”
- As climate pledges fall short, U.N. predicts globe could warm by catastrophic 2.7 degrees Celsius (Washington Post, September 17, 2021)
- The planet is on a ‘catastrophic’ global warming path, UN report shows (CNN, September 17, 2021): “The planet is careening toward warming of 2.7 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — far above what scientists say the world should be targeting — according to a report on global emissions targets by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.”
- Climate Change Is Bankrupting America’s Small Towns (New York Times, September 2, 2021): “Climate shocks are pushing small rural communities like Fair Bluff, many of which were already struggling economically, to the brink of insolvency. Rather than bouncing back, places hit repeatedly by hurricanes, floods and wildfires are unraveling: residents and employers leave, the tax base shrinks and it becomes even harder to fund basic services. “
- Many measures of Earth’s health are at worst levels on record, NOAA finds (Washington Post, August 26, 2021): “[A]ccording to the newly released “State of the Climate in 2020” report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth is arguably in worse shape than it’s been. “
- If the Hardiest Species Are Boiled Alive, What Happens to Humans? (The Atlantic, July 31, 2021): ” In changing our planet’s climate, we’re permanently altering the natural world that is our life-support system. And we’re seeing this happen in real time.”
- The Little Ice Age shows that small climate changes can have devastating consequences (Fast Company, July 27, 2021): “During the “years without a summer,” small global changes in climate from volcanic eruptions dramatically altered the likelihood of extreme local weather. The same thing is happening today.”
- Climate Scientists Meet As Floods, Fires, Droughts And Heat Waves Batter Countries (NPR, July 26, 2021): ” More than 200 of the world’s leading climate scientists will begin meeting today to finalize a landmark report summarizing how Earth’s climate has already changed, and what humans can expect for the rest of the century. “
- Amid summer of fire and floods, a moment of truth for climate action (Washington Post, July 24, 2021): ” ate change is intensifying and altering everyday life. What will it take for leaders to finally act?”
- Climate fear as extreme weather events leave trail of destruction across the world (The Mirror, July 22, 2021): ” Siberian forest wildfires, fatal floods in Europe, North America’s roasting temperatures and our Met Office ’s first heat warning show the climate crisis is accelerating faster than scientists and campaigners expected. “
- The scientists hired by big oil who predicted the climate crisis long ago (The Guardian, July 2, 2021): “As early as 1958, the oil industry was hiring scientists and engineers to research the role that burning fossil fuels plays in global warming.”
- Why scaling up climate adaptation is so critical this year (UNOCHA, January 26, 2021): This article provides five reasons to upscale CCA.
Current Conditions
- 2024 will be the first year on record to smash a warming limit scientists warned about (CNN, November 7, 2024)
- Tenth consecutive monthly heat record alarms and confounds climate scientists (The Guardian, April 8, 2024)
- Critical Atlantic Ocean current system is showing early signs of collapse, prompting warning from scientists (CNN, February 9, 2024)
- The world just marked a year above a critical limit of 1.5 degrees scientists have warned about (CNN, February 8, 2024)
- New study says the world blew past 1.5 degrees of warming 4 years ago(Grist, February 5, 2024)
- NASA scientist on 2023 temperatures: “We’re frankly astonished” (Ars Technica, January 12, 2024)
- 2023’s extreme storms, heat, and wildfires – how global warming fuels climate disasters (New Hampshire Bulletin, January 1, 2024)
- The weather is getting cold. Global warming is still making weather weird. (USA Today, December 12, 2023)
- ‘Gobsmackingly bananas’: scientists stunned by planet’s record September heat (The Guardian, October 5, 2023)
- America Could Be in for a Rough Fall (The Atlantic, September 6, 2023)
- It’s not just hot. Climate anomalies are emerging around the globe. (Washington Post, July 31, 2023)
- ‘Something weird is going on’: search for answers as Antarctic sea ice stays at historic lows (The Guardian, July 29, 2023)
- A crucial system of ocean currents is heading for a collapse that ‘would affect every person on the planet’ (CNN, July 25, 2023)
- An Ominous Heating Event Is Unfolding in the Oceans (Wired, April 28, 2023): “Average sea surface temperatures have soared to record highs, and stayed there. It’s a worrying signal of an ocean in crisis.”
- Europe’s glaciers melted at record rate (Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2023): “U.N. report finds Swiss glaciers lost 6% of their volume in 2022”
- What Earth was like last time CO2 levels were so crazily high (Mashable, April 18, 2023): “We’re on our way to the Pliocene.”
- Fort Lauderdale begins long recovery as floodwaters recede (CNN, April 14, 2023): “This is just the latest instance of record rainfall striking US cities, after several 1-in-1,000 year rains struck last year, including in Dallas, eastern Kentucky, St. Louis and Yellowstone National Park.“
- Deepening Florida drought hits ranchers, growers (Wall Street Journal, April 11, 2023)
- Seas have drastically risen along southern U.S. coast in past decade (Washington Post, April 10, 2023)
- Why California’s floods may be ‘only a taste’ of what’s to come in a warmer world (NPR, April 8, 2023)
- ‘Shocked’ by the loss: Scientists sound the alarm on New Zealand’s melting glaciers (CNN, April 6, 2023)
- The oceans just reached their hottest temperature on record as El Niño looms. Here are 6 things to watch for (CNN, April 1, 2023)
- ‘Extreme situation’: Antarctic sea ice hits record low (The Guardian, February 15, 2023)
- So-called Doomsday Glacier is ‘in trouble,’ scientists say after finding surprising formations under ice shelf (CNN, February 15, 2023)
- Oceans were the hottest ever recorded in 2022, analysis shows (The Guardian, January 11, 2023)
- ‘A world rapidly warming’: The past eight years were the eight warmest on record for planet (January 10, 2023)
- Warm weather pushes Northern Hemisphere snow cover to near record lows (Washington Post, January 6, 2023)
- Climate change’s impact intensifies as U.S. prepares to take action (Washington Post, August 11, 2022)
- ‘The new normal’: how Europe is being hit by a climate-driven drought crisis (The Guardian, August 8, 2022): “More than 100 French municipalities have no running drinking water and are being supplied by truck, green transition minister Christophe Béchu said, adding: “We are going to have to get used to episodes of this type. Adaptation is no longer an option, it’s an obligation.”
- Coastal Flooding in the U.S. on the Rise as Sea Levels Climb, Scientists Say (Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2022): “Unusually high tides driven by rising seas sloshed water onto coastal areas more than 500 times over the past year, according to the report.”
- The planet is on fire — but 2022 won’t crack the grim top 5 list of warmest years on record (GRID News, July 20, 2022)
- World in photos: Where the earth is burning (Grid, July 1, 2022: “Several parts of the world have never been hotter”
- ‘Historic’ weather: why a cocktail of natural disasters is battering the US (The Guardian, June 18, 2022): “These layered disasters offer a glimpse of what’s to come. As temperatures continue to climb, extreme events will not just increase – they’re more likely to overlap, causing more calamity and testing the limits of the nation’s resilience and recovery.”
- This Year’s Extreme Weather Is Just Getting Started (Wired, June 20, 2022): “Climate change and natural variability are making 2022 a year of big weather events—so get ready for more heat waves, droughts, and hurricanes.”
- America is staring down a summer of disasters (Axios, June 8, 2022): “The U.S. is in store for another summer of extreme heat, hurricanes, droughts and wildfires — threats that are all escalating because of climate change.”
- Western heat wave sets records, fuels fire near Boulder, Colo. (Washington Post, March 27, 2022): “Las Vegas and Death Valley soared to 93 and 104 degrees, setting March records”
- It’s 70 degrees warmer than normal in eastern Antarctica. Scientists are flabbergasted. (The Washington Post, March 18, 2022)
- Western megadrought is worst in 1,200 years, intensified by climate change, study finds (LA Times, February 14, 2022)
- ‘Extraordinarily warm’: winter is fastest-heating season in most of US (The Guardian, January 12, 2022)
- Hottest ocean temperatures in history recorded last year (The Guardian, January 12, 2022)
- Cold, Heat, Fires, Hurricanes, and Tornadoes: The Year in Weather Disasters (Washington Post, December 17, 2021)
- The West Sizzled in a November Heat Wave and Snow Drought (Inside Climate News, December 10, 2021)
- Extreme heat exposure across the world has tripled since 1980s, study finds (The Guardian, October 4, 2021)
- The Middle East is running out of water, and parts of it are becoming uninhabitable (CNN, August 22, 2021)
- Rain fell at the normally snowy summit of Greenland for the first time on record (CNN, August 19, 2021)
- July Was The Hottest Month In Recorded Human History (NPR, August 13, 2021)
- “Climate change has arrived in Germany”: What’s fueling the floods (CNN, July 16, 2021): ” Intense rainfall rates are becoming more common in the warming climate, as warmer air can hold more water vapor that is available to fall as rain. “
- The West catches fire while the East goes under water as climate change fuels both extremes (NBC News, July 13, 2021)
- ‘We thought it wouldn’t affect us’: heatwave forces climate reckoning in Pacific north-west (The Observer, July 3, 2021): “Left-leaning states had focused on how global heating would affect others. Then the ‘heat dome’ arrived.”
- Ground Temperatures Hit 118 Degrees in the Arctic Circle (Gizmodo, June 22, 2021)
- Carbon Dioxide, Which Drives Climate Change, Reaches Highest Level In 4 Million Years (NPR, June 7, 2021)
- There’s a New Definition of ‘Normal’ for Weather (New York Times, May 12, 2021)
- The Earliest East Pacific Tropical Storm on Record, Andres, Formed Sunday (Washington Post, May 10, 2021)
- The new weather normal in the US: Hotter than it used to be, thanks to climate change (USA Today, May 4, 2021)
- Glaciers worldwide melted 30% faster since 2000 (E&E News, April 29, 2021)
- The “Fingerprints of Climate Change” Are Visible in New Climate Normals, NOAA Says (Route Fifty, 4/21/2021)
- September 2020 was the warmest on record, and the year is shaping up to be the warmest on record as well (10/14/2020)
- 2020 Was Tied for the Hottest Year Ever Recorded — But the Disasters Fuled by Climate Change Set It Apart (CNN, 1/8/2021)
- Atlantic Ocean Circulation At Weakest in a Millennium, Say Scientists (The Guardian, 2/26/2021)
Projections
- New research on Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier could reshape sea-level rise predictions (NPR, May 21, 2024)
- Greenland’s melting ice could ruin the Earth’s coastal cities. A new study offers hope. (USA Today, October 19, 2023)
- These are the places that could become ‘unlivable’ as the Earth warms (Washington Post, October 9, 2023): “In the hottest parts of the world, high temperatures and humidity will, for longer stretches, surpass a threshold that even young and healthy people could struggle to survive as the planet warms, a study published Monday says.”
- Long-lost Greenland ice core suggests potential for disastrous sea level rise (CNN, July 20, 2023)
- Miami and New Orleans face greater sea-level threat than already feared (The Guardian, April 10, 2023)
- ‘Scary’ new data on the last ice age raises concerns about future sea levels (Washington Post, April 5, 2023)
- New report paints dire picture of America’s future as climate crisis accelerates (CNN, November 11, 2022)
- World close to ‘irreversible’ climate breakdown, warn major studies (The Guardian, October 27, 2022)
- World on track for more than one disaster a day by 2030, UN warns (Independent, April 27, 2022): “Number of extreme heatwaves in 2030 will be three times the number in 2001 and there will be 30% more droughts”
- A Drop in the Ocean (cnn.com, April 19, 2022): Beautifully illustrated report on the impact of Icelandic glacial melt on global sea level rise, highlighting the counterintuitive phenomenon wherein sea levels are falling in relation to Icelandic coasts on account of geologic processes related to the loss of glacial mass.
- Worst-Case Scenario: Almost 13,000 Federal Facilities Could Be Harmed By Flooding (Government Executive, April 4, 2022)
- Antarctic ice shelves are shattering. How fast will seas rise? (National Geographic, March 28, 2022)
- U.S. sea level to rise by 2050 as much as in past century, NOAA says (Reuters, February 16, 2022)
- As Africa’s glaciers melt, millions face drought and floods, UN says (Reuters, October 19, 2021): “The latest report on the state of Africa’s climate by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and African Union agencies paints a dire picture of the continent’s ability to adapt to increasingly frequent weather disasters.”
- What sea level rise will do to famous American sites, visualized (The Guardian, October 12, 2021)
- UN weather agency warns of water crisis without urgent reforms (Reuters, October 5, 2021): “Climate change is expected to increase water-related hazards such as droughts and floods while the number of people living with water stress is expected to soar due to growing scarcity and population growth, the report warned.”
- Study Projects a Surge in Coastal Flooding, Starting in 2030s (NASA, July 7, 2021): “Led by the members of the NASA Sea Level Change Science Team from the University of Hawaii, the new study shows that high tides will exceed known flooding thresholds around the country more often. What’s more, the floods will sometimes occur in clusters lasting a month or longer, depending on the positions of the Moon, Earth, and the Sun.”
- It’s getting more likely the world will reach a climate tipping point in the next five years (CNN, 5/27/2021): The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Thursday there is now about a 40% chance that the annual average global temperature will temporarily reach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in at least one of the next five years.
- Earth Is Barreling Toward 1.5 Degrees Celsius Of Warming, Scientists Warn (NPR, 5/26/2021): The average temperature on Earth is now consistently 1 degree Celsius hotter than it was in the late 1800s, and that temperature will keep rising toward the critical 1.5-degree Celsius benchmark over the next five years, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization.
Long-Term Implications:
- Climate Change Is Killing Buildings in Slow Motion (Bloomberg, October 21, 2024)
- As climate disasters grow more costly, who should pay the bill? (National Geographic, November 4, 2022)
- The End of Snow Threatens to Upend 76 Million American Lives (Bloomberg, August 3, 2022)
- Climate Change Will Force (US) Coast Guard to Respond to ‘More Intense’ Storms (Government Executive, May 20, 2021)
- Antarctica’s ice sheet is critical to the fate of coastal cities. How much it will melt remains a big question (CNN, May 5, 2021)
- Why Climate Migration May Lead to the Next Great Housing Crisis (NBC, 4/22/2021)
- Climate Tipping Points May Have Been Reached Already, Experts Say (CBS, 4/26/2021)
- Climate change has shifted the Earth’s axis, new study suggests (USA Today 4/26/2021)
- UN warns that world risks becoming ‘uninhabitable hell’ for millions unless leaders take climate action (10/13/2020)
- Top scientists warn of ‘ghastly future’ for planet as leaders underestimate ecological threats (CNN, 1/13/2021)
- The Terrifying Warning Lurking in the Earth’s Ancient Rock Record (Atlantic, March 2021)
- As the Arctic Warms, Lightning Strikes Are More Frequent, Even Near the North Pole (March 28, 2021)
Hazard-Specific Implications
- West Africa heatwave was supercharged by climate crisis, study finds (The Guardian, March 21, 2024)
- How a warming climate is setting the stage for fast-spreading, destructive wildfires (CNN, March 3, 2024)
- Type of storm that drenched New York is up to 20% wetter due to climate crisis (The Guardian, October 2, 2023)
- Hotter days, climate change pose challenges for train safety (The Baltimore Banner, September 19, 2023)
- Big changes are coming for the Colorado River soon—and they could get messy (National Geographic, August 16, 2022)
- “Terrifying” study links risk of over 200 infectious diseases to climate hazards like flooding, heat waves and drought (CBS News, August 8, 2022)
- Summer in America is becoming hotter, longer, and more dangerous (Washington Post, July 2, 2022)
- The West just experienced an aspect of the climate crisis that scientists have warned of for years (CNN, June 16, 2022): “In the middle of a prolonged, water shortage-inducing megadrought, one area, Yellowstone, was overwhelmed by drenching rainfall and rapid snowmelt that — instead of replenishing the ground over a matter of weeks or months — created a torrent of flash flooding that ripped out roads and bridges and caused severe damage to one of the country’s most cherished national parks.”
- Tennessee floods show a pressing climate danger across America: ‘Walls of water’ (Washington Post, August 23, 2021): ” Tennessee’s flash floods underscore the peril climate change poses even in inland areas, where people once thought themselves immune. A warmer atmosphere that holds more water, combined with rapid development and crumbling infrastructure, is turning once-rare disasters into common occurrences. “
- Severe weather rundown: Record-breaking tornado statistics for May 2021 (KXAN, June 10, 2021): This report is interesting because it illustrates how climate change is impacting some hazards in ways that have a net benefit with regards to disaster risk, namely that the number of tornadoes is falling over time, as is the severity of tornadoes. This is not to suggest that climate change is beneficial, but that it has far reaching implications that together shift the way that populations interact with risk.
- Climate change could push temperatures at the Tokyo Olympics to the ‘danger-zone’ for athletes, report warns (CNN, 5/25/2021)
- Air pollution from farms leads to 17,900 U.S. deaths per year, study finds (Washington Post, 5/10/2021)
- As Our World Changes, What We Don’t Know About Parasites Could Be Deadly (Science Alert, 4/26/2021)
- Earthquakes Linked to Rainfall (The Times, 4/26/2021)
- Heavy Rainfall Can Cause Huge Earthquakes (National Geographic, 12/15/2011): This article is provided in reference to the previous article because the research it cites proposes a very different theory about the impact of water on seismicity (namely that it is too much mater, and not too little, that impacts seismic risk).
- Near Record Heat Fuels Severe Storms This Week (CNN, 4/26/2021)
- The Year the West Was Burning – How the 2020 Fire Season Got So Extreme (The Daily Climate, 12/2/2020)
Reports and Resources:
- US Climate Vulnerability Map (STATIC)
- US White House “Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation” Portal
- World Bank “Climate Change Knowledge Portal” (STATIC)
- US Needs Better Climate Forecasting, Wargaming, Report Finds (Defense One, March 31, 2022): See scorecard report below.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability” (3675 pages)
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis” (1300 pages)
- Yale Program on Climate Change Communication Report on International Public Opinion on Climate Change
- US Environmental Protection Agency “Climate Change Indicators in the United States”
- WMO “State of the Global Climate” 2020
- 2018 US National Climate Assessment
- IFRC “Come Heat or High Water”
- Lancet Countdown “The 2020 Report”
- World Meteorological Organization (WMO) “United in Science 2020”
- McKinsey “Climate Risk and Response: Physical Hazards and Socioeconomic Impacts”
- OECD “Climate Finance Report”
Climate Change and Public Health
- Concerning new report warns that a public health crisis is claiming more and more lives: ‘It’s disheartening’ (TCD, February 20, 2024)
- Visualizing Climate Disasters’ Surprising Cascading Effects (Scientific American, February 1, 2024)
- The Impact of Extreme Weather on Older Adults (CNA, January 31, 2024)
- Air pollution raises risk of type 2 diabetes, says landmark Indian study (The Guardian, November 1, 2023)
- Climate change and health (WHO Fact Sheet, October 30, 2021): “Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress.”
Economic Implications
- How forecasts of bad weather can drive up your grocery bill (Grist, June 10, 2024)
- Climate change may cost $38 trillion a year by 2049, study says (Axios, April 18, 2024)
- Global warming is coming for your home (Economist, April 11, 2024)
- How the climate crisis is putting your favorite summer fruits at risk (CNN, March 23, 2024)
- Florida, we need to talk about sea rise and property values (Miami Herald, January 3, 2024)
- Why extreme weather is making sugar more expensive around the globe (Washington Post, December 7, 2023)
- Panama Canal to slash booking slots due to drought over coming months (Reuters, October 31, 2023)
- Shipping industry could lose $10 billion a year battling climate change by 2050 (CNBC, October 30, 2023)
- Climate change could impose ‘substantial financial costs’ on U.S. household finances, Treasury warns (CNBC, October 2, 2023)
- Climate change is hurting Six Flags, SeaWorld and Disney World (CNN, September 6, 2023)
- Accounting for flood risk would lower American house prices by $187bn (The Economist, April 11, 2023)
- How Climate Change Could Sink the US Real Estate Market (Sierra, March 15, 2023)
- Ignoring Climate Risks Has Inflated Property Values in Flood Zones (Science, February 17, 2023)
- Where U.S. house prices may be most overvalued as climate change worsens (Washington Post, February 16, 2023)
- Europe’s snowless ski resorts preview winter in a warming world (Washington Post, January 12, 2023)
- Extreme weather, fueled by climate change, cost the U.S. $165 billion in 2022 (NPR, January 10, 2023)
- Ski resorts are melting. Here’s what that means for winter vacations (CNN, December 10, 2022)
- Virginia Beach confronts inescapable costs of rising seas (Associated Press, October 28, 2022)
- Climate change could wipe $108 billion from U.S. property market, study finds (NBC News, September 20, 2022)
- America’s biggest financial threat isn’t government spending. It’s the cost of climate change (Fast Company, September 15, 2022)
- Sea level rise will most affect the property lines of Florida’s coastal counties, a new report says (NPR, September 9, 2022): This article explains how laws that define public property as being below the mean low tide, mean high tide, or mean higher tide lines will result in a loss of taxable land for communities impacted by sea level rise.
- Opinion: Who should foot the bill for climate disasters? Rich nations, of course (CNN, September 7, 2022)
- Droughts Hurt World’s Largest Economies (Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2022)
- Climate change is a secret driver of inflation (Axios, August 18, 2022)
- America’s biggest financial threat isn’t government spending. It’s the cost of climate change (Fast Company, August 15, 2022)
- Europe’s Rivers Are Running Dry, Disrupting $80 Billion in Trade Routes (Bloomberg, August 10, 2022): “Across Europe, transport is just one of the elements of river-based commerce that’s been upended by climate change. France’s power crisis has worsened because the Rhone and Garonne are too warm to effectively cool nuclear reactors, and Italy’s Po is too low to water rice fields and sustain clams for “pasta alle vongole.””
- Shrinking U.S. cattle herd signals more pain from high beef prices (Reuters, August 9, 2022): “Feed is the largest cost component of raising a cow for beef, so lower grain prices often help to reduce meat prices. But meat companies like Tyson Foods, which reported weaker-than-expected earnings on Monday, must pay top dollar for animals when there are fewer to slaughter. Processors are also paying more for labor, fuel and other items.”
- See why swarms of jellyfish are surrounding this boat in the Mediterranean (CNN, July 26, 2022): “In Israel, rising water temperatures are creating the ideal conditions for swarms of jellyfish and costing the tourism industry $10 million in lost revenue.”
- Yellowstone is this town’s golden ticket. Climate change risks that. (Washington Post, July 25, 2022): “Extreme weather from climate change is putting the pressure on business owners in gateway towns around national parks.”
- Climate change a far greater threat to global economy than Covid-19 pandemic amid rising intensity of heatwaves and floods, Swiss Re says (South China Morning Post, July 17, 2022): “Some US$270 billion worth of economic losses were caused by natural catastrophes worldwide last year, according to Swiss Re”
- Heatflation: How sizzling temperatures drive up food prices (Grist, July 15, 2022)
- ‘Perfect storm’ of crises is widening global inequality, says UN chief (The Guardian, July 2, 2022): “António Guterres says growing north and south divide is ‘morally unacceptable’ and dangerous”
- Coastal home buyers are ignoring rising flood risks, despite clear warnings and rising insurance premiums (The Conversation, March 25, 2022)
- Evaluating Economic Risks and Opportunities for a Flooded Future (estormwater.com, March 8, 2022): “As sea levels continue to rise in coastal communities, so does the demand for innovative solutions that will help them adapt”
- Globe Climate: How does flood risk affect your home’s value? (The Globe and Mail, February 14, 2022): “Neighbourhoods suffering flooding experienced an averaged 8.2 per cent reduction in home selling prices in the six months following the event, relative to homes in similar neighbourhoods nearby that didn’t suffer inundation.”
- U.S. crop insurance payouts rise sharply as climate change worsens droughts, floods (Reuters, January 27, 2022)
- Lumber Prices Are off the Rails Again. Blame Climate Change. (The Atlantic, January 19, 2022): ““The lumber price story is really a climate-change story,” Stinson Dean, a lumber trader in Colorado, recently tweeted. He has argued that climate change has all but dictated the ongoing price rally, going so far as to call the lumber price a “climate price.”“
- Flood Costs in Several States’ Commercial Real Estate Set to Soar (The Street, December 13, 2021)
- Climate Change Physical Risks Are a Growing Threat to Sovereigns (FitchRatings, November 23, 2021): Report detailing the increasing economic risk from climate change for sovereign wealth funds.
- Can the tourism industry survive the climate crisis? (The Guardian, December 2, 2021): “From the Solomon Islands to Denali national park, how five communities reliant on tourism are coping as climate change upends their industry.”
- White House vows to treat climate change as “systemic” financial risk (Axios, October 14, 2021): “Why it matters: Top aides emphasized that framing to promote wide-ranging moves that will weave climate risk into many agencies’ new policies and regulations.”
- Even U.S. bankers are getting anxious about climate change (Grist, September 23, 2021): “Their predictions are dire: As climate change worsens and natural disasters wreak havoc on America’s housing stock, homeowners increasingly default on their mortgages. “
- How the US labor movement is getting to grips with the climate crisis (The Guardian, September 20, 2021): “In Texas and West Virginia, unions are having tough conversations about the future of fossil fuels – and finding new ways to support workers transitioning from oil and coal to cleaner jobs.”
- The California tourist town that’s running out of water: ‘It’s a shock‘ (The Guardian, August 8, 2021): “Because surrounding areas are also facing shortages, the costs of getting tanker trucks full of potable water has nearly doubled over the past few months – from about $350 per 3,500-gallon load to $600, Lopez said.”
- ‘Climate change has become real’: extreme weather sinks prime US tourism site (The Guardian, July 29, 2021): ” At Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border, the water line has dropped to a historic low, taking a heavy toll on the local industry.”
- French wine disaster points to climate change (Axios, June 15, 2021): “As the world warms, growing seasons are shifting their timing, and frosts are changing their frequency and severity, too. The interaction between the two is making prized crops more vulnerable to large temperature swings.”
- ‘Big risk’: California farmers hit by drought change planting plans (Reuters, 3/1/2021)
- Climate change boosted Hurricane Sandy’s damage by $8 billion, study finds (Washington Post, 5/19/2021)
- You Can Taste Climate Change in this Awful Beer (E&E News, 4/28/2021)
- Betting on Florida Real Estate Could Be a Big Mistake (Business Insider, 4/25/2021)
- Flood risk to new homes in England and Wales will increase in disadvantaged areas (Phys.Org, 4/26/2021)
- Drought in Taiwan Pits Chip Makers Against Farmers (New York Times, 4/8/2021)
- Within 20 years, rising sea levels will impact the credit risk of nearly every US coastal county (10/14/2020)
- Banks are far more exposed to climate change risk than they are disclosing (10/19/2020)
- Climate Change and Sovereign Risk: Climate change can have a material impact on sovereign risk through direct and indirect effects on public finances. It raises the cost of capital of climate-vulnerable countries and threatens debt sustainability. Governments must climate-proof their economies and public finances or potentially face an ever-worsening spiral of climate vulnerability and unsustainable debt burdens. (October 2020)
- Miami’s Little Haiti Wasn’t a Target for Developers. Until the Seas Started to Rise. (CNN, 7/12/2019)
Environmental Implications
- Warming climate is turning rivers rusty with toxic metals (The Guardian, May 22, 2024)
- Monkeys ‘falling out of trees like apples’ in Mexico amid brutal heatwave (The Guardian, May 21, 2024)
- In the mystery of Florida’s bizarre spinning fish, a leading suspect has emerged (NBC, May 12, 2024)
- Fish are shrinking around the world. Here’s why scientists are worried. (Washington Post, May 4, 2024)
- Hundreds of thousands of fish die off in Vietnam as heatwave roasts Southeast Asia (CNN, May 2, 2024)
- No birdsong, no water in the creek, no beating wings: how a haven for nature fell silent (The Guardian, April 16 ,2024)
- Food, soil, water: how the extinction of insects would transform our planet (The Guardian, November 10, 2023)
- Cheetahs Become More Nocturnal in Extreme Heat, Study Finds (Smithsonian, November 9, 2023)
- After ‘first of its kind’ marine heat wave, Florida corals begin return to ocean (Fox Weather, October 31, 2023)
- Heat and drought are hurting pumpkin production in parts of the country (NBC, October 31, 2023)
- Warmer oceans have bleached corals at depths previously thought impossible (Euronews, October 29, 2023)
- Kelp Keeps a Record of Environmental Calamity (Hakai Magazine, October 27, 2023)
- As temperatures rise, songbirds struggle to keep young healthy, researchers find (NBC, October 19, 2023)
- Billions of crabs went missing around Alaska. Scientists now know what happened to them (CNN, October 20, 2023)
- Giant blobs of seaweed are hitting Florida. That’s when the real problem begins (NPR, May 5, 2023)
- 90% of ice around Antarctica has disappeared in less than a decade (CNN, March 1, 2023)
- Alaska’s snow crabs have disappeared. Where they went is a mystery. (Washington Post, August 21, 2022)
- The world’s rivers are drying up from extreme weather. See how 6 look from space (CNN, August 20, 2022)
- Climate stress can give bumblebees asymmetrical wings, study finds (The Guardian, August 18, 2022)
- Too hot to chirp: French heatwave silences cicadas of Provence (The Guardian, August 17, 2022)
- Antarctica’s ‘sleeping giant’ risks melting, threatens spike in sea levels (Washington Post, August 10, 2022): “Scientists say the window for protecting the world’s largest ice sheet from significantly shrinking is narrowing, with troubling new predictions that it has the potential to unleash sea level rises of up to 16½ feet over the long term if greenhouse gas emissions targets aren’t met.” Also, “A key lesson from the past is that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is highly sensitive to even relatively modest warming scenarios. It isn’t as stable and protected as we once thought,” Abram said.”
- Exclusive: Glaciers vanishing at record rate in Alps following heatwaves (Reuters, July 26, 2022)
- More Mountain Glacier Collapses Feared as Heat Waves Engulf the Northern Hemisphere (Inside Climate News, July 19, 2022)
- Second glacier avalanche in a week shows dangers of a warming climate (Washington Post, July 12, 2022)
- Are lightning bugs disappearing from night skies? Dimming prospects face some fireflies (USA Today, July 2, 2022): Research shows climate change may be causing fireflies to go extinct.
- How heatwaves are creating a pollen crisis (BBC, June 1, 2022): “Many of the crops we rely on need to be pollinated to produce food, but extreme heat can destroy pollen. So scientists are searching for a solution.”
- New Zealand sea sponge populations ‘dying by the millions’ due to climate change (CNN, June 24, 2022)
- Research Into Surging Glaciers can Reduce Flood Risk in Pakistan (Prevention Web, July 23, 2022): “Most glaciers worldwide are melting due to climate change, but some glaciers in northern Pakistan are behaving in a very different – and dangerous way. “
- A Climate-Driven Decline of Tiny Dryland Lichens Could Have Big Global Impacts (Inside Climate News, May 2, 2022): “When they crumble, it speeds erosion, diminishes snowpack and spreads disease.”
- The Current Rate of Ocean Warming Could Bring the Greatest Extinction of Sealife in 250 Million Years (Inside Climate News, April 28, 2022)
- America’s endangered rivers (Axios, April 20, 2022): “Many of America’s cities and farms rely on water supplies whose future availability can’t be guaranteed.”
- Scientists are seeing a dangerous shift in early-spring tornadoes (CNN, March 31, 2022): “It’s the second year in a row the country has endured a record number of tornadoes in March, solidifying a trend toward more severe weather earlier in the year and raising questions among scientists, who’ve historically seen such weather peak from April to early June.”
- Invasive Insects Will Kill 1.4M Trees Across the US (Route Fifty, March 30, 2022)
- Satellite data shows entire Conger ice shelf has collapsed in Antarctica (The Guardian, March 25, 2022)
- Why the U.S. will get a whole lotta sea level rise (Mashable, February 26, 2022)
- Climate change has destabilized the Earth’s poles, putting the rest of the planet in peril (Washington Post, December 14, 2021)
- Climate change: Hurricanes to expand into more populated regions (CNN, December 29, 2021): The following study has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience to describe the forecast.
- Himalayan glaciers are melting at an ‘exceptional rate’ (CNET, December 20, 2021): “Our findings clearly show that ice is now being lost from Himalayan glaciers at a rate that is at least ten times higher than the average rate over past centuries,” said Jonathan Carrivick, report author and deputy head of the University of Leeds School of Geography, in a statement. “This acceleration in the rate of loss has only emerged within the last few decades, and coincides with human-induced climate change.”
- Climate change brings a perfect storm of raw sewage and rainfall in cities that can least afford it (USA Today, December 1, 2021): “Communities saddled with aging sewer systems now face harder and more frequent rainfalls that can lead to toxic spills of sewage.”
- In photos: Greenland’s extreme melt season punctuated by early fall snow (Axios, September 19, 2021): “The accelerating rate of climate change hastens the extent of the ice melt in Greenland, which is the largest contributor to global sea levels rising.”
- A critical ocean system may be heading for collapse due to climate change, study finds (Washington Post, August 5, 2021): ” Human-caused warming has led to an “almost complete loss of stability” in the system that drives Atlantic Ocean currents, a new study has found — raising the worrying prospect that this critical aquatic “conveyor belt” could be close to collapse.”
- Russia’s mosquito tornado underscores climate change’s dramatic impact (Slashgear, July 21, 2021): ” A newly published video shows a swarm of mosquitoes form into a literal cyclone of buzzing chaos as they terrorize a remote eastern Russian village. Though dramatic in its visual nature and beyond annoying, the mosquitoes weren’t actually a danger to nearby people. Instead, the insects were worked up into a massive mating frenzy spurred, in part, by climate change. “
- More manatees have died in the first half of 2021 than in any other year in Florida’s history, wildlife agency says (CNN, 7/12/2021): ” The increase in deaths is extreme. It’s more than twice the number of deaths recorded just one year earlier: 354 manatees died in the same period in 2020 (while a total of 637 died over the course of the entire year), according to the FWC. “
- Seismic monitoring of permafrost uncovers trend likely related to warming (July 8, 2021): ” Seismic waves passing through the ground near Longyearbyen in the Adventdalen valley, Svalbard, Norway have been slowing down steadily over the past three years, most likely due to permafrost warming in the Arctic valley.”
- Crushing heat wave in Pacific Northwest and Canada cooked shellfish alive by the millions (Washington Post, July 9, 2021): “As many as a billion sea creatures died in the heat, according to experts.”
- The great shrinking lake (Axios, July 7, 2021): “It’s the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River and has been shrinking for years, with the mega-drought making it even worse, reports AP’s Lindsay Whitehurst. The lake’s levels are expected to hit a 170-year low this year.”
- At least 10% of the world’s giant sequoias lost in a single wildfire, report suggests (CNN, June 4, 2021): “The loss of 7,500 to 10,600 large giant sequoias, many of which are likely thousands of years old, is devastating,” the study’s lead author, Dr. Christy Brigham, chief of Resources Management and Science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, told CNN. “These trees are irreplaceable in our lifetimes.”
- Scientific review of the impact of climate change on plant pests: A global challenge to prevent and mitigate plant-pest risks in agriculture, forestry and ecosystems (FAO, June 2, 2021): Due to the impact of climate change, plant pests that ravage economically important crops are becoming more destructive and posing an increasing threat to food security and the environment, finds a scientific review released on Tuesday.
Social Implications
- ‘We’re looking at losing 20% of Olympic nations’: how the climate crisis is changing sport (The Guardian, May 5, 2024)
- ‘Everybody has a breaking point’: how the climate crisis affects our brains (The Guardian, March 27, 2024)
- 18 million rental units are at risk as climate disasters get more common, Harvard study says (Business Insider, February 7, 2024)
- The Sunday Story: Time To Leave (NPR, January 7, 2024): “Extreme weather driven by climate change is affecting housing across the country. Millions of homes are at risk of flooding, fire or drought. Increasingly, local municipalities are facing hard decisions about whether to tear homes down or ban new construction altogether. Today on The Sunday Story, a visit to three communities in America trying to balance the need for housing with the threat of climate-driven disaster.”
- Study: Climate migration will leave the elderly behind (Popular Science, January 12, 2024)
- How does climate change threaten where you live? A region-by-region guide. (Popular Science, November 28, 2023)
- How climate change risks impact people with disabilities (PBS, November 9, 2023)
- Extreme Heat Pushes More Farmworkers to Harvest at Night, Creating New Risks (Inside Climate News, October 31, 2023)
- The Climate Crisis Has Hit Pharmacies (Mother Jones, October 18, 2023)
- Rising seas threaten ‘mass exodus on a biblical scale’, UN chief warns (The Guardian, February 14, 2023)
- Why climate change is still the greatest threat to human health (National Geographic, September 9, 2022)
- Severe heat and droughts are wreaking havoc across the globe (Vox, August 21, 2022): “Wildfires, crop shortages, and energy restrictions are putting pressure on governments, and people.”
- The century of climate migration: why we need to plan for the great upheaval (The Guardian, August 18, 2022)
- Climate adaptation bill for African countries to dwarf health spending (The Guardian, July 13, 2022): “Eleven nations least responsible for global heating must spend up to 22% of GDP on dealing with effects of it”
- Mayorkas says immigration crisis not unique to US: ‘Reflective of the economic downturn’ and ‘climate change’ (Fox News, July 3, 2022)
- Sea level rise from climate change is threatening home septic systems and public health (Brookings, June 29, 2022)
- From bad refs to brain-eating amoebas: How climate change is reshaping warm-weather sports (GRID, June 21, 2022): “Increasing temperatures, rising sea levels and more extreme weather are affecting how we play outdoor sports at all levels, from the weekend warriors to the pros.”
- The world’s coastal cities are sinking, but not for the reason you think (Quartz, April 19, 2022)
- How Extreme Weather Has Created a Disaster for School Infrastructure (Washington Post, April 13, 2022)
- Drought, high temps in Somalia are pushing people to move to other towns (The World, April 4, 2022): “With that decision, Ahmed joins more than half a million people who are uprooting their lives across Somalia because of the drought.”
- As Climate Fears Mount, Some Are Relocating Within the US (Wired, April 9, 2022): “A small but growing number of Americans are moving to New England or the Appalachian Mountains, which are seen as safe havens from climate change.”
- Rising sea levels are snarling people’s commutes, even when there’s no rain (Fast Company, February 15, 2022)
- Report warns of climate change’s ‘code red’ impact on health (CNN, October 20, 2021)
- Climate Change Threatens to Spread Viruses Through an Unprepared World (Bloomberg, October 20, 2021)
- One person is displaced every second by our warming planet. Where will they go? (SBS News, October 19, 2021): “According to the World Bank, climate change could force around 216 million people across six world regions to relocate by 2050.”
- Global Water Crisis will Intensify with Climate Breakdown, says Report (The Guardian, August 17, 2021)
- Climate crisis leaving ‘millions at risk of trafficking and slavery’ (The Guardian, September 20, 2021)
- Climate change is sabotaging education for American students – and it’s only getting worse (USA Today, September 2021)
- In California’s agricultural heartland, thousands of wells could soon run dry (PBS News Hour, July 20, 2021): ” Since 2013, the Department of Water Resources has tracked daily reports of dry or failing wells as well as those whose issues have been resolved. The majority of reports come from inland and southern California. So far this year, the department has recorded 269 cases of water shortages. The department said the shortages don’t always just mean drought, but also corroded wells, water overdraft and changing climate patterns. “
- Reservoir shut down over drought pits neighbors against each other (CNN, June 10, 2021): Video describing the interstate impacts of drought on water resources.
- Lake Mead falls to lowest level since 1930s amid worsening drought (Axios, June 10, 2021): “The record low is due to a combination of years of punishing drought that’s worsening across the Southwest, as well as challenges in managing water resources for a burgeoning population.”
Sociopolitical Implications
- Venice may be put on the endangered list, thanks to human-created climate change (NPR, September 12, 2023)
- Panama Canal grapples with climate change threat (BBC, August 8, 2022): The Panama Canal operates using freshwater reserves located in the hills through which the canal passes. Alternating flood and drought conditions impact the effectiveness of the canal, thereby impacting global supply chains.
- The Maldives is being swallowed by the sea. Can it adapt? (National Geographic, January 20, 2022): “Whether or not the Maldives can survive climate change, the country will never be the same.”
Climate Denialism
- TV meteorologist blasts Florida’s new law that deleted most references to climate change (CNN, May 21, 2024)
- What happened when climate deniers met an AI chatbot? (Grist, February 1, 2024)
- BBC will not broadcast Attenborough episode over fear of ‘rightwing backlash’ (The Guardian, March 10, 2023)
Managing the Drivers of Climate Change
- The World Is Ignoring the Other Deadly Kind of Carbon (Wired, May 21, 2024)
- California the culprit for spike in little-known greenhouse gas more potent than CO2 (The Guardian, April 19, 2024)
- Swapping red meat for herring, sardines and anchovies could save 750,000 lives, study suggests (The Guardian, April 9, 2024): “Switch could also cut prevalence of disability linked to diet-related disease and help tackle the climate crisis, researchers found”
- The World Solved Acid Rain. We Can Also Solve Climate Change (Scientific American, January 1, 2024)
- Thai cabinet approves draft clean air act to reduce pollution (Reuters, November 28, 2023)
- ‘A win of epic proportions’: World’s highest court can set out countries’ climate obligations after Vanuatu secures historic UN vote (CNN, March 29, 2023)
- These startups hope to spray iron particles above the ocean to fight climate change (MIT Technology Review, February 15, 2023)
- Supporters of a controversial climate solution say it could be key. Critics believe it is the path to catastrophe (CNN, February 12, 2023)
- As the world heats up, will climate action, too? (Christian Science Monitor, July 20, 2022): “For many climate advocates – and many in the general public – the widespread heat wave has been yet another reminder of how governments have failed to address climate change or move away from fossil fuels, a grim harbinger of a global warming future. Scientists are unequivocal in saying that climate change has made heat waves like this one much more likely, and hotter, in a way they say will increase as long as greenhouse-gas concentrations in the atmosphere keep rising.”
- With Build Back Better Stalled, Expanded Funding for a Civilian Climate Corps Hangs in the Balance (Inside Climate News, July 4, 2022): “The original bill called for up to $30 billion in funding for the Corps. But whether it will remain in the slimmed-down version of the bill, expected to be brought to the floor this month, remains to be seen.”
- ECB to revamp corporate debt holdings to favour greener firms (Reuters, July 4, 2022): “The European Central Bank plans to gradually revamp its 344 billion euro ($358 billion) corporate debt portfolio to favour greener firms, it said on Monday, taking another step in aligning monetary policy with climate change goals.”
- Biden team sees climate ‘emergency,’ but powers are limited (Washington Post, June 20, 2022)
- Under a new policy, federal agencies will have to weigh the climate costs of their actions (Popular Science, April 21, 2022)
- The SEC Will Regulate Climate (Bloomberg, March 22, 2022)
- The SEC wants companies to disclose how climate change is affecting them (NPR, March 21, 2022)
- To fight the climate crisis, banks must stop financing factory farming (The Guardian, October 19, 2021): “Public development banks are directly undermining UN and Paris climate goals by channeling billions of taxpayer dollars into multinational meat corporations.”
- Future of megacities “hang in the balance” as diplomats prepare for COP26 (Axios, October 12, 2021): A “new study, published Monday in Environmental Research Letters and visualized in startlingly detailed maps and simulations by Climate Central, a climate science and journalism organization, shows that of all the countries, China may have the most to gain from limiting emissions.”
- How 165 Words Could Make Mass Environmental Destruction An International Crime (NPR, June 27, 2021): “In a draft of the definition by the Stop Ecocide Foundation, a Netherlands-based coalition, panelists said they hoped the proposed definition could provide a basis for the consideration of a new international crime.”
- Wildfires have erupted across the globe, scorching places that rarely burned before (CNN, July 22, 2021): ” The wildfires are part of a vicious climate cycle that releases more carbon into the atmosphere and worsens the warming.”
- China’s Emissions Now Exceed All the Developed World’s Combined (Bloomberg Green, May 6, 2021)
- Vulnerability Reductions Credits (VRC) Standard Framework (Higher Ground Foundation, March 2018)
- US Cities are Losing 36 Million Trees a Year. Here’s Why It Matters and How You Can Stop It. (CNN, 9/18/2020)
Climate Change Adaptation
- ‘I’ve never seen anything like it’: can Jamaica adapt to the Caribbean’s increasingly unpredictable weather? (The Guardian, May 7, 2024)
- A Natural Experiment Hints at an ‘Elegant Approach’ to Climate Adaptation (Lincoln Institute, January 25, 2023): This piece explains how conservation laws are being used to prevent development in places where doing so would increase community vulnerability.
- Opinion: Water insights for climate resilience from the global south (DevEx, January 11, 2023)
- The D.C. area, with planning, can be a climate refuge (The Washington Post, July 1, 2022)
- Managed retreat: Moving before the sea swallows your home (DW, July 4, 2022): “Climate change could force billions to move by the end of the century, displaced by floods and rising sea levels. Instead of trying to prolong the inevitable, some communities are already adapting.”
- Fires, floods and food sovereignty: facing climate disasters and finding hope in northwest B.C. (The Narwhal, June 17, 2022): “How a beaver-felled tree cut off communications to a whole region, and illustrated how vulnerable northerners are when basic infrastructure fails”
- Toxic Slime Contributed to Earth’s Worst Mass Extinction—And It’s Making a Comeback (Scientific American, July 1, 2022): “Global warming fueled rampant overgrowth of microbes at the end of the Permian period. Such lethal blooms may be on the rise again”
- Adaptation vital in world facing growing climate risks, says Munich Re (The Straits Times, March 27, 2022)
- An unexpected item is blocking cities’ climate change prep: obsolete rainfall records (NPR, February 9, 2022)
- Satellite Imagery Highlights Ties Between Green Streets and Healthy Streams (Nature, February 18, 2022)
- Lessons from New York: What makes a community turn against climate adaptation? (Grist, February 8, 2022)
- All homes of the future should come with wheels (Popular Science, October 21, 2021)
- Millions of U.S. homes at risk of climate-related disasters, but few Americans know it (Yahoo Money, August 12, 2021)
- ‘We live in a desert. We have to act like it’: Las Vegas faces reality of drought (Guardian, July 9, 2021): ” Water investigators track down wasteful homeowners and public turf torn up to conserve scarce water supplies.”
- Miami condo collapse highlights urgent need to adapt to rising seas (National Geographic, July 2, 2021): “Though climate change-related factors were probably not behind the partial collapse of the Florida beachside building, other properties are vulnerable to rising seas.”
- Is Your Fire and EMS Department Ready for Climate Change? (US Fire Administration, June 30, 2021)
- Climate Proofing Homes for Extreme Weather Ahead (Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2020)
- 2019 Climate Change Readiness Index (KPMG)
- This Is How Singapore Keeps Its Cool As The City Heats Up (Bloomberg, December 1, 2020): Singapore uses a combination of natural and technological methods to combat climate change.
- Tiny Town, Big Decision: What Are We Willing to Pay to Fight the Rising Sea? (Washington Post, 3/13/2021): Towns on North Carolina’s Outer Banks are finding it difficult to convince residents that adaptation to sea level rise will require higher taxes. Some residents are not convinced the higher costs are worth it, given they only provide a temporary level of protection.
- After Centuries of Nomadic Living, Thailand’s Sea People Adapt to Life on Land (CNN, April 18, 2021): The 2005 Boxing Day Tsunami prompted the government of Thailand to require a sea-based nomadic community to permanently relocate onto dry land. The small community has continued to learn how to adapt, including in the face of a pandemic that took away their primary sources of income.
- The Realities of Climate Change are Pushing Big Businesses to Focus on Sustainability (CNN, April 18, 2021): This article details actions that are being taken by multiple businesses to make climate change mitigation or adaptation a part of their vision or mission.
Climate Change and National Security
- Climate Change Isn’t a Threat Multiplier. It’s the Main Threat. (Defense One, July 2, 2022): “Over the next six months, the defense community should champion and help plan a whole-of-society “hyper-response.””
- Should Climate Change Force Some Military Bases to Close? (Slate, June 23, 2022)
- Fight against climate change takes on national security implications (NBC News, April 21, 2022)
- Climate Change Is Already Disrupting the Military. It Will Get Worse, Officials Say (Defense One, August 10, 2021): ” “In terms of current operations, we have National Guardsmen, we have active-duty soldiers, we have active-duty airmen right now participating in firefighting support efforts. So these are…folks who are not doing a primary job.”
- Climate Change vs. The US Military (Defense One, March 30, 2019).
Climate Change Policy
- Feds invest $60M to boost local climate resilience and workforce development (Government Executive, June 13, 2024)
- In 2023 we’ve seen climate destruction in real time, yet rich countries are poised to do little at Cop28 (The Guardian, November 1, 2023)
- I’m a Scientist Who Spoke Up About Climate Change. My Employer Fired Me (Washington Post, January 10, 2023)
- COP26 Clinches A Deal. Why the Summit Matters. (Wall Street Journal, November 13, 2022)
- Facing a call for climate reparations, wealthy nations propose an insurance scheme (Grist, November 14, 2022): “In the most concrete response yet to the issue, on Monday a group of countries led by Germany announced their commitment to developing “a Global Shield against Climate Risks” to help people in the least developed countries better prepare for climate-fueled disasters.”
- The Senate just passed one of the biggest bills to fight climate change, ever (Vox, August 7, 2022): “The bill contains $369 billion in funding for clean energy and electric vehicle tax breaks, domestic manufacturing of batteries and solar panels, and pollution reduction. It is the single most important step the US has ever taken to combat the climate crisis. And arguably, it’s one of the single biggest investments ever made on climate in the world.”
- Biden announces funding for infrastructure to ‘withstand’ climate change disasters, air conditioners for homes (Global News, July 20, 2022)
- How a National ‘Green Bank’ Could Help Advance Biden’s Climate Agenda (Government Executive, 4/22/2021)
- Biden and the Pentagon Can Declare War on Climate Change (Bloomberg, January 13, 2021): “Global warming is a national-security risk, and the new administration will find a willing partner in the military.”
Climate Migrants
- How a Northwest tribe is escaping a rising ocean (NPR, February 9, 2024)
- Who Will Manage the US Climate Retreat? (Bloomberg, December 12, 2023)
- The Future of Climate Adaptation Is Here in the Native Village of Newtok, Alaska (The Nation, December 14, 2022): “Newtok has been moving to safer ground while facing mounting crisis. A story of both struggle and success, it’s become a model for communities in the path of disaster.”
- Tuvalu To Become The World’s First Digital Country in the Metaverse (Tomorrow’s World Today, November 28, 2022)
- Island could lose 98% of land from climate change. See how residents are responding (CNN, September 5, 2022): “As climate change poses a threat to habitable land across the world, a federal resettlement grant has relocated some indigenous residents of a Louisiana isle to the mainland because their town is under threat of being submerged by water.”
- It’s Not a Border Crisis. It’s a Climate Crisis. (Politico, July 19, 2021): ” There was a time when rural Guatemalans never left home. But back-to-back hurricanes, failed crops and extreme poverty are driving them to make the dangerous trek north to the U.S. border.”
- To Flee, or to Stay Until the End and Be Swallowed by the Sea (Inside Climate News, July 18, 2021): “On the Isle de Jean Charles in the bayous of Louisiana, the nation’s first federally funded climate migrants have a decision to make as their ancestral island disappears.”
Climate Change Messaging / Communication
- When Hurricanes Strike, Climate Change Dominates Social Media (Scientific American, March 1, 2024)
Resilience
- Too Poor to Protect: When Cost-Benefit Analysis Leaves Towns to “Wash Away” (The Daily Yonder, April 29, 2021)
- New Report: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Resilience Toolkit
- FEMA Equitable Resilience Guide: Building Alliances for Equitable Resilience (April 2021)
- Thought Piece on the Link Between Social Justice and Resilience: “No Equity, No Resilience: Minneapolis is All of Us”
- How the Theme of Adaptation and Resilience Marginalizes Loss and Damage and Why We Must Focus on Addressing Loss and Damage: This report proposes an interesting argument about how different stakeholder communities perceive then needs surrounding management of climate change and what is meant by the term ‘resilience.’
Technology and Climate Change
- Lawn equipment spews ‘shocking’ amount of air pollution, new data shows (Popular Science, October 31, 2023): This article highlights the tradeoffs societies make between risk and access to something valued. Technology can preserve access to values while reducing the associated risk.
- Free online apps that can tell you your home’s climate risk factor (The Cool Down, December 24, 2022)
- Satellites can now find the sources of methane leaks. The tech will reshape global climate accountability. (Business Insider, July 4, 2022)