Climate Climate & Energy

Why global warming means killer storms worse than Katrina and Gustav, part 1

Hurricanes can get much, much bigger and stronger than we have so far seen in the Atlantic. The most intense Pacific storm on record was Super Typhoon Tip in 1979, which reached maximum sustained winds of 190 mph near the center. On its wide rim, gale-force winds (39 mph) extended over a diameter of an […]

How did so much water get into a New Orleans canal?

Here’s a question I’d like to know the answer to. Hurricane Gustav dealt New Orleans a glancing blow, passing it by to the west. Yet as the world saw, the city’s Industrial Canal — a large ship channel running north-south close to neighborhoods — filled nearly to the top, and there was some alarming, if […]

North Pole an ‘island’ for first time in 125,000 years

The fabled Northwest and Northeast passages are now open. That makes the North Pole an island for the first time in human history, most likely for the first time “since the beginning of the last Ice Age 125,000 years ago.” In the last few days, however, Arctic ice melt has slowed, so we might not […]

Deniers’ talking points spread via the same process as that of all urban legends

John McGrath, a contributor to Grist, made an important comparison between how the internet contributes to making urban legends look legitimate and how it is used in spreading climate chaos denialism: It highlights the odd dynamic of the Internet: tiny, vocal, crazy-ass minorities can nevertheless be numerous enough on the Internet to appear more impressive […]

Conclusions of ‘hockey stick’ graph stand up to further scrutiny

The infamous “hockey stick” graph, which shows the northern hemisphere beginning to rapidly warm around the industrial age, has been backed up by new research. Michael Mann, who helped develop the 1998 graph that climate skeptics love to hate, is the lead author of the new study to be published in the Proceedings of the […]

The unbearable cost of high gas prices

Oil platforms off La. fare OK under hurricane; wetlands, not so much

Louisiana’s people and property fared better under Hurricane Gustav than had been feared, but acres of valuable wetlands were likely irrevocably destroyed. “The last thing on anyone’s mind during a hurricane is how the wetlands are going to do,” says activist Aaron Giles. But since happy and healthy wetlands act as storm barriers, “wetlands are […]

Aid agencies offer carbon offsets aimed at helping poor adapt to climate change

Aid agencies and environmental groups, including UNICEF, Greenpeace, CARE International, and others, partnered up recently to introduce new carbon offsets aimed at reducing carbon emissions while also helping the poor adapt to climate change. The voluntary carbon-offset market is worth some $330 million and is likely to grow even more as consumers in rich countries […]

Will Gustav be the next Katrina?

On August 23, 2005, a tropical depression formed 175 miles southeast of Nassau. By the next day, it had grown into tropical storm Katrina and was intensifying rapidly. Early in the evening on August 25, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near North Miami Beach. Even though it was only a Category 1 storm, with sustained wind […]

London mayor releases plan for adapting to climate change

London Mayor Boris Johnson unveiled a draft plan Friday to help the city mitigate and adapt to climate change. Johnson put special attention to water conservation, calling for mandatory metering, increased efficiency, improved drainage, and rainwater harvesting. He also envisions more trees and green space. Environmentalists said the adaptation strategy was a good step, but […]