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German water supply threatened as climate change boosts droughts

Bloomberg: German water supplies will become increasingly threatened this century as climate change raises the risk of droughts and water shortages in the country. While Germany is considered water-rich, more water evaporates than falls as rain in the eastern part of the country, according to a report by a German parliamentary committee. Average temperatures may rise 3.5 degrees Celsius by 2100, resulting in more precipitation in the winter and less in the summer, the authors wrote. “This will worsen the...

Atmospheric Waves Trapped by Emissions Caused Extreme U.S. Heat

Bloomberg: Man-made greenhouse gas emissions trapped giant air waves in the atmosphere, causing extreme weather events such as a heat wave in the U.S. in 2011 and floods in Pakistan in 2010, researchers in Germany said. The waves usually ship warm and cold air from the Tropics and Arctic to places such as Europe, Russia or the U.S, according to an article to be published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Man-made climate change repeatedly disturbs the waves’ patterns and can trap...

Saudi Arabia Completes Its Biggest Solar Power Plant

Bloomberg: Saudi Arabia completed its biggest ground-mounted photovoltaic plant as the world’s largest crude oil exporter seeks to generate a third of its electricity with energy from the sun by 2032. Germany’s Phoenix Solar AG (PS4) developed the 3.5-megawatt plant in Riyadh that uses 12,684 panels from China’s Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (STP) and inverters from SMA Solar Technology AG (S92), Phoenix Solar said in an e-mailed statement. “This project represents an important milestone in the development...