RSS Feed
Author Archive
Is climate change causing the Mississippi River flooding?
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on May 13th, 2011
Climate Central: From swarms of deadly tornadoes to record flooding and tinderbox drought conditions, it seems that Mother Nature threw everything in her arsenal against the Lower-48 States during April, with impacts continuing into May. The combination of a weather pattern associated with La Niña, a natural climate cycle involving ocean currents in the tropical Pacific Ocean, as well as other factors helped fuel what was, by any measure, an extremely unusual month.
In a series of explainers, Climate Central is...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Is climate change causing the Mississippi River flooding?Fast start to fire season as wildfires scorch Texas
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on April 14th, 2011
Climate Central: When one thinks of wildfire-prone states, Texas may not immediately come to mind. Rather, monstrous blazes in southern California, or the mountains of Wyoming, seem more fitting. But so far this year, Texas has been ground zero for fast-moving wildfires -- more than 5,300 of them, to be exact.
Aided by moderate to strong La Niña conditions this winter, the worst drought in 45 years has turned large parts of Texas into a tinderbox, with more than one million acres burned so far, and few signs of...
Report warns of worsening western water crisis
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on February 15th, 2011
Climate Central: Last month, we ran a series on water resources in the American Southwest. The stories, by veteran environment reporter Tom Yulsman, made clear that current trends of water supply and demand in the Colorado River basin are simply unsustainable, and resource managers face a series of tough choices ahead.
Now a new report, produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute, an environmental think tank, warns of climate change-related water shortages in the region, and recommends various approaches to...
Deadly floods in Pakistan were “predictable,” study says
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on February 4th, 2011
Climate Central: Program Needed to Convey Warnings to Vulnerable Populations
A view of heavy floods caused by monsoon rains in Punjab Province, near the city of Multan, Pakistan, on August 15, 2010. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider.
In Pakistan last summer, severe flooding killed nearly 2,000 people and affected more than 20 million, destroying infrastructure such as roads, bridges and power stations, killing 20,000 cattle, and damaging fertile farmlands that are major sources of income and food for the Pakistani...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Deadly floods in Pakistan were “predictable,” study says