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As California drought worsens, experts urge water reforms
Posted by LA Times: Monte Morin on June 2nd, 2015
LA Times: As mandatory water restrictions took effect Monday across California, a panel of experts called upon the drought-plagued state to upgrade its water infrastructure and reform its antiquated water rights system.
"The reservoirs we built in California over the 20th century were designed for a climate with extensive snowpack, and frequent wet periods," said Juliet Christian-Smith, a climate scientist with the California office of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"We know that this drought is...
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Arctic ice loss drives extreme weather patterns
Posted by LA Times: Monte Morin on March 27th, 2013
LA Times: Anyone forced to shovel their car out of a snowbank this winter might wonder just how it is a blizzard can occur in a warming climate.
The answer, climate scientists say, may have to do with record sea ice losses in the Arctic.
At a Tuesday news conference, several researchers said that warming conditions in the Arctic may be weakening jet stream currents and causing extreme weather systems to linger in northern mid-latitudes.
"Ironically ... as the ice pack retreats and the Arctic heats...
Extreme hurricanes hitting US more frequently, study says
Posted by LA Times: Monte Morin on October 16th, 2012
LA Times: The question of whether or not global warming influences the strength or frequency of hurricanes is a matter of heated scientific debate.
Though some climate scientists argue that increased sea surface temperature and cyclone activity are linked, others say the evidence is ambiguous at best. Some contend that news media distortions and a lack of historical, standardized hurricane data only make it seem like the storms are worse.
Now, a new study is likely to stoke the debate even further. On...
Some climate scientists, in a shift, link weather to global warming
Posted by LA Times: Monte Morin on October 13th, 2012
LA Times: The worst drought in half a century has plagued two-thirds of the nation, devastating farms and stoking wildfires that scorched almost 9 million acres this year. Withering heat blanketed the East Coast and Midwest, killing scores of people and making July the hottest month ever recorded in the U.S. And in the Arctic this summer, polar snow and ice melted away to the smallest size ever observed by man.
Extreme events like drought, heat waves, intense rainfall, flooding and fires have prompted many...