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Yosemite Rim Fire is taste of things to come
Posted by New Scientist: Peter Aldhous on August 27th, 2013
New Scientist: San Francisco is in a declared state of emergency, its power and water supplies threatened by one of the largest fires on record in California. The blaze is 250 kilometres to the east of the city, on the fringes of Yosemite National Park. It is a grim warning of profound changes that may lie ahead, as the western US comes to terms with a new ecology of fire, wrought by climate change.
The Rim Fire is already the seventh largest in California since records began in the 1930s, having so far torched...
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Renewable energy to eclipse gas by 2016
Posted by New Scientist: Peter Aldhous on June 27th, 2013
New Scientist: The dash for gas is being outrun by the race for renewables. According to the latest projections from the International Energy Agency, by 2016 global electricity generation from wind, solar, hydro and other forms of renewable power will exceed that from natural gas - and should be double that provided by nuclear plants.
This surge is being driven in large part by emerging economies. China is leading the way, accounting for 40 per cent of the projected global growth in renewables between 2012 and...
Dust bowl looms if US Southwest drought plans fail
Posted by New Scientist: Peter Aldhous on November 1st, 2011
New Scientist: THEY like their beef in Texas. So when Texan ranchers started offloading their cattle at bargain prices because pastures were parched - as they did this summer - it was a clear sign that this was no ordinary drought. While rains in October brought some relief, further drought is forecast, which will add to losses already exceeding $5 billion. The bigger question is whether the Texan rancher's pain is a harbinger of things to come for the entire Southwest - and if so, what the broader impact on Americans...