Climate Could Create Next Refugee Crisis
Even though battling climate change was added as one of the new sustainable-development goals during the recent session of the United Nations General Assembly, the organization’s definition of a refugee has remained focused on people escaping persecution, excluding climate change as a factor. But sea levels have continued to rise around the globe — a […]
Will ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ ever happen?
It’s a nightmarish scenario straight from the movies, but could it ever truly happen? A new scientific study takes a look at the climate scenario featured in the disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow. In the 2004 film, climate warming caused the abrupt collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), leading to catastrophic events […]
Bumble Bees Changing In Response To Decreased Flower Diversity, Research Shows
Ongoing changes in flower diversity, related to a shifting climate (amongst other things), are impacting the bodies of bumblebees, according to recent reports. These changes include a decrease in the length of bumble bee tongues – leaving the bees with less options as far as feeding goes – according to the work. The cause of […]
Melting in Antarctica to raise sea levels
One of the largest ice shelves in Antarctica is under threat, thinning dramatically on both sides, its surface and beneath. The ice shelf is called Larsen C and its two neighbours, Larsen A and B have already collapsed in 1995 and 2002. A study by the British Antarctic Survey has found that the ice shelf […]
Sea rise threatens Florida coast, but no statewide plan
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) – America’s oldest city is slowly drowning. St. Augustine’s centuries-old Spanish fortress sits feet from the encroaching Atlantic, whose waters already flood the city’s narrow streets about 10 times a year – a problem worsening as sea levels rise. The city relies on tourism, but visitors might someday have to […]
Drought Puts Brazil’s Largest City On The Brink
Instead of rain, São Paulo has cracked earth and chaos as a devastating drought is making enemies out of neighbors in Brazil’s largest city, the site of a historic water shortage the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades. Many residents have gone to drastic measures to hoard the precious commodity in the face […]
Major Food Companies Fail To Confront Drought Crisis: Report
On California’s carrot farms, sprawling fields of orange and leafy green vegetables are turning to a shriveled brown. Cattle are vanishing from Texas pastures, where grasses have given way to dirt and dust. Across the western U.S. and around the world, enduring drought and water scarcity are straining the operations of major food companies. Yet […]
MIT Researchers Create Solar-Based Solution to Help Solve Global Water Crisis
By 2025, nearly two billion people will experience absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world will survive in water-stressed conditions. More than 1.4 billion people currently live in river basins where water use is more than the minimum recharge levels, according to the UN Development Programme. In 60 percent of European cities with a […]
William Shatner Has Plan To Fight California Drought
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) The actor’s solution: build a water pipeline. William Shatner plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign Monday to raise $30 billion to build a water pipeline from British Columbia, Canada, to southern California. Shatner proposes naming the pipeline the Spock Waterway, after the Star Trek character played by the late Leonard […]
The US Cities Where Air Pollution Makes It ‘Dangerous To Breathe’
A new report out of the American Lung Association (ALA) notes that air pollution in certain U.S. cities is so bad that it’s “too often dangerous to breathe” for civilians. The report states there has been “encouraging progress,” yet there continues to be “evidence of troubling challenges” as well, noting that air pollution affects some […]
