A storm-driven chlorine gas release in a vulnerable community is the type of worst-case scenario that scientists and engineers have warned about for decades.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Extreme weather – Analysis and Comment
Extreme weather events prompt people to move, a trend that could accelerate in a warming climate. But the ability to migrate internally in the US depends largely on economic status.
Climate change is making extreme weather events, both hot and cold, more frequent across the Great Lakes region. Weatherizing low-income residents’ homes is an important way to prepare.
The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos put environmental risks at the top of its agenda, while the world’s CEOs see overregulation as their biggest threat.
As climate change intensifies, much of the nation’s building stock will need upgrading to strengthen it against flooding, snowstorms and other weather hazards.
Big storms with lots of flooding, like hurricanes Dorian and Maria, actually restore the Caribbean’s delicate balance between native and nonnative fish species, new research finds.
Hotels are helping the Hawaiian island of Maui recover from the catastrophic impact of wildfires, just as they have in Florida following hurricanes.
The usual way we calculate the economic damage of natural disasters underestimates their true toll – which is key to understanding the costs of climate change.
With hurricane season comes the usual efforts by insurance companies and government agencies to calculate the economic costs. An economist explains how they’re doing it wrong.
Media reports are starting to directly connect climate change to its weather effects in local communities. But how you respond to those linkages depends on what you already think about climate change.
Natural gas supplies are growing, but so are other markets for it besides power generation.
Making electric grids better able to withstand extreme weather events will require teamwork from engineers, researchers and the government.
Life-threatening cold temperatures in the central US are caused by changes in wind circulation in the Arctic that bring cold air south. Climate change could make these events more frequent.
Haiti is extremely vulnerable to climate change. It is also very poor. International donors have stepped in to help the country fund climate mitigation, but is the money going where it’s most needed?
Many of the crop plants that feed us waste 20 percent of their energy, especially in hot weather. Plant geneticists prove that capturing this energy could boost crop yields by up to 40 percent.
The results of a study that measured public responses to a policy aimed at reducing carbon emissions contradict a common environmental concern.
The future climate that scientists predict for the middle of the United States is one that will foster more hail events with bigger hailstones.
Climate change threatens to widen the health gap between the haves and have-nots. Here’s why addressing environmental issues that drive poor health is a starting point.
Many parts of the US have experienced extreme heat or extreme cold in the past year. Recent research projects that climate change will increase deaths from both types of weather, especially cold spells.
A watershed scientist explains why post-wildfire landscapes are so susceptible to landslides – and why those risks are poised to rise.
An atmospheric scientist who studies the Arctic explains why – because of global warming – the U.S. may be in for longer cold spells in the winter.
Five years after Superstorm Sandy, we see how disadvantaged social groups suffered more from the storm before and after – much as we’re seeing in Hurricanes Harvey and Maria.
It’s not just about rebuilding infrastructure after storms: Cities need to systematically rethink their knowledge systems which are at the heart of urban resilience.
Yes, Puerto Rico and any other storm-vulnerable location could benefit from on-site solar and battery backup, but it’s unrealistic to say these microgrids are enough to power the island.
On Nov. 2 the White House posted a detailed climate science report without comment. The Trump administration is unlikely to heed it, but it could boost state, local and private sector action.