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A brief introduction to climate change and national security

A brief introduction to climate change and nationa...

Extreme weather, rising seas, and a melting Arctic could worsen global tensions. A series of punishing droughts set the stage for the Syrian civil war in 2011. A drying East Africa fuels ongoing conflicts over natural resources in Somalia and Kenya. Rising seas threaten future refugee crises in Southeast Asia. Melting sea ice in the Arctic is opening new shipping lanes, creating new potential for tensions among competing...
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Trump drilling leases could create more climate pollution than EU does in a year

Trump drilling leases could create more climate po...

US has offered close to 378m acres of public lands and waters for oil and gas leasing since Trump took office through April 2019 Donald Trump’s leases of public lands and waters for oil and gas drilling could lead to the production of more climate-warming pollution than the entire European Union contributes in a year, according to a new report. The Wilderness Society estimates heat-trapping emissions from extracting and...
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Natural gas leaks are a much bigger problem than we thought

Natural gas leaks are a much bigger problem than w...

Natural gas has been touted as a green energy source by some because, when burned for fuel, it emits less CO2 than coal. But before that happens, leaks from across the natural gas supply chain — from the drilling process to gas stoves — can unintentionally vent methane into the atmosphere. That’s especially bad news, since methane is roughly 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2. And, according to a new study in...
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Former Interior scientist calls out ‘culture of fear, censorship, and suppression’ under Trump

Former Interior scientist calls out ‘culture of fe...

“The American people lose when we end up with manipulated, suppressed, or distorted information.” There is a “culture of fear, censorship, and suppression” within the Trump administration that is impeding government scientists from doing their best work, former Interior Department policy director and scientist turned whistleblower Joel Clement warned on Wednesday. Speaking to lawmakers on the House Science...
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Controversial agency relocation slammed as attack on science by lawmakers, employees

Controversial agency relocation slammed as attack ...

Critics of the Trump administration’s efforts say the decision is politically motivated. Employees and Democratic lawmakers are pushing back on the Trump administration’s plans to relocate hundreds of positions within two agencies outside of Washington, D.C. — a move some see as an effort to clamp down on science. While the planned moves of both the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and parts of the...
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Climate change is worsening wildfires, new study highlights

Climate change is worsening wildfires, new study h...

Research shows that warming temperatures are likely fueling more deadly and devastating fires. New research this week provides fresh evidence about the connection between climate change and wildfires, specifically in California, where experts say global warming is a key factor in the state’s deadly and increasingly devastating fire seasons. The findings coincide with an already-vicious wildfire season in parts of North...
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How Climate Change Is Fueling Extreme Weather

How Climate Change Is Fueling Extreme Weather

Across the globe, extreme weather is becoming the new normal. Torrential rains and flooding. Record hurricanes. Destructive wildfires. Deadly heatwaves and drought. From season to season and year to year, weather events that were once rare occurrences are now increasingly commonplace. Human activity is causing these rapid changes. When fossil fuels are burned for electricity, heat, and transportation, carbon dioxide, a...
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A Climate Action for Every Type of Activist

A Climate Action for Every Type of Activist

  Pick one of these nine activism styles, and you can start making change. YES! Illustrations by Delphine Lee By Cathy Brown Most of us have heard about UN researchers warning that we need to make dramatic changes in the next 12 years to limit our risk of extreme heat, drought, floods and poverty caused by climate change. Report after report about a bleak climate future can leave people in despair. But another option is...
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Top 10 Heat-Related Terms You Need to Pay Attention to While Reading UCS’s Killer Heat Report

Top 10 Heat-Related Terms You Need to Pay Attentio...

Because extreme heat is one of the deadliest weather hazards we currently face, Union of Concerned Scientist’s Killer Heat Report for the U.S. is the most important document I have read. It is a veritable wake up call for all of us. It is timely, eye-opening, transparent and factual and it deals with the stark reality of our future if we do not make changes quickly (think yesterday). It is important to ensure that we...
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Agriculture Department Suspends Critical Tracking Of Plunging Honey Bee Population

Agriculture Department Suspends Critical Tracking ...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that it’s suspending tracking the plunging honeybee population because of a budget shortfall. The department will suspend data collection for its Honey Bee Colonies report, and officials did not say when — or if — it would be restarted. It will release data already collected from January 2018 through April of this year. The Agricultural Department has been a key source of data...
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We Need to Tame Wall Street and Big Ag to Empower Carbon Farmers

We Need to Tame Wall Street and Big Ag to Empower ...

The Democratic primary debate on 27th June was probably the first time that soil management — as climate policy — was ever mentioned at a primetime Presidential campaign event. It was also one of the first tangible mentions of farm policy in two nights of debates. “Carbon farming”—building soil vitality to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere—is essential for reducing the agricultural industry’s greenhouse gas...
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Will climate change force this Alaska village to relocate?

Will climate change force this Alaska village to r...

Why We Wrote This The people of Quinhagak are facing hard questions about what happens when a changing climate poses an existential threat to their community. This story is part of an occasional Monitor series on “Climate Realities.” The residents of a tiny village on Alaska’s western coast may soon have to decide whether to become climate refugees. As the polar regions warm twice as fast as temperate latitudes, Quinhagak,...
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Editorial: Until we eliminate toxic algae, warnings shouldn’t be ignored

Editorial: Until we eliminate toxic algae, warning...

Tuesday Posted Jul 9, 2019 at 12:01 AM Updated at 8:53 AM Folks really ought not to swim in potentially toxic algae that could make them sick. Seems like that might go without saying, but Buckeye Lake’s Crystal Beach and Fairfield Beach recently had people wading and swimming in the stuff despite signs warning of unsafe toxin levels. Perhaps it’s understandable because the algae has become such an annual fixture in Ohio that...
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Every Mississippi Beach Is Closed Due to Toxic Algae

Every Mississippi Beach Is Closed Due to Toxic Alg...

If you’re looking to cool off in the waters of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, think again. A toxic algal bloom has made the waters dangerous to humans and their pets. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has shut down swimming at all of its beaches due to a blue-green harmful algal bloom, according to CNN. Toxic algae are dangerous to touch and poisonous when swallowed. It can cause rashes, stomach...
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Trump officials deleting mentions of ‘climate change’ from U.S. Geological Survey press releases

Trump officials deleting mentions of ‘climate chan...

A March news release from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) touted a new study that could be useful for infrastructure planning along the California coastline. At least that’s how President Donald Trump’s administration conveyed it. The news release hardly stood out. It focused on the methodology of the study rather than its major findings, which showed that climate change could have a withering effect on...
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