Articles on or after 4/2/2024: Washington Post - Climate and Environment
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An 'extremely active’ hurricane season is headed our way, experts warn - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 4) |
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Apr 4 · An “extremely active” Atlantic hurricane season is likely this year, a key preseason forecast warns, with chances for long-lived and intense storms fueled by record ocean warmth and atmospheric patterns known for boosting tropical cyclones.
Hurricane researchers from Colorado State University are predicting that nearly two dozen named tropical storms will form, including 11 hurricanes, during the season that officially begins June 1. Accumulated cyclone energy, a measure that accounts for storms’ frequency and longevity, could rise nearly twice as high as normal, to a forecast 170 percent of average by the season’s end Nov. 30.
The forecast released Thursday is the ... Read more ...
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At this climate fair, heat pumps, e-bikes and induction stoves take center stage - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 13) |
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Apr 13 · WASHINGTON - A loose line of people snaked from a doorway in the side of a cargo truck. One young boy wandered over to examine several bales of hay stacked nearby while others waiting craned their necks to get a peek inside. A small sign in the shape of a barn stuck over the open door read, “Petting Zoo.”
But the queuing visitors weren’t there to meet pigs, goats or sheep. What they wanted was hands-on experience with a different kind of beast: heat pumps.
“We have heat pump everything,” said Vanessa Bertelli, head of the nonprofit Electrify DC, as she walked through the D.C. Armory, an indoor arena, on a recent Saturday.
To her right, a showcase of two brands of ... Read more ...
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Biden hikes cost of drilling on federal lands as Trump courts oil donors - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 12) |
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Apr 12 · President Biden and Donald Trump this week outlined clashing visions for the future of fossil fuel production across the country, underscoring how the nation’s energy policies hinge on the outcome of the 2024 election.
The Biden administration on Friday finalized a landmark rule that will require oil companies to pay at least 10 times more to drill on federal lands. The rule from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management represents the first comprehensive update to the federal oil and gas leasing program in more than 30 years, and is intended to generate more money for taxpayers.
On Thursday, Trump held a private dinner at his Mar-a-Lago Club and resort with ... Read more ...
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Clouds part and crowds scream as total solar eclipse delights the U.S. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 8) |
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Apr 8 · DALLAS - Would the total solar eclipse, the last to cross the United States for two decades, live up to the hype?
In a city where history suggested clear skies were likely, forecasts of stubborn clouds threatened for days, hours - and even minutes ahead of the stunning syzygy.
Perhaps it was the cooling effect of the moon’s shadows, or just luck, but as totality approached, the cumulus clouds parted. Conditions became immaculate.
“On a scale of one to 10? 30,” said Mike Alexander, 59, who traveled to Dallas from Fresno, Calif.
It was perhaps the country’s most viewed celestial event ever, spreading the darkness of the moon’s shadow across the homes of some 32 ... Read more ...
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Earth sees hottest-ever March, the 10th record-breaking month in a row - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · The Earth just recorded its hottest March on record, the 10th month in a row to reach that feat, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Fueled by a mix of human-caused warming and the El Niño climate pattern, the all-time monthly highs were observed both in the air and in the ocean’s waters, the Copernicus report said. The heat over the past 12 months has pushed global average temperatures to an unprecedented 1.58 degrees Celsius (2.84 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than preindustrial levels, and the hotter air over the Atlantic Ocean in particular could lead to an especially intense hurricane season, scientists warned.
“It should be ... Read more ...
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EPA limits toxic air pollution from chemical plants - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · Five months after moving into her home in Texas City, Tex., encircled by industrial facilities, Nina Patton was diagnosed with breast cancer. She wondered if the pollution billowing from these plants was to blame.
Cancer-causing gases and other toxic air pollution from chemical operations in Patton’s community - and others like it nationwide - will be cut under a rule the Environmental Protection Agency finalized Tuesday. The rule, the first update to national standards in nearly two decades, aims to prevent cancer in low-income and minority neighborhoods that are disproportionately located near such plants.
The regulation specifically targets ethylene oxide, which is ... Read more ...
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EPA mulls tougher limits on new gas plants as 2024 election nears - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · The Environmental Protection Agency is considering significantly strengthening proposed limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants - a crucial part of President Biden’s climate agenda - according to three people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no final decisions have been made.
The discussions about toughening the standards, which are set to be released this month, have major implications for America’s fleet of power plants, which rank as the country’s second-largest contributor to climate change. They come as the administration weighs the political calculus of weakening or strengthening environmental regulations before the 2024 ... Read more ...
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European court rules Switzerland climate inaction violated human rights - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · A top European court found Tuesday that Switzerland violated human rights by failing to slow the impact of global warming - a landmark ruling hailed by climate activists even as the court tossed out two other cases that activists had hoped could force governments to protect their citizens from climate change.
Tuesday’s hearings on the trio of cases at the European Court of Human Rights marked the first time an international court has ruled on such cases of climate change inaction, as advocacy groups and lawmakers around the world try to spur governments to take stronger action on climate change through legislation.
The court sided with the Swiss group Senior Women for ... Read more ...
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Here’s an unofficial playlist for watching the solar eclipse - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 4) |
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Apr 4 · A total solar eclipse is sweeping across the U.S. on April 8 - and there’s a song for that. Whether you’re planning a totally celestial party or taking an epic road trip to watch the moon block out the sun, or are just wanting some new tunes, we have a playlist for you.
From sun-themed bops like “Solar Power” by Lorde and “Pocketful of Sunshine” by Natasha Bedingfield to U2’s “Staring at the Sun” and “Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen, the track list has you covered for every part of the celestial event. “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers take us through totality, while there’s “No Light, No Light” (Florence + The Machine), and when the moon moves, we’ll be singing ... Read more ...
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Here’s how EVs could get 200 miles per gallon - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 10) |
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Apr 10 · When the Toyota Prius cruised into North America for the first time in the early aughts, drivers were shocked. At a time when the average sedan got just 23 miles per gallon (and the average passenger car just 20 miles per gallon), the Prius got 48. Thanks to regenerative braking and the little electric motor, its city mileage was better than its highway mileage.
That was then. Now, when it comes to miles per gallon, electric vehicles blow hybrid cars out of the water. The average electric car in the United States today gets the equivalent of 106 miles per gallon. And, according to a new report, that number could more than double in the next decades, to the equivalent of more ... Read more ...
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HOAs are blocking solar panels and native lawns. Here’s how to fight back. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 2) |
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Apr 2 · Joseph Schiarizzi started his rebellion by planting heirloom tomatoes.
With the pandemic raging in spring 2021, his front yard, in a picturesque community just outside D.C., transformed from a sparse lawn to an explosion of 10 tomato varieties, cucumbers, marigolds, a native mint and jalapeños to make his own hot sauce bursting out of three raised beds. Neighborhood kids helped plant carrots and garlic.
“My neighbors love it,” Schiarizzi, 28, a software engineer for a fintech start-up, told me over the phone, estimating his garden furnished 215 pounds of food for several families last summer, along with habitat for pollinators. “I’d say my life and the world in general ... Read more ...
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Missouri could crack down on water exports to drought-weary West - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 13) |
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Apr 13 · Missouri lawmakers say water has almost always been plentiful in their state, giving no reason to think twice about a concept known as riparian rights - the idea that, if you own the land, you have broad freedoms to use its water.
But that could change under a bill advancing quickly in a state legislature that is normally sharply divided. The measure would largely forbid the export of water across state lines without a permit, even though there is no evidence that is happening on any large scale.
Just the specter of water scarcity is inspiring bipartisan support. Besides persistent drought in parts of the state and plummeting Mississippi River levels in recent months and ... Read more ...
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One of Disney’s longest-running attractions is ditching fossil fuels - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 4) |
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Apr 4 · For decades, visitors to Disney’s Autopia ride in Anaheim, Calif., have experienced a taste of the open road, navigating the curves and slopes of a winding miniature motorway in cars with real working gas pedals and steering wheels.
But now the enduring attraction is getting a planet-friendly upgrade: This week, Disney said it will phase out cars powered by pure gasoline engines.
The announcement, which was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, comes as the park is taking steps to decarbonize as part of an effort to reach a goal of net-zero emissions by 2030. The statement did not specify details about a timeline for electrifying Autopia and whether the new vehicles ... Read more ...
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Paris says the Olympics will be climate-friendly. Is that possible? - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 11) |
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Apr 11 · Organizers of the Paris Olympics have pledged that the event will be “historic for the climate,” setting a goal of generating no more than half the planet-warming emissions produced by recent Summer Games in London and Rio.
But putting on an event that attracts nearly 13 million spectators, athletes and officials from over 200 countries is, by definition, a carbon-heavy enterprise. A 2021 analysis of past Olympic Games found that the events have never been very environmentally sustainable, and they’ve tended to get worse over time, despite organizers touting the Games’ green credentials.
“What you can see in the Olympics in general is a difference between the rhetoric ... Read more ...
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Solar eclipse finishes trek across U.S., with awe in its wake - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 8) |
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Apr 8 · Today, the moon passed between the sun and Earth, obscuring the face of the sun and casting a shadow across a stretch of North America.
Millions in the path of totality experienced momentary darkness and, for some, a moment of transcendence.
Washington Post reporters, photojournalists, video journalists and editors are scattered across the map today, capturing the experiences of millions of astral enthusiasts during the celestial dance.
Live coverage contributors 35 Read more ...
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The unassuming material that could soak up carbon emissions - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 6) |
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Apr 6 · Minik Rosing grew up around the fine mud flowing from Greenland’s glaciers. It wasn’t until much later, when his own daughter had grown up and was in her mid-20s, that he realized how special it is.
During a family vacation in rural Greenland, where there was no electricity, she was fishing ice out of a milky-blue fjord for a gin and tonic when that mud gripped her feet so tightly that she had to abandon one of her boots.
As temperatures rise, meltwater is flushing out millions of tons of this stuff: ultrafine powder ground down by the island’s melting glaciers. Geologists have a culinary-sounding name for the microscopic particles: “rock flour.”
The loss of his ... Read more ...
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U.S. approves $20 billion to help poor communities go green - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 4) |
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Apr 4 · The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday awarded $20 billion to help finance clean-energy projects across the country, marking one of the Biden administration’s biggest investments in combating climate change and curbing pollution in disadvantaged communities.
The money comes from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund established by President Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. The fund seeks to leverage public and private dollars to invest in clean-energy technologies such as solar panels, heat pumps and more.
The program is potentially one of the most consequential - yet least understood - parts of the climate law. Because of the size of the ... Read more ...
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Weather Service radar, warning systems fail during severe storm outbreak - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 2) |
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Apr 2 · A network outage knocked out National Weather Service radar systems and many forecast offices’ capability to issue tornado and severe thunderstorm alerts early Tuesday, as dangerous weather moved across the Midwest.
The breakdown lasted more than four hours, Weather Service officials said, creating “intermittent” network disruptions at many of its 122 offices. Each is responsible for monitoring weather and warning the public about dangerous conditions in its region.
During the outages, severe weather necessitated about 50 tornado and thunderstorm warnings across states including Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky, said Daryl Herzmann, who runs the Iowa Environmental Mesonet ... Read more ...
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Your ultimate guide to the total solar eclipse, its path and how to watch - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 4) |
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Apr 4 · Mark your calendars - on April 8, a total solar eclipse will sweep across North America, blocking out the sun momentarily for millions of viewers along a path stretching from northern Mexico to Maine.
Not since 2017 has the United States experienced a total solar eclipse, and we won’t see another until 2044. Here’s everything you need to know to prepare for this rare celestial phenomenon.
A total solar eclipse will pass across the United States on Monday, April 8. See what the eclipse will look like in your city.
Path of totality: Our interactive visual map allows you to traverse the eclipse’s path from Mexico to Maine. If you’re traveling for the eclipse, we ... Read more ...
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