Most recent 40 articles: Washington Post - Climate and Environment
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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The problem with your sneakers? They’re built to last too long. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 1) |
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Apr 1 · Thomas Bogle was logging dozens of miles on the spruce- and pine-lined backcountry trails that weaved around his home in Steamboat Springs, Colo., as he trained for an ultramarathon. His mind wasn’t focused on his target pace, though. Instead, he couldn’t stop thinking about the micro bits of plastic and rubber the soles of his shoes were shedding on the forest floor.
With every step we take, our shoes leave behind an invisible trail of toxic contaminants that can potentially harm the soil, water and animal health.
Nearly 24 billion pairs of shoes were produced in 2022. Each contains myriad plastics and synthetic, petroleum-based rubber. Of the 500,000 tons of ... | By Daliah Singer Read more ...
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China is all in on green tech. The U.S. and Europe fear unfair competition. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 29) |
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Mar 29 · CHENGDU, China - A decade ago, Tongwei Group was a maker of fish food and livestock feed. Today, the company, based in this famously overcast corner of southwest China, is the world’s largest producer of solar cells, the components of panels that turn sunlight into electricity.
At its $2.8 billion facility on the outskirts of Chengdu, robotic arms stacked the delicate cells on autonomous carts that zipped between production stages. Productivity has gone up 161 percent - and the number of workers down by 62 percent - thanks to 5G equipment from homegrown technology giant Huawei, the company says.
Tongwei now has even grander ambitions: It is rapidly expanding and ... Read more ...
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Electric trucks get a boost from Biden, worrying trucking industry - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 29) |
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Mar 29 · Rayan Makarem worries about the air that his 2-year-old daughter breathes. More than 100 diesel-powered trucks rumble through their neighborhood every half an hour, spewing harmful pollutants linked to asthma and other health conditions.
The pollution in their community - and others like it nationwide - will be curbed under a climate change rule the Environmental Protection Agency finalized Friday. The rule will require manufacturers to slash emissions of greenhouse gases from new trucks, delivery vans and buses. Those limits, in turn, will reduce deadly particulate matter and lung-damaging nitrogen dioxide from such vehicles.
“Now that I have a 2-year-old kid, we ... Read more ...
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Biden promised to install thousands of EV charging stations. Only 7 have been built. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 28) |
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Mar 28 · President Biden has long vowed to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations in the United States by 2030. Those stations, the White House said, would help Americans feel confident purchasing and driving electric cars, and help the country cut carbon pollution.
But now, more than two years after Congress allocated $7.5 billion to help build out those stations, only 7 EV charging stations are operational across four states. And as the Biden administration rolls out its new rules for emissions from cars and trucks - which will require a lot more electric cars and hybrids on the road - the sluggish build-out could slow the transition to electric cars.
“I think a lot ... Read more ...
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Climate change is altering Earth’s rotation enough to mess with our clocks - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · Climate change is messing with time itself.
The melting of polar ice due to global warming is affecting Earth’s rotation and could have an impact on precision timekeeping, according to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
The planet is not about to jerk to a halt, nor speed up so rapidly that everyone gets flung into space. But timekeeping is an exact science in a highly technological society, which is why global authorities more than half a century ago felt compelled by the slight changes in Earth’s rotation to invent the concept of the “leap second.”
Climate change is now making these calculations even more complicated: In just a few years it may be ... Read more ...
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Indoor farms are remaking the produce market - at a cost to the planet - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · No one would argue that the climate in North Texas is ideal for growing lettuce, a crop that thrives when there’s a chill in the air. But the region’s boiling summers are of no concern to Eddy Badrina, the chief executive of Eden Green Technology, a vertical, hydroponic greenhouse company located just outside of Dallas.
The company, which sells its leafy greens to Walmart, controls every aspect of a plant’s life. Inside its 82,500 square foot facility, cool air is pumped in to create the ideal microclimate around each baby butterhead and romaine lettuce. Seven miles of pipes deliver nutrient-rich water. Although natural light floods the space - setting it apart from other ... Read more ...
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U.S. clamps down on oil and gas firms releasing potent greenhouse gas - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · Oil and gas companies will need to stem the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from their drilling operations on federal and tribal lands under a highly anticipated rule the Biden administration finalized Wednesday.
The rule from the Bureau of Land Management, an arm of the Interior Department, builds on the Biden administration’s broader strategy for tackling methane, which accounts for nearly a third of global warming. Cutting methane emissions is one of the fastest ways to slow climate change, because it traps 80 times as much heat as carbon dioxide during its first 20 years in the atmosphere.
The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled plans for preventing ... Read more ...
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Why Tennessee lawmakers are pushing a bill to keep government from spraying the sky - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · Republican state lawmakers are going after a new threat they say could cause harm to the environment - and playing into a baseless claim at the same time.
In a Tennessee bill passed by the state Senate last week, lawmakers targeted geoengineering, an experimental - and controversial - practice not yet in use that could help cool the planet amid climate change.
But the text of the bill can also be seen as referring to “chemtrails,” plumes of toxic chemicals that believers of the unfounded claim say governments and corporations are spewing into the sky.
Now, the confusion between solar geoengineering and chemtrails threatens to muddy the waters around nascent ... Read more ...
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Birds, bees and even plants might act weird during the solar eclipse - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · A total eclipse isn’t just a spectacle in the sky. When the moon consumes the sun on April 8, day will plunge into twilight, the temperature will drop - and nature will take notice.
Reports abound of unusual animal and plant behavior during eclipses. A swarm of ants carrying food froze until the sun reemerged during an 1851 eclipse in Sweden. A pantry in Massachusetts was “greatly infested” with cockroaches just after totality in 1932. Sap flowed more slowly in a 75-year-old beech tree in Belgium in 1999. Orb-weaving spiders started tearing down their webs and North American side-blotched lizards closed their eyes during an eclipse in Mexico in 1991.
Plenty of scientists ... Read more ...
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The surprising reasons why Big Oil may not want a second Trump term - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · HOUSTON - As president, Donald Trump vowed to unleash American “energy dominance,” while on the campaign trail, he has summarized his energy policies with the slogan “drill, baby, drill.”
Yet a possible Trump victory in the 2024 election is not delighting oil and gas executives as much as one might expect, according to interviews with several industry leaders at a recent energy conference in Houston.
Fossil fuel firms have found a lot to like in President Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump has vowed to unravel. The law offers lucrative tax credits for companies to capture and store carbon dioxide - subsidies that several oil giants ... Read more ...
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Fastest-moving solar storm in years triggered beautiful green and purple aurora - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · Skywatchers reported beautiful green, purple and red auroras across Sunday skies in some locations in Europe, New Zealand and parts of the northern United States - at least for a little bit. The auroras, also known as the northern and southern lights, were triggered by the fastest-moving solar storm in at least five years, but dwindled as the geomagnetic activity quickly waned.
In Finland, the “aurora did one amazing dance just after the fall of darkness,” Alexander Kuznetsov, a self-described “aurora hunter,” wrote on SpaceWeather.com. “It started as a sharp dancing arc in the Southern horizon, and it quickly went overhead, producing some of the most vibrant red & purple ... Read more ...
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Steel, cement and - cheese? U.S. spends big to cut these carbon footprints. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · Americans love their macaroni and cheese, devouring millions of boxes each year. But producing all of that gooey yellow pasta takes a toll on the planet, since heating and drying the ingredients requires an enormous amount of energy.
On Monday, the Biden administration took a big step toward tackling those and other industrial emissions as part of its broader climate agenda. The Energy Department announced up to $6 billion for 33 projects intended to curb carbon pollution from industrial facilities, including steel mills, cement plants and a Michigan factory where Kraft Heinz makes its staple food of college dorm rooms everywhere.
The funding, which comes from President ... Read more ...
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Radar gaps threaten millions as severe weather season ramps up in U.S. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 24) |
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Mar 24 · In March 2012, a tornado near Charlotte damaged or destroyed nearly 200 homes, injuring four people, including three children. In February 2020, a tornado near Demopolis, Ala., destroyed a mobile home, killing a 54-year-old substitute teacher and injuring her husband. In May 2022, a violent thunderstorm complex sweeping through Minnesota killed a 63-year-old volunteer firefighter when a grain silo blew onto his vehicle.
All three severe weather episodes share a common trait: They formed in areas of poor radar coverage known as “radar gaps,” where the closest radar is too far to reliably detect tornadoes, flash flooding, heavy snow and ice. That means people either were not ... Read more ...
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Northern Lights slash a surprising amount of winter energy bills. Here’s why. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 23) |
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Mar 23 · Over many Finnish winters, scientist Timo Asikainen made an observation in his grandma’s old house common to many: when it was cold, money spent on electricity went up. It turns out, though, those cold spells and his energy bills were influenced by an unexpected source in plain sight, the aurora borealis.
More than 90 million miles away from Earth, the sun is constantly spewing out charged particles in our direction, sometimes triggering the ultimate celestial light show - an aurora, also known as the northern and southern lights. Now, Finnish scientists have determined that such strong geomagnetic activity around the country can cause warmer weather and lower electricity ... Read more ...
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Biden seeks to accelerate the EV transition in biggest climate move yet - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 20) |
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Mar 20 · The Biden administration finalized the United States’ toughest limits on planet-warming emissions from passenger cars and light trucks Wednesday, in a controversial bid to accelerate the nation’s halting transition to electric vehicles.
The Environmental Protection Agency rule - President Biden’s most far-reaching climate regulation yet - will require automakers to ramp up sales of electric vehicles while slashing carbon emissions from gasoline-powered models, which account for about one-fifth of America’s contribution to global warming.
But unlike last year’s proposed rule, automakers will not need to dramatically boost electric vehicle (EV) sales until after 2030. The ... Read more ...
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Dunes aren’t just big piles of sand. Here’s why Earth needs them. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 20) |
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Mar 20 · The famed coastal dunes that inspired the shifting sand landscape of the desert planet Arrakis in Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel “Dune” are also under siege - from climate change and human development.
Like many beaches around the world, the vast sandy ecosystem that stretches along Oregon’s central coastline is threatened by sea level rise and more powerful storms. “There are a lot of places where dunes are eroding that weren’t eroding in the past,” said Sally Hacker, a coastal ecologist and professor at Oregon State University who researches the landforms.
As communities build right up to their edge, disrupting the complex system of sand, these dunes can become ... Read more ...
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Phasing out fossil fuels a 'fantasy,’ oil executives say amid giant profits - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 20) |
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Mar 20 · HOUSTON - When nations struck a historic deal to phase out fossil fuels last fall, then-U.S. climate envoy John F. Kerry was elated.
“We are moving away from fossil fuels - and we are not turning back,” Kerry declared at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Dubai.
But three months later, it appears that some of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies did not get the memo. At an energy conference here this week, their leaders struck a much different tone, predicting that fossil fuels will continue to power the global economy well into the future.
“We should abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas,” Amin Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, said to ... Read more ...
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Why experts think tornado season could soon spring to life - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 19) |
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Mar 19 · The United States sees, on average, about 1,200 tornadoes per year. Most are weak and fleeting - often touching down only briefly and causing minimal damage. A few are strong or violent, tracking dozens of miles and destroying entire neighborhoods. Experts are warning that this year, the peak of tornado season - from April through June - could be extra busy in the Plains.
Tornadoes happen in every month of the year. While the winter months of December through February are usually quieter, it’s not uncommon for spinning storms to skirt the Gulf Coast and Florida.
By March warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico wafts north over the Deep South. As it clashes with remnant ... Read more ...
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Why EVs are now almost as cheap as gas cars - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 18) |
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Mar 18 · The price of electric cars is plummeting so fast that they’re now almost as cheap as gas-powered cars.
Since EVs first hit the market, car buyers have had to pay a steep premium if they wanted a car that ran on batteries instead of a gas engine. Two years ago, they would have paid about $17,000 more on average for a new electric car than for a new gas-powered car. But that gap has been rapidly closing, shrinking to $5,000 last month, according to data from Cox Automotive.
That’s an 11 percent markup over the average new car price last month - roughly similar to the price difference between picking the base model of some cars vs. the performance model that comes with all ... Read more ...
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Why Americans pay so much more than anyone else for weather disasters - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Mar 16) |
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Mar 16 · The United States suffers the world’s second-highest toll from major weather disasters, according to a new analysis - even when numbers are adjusted for the country’s wealth.
The report released late last month by Zurich-based reinsurance giant Swiss Re, which analyzed the vulnerability and damages of 36 different countries, suggests that weather disasters may become a heavy drag on the U.S. economy - especially as insurers increasingly pull out of hazardous areas. Those disasters are driving up insurance rates, compounding inflation and adding to Americans’ high cost of living.
Property damages from hurricanes, severe convective storms, flooding and winter storms cost ... Read more ...
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