Articles on or after 5/15/2023: Grist Climate and Energy
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El Niño could cost the global economy $3 trillion - Grist Climate and Energy (May 18) |
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May 18 · Forecasters are predicting the formation of an El Niño later this summer, a natural weather phenomenon that fuels above-average global heat and more intense natural disasters in parts of the world. A new study reveals that there are also strong economic repercussions to an El Niño - the pattern threatens to slow the global economy by as much as $3 trillion.
The planet’s weather over the past three years has been dominated by El Niño’s opposite extreme, La Niña, which has had a cooling effect on the globe despite the warming effects of climate change. The shift to El Niño, which is characterized by warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean, in ... Read more ...
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Ithaca bets on heat pumps in mobile homes - Grist Climate and Energy (May 26) |
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May 26 · This story was supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
Technically, Holly Hutchinson lives in Ithaca, New York, a university town in the Fingers Lakes region in the north-central part of the state. But she also lives at an important intersection between two national crises: affordable housing and the race to stave off climate disaster.
She can tell you from experience that the housing dilemma is pushing more Americans into mobile homes; she lives in one herself.
“Like many places in the country, purchasing a home here has become just out of reach for so many of us,” she said. “What is the alternative? Well, mobile homes are relatively ... Read more ...
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Montana’s new anti-climate law may be the most aggressive in the nation - Grist Climate and Energy (May 20) |
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May 20 · Montana Republican lawmakers have passed legislation that bars state agencies from considering climate change when permitting large projects that require environmental reviews, including coal mines and power plants. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill last week, marking what could be considered the nation’s most aggressive anti-climate law.
Under House Bill 971, Amanda Eggert reports for the Montana Free Press, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and other state regulators can’t consider greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts when conducting environmental reviews for large projects. The move builds off a decade-old state law that already banned the state from ... Read more ...
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New research defends curbside recycling as an effective climate tool - Grist Climate and Energy (May 23) |
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May 23 · Recycling was once all the rage. Reduce, reuse, recycle! We recited it like a mantra. To toss our cans and bottles into the blue bin was to take on personal environmental responsibility; it meant we care. However, of late, local governments once responsible for maintaining curbside recycling services have slowly pulled back, saying that the math simply doesn’t add up.
A study from the University of Florida suggests, however, that the practice is still worth our while, and, in fact, can help small municipalities reach their climate goals
Communities have increasingly reduced their acceptance of glass and aluminum, and some have eliminated curbside pickup altogether amid ... Read more ...
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Pacific Northwest heat wave breaks records for May - Grist Climate and Energy (May 16) |
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May 16 · The unseasonably hot weather that placed more than 12 million people throughout the Pacific Northwest under a heat advisory could stick around for a few more days. That’s uncomfortable news for residents battling record-setting temperatures topping 90 degrees in a region uniquely vulnerable to heat waves.
Monday marked the fourth blistering day of a hot spell that saw temperatures more than 20 degrees higher than typical throughout Oregon and Washington.
In Seattle, the mercury climbed to a searing 86 degrees on Saturday - a record for May 13 - before setting another record of 89 degrees the next day. Portland, Oregon, reached 93 degrees over the weekend, breaking a ... Read more ...
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