Tropical Disturbance 92L in the southern Gulf of Mexico’s Bay of Campeche was spreading heavy rains over southern Mexico and Central America on Wednesday, and it has the potential to develop into Tropical Storm Claudette by Friday. Regardless of development, 92L will bring heavy rains and dangerous flash flooding to the central U.S. Gulf Coast […]
Posted inPolicy & Politics
Study: Extreme weather may not lead to increased support for climate action
For some Americans, the signs of global warming are everywhere. In 2020 alone, wildfires broke records across the West, hurricanes fueled by abnormally warm ocean temperatures battered the Southeast, and a Death Valley weather station recorded a temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit — possibly the hottest daily high ever reliably documented on Earth. Now, drought […]
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Higher-elevation New Orleans neighborhoods have gentrified. The Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center is pushing back.
When Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, about 70% of the city’s homes were damaged. But some neighborhoods at higher elevations stayed safe. These areas have now become desirable to buyers – especially as sea levels rise and the risks of extreme weather increase. As a result, many wealthy – often white – people have moved […]
Posted inEye on the Storm
Tropical Storm Bill forms, expected to dissipate by Wednesday morning
It’s only mid-June, but the level of tropical weather activity in the Atlantic is more typical of early August. There’s a tropical storm off the northeast U.S. coast, a tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico expected to become a tropical depression late this week, and a tropical wave off the coast of Africa with […]
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How to cut the internet’s big carbon footprint
When COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns first began, many people stopped commuting to the office and traveling. “Because nobody was driving or flying, we actually saw a pretty significant improvement in air quality and emissions as well,” says Renee Obringer of the University of Maryland. But she says the shift to working and hanging out at home […]
Posted inEye on the Storm
May 2021: Sixth-warmest May on record, NOAA reports
May 2021 was the sixth-warmest May since global record-keeping began in 1880, 0.81 degrees Celsius (1.46°F) above the 20th-century average, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, NCEI, reported June 14. NASA rated the month the seventh warmest May on record. The relative coolness of May, by recent standards, was partially the result of a La Niña event in […]
Posted inOn the Road
What 50 years of data from a backyard weather station can teach us about climate change
On the first leg of their climate documentary road-trip, Local Motives duo Nate Murray and Cody Pfister traveled to the mountains of Virginia to meet a man who has been collecting weather data for over 50 years. Julian Kesterson, who has lived in a valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains since he was a child, […]
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School bus fleet to go electric in Montgomery County, Maryland
Students in Montgomery County, Maryland, will soon have a cleaner, quieter ride to school. The local public school system is replacing 25 of its old diesel school buses with electric. And it plans to convert its entire fleet of more than 1,400 buses to electric by 2035. “We know that one of the huge benefits […]
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How one company is building affordable, sustainable homes
At the Lake Tunnel Solar Village in Geneva, New York, each home has solar panels, and is so efficient it’s net-zero – meaning it generates as much energy as it uses. CEO Ryan Wallace of the Solar Home Factory says the houses in the village all sold before his team had even broken ground. “What […]
Posted inReview
12 books to get your summer reading started
Every summer there comes a lift when we finally escape the last cold snaps of spring, the final exams and papers of school, or the reports (and taxes) of the fiscal year. This year we are doubly buoyed by the easing of pandemic restrictions. For such a time we want books that make us read […]
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Why warm temperatures at nighttime can be dangerous
After a sweltering summer afternoon in Washington D.C., a cool evening can provide a much-needed break from the heat. But during heat waves, not only does it get hot during the day, but it stays hot at night. “So people don’t get a break from it. … The heat builds up and the humidity builds […]
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‘Community solar’ programs can help low-income people benefit from solar energy
To go solar, you do not need to have a sunny rooftop. In community solar programs, electricity is generated at a solar farm. Anyone, including renters, can subscribe and receive the benefits, without having to install panels on their home. “I really like community solar because you don’t have to be a homeowner … and […]