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Researchers Predict More Frequent, Severe Megastorms Due to Climate Change

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby City News Service

A study last week predicts that massive, often-devastating “hundred-year storms” may occur three times as often and be 20% more severe in the U.S. due to climate change. The researchers, in a paper published in the American Geophysical Union journal Earth’s Future, found that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase at a rapid rate, the continental U.S. would likely see such mega-storms every 33 years.

The occurrence of historic rainfall events, like the ones that caused Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and California’s Great Flood of 1862, are likely to increase faster than lower-magnitude events, which already happen about every decade, according to UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain.

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Opinion: The Future Has Arrived. These Explosive Fires are our Climate Change Wakeup Call

/in , , /by /The Guardian by Peter Gleick

Like millions of people in the western United States this week, I woke up to deep red, sunless skies, layers of ash coating the streets, gardens, and cars, and the smell of burning forests, lives, homes, and dreams. Not to be too hyperbolic, but on top of the political chaos, the economic collapse, and the worst pandemic in modern times, it seemed more than a little apocalyptic.

Too much of the western United States is on fire, and many areas not suffering directly from fire are enveloped in choking, acrid smoke.

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Carlsbad Desalination Plant Cuts Output to Conserve Electricity Amid Heat Wave

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority said Tuesday production has been cut back at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant to conserve electricity and prevent rolling blackouts during the statewide heat wave.

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California Blackouts are Public Utilities Commission’s fault, Grid Operator says

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

California’s power grid operator delivered a blistering rebuke Monday to the state’s Public Utilities Commission, blaming the agency for rotating power outages — the first since the 2001 energy crisis — and warning of bigger blackouts to come.

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Groundbreaking Study: Earth Will Warm 4.9 to 7 Degrees F

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Chelsea Harvey

How much warming will greenhouse gas emissions cause in the coming years? It’s one of the most fundamental questions about climate change — and also one of the trickiest to answer.

Now, a major study claims to have narrowed down the range of possible estimates.

It presents both good and bad news. The worst-case climate scenarios may be somewhat less likely than previous studies suggested. But the best-case climate scenarios — those assuming the least amount of warming — are almost certainly not going to happen.

It’s “the most important climate science paper that’s come out in several years,” according to climate scientist Andrew Dessler of Texas A&M University, who was not involved with the study.

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Worst Climate Scenario Probably Won’t Happen, Scientists Say

/in , /by /E&E News by Chelsea Harvey

One of the most fundamental questions in climate research asks the following: What will the world look like when we reach a certain point of warming?

How will it change after 2 degrees? 4 degrees? Even warmer?

More than a decade ago, scientists designed a set of hypothetical scenarios to help them model the climate. Their goal was to answer these very questions.

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