Last night, the California Assembly worked overtime to secure passage of the largest climate bill in state (any state’s) history. The bill will surely be signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, who has long pushed for climate action. It includes $54 billion in spending over 5 years on things like electric … [continued]
My grandfather told me an interesting story once. When he was a kid, he realized that the desert was, in fact, quite dry in the Southwest. He remembers asking his dad (who I was fortunate enough to actually know a little as a kid) how all the new people moving … [continued]
Originally published by Union of Concerned Scientists, The Equation. By Rachel Cleetus Deadly heatwaves, extreme drought, food and water shortages, catastrophic flooding, rapidly intensifying tropical storms, raging wildfires — around the world, climate change is exacerbating extreme conditions and their harsh toll on people and ecosystems. It’s fueling “Danger Seasons,” when … [continued]
The Colorado River wasn’t really on my mind as I was scrolling through TikTok the other night looking for cat videos, gem videos, and interesting smoothie recipes to try. The TikTok algorithm had other plans, however. To the surprise of Vanessa Keating, her video highlighting the decline of the Colorado … [continued]
What can the US Bureau of Reclamation do to mitigate the effects of climate change on hydropower?
Severe to exceptional drought has persisted in some areas of the West since the summer of 2020, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change soon.
On February 3, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest River Forecast Center (NWRFC) released its latest water supply forecast for the 2022 water year, which runs from October 2021 through September 2022. The NWRFC forecasts below-normal water supply in the southern areas of the Columbia River Basin and near-normal water supply … [continued]
Nation struck with 20 separate billion-dollar disasters in 2021
Contiguous U.S. ranked fourth warmest during 2021; 20 billion-dollar disasters identified
Part of a series on Climate Change Impacts in California’s Central Valley By Pablo Ortiz, Bilingual Western States Climate Scientist II for the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. While different places in the United States experience different climate impacts (e.g., more extreme precipitation in eastern … [continued]
