Cogent – Curated – Updated || Since 1999 || Information you need-produced by humans
What will the climate in your city be like in 2050? The changing climate is driving hotter temperatures and longer and more severe droughts–which, in turn, can lead to even higher temperatures. This combination can make both rural areas and cities unliveable. To understand the issues, see: Baghdad’s record heat offers glimpse of world’s climate change future (Louisa Loveluck and Chris Mooney, The Washington Post,…
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Our climate is changing, and rapidly. The evidence is all around us. One result of our changing climate is the increased frequency of weather and weather-related extremes across the Earth–stifling and dangerous heatwaves, prolonged and profound drought, torrential rain leading to deadly and destructive flooding, inexorable sea level rise, explosive wildfires and then smoke affecting skies, air quality, and health thousands of miles away, lives…
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Hot temperatures in cities and towns are not experienced the same by residents. Neighborhoods with more minority residents (especially), neighborhoods with lower-income residents, and neighborhoods with residents with lower education levels “experience hotter temperatures during summer heatwaves than nearby white residents” and residents with higher incomes and more formal education. This trend has been documented for years in major cities but research also shows that…
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The western United States (including parts of the Great Plains) is going through an historic period of drought–a level of extended drought that the region has not seen in potentially hundreds of years. “All told, nearly 85% of the West is suffering through drought conditions right now, according to the US Drought Monitor. Almost half the region is now in an extreme or exceptional drought,…
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More evidence … See also: Extreme weather and climate change: the connections and impacts Connections with a changing climate: drought, intense rainfall, and flooding How cities are/will be impacted by climate change Weather extremes–global warming and polar cold Excessive rainfall–the new normal Questions? Please let me know (engelk@grinnell.edu).
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Is there a connection between extreme weather events (rain, cold, heat, droughts, hail, hurricanes, tornadoes, and more) and climate change? Yes. Are extreme weather events becoming stronger and happening more frequently? Yes. Are these extreme weather events having a greater impact–economic losses, human migration, loss of plant and animal species and even extinction, worsening human health, and more. Yes, again. See the research … Quick…
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More and more of us–especially in urban areas–are exposed to greater air pollution and higher temperatures (factors of a changing climate). Based on a review of studies conducted between 2007 and 2019, one impact of this across the United States is a significant association with adverse pregnancy outcomes, especially impacting women with related health conditions and/or who are more likely to reside in these areas….
See moreTemperatures that differ from the long-term average over time–hotter or colder–will become more frequent as our climate changes. Hotter temperatures have been tied to increases in deaths by injuries in the United States. “In the present study, we used data on mortality and temperature over 38 years (1980–2017) in the contiguous USA and formulated a … model to quantify how anomalous temperatures … affect deaths from…
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Quick bibliography: 5 reviews/recent articles on solar-powered water harvesting and purification. Classic review: Sampathkumar, K., Arjunan, T.V., Pritchandi, P., & Senthilkumar, P. (2010). Active solar distillation—A detailed review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14 (6), 1503-1526 . [Cited by] “All over the world, access to potable water to the people are narrowing down day by day. Most of the human diseases are due to polluted…
See more**updated June 2021** News: City life has changed and will change even more due to the impacts of climate change. Cities in the United States may face greater challenges than cities elsewhere due to complacency, denial, inadequate infrastructure, and other reasons. Yet, some U.S. cities are taking strong actions–despite the current U.S. Government Executive Branch. The climate changes that may have the greatest impact are…
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