Tag: Weather
Texas officials launch inquiry into “skyrocketing” energy bills after winter storm
Officials in Texas announced Saturday investigations into the causes of the state's widespread power outages and an energy bills spike following the state's winter storms crisis.Why it matters: Millions of Texans lost power and water during last week's storms. The…
“Obviously a mistake”: Ted Cruz back in Texas after outrage over Cancún trip
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) flew to Cancún, Mexico, on Wednesday with plans to "stay through the weekend," as hundreds of thousands of his constituents went without power and heat in Texas after a winter storm caused deadly outages.The latest: Addressing…
Texans in the Midst of Another Avoidable Catastrophe
Out in Houston on Sunday morning, at the precipice of a statewide freeze in Texas and blackouts throughout the city, I passed two different women, each handling several cartfuls of groceries, who, speaking into their phones, noted that they “may…
2 dead and millions without power in Texas as winter storm sweeps U.S.
Law enforcement found two men dead at roadways in the Houston area as a winter snowstorm continued to pummel Texas on Monday, per AP.The latest: Nearly 4.3 million people across Texas were without power late Monday, as most of the…
The old news business model is broken: making Google and Facebook pay won’t save journalism
The federal government is talking tough about making Google and Facebook pay Australian news businesses for linking to, or featuring, these publishers’ content. The digital platforms have been talking equally tough. Facebook is threatening to remove Australian news stories and…
Lake Poopó: why Bolivia’s second largest lake disappeared – and how to bring it back
A huge lake in Bolivia has almost entirely disappeared. Lake Poopó used to be the country’s second largest, after Lake Titicaca, and just a few decades ago in its wet season peak it would stretch almost 70km end to end…
After a record 22 billion-dollar disasters in 2020, it’s time to make US disaster policy more effective and equitable – here’s how
The year 2020 broke disaster records across the country in destructive and expensive ways. The Atlantic had so many hurricanes, meteorologists ran out of tropical storm names for only the second time. Across the Midwest, extreme storms flattened crops and…
Cities could get more than 4°C hotter by 2100. To keep cool in Australia, we urgently need a national planning policy
In cities around the world, temperatures could rise by more than 4℃ by 2100 under a high-emissions climate change scenario, suggests research published this week in Nature Climate Change. It comes as the Bureau of Meteorology’s annual climate statement, released…
Pikas are adapting to climate change remarkably well, contrary to many predictions
Climate change is harming many special places and iconic species around our planet, from Glacier National Park’s disappearing glaciers to California redwoods scorched by wildfires. But for the animal I study, the American pika (Ochotona princeps), there’s actually some good…
‘My Practice Looks Very Different Today’: 15 Artist-Mothers on Balancing Work and Family After a Year Like No Other
The events of 2020 turned the world upside down for everyone. But the burden of life in lockdown has predominantly fallen on women, and on mothers in particular, with many pressured to leave the workforce entirely to focus on childcare…
Saturn And Jupiter Great Conjunction 2020: Rare ‘Christmas Star’ To Light Up Night Sky For First Time In Hundreds Of Years
Look up at the night sky on December 21 and Australian stargazers may see something special.The planets of Jupiter and Saturn will appear (weather-permitting) on the summer solstice to be so close from Earth that they may look like one…
After A Smooth Start, Joe Biden Faces Frustration Over Cabinet Picks
President-elect Joe Biden started his Cabinet rollout strong. He received high marks from all corners of the party for his economic team and seemed to be pursuing a “Goldilocks” strategy of choosing nominees that were acceptable to a wide swath…
Paris Agreement: aiming for 1.5°C target could slow global warming within next two decades
On the eve of the Paris Agreement’s fifth anniversary, a global summit will convene to reaffirm ambition to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. But global temperatures have already increased by nearly 1.2°C, and continue to rise at around…
COVID-19 recovery is an opportunity to tackle worsening climate crisis: New report
We are at a moment of overlapping planetary health emergencies: COVID-19 and climate change. Both have their origins at the intersection of humanity and the rest of the natural world, both exacerbate pre-existing health inequities and both have the ability…
