Climate change will lead to wetter US winters, modeling study finds

Most Americans can expect wetter winters in the future due to global warming, according to a new study led by a University of Illinois Chicago scientist.

Using climate models to investigate how winter precipitation in the United States will change by the end of the 21st century, a team led by Akintomide Akinsanola found overall winter precipitation and extreme weather events will increase across most of the country.

New food early warning systems boost Fiji’s disaster preparedness amid growing climate risks

Approximately 171,611 Fijians in the Rewa Delta, Naitasiri, and parts of Tailevu will now benefit from 17 newly installed Flood Early Warning Systems. This advanced network of four rainfall stations, seven water level stations, and six warning posts will significantly enhance Fiji’s capacity to predict floods and execute timely evacuations, reducing the devastating impact of natural disasters on local communities.

The new warning system’s launch coincides perfectly with the Coalition Government’s recently unveiled National Development Plan, which aims to empower Fijians and create a more resilient nation and comes at a critical time for the country, which is facing increasing risks from climate change.

Research shows heat, drought and fire risk are increasing in South America

The number of days per year that are simultaneously extremely hot, dry, and have a high fire risk have as much as tripled since 1970 in some parts of South America.

South America is warming at a similar rate to the global average. However, some regions of the subcontinent are more at risk of the co-occurrence of multiple climate extremes. These compound extremes can have amplified impacts on ecosystems, economy, and human health. The authors additionally found that the likelihood of the compound conditions occurring on a regional basis was affected by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. During the warm El Niño phase, fire risk increased in the northern Amazon region, while the cooler La Niña phase led to increased fire risk in central South America.

How to fix funding bottlenecks and pave the way for locally led adaptation

A new survey explores the operational bottlenecks preventing local organisations from accessing climate adaptation funding. As the UN General Assembly approaches, IIED’s May Thazin Aung and BRAC’s Sousan Suha share the survey’s findings and explains how funders can smooth the way for locally led adaptation.

Race to Resilience welcomes 3 new regions as part of RegionsAdapt to boost climate resilience in India, Senegal, and Brazil

Three new regions – Assam (India), Louga (Senegal), and Pernambuco (Brazil) – have joined the Race to Resilience campaign through RegionsAdapt, committing to enhance climate resilience. Discover how these areas are empowering local communities, from rural farming to coastal restoration, to protect their environments and create sustainable futures.

How satellites are boosting climate resilience of EU cities

Our cities are home to the vast majority of Europeans, but they are under pressure from the complexities of climate change and rapid urbanisation. The EU-funded CURE project leveraged the power of Earth Observation satellites to address these issues, aiming to create safer, more sustainable cities for EU citizens.

One of the biggest hurdles in sustainable urban planning has been the lack of direct access to environmental data at a local scale. CURE’s efforts aimed to fix this problem by taking advantage of the vast amount of information collected by Copernicus, the Earth Observation (EO) component of the EU Space Programme.

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Ensuring resilient water infrastructure in a changing climate

Climate change is having a fundamental effect on the water sector, and if we look at this from the point of view of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) itself, there is an impact of decision making not only on the economy, but also on key aspects of the national development goals and issues such as food security, environment, health and of course SDG 6.

Water management has a huge economic impact, and if you are able to ensure that IWRM has been embedded into decision making through processes like multicriteria assessment, it is possible to make judgements about how to make the most efficient use of limited water resources.

New AI-led science initiative will help protect communities hit by climate change in East Africa

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Oxford University Physics Department, IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), and various national forecasting and meteorology agencies across east Africa are joining forces to pioneer a transformative initiative that is revolutionising extreme weather forecasting and early warning systems in the region.

Avoiding gridlock: The impact of climate on electric grids

Grids are the arteries and veins of electricity circulation. Comprising of power stations, substations, transformers, transmission and distribution lines, the grid connects electricity supply to demand. It is a complex and intricate network, exposed to many natural and man-made risks.

Shaping a resilient future: GEM’s innovations at WCEE2024

The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation is gearing up for the 18th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE2024) in Milan, Italy, from July 1st to 5th, 2024. This premier earthquake engineering conference brings together researchers, industry professionals, and policymakers to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of earthquake preparedness and mitigation strategies. GEM will be at the forefront, presenting a wide range of technical sessions and presentations by its leading scientists.

Wildfires increasingly threaten oil and gas drill sites, compounding potential health risks, study says

More than 100,000 oil and gas wells across the western U.S. are in areas burned by wildfires in recent decades, a new study has found, and some 3 million people live next to wells that in the future could be in the path of fires worsened by climate change.

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, said their analysis, which was published last week in the journal One Earth, is the first to examine historical and projected wildfire threats on oil and gas facilities in the U.S.

Communicating the links between climate change and heat waves with the Climate Shift Index

Extreme weather, including heat waves, poses a significant threat to human health and ecosystems. As global temperatures continue to rise, heat waves are becoming more frequent and severe. Because of this, communicating heat-related risks to the public is increasingly important for both their own protection and to encourage mitigation policies.

We conducted a message experiment with 3,902 Americans, focused on the July 2023 heat wave that occurred in much of the United States.

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