New Study Puts a Figure on Sea-Level Rise Following Antarctic Ice Shelves’ Collapse
An international team of scientists has shown how much sea level would rise if Larsen C and George VI, two Antarctic ice shelves at risk of collapse, were to break…
Flood Risk
Flood Risk
Global Study of World’s Beaches Shows Threat to Protected Areas
A first-of-its-kind survey of the world’s sandy shorelines with satellite data found that they have increased slightly on a global scale over the past three decades but decreased in protected…
Study Suggests Buried Internet Infrastructure at Risk as Sea Levels Rise
MONTREAL — Thousands of miles of buried fiber optic cable in densely populated coastal regions of the United States may soon be inundated by rising seas, according to a new…
Cities Face Dramatic Rise in Heat, Flood Risks by 2050, Researchers Say
CAPE TOWN, June 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – In the next 30 years, cities around the world will face dramatically higher risks from extreme heat, coastal flooding, power blackouts, and…
USA – Flooding From Sea Level Rise Threatens Over 300,000 Homes Says Study
Accelerating sea level driven by climate change is projected to worsen tidal flooding in the USA, putting as many as 311,000 coastal homes at risk of chronic flooding within the…
Hurricanes Threaten Caribbean Countries Still Recovering From 2017 Storms – Officials
GRAND ANSE, Grenada, May 31 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The onset of hurricane season this week could prove disastrous for Caribbean nations that were slammed by storms last year and…
Hurricanes: Stronger, Slower, Wetter in the Future?
Scientists have developed a detailed analysis of how 22 recent hurricanes would be different if they formed under the conditions predicted for the late 21st century. While each storm’s transformation…
Record-Breaking Ocean Heat Fuelled Hurricane Harvey
In the weeks before Hurricane Harvey tore across the Gulf of Mexico and plowed into the Texas coast in August 2017, the Gulf’s waters were warmer than any time on…
Sierra Leone Mudslide Survivors Live in Fear of Fresh Disaster
FREETOWN, May 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Kadiatu Koroma only narrowly escaped the mudslide that engulfed her home in Sierra Leone’s ramshackle capital last August, killing an estimated 1,000 people…
Sea Level Rise Threatens Hundreds of Wastewater Treatment Plants
Untreated sewage could affect 5 times more people than direct flooding, a new study shows. When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in 2017, at least 40 wastewater treatment plants were damaged…
Many Low-Lying Atoll Islands Could Be Uninhabitable by Mid-21st Century – USGS
Sea-level rise and wave-driven flooding will negatively impact freshwater resources on many low-lying atoll islands in such a way that many could be uninhabitable in just a few decades. According…
USA – Study Predicts ‘Climate Whiplash’ in California With Dramatic Shifts in Weather Extremes
A study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) predicts dramatic shifts between extreme dry and extreme wet weather in California by end of 21st century, something…
Winter Wave Heights and Extreme Storms on the Rise in Western Europe
Average winter wave heights along the Atlantic coast of Western Europe have been rising for almost seven decades, according to new research. The coastlines of Scotland and Ireland have seen…
USA – Study Shows Most Hurricane Harvey Fatalities in Houston Occurred Outside Flood Zones
A Dutch-Texan team found that most Houston-area drowning deaths from Hurricane Harvey occurred outside the zones designated by government as being at higher risk of flooding: the 100- and 500-year…
USA – Urban Growth Leads to Shorter, More Intense Wet Seasons in Florida Peninsula
New research from Florida State University scientists has found that urban areas throughout the Florida peninsula are experiencing shorter, increasingly intense wet seasons relative to underdeveloped or rural areas. The…
USA – Human-Engineered Changes on Mississippi River Increased Extreme Floods
A new study has revealed for the first time the last 500-year flood history of the Mississippi River. It shows a dramatic rise in the size and frequency of extreme…
