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Directly Observed Evidence

What’s Hot in Climate Change – Oct. 2016

Time for another What’s Hot in Climate Change, a summary of the most interesting and/or important climate change stories from the previous month or so.  For those paying attention, horrific news with respect to the climate seems to be coming at an ever increasing pace. There’s also plenty of encouraging news.  The adoption of alternative energy seems to steadily exceed all expectations.  The race is on between the worst effects of climate change, and those measures we take to stop it from happening.  Our fate quite literally hangs in the balance.   Corrected sea level rise estimates or… it’s worse than you know… Read More »What’s Hot in Climate Change – Oct. 2016

What’s Hot in Climate Change – August 2016

Welcome back to What’s Hot in Climate Change, a sample of a few of the stories that stood out from the past few weeks in climate change news. We hope your summer has been a good one so far. It’s been pretty damn hot here in Houston, hot as ever, but even so 2016 is already on track to blow away global records for the hottest year ever recorded. Which brings us to out top stories — a story of fire and ice. Extreme Heat in the Middle East Two places in the Middle East hit 129 degrees fahrenheit (53 centigrade) on July 15th.… Read More »What’s Hot in Climate Change – August 2016

Houston, Tx - Memorial Day flooding, 2015

Climate Change and Deadly Floods: What you need to know

With all of the extreme rain and snow storms across the US lately, the obvious question arises… are these events linked to climate change? New research shows us the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.   And it actually makes perfect sense.  Carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere, and a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture. When you combine warmer, moist air with disruption of the Jet Stream cased by a warming Arctic, you get huge, slow-moving weather fronts packed with moisture.  This is the exact recipe for epic, extreme storms. As an example, on Memorial Day in 2015, a massive storm parked over southern Texas and dropped nearly 11 inches of… Read More »Climate Change and Deadly Floods: What you need to know

How are your allergies affected by climate change?

One effect of climate change is that spring comes sooner and summer stays longer.  A longer summer makes ragweed and other plants pump out more pollen — making us miserable. An analysis of pollen data for the past few decades shows that the pollen producing season of ragweed has increased by up to 27 days as you go north from Oklahoma up into Canada. This is undeniable evidence of a warming world. Unfortunately, for folks like me, with a terrible allergy to ragweed, this is bad news.  Fortunately, I don’t have asthma, but for those who do, it’s even worse. Asthma can be triggered… Read More »How are your allergies affected by climate change?