Butterflies Booking It North as Climate Warms

Butterflies from the southern US that used to be rare in the northeast are now appearing there on a regular basis. The trend correlates to a warming climate report the authors of a paper in Nature Climate Change. Subtropical and warm-climate butterflies—including the giant swallowtail (photo above) and the zabulon skipper (photo below)—showed the sharpest population shift to the north. As recently as the late 1980s these species were rare or absent in Massachusetts. http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/01/butterflies-booking-it-north-climate-warms

Climate change felt by satellites and space junk

Rising carbon dioxide levels at the edge of space are apparently reducing the pull that Earth's atmosphere has on satellites and space junk, researchers say. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57548307/climate-change-felt-by-satellites-and-space-junk/

Hurricane Sandy Floods New York City

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-floods-new-york-city-photos-show-devastation/ The storm was once Hurricane Sandy but combined with two wintry systems to become a huge hybrid storm whose center smashed ashore late Monday in New Jersey.

Flooding in Venice

Tourists in Venice swap gondolas for wellington boots and swimming costumes as heavy rain floods The Floating City Seventy per cent of central Venice was under water yesterday after rainfall and seas whipped up by strong winds brought the Italian city's high tide mark to its sixth-highest level since records began in 1872. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2231703/Flooding-Venice-Tourists-swap-gondolas-wellington-boots-heavy-rain-hits.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

What's Behind The Record Heat?

Heat is beating records around the country: the first five months of 2012 have been the hottest on record in the contiguous United States. And that's not including June, when 164 all-time high temperature records were tied or broken around the country, according to government records. That's unusual, since the most intense heat usually comes in July and August for much of the country, said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist with National Climatic Data Center. For example, only 47 all-time high records were tied or broken in June of last year. http://news.yahoo.com/whats-behind-record-heat-125603530.html

Climate change and wild fires

Colorado wildfires: 32,000 evacuated as blaze jumps perimeter near Colorado Springs

"This is a firestorm of epic proportions," Colorado Springs Fire chief Richard Brown said at a news conference late Tuesday. "From the vantage point of a command post about 10 miles from the path of advancing flames," Reuters said, "the entire community of Mountain Shadows, a northwest subdivision, appeared to be enveloped in an orange glow after dark." Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who surveyed the fire from the air, said: "It was like looking at the worst movie set you could imagine--it's almost surreal. You look at that, and it's like nothing I've seen before." Hickenlooper added: "This is the worst fire season in the history of Colorado." http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/colorado-wildfires-evacuations-124631601.html

New Zealand Snowstorm Believed To Be Heaviest In 30 Years (VIDEO)

New Zealanders were witnesses to what some forecasters are describing as a once-in-a-lifetime event Monday as the nation was hit with its heaviest snowstorm in 30 years.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/15/new-zealand-snowstorm_n_927454.html?ir=Green

Twilight of the Glaciers

the namesake glaciers, which, I had recently learned, might be around for only another decade or so. Given that a century and a half ago there were 150 and now there are 25, the trip makes me an enlistee in the practice known by a somewhat prickly term: last-chance tourism.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/travel/glacier-national-park-montana-fading-glaciers.html

It's official: Record June runoff to swollen Missouri River

Close to home, record spring snowfall led to raging rivers and flood advisories. Boulder Creek, which in mid-July flowed at nearly 1,000 cubic feet per second, spilled out over the adjacent bike path. Fort Collins shut down city access to the Cache La Poudre River, and restrictions were in place on other rivers across the state.

http://www2.ucar.edu/staffnotes/news/4978/when-waters-rise

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers answers FAQs about 2011 flood

Flooding commenced with unseasonable heavy snows across the Great Plains. This was followed by three to six times the normal rainfall in May in eastern Montana, northern Wyoming, and the western Dakotas. Then the snow pack melt came perhaps two weeks later than usual with an accumulation that was around 23 to 40 percent greater than normal.

http://www.cass-news.com/articles/2011/07/25/news/local/doc4e2da4d018f56257550923.txt

East Coast sees slight relief from dangerous heat wave

At its peak, the heat wave put some 132 million people under a heat alert and was blamed for as many as 34 deaths, according to the National Weather Service.

"The huge area of high pressure at most levels of the atmosphere responsible for the dangerous, record-setting heat in multiple states is backing out of the northeastern U.S. and neighboring Canada," AccuWeather.com's senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/25/us-weather-heatwave-idUSTRE76O39O20110725

Heat Wave Shows No Sign Of Breaking

WACO (July 25, 2011)—The National Weather Service has again extended the heat advisory for much of Central Texas and temperatures continue to soar to near record levels.

The entire state continues to suffer an extreme drought.

http://www.kwtx.com/weather/headlines/Heat_Wave_Shows_No_Sign_Of_Breaking_126122868.html

Comverge's Swift Response Prevents Record Breaking East Coast Heat Wave From Affecting Grid Stability

"Over the last month the weather in many eastern states has been brutally hot with daily and overnight temperatures breaking numerous records," said Steve Moffitt, Chief Operating officer, Comverge.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/comverges-swift-response-prevents-record-breaking-east-coast-heat-wave-from-affecting-grid-stability-2011-07-26-141930?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Arizona Wildfire Essentially Contained, but Concerns Shift to Flooding

With the largest wildfire in Arizona history all but contained, specialized units pulled out of eastern Arizona on Tuesday leaving authorities at the heavily-scorched sites of blazes around the state to shift their focus to a new vulnerability -- water.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/05/arizona-wildfire-essentially-contained-but-concerns-shift-to-flooding/#ixzz1RLp8AAOH

Photos of July 5 Phoenix Dust Storm

http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2011/07/06/photos-of-july-5-phoenix-dust-storm/

The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

More storms are forecast for Wednesday evening, following a massive dust storm that swept across the Phoenix area Tuesday night, leaving a path of dust, debris and damage in nearly every part of the Valley.

Arizona wildfire swallows over 600 square miles

Increased wildfires due to climate change was predicted in models in the early 90's that the worldwatch institute reported.

The monster blaze, ranking as Arizona's second-largest wildfire on record, has chased up to 2,000 people from homes in and around two communities in immediate danger, Eager and Springerville, since Tuesday, fire officials reported.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/08/us-wildfire-arizona-idUSTRE7542JD20110608

Some aerial fireworks banned in dry Texas

HOUSTON (AP) — Fourth of July celebrations in drought-stricken parts of Texas will be a bit muted this year, as many local governments are banning the use of bottle rockets and some other aerial fireworks because of the risk of sparking wildfires.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Some-aerial-fireworks-banned-in-dry-Texas-1414838.php