California’s infamous drought-to-deluge-to-drought climate has just swung hard toward the wet end of the spectrum. Three weeks of relentless storms brought San Francisco some of its heaviest rains in more than a century. Floodwaters inundated large areas, tens of thousands of Californians lost power, and countless trees were toppled across the state as gale-force winds […]
Yale Climate Connections
Posted inCalifornia
Climate change and droughts: What’s the connection?
For tens of millions of Americans, drought has become an ever-present natural disaster. Events such as the moderate-to-extreme drought conditions that covered more than half of the mainland U.S. in 2012, the megadrought in the West that continues today, and summer 2021’s record-low water levels at Lake Mead have kept dry spells in the news spotlight and kept drought […]
Posted inEnviro
Segmenting the climate change Alarmed: Active, Willing, and Inactive
To build public, consumer, and political will for climate action, it is essential to understand how different audiences respond to the issue. As part of this effort, our research has categorized Americans into six distinct groups – Global Warming’s Six Americas (figure below shows the Six Americas segments combining data from 2017-2021). The most engaged group – the Alarmed – are very worried about […]
Posted inLife
Scientist Mike Mann’s must-read book, ‘The New Climate War’
The New Climate War: the fight to take back our planet is the latest must-read book by leading climate change scientist and communicator Michael Mann of Penn State University. Published January 12, 2021, The New Climate War describes how outright denial of the physical evidence of human-caused climate change simply is no longer credible. It describes in explicit […]
Posted inEnviro
Should it be called “natural gas” or “methane”?
December 1, 2020 – We are pleased to announce a new study of Americans’ perceptions of natural gas. Natural gas is composed of 70-90% methane, a potent greenhouse gas and major contributor to global warming. The American public perceives “natural gas” much more favorably (76% favorable) than other fossil fuels like oil (51% ) or coal (39%). […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Bud Ward: Our extraordinary 50th Earth Day
April 22, 2020 – Happy 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Well, sort of anyway, “happy” being a relative term in these extraordinarily turbulent times. This no doubt will be the strangest Earth Day: Each day since the start of the global coronavirus pandemic took hold may qualify as the strangest … until tomorrow comes. That […]
Posted inUS
For the first time, the Alarmed are now the largest of Global Warming’s Six Americas
January 16, 2020 – Nearly six in ten (58%) Americans are now either “Alarmed” or “Concerned” about global warming. From 2014 to 2019, the proportion of “Alarmed” nearly tripled. Our prior research has categorized Americans into six groups – Global Warming’s Six Americas – based on their climate change beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. The “Alarmed” are the […]
Posted inLife
What’s the difference between weather and climate?
July 16, 2019 – One day, you see a forecast calling for sun, so you don’t bother to pack an umbrella. But just your luck: Clouds tumble in and suddenly you’re stuck in a rainstorm. Now you’re soaking and looking for someone to blame. In this case, you’ve experienced the variability of weather. Weather is […]
Posted inRegional
Climate change gets personal at film fest just miles from historic Camp Fire
NEVADA CITY, CALIF. February 25, 2019 – The mood at the 2019 Wild & Scenic Film Festival was brighter than one might expect from an event riddled with reminders of the perils of living in these times, from catastrophic wildfire to loss of biodiversity. But that’s the point of the SYRCL-produced affair: To inspire personal action, not just […]
Posted inCalifornia
The many ways climate change worsens California wildfires
November 15, 2018 – California has been ravaged by record wildfires in recent years. 2017 was the state’s costliest and most destructive fire season on record. The Mendocino wildfire in July 2018 was California’s largest-ever by a whopping 60 percent. Even though California’s wildfire season has traditionally ended in October, the Camp Fire raging in […]
Posted inRegional
The New Bullards Bar Dam is fortifying for heavier rainfall
Oct. 17, 2018 – The Yuba River snakes through Northern California, draining water that runs off the Sierra Nevada mountains. During droughts, the river’s flow slows dramatically. But in wet years, the river is prone to dangerous floods. Aikens: “And that’s why storage on the West Coast in terms of reservoirs is so important.” That’s […]