In The News

Harvard Business Review: Prepare for Climate Change

Matthew E. Kahn, Brian Casey and Nolan Jones September 7, 2017
Flooding, wildfires and other risks associated with climate change are on the rise, and “and yet behavioral economics research argues that we are collectively underinvesting in protecting ourselves,” write Matthew E. Kahn, Brian Casey and Nolan Jones for Harvard Business Review. Reasons include a tendency to focus on short time frames, optimism on risk exposure and lack of preparation. The...

The Economist: Weather-Related Disasters Are Increasing

September 5, 2017
Texas, India and Niger confront record flooding, and in Houston, the fourth largest US city, nearly 50 inches of rain fell after Hurricane Harvey landed. According to the United Nations’s disaster-monitoring system, the United States “sits alongside China and India in suffering the greatest number of natural disasters globally between 1995 and 2015. These include earthquakes, storms, floods and...

The New York Times: More Than 1,000 Died in South Asia Floods This Summer

Jeffrey Gettleman September 1, 2017
South Asia is enduring severe flooding with the death toll this summer at more than 1000 and climbing. Monsoon rains pummeled the region since June and are expected to continue through the end of September. Jeffrey Gettleman for the New York Times describes relentless rain. “And while flooding in the Houston area has grabbed more attention, aid officials say a catastrophe is unfolding in South...

The New York Times: Hurricane Harvey Was No Surprise

Noah S. Diffenbaugh August 29, 2017
The slow-moving disaster of Hurricane Harvey for the Houston area shouldn’t have surprised anyone. The US National Weather Service was accurate in forecasting the slow-moving storm with heavy rain, and researchers around the globe have long warned about the risks of climate change, including increased precipitation. But many in the United States, especially those living in fossil-fuel production...

Deutsche Welle: Climate Change Sets the World on Fire

Ruby Russell August 21, 2017
Fierce wildfires rage throughout the Americas and Europe, even Greenland. The fires move swiftly and disrupt congested areas, with 64 people caught by surprise and killed in Portugal. Researchers connect the growing threat to rising temperatures of climate change and dried plant life. “With global temperatures rising, scientists say wildfires are likely to become increasingly frequent and...

Project Syndicate: Weathering the Violence of Climate

Gulrez Shah Azhar August 17, 2017
Severe weather threatens livelihoods and increases despair. A study from University of California, Berkeley, connects rising temperatures with suicides among Indian farmers. Other studies demonstrate that aggression increases with hot temperatures. “As global temperatures rise and droughts become more common, political agitation, social unrest, and even violence will likely follow,” explains...

The Washington Post: We May Have Less Time to Stop Global Warming Than We Thought

Chris Mooney July 26, 2017
Despite warnings from numerous scientists over the course of several decades, many people remain uncertain about climate change and the human role. A team of scientists has revised the estimate of carbon dioxide emissions that can enter the atmosphere before the planet exceeds a 2-degree Celsius rise in temperatures. “Many analyses have taken the late 19th century as the starting point, but the...