Latest news with #UnionofConcernedScientists
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Researchers issue warning after new study reveals powerful phenomenon causing flooding along coast: 'Poses threats to both lives and infrastructure'
New research indicates that a climate-change weakened network of ocean currents is a cause of a significant portion of flooding along the northeast coast of the United States. A vital ocean system, referenced by some as the Earth's "cardiovascular system," is shifting and contributing to flooding events. CNN reported that a new study, published in mid-May by Science Advances, showed that from 2005 to 2022 the U.S. Northeast experienced up to eight days of flooding annually due to sea level changes driven by a slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. This means roughly 20% to 50% of total flooding events at monitored sites could be linked to the weakening AMOC. While extreme weather like flooding has always occurred, human activities are intensifying it. As a 2024 post from the Union of Concerned Scientists explained, human activity has caused temperatures to rise globally, melting ice sheets and dumping huge amounts of freshwater into the North Atlantic. "Because of this," according to the UCS, "the ocean waters in the north are less salty and less dense than before," upending delicately balanced circulation patterns. Less dense and warmer water takes up greater space, leading sea levels to rise along with the temperatures. This research is part of a growing body of work demonstrating how a weakening AMOC can strengthen flooding events. Higher sea levels can supercharge floods and storm surges, causing powerful waters to reach further inland. They can also make flooding more frequent by setting the baseline much closer to flood status — just as a mostly full glass of water is more likely to spill over with just a little added on top. Study co-author Liping Zhang, who is also a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told CNN that flooding in the Northeast coastal states can "reshape the coastal environment … (and) poses threats to both lives and infrastructure in coastal regions." That could mean sudden basement floods in homes never before prone to such issues or washed-out roads delaying commutes and cutting off vital services to those in need. Public works and recreational areas could also sustain dangerous and costly destruction, threatening human health and safety too. Do you think your city has good air quality? Definitely Somewhat Depends on the time of year Not at all Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Such hazards could end up forcing some residents and even whole communities to relocate, with marginalized populations facing disproportionate impacts. High sea levels can also displace barrier islands and critically damage wildlife habitats. The NOAA has called for a cost-effective and enhanced observation network across the Atlantic Ocean to spot where AMOC changes originate. Meanwhile, experts at a January 2025 JPI Climate meeting agreed to complete a report covering potential tipping points, consequences, and mitigation strategies. Research like this new study can arm experts with the information they need to understand the coming dangers and plan for how to help communities counter and navigate them. In the U.S., efforts to prevent Northeast flooding are underway, including marsh restoration and flood resilience initiatives. Eco-friendly practices could help limit further disruption of the AMOC by mitigating temperature rise, and one option for homeowners is to reduce the production of heat-trapping pollution by leveraging a clean, renewable source like solar energy. Installing solar panels together with a battery system comes with added benefits, like ensuring a home's access to power in the wake of weather-related grid outages and significantly lowering energy bills. Resources like the free tool from EnergySage can also help residents compare vetted local installers, with the potential to save homeowners up to $10,000. Helping whole communities to learn about the benefits of cleaner options can multiply the effect and galvanize actions close to home with the possibility of far-reaching impacts. Organizing local walking and biking groups, for example, and supporting public transit can help cut back on planet-warming gases. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Uber's new shuttles look suspiciously familiar to anyone who's taken a bus
Every few years, a Silicon Valley gig-economy company announces a 'disruptive' innovation that looks a whole lot like a bus. Uber rolled out Smart Routes a decade ago, followed a short time later by the Lyft Shuttle of its biggest competitor. Even Elon Musk gave it a try in 2018 with the 'urban loop system' that never quite materialized beyond the Vegas Strip. And does anyone remember Chariot? Now it's Uber's turn again. The ride-hailing company recently announced Route Share, in which shuttles will travel dozens of fixed routes, with fixed stops, picking up passengers and dropping them off at fixed times. Amid the inevitable jokes about Silicon Valley once again discovering buses are serious questions about what this will mean for struggling transit systems, air quality, and congestion. Uber promised the program, which rolled out in seven cities at the end of May, will bring 'more affordable, more predictable' transportation during peak commuting hours. 'Many of our users, they live in generally the same area, they work in generally the same area, and they commute at the same time,' Sachin Kansal, the company's chief product officer, said during the company's May 14 announcement. 'The concept of Route Share is not new,' he admitted — though he never used the word 'bus.' Instead, pictures of horse-drawn buggies, rickshaws, and pedicabs appeared onscreen. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was a bit more forthcoming when he told The Verge the whole thing is 'to some extent inspired by the bus.' The goal, he said, 'is just to reduce prices to the consumer and then help with congestion and the environment.' But Kevin Shen, who studies this sort of thing at the Union of Concerned Scientists, questions whether Uber's 'next-gen bus' will do much for commuters or the climate. 'Everybody will say, 'Silicon Valley's reinventing the bus again,'' Shen said. 'But it's more like they're reinventing a worse bus.' Five years ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report that found ride-share services emit 69 percent more planet-warming carbon dioxide and other pollutants than the trips they displace — largely because as many as 40 percent of the miles traveled by Uber and Lyft drivers are driven without a passenger, something called 'deadheading.' That climate disadvantage decreases with pooled services like UberX Share — but it's still not much greener than owning and driving a vehicle, the report noted, unless the car is electric. Beyond the iffy climate benefit lie broader concerns about what this means for the transit systems in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, and Baltimore — and the people who rely on them. 'Transit is a public service, so a transit agency's goal is to serve all of its customers, whether they're rich or poor, whether it's the maximum profit-inducing route or not,' Shen said. The entities that do all of this come with accountability mechanisms — boards, public meetings, vocal riders — to ensure they do what they're supposed to. 'Barely any of that is in place for Uber.' This, he said, is a pivot toward a public-transit model without public accountability. Compounding the threat, Philadelphia and Dallas have struggling transit systems at risk of defunding. The situation is so dire in Philly that it may cut service by nearly 45 percent on July 1 amid a chronic financial crisis. (That, as one Reddit user pointed out, would be good news for Uber.) Meanwhile, the federal government is cutting support for public services, including transit systems — many of which still haven't fully recovered from COVID-era budget crunches. Though ridership nationwide is up to 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels, Bloomberg News recently estimated that transit systems across the country face a $6 billion budget shortfall. So it's easy to see why companies like Uber see a business opportunity in public transit. Khosrowshahi insists Uber is 'in competition with personal car ownership,' not public transportation. 'Public transport is a teammate,' he told The Verge. But a study released last year by the University of California, Davis found that in three California cities, over half of all ride-hailing trips didn't replace personal cars, they replaced more sustainable modes of getting around, like walking, public transportation, and bicycling. And then there's the fact cities like New York grapple with chronic congestion and don't need more vehicles cluttering crowded streets. During Uber's big announcement, Kansal showed a video of one possible Route Share ride in the Big Apple. It covered about 3 miles from Midtown to Lower Manhattan, which would take about 30 minutes and cost $13. But here's the thing: The addresses are served by three different subway lines. It is possible to commute between those two points, avoid congestion, and arrive sooner, for $2.90. So, yes, Uber Route Share is cheaper than Uber's standard car service (which has gotten 7.2 percent pricier in the past year) — but Route Share is far from the most efficient or economical way to get around in the biggest markets it's launching in. 'If anything,' Shen said, 'it's reducing transit efficiency by gumming up those same routes with even more vehicles.' This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Uber's new shuttles look suspiciously familiar to anyone who's taken a bus on Jun 3, 2025.
CNN
27-05-2025
- Climate
- CNN
Climate and weather scientists are joining the anti-Trump resistance in the most ‘scientist-iest' way
Forget marching in the streets with creative signs. For President Donald Trump's second term, in the face of steep funding cuts for climate and weather research and forecasting, scientists have a new way of engaging the public: livestreamed presentations. Starting Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET and lasting for 100 straight hours, climate and weather specialists will spend 15 minutes each talking about their work and why it is so valuable for the American people. Their goal is to call attention to the impacts of cuts to federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and the Department of Energy, along with the Trump administration's withholding of research funding to academia. The livestream marathon is billed as nonpartisan, according to Marc Alessi of the environmental group Union of Concerned Scientists, who is one of about a dozen organizers. But while speakers may not denounce the Trump administration head-on, the effort is a response to policy moves that have left the National Weather Service short-staffed at the start of hurricane season and climate science research in the budgetary crosshairs, and it is seen among the community as a form of so-called resistance to the administration's changes. It is also timed to mark the end of NASA's longstanding lease at Columbia University, which housed the agency's top climate lab, known as the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The Trump administration canceled that lease in April, and the facility's scientists, who study Earth's climate and track global average temperatures, will be forced to work remotely. 'We think that this livestream is basically an opportunity for scientists to show how these cuts to our research really damage our ability to do climate science and weather prediction,' Alessi said. 'If the American public tunes in, they watch our science talks, they will see how our science benefits the public,' he said. Climate scientist Kate Marvel, who will be participating in the livestream event in her personal capacity, said the series of talks may be 'The scientist-iest thing we could do,' but it makes sense given the expertise of those who are taking part. 'This is really speaking to the public and saying, 'Look, look at all of the amazing stuff you get for pennies on the dollar,'' she said, referring to publicly-funded weather and climate research. As for the event's potential political overtones, she said the event is being organized by many early-career researchers interested in shoring up the viability of their field of study and sharing the relevance of their work. 'Nobody wants to hear me complain about the administration,' Marvel said.
CNN
27-05-2025
- Climate
- CNN
Climate and weather scientists are joining the anti-Trump resistance in the most ‘scientist-iest' way
Forget marching in the streets with creative signs. For President Donald Trump's second term, in the face of steep funding cuts for climate and weather research and forecasting, scientists have a new way of engaging the public: livestreamed presentations. Starting Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET and lasting for 100 straight hours, climate and weather specialists will spend 15 minutes each talking about their work and why it is so valuable for the American people. Their goal is to call attention to the impacts of cuts to federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and the Department of Energy, along with the Trump administration's withholding of research funding to academia. The livestream marathon is billed as nonpartisan, according to Marc Alessi of the environmental group Union of Concerned Scientists, who is one of about a dozen organizers. But while speakers may not denounce the Trump administration head-on, the effort is a response to policy moves that have left the National Weather Service short-staffed at the start of hurricane season and climate science research in the budgetary crosshairs, and it is seen among the community as a form of so-called resistance to the administration's changes. It is also timed to mark the end of NASA's longstanding lease at Columbia University, which housed the agency's top climate lab, known as the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The Trump administration canceled that lease in April, and the facility's scientists, who study Earth's climate and track global average temperatures, will be forced to work remotely. 'We think that this livestream is basically an opportunity for scientists to show how these cuts to our research really damage our ability to do climate science and weather prediction,' Alessi said. 'If the American public tunes in, they watch our science talks, they will see how our science benefits the public,' he said. Climate scientist Kate Marvel, who will be participating in the livestream event in her personal capacity, said the series of talks may be 'The scientist-iest thing we could do,' but it makes sense given the expertise of those who are taking part. 'This is really speaking to the public and saying, 'Look, look at all of the amazing stuff you get for pennies on the dollar,'' she said, referring to publicly-funded weather and climate research. As for the event's potential political overtones, she said the event is being organized by many early-career researchers interested in shoring up the viability of their field of study and sharing the relevance of their work. 'Nobody wants to hear me complain about the administration,' Marvel said.
CNN
27-05-2025
- Climate
- CNN
Climate and weather scientists are joining the anti-Trump resistance in the most ‘scientist-iest' way
Forget marching in the streets with creative signs. For President Donald Trump's second term, in the face of steep funding cuts for climate and weather research and forecasting, scientists have a new way of engaging the public: livestreamed presentations. Starting Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET and lasting for 100 straight hours, climate and weather specialists will spend 15 minutes each talking about their work and why it is so valuable for the American people. Their goal is to call attention to the impacts of cuts to federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and the Department of Energy, along with the Trump administration's withholding of research funding to academia. The livestream marathon is billed as nonpartisan, according to Marc Alessi of the environmental group Union of Concerned Scientists, who is one of about a dozen organizers. But while speakers may not denounce the Trump administration head-on, the effort is a response to policy moves that have left the National Weather Service short-staffed at the start of hurricane season and climate science research in the budgetary crosshairs, and it is seen among the community as a form of so-called resistance to the administration's changes. It is also timed to mark the end of NASA's longstanding lease at Columbia University, which housed the agency's top climate lab, known as the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The Trump administration canceled that lease in April, and the facility's scientists, who study Earth's climate and track global average temperatures, will be forced to work remotely. 'We think that this livestream is basically an opportunity for scientists to show how these cuts to our research really damage our ability to do climate science and weather prediction,' Alessi said. 'If the American public tunes in, they watch our science talks, they will see how our science benefits the public,' he said. Climate scientist Kate Marvel, who will be participating in the livestream event in her personal capacity, said the series of talks may be 'The scientist-iest thing we could do,' but it makes sense given the expertise of those who are taking part. 'This is really speaking to the public and saying, 'Look, look at all of the amazing stuff you get for pennies on the dollar,'' she said, referring to publicly-funded weather and climate research. As for the event's potential political overtones, she said the event is being organized by many early-career researchers interested in shoring up the viability of their field of study and sharing the relevance of their work. 'Nobody wants to hear me complain about the administration,' Marvel said.
