That’s the conclusion from a new study in the journal Water Policy, whose authors compared the water supply histories of four cities — San Diego, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Adelaide, Australia. Among the lessons learned? Urban water conservation, recycling, and desalination aren’t silver bullets. In fact, the best solution may lie upstream with farmers — saving just 5-10 percent of agricultural ir ... read more >>

The Arctic's sea ice melted at a record pace in 2012, the ninth-hottest year on record, compounding concerns about climate change underscored by extreme weather such as Hurricane Sandy, the UN weather agency said Thursday.

In a report on the situation in 2012, the World Meterological Organization said that during the August to September melting season, the Arctic's sea ice cover was just 3.4 m ... read more >>

Arctic ice loss adds heat to the ocean and atmosphere which shifts the position of the jet stream, which affects weather in the northern hemisphere. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Climate scientists have linked the massive snowstorms and bitter spring weather now being experienced across Britain and large parts of Europe and North America to the dramatic loss of Arctic sea ice.

Both the exte ... read more >>

In commemoration of Earth Day, 2013, Climate Central has created an interactive graphic showing a state-by-state analysis of temperature trends since the 1st Earth Day took place in 1970. That occasion marked a significant change in America’s environmental consciousness, and led to the creation of, among other things, the Environmental Protection Agency and passage of the Clean Air and Water Acts ... read more >>

In California's 'salad bowl' – a landscape portioned into emerald fields of spinach, lettuce, kale, and other leafy vegetables, grown to satiate the nation's appetite for greens – hush-hush food safety standards are deforesting land and forcing wildlife out. These practices are unnecessary for ensuring safe food, say experts in a new study, and yet they spell marginalisation for a number of speci ... read more >>

Environmental groups are renewing objections they had last year to a proposal in the Obama administration's 2014 federal budget that would cut funding for state beach water quality testing.

Last year, the administration also proposed to eliminate funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's nearly $10 million Beach Grant Program, prompting an outcry. The program was saved under the c ... read more >>

Ocean warming may be a major driver of sea-ice expansion in the Antarctic, researchers report today in Nature Geoscience1. While sea ice at the North Pole has shrunk substantially over the past three decades2, scientists have struggled to explain why sea ice near the South Pole has grown in extent over the same period3.

“The paradox is that global warming leads to more cooling and more sea ice ... read more >>

"The concept of 'peak water' is very analogous to peak oil...we're using fossil groundwater. That is, we're pumping groundwater faster than nature naturally recharges it," says Peter Gleick in this short expert analysis from the Environmental Change and Security Program. Gleick, president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute and author of the newest edition of "The World's Water," explains the ... read more >>

Over time it is amazing to see what man has been able to create. Large construction projects leave us in awe of how the builders brought everything together. All the work, effort and coordination it took to make these projects happen make us wonder how such undertakings ever took place. What are some of the most amazing construction projects in existence today? Rock & Dirt, a heavy equipment mark ... read more >>

The Arctic's sea ice melted at a record pace in 2012, the ninth-hottest year on record, compounding concerns about climate change underscored by extreme weather such as Hurricane Sandy, the UN weather agency said Thursday.

In a report on the situation in 2012, the World Meterological Organisation said that during the August to September melting season, the Arctic's sea ice cover was just 3.4 m ... read more >>