Arizona Climate Change News
Stories in this feed are from newspapers in Arizona courtesy of Environmental Health News.
State to scrap its clean car mandate.
The Brewer administration has taken the first steps to scrap rules to force Arizonans to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles, citing a measure approved last year forbidding the state from regulating greenhouse gas emissions that are more stringent than federal laws unless approved by the Legislature.
Swirling dust is our destiny.
Nobody has a handle on Arizona's dust storms, known as haboobs. Scientists who study "Aeolian transport" say more research is needed but two things are clear: We have contributed to the problem, and it is going to get worse.
ASU experts say climate change outreach needed.
With Arizona likely to get hotter and drier in the coming years, grass-roots communication and outreach are at the forefront of environmental scientists' concerns, according to experts who spoke Thursday at Arizona State University.
Environmental studies popular, but course quality varies.
When Mesa High School science teacher John Jung launched a trial environmental-science program 18 years ago, only about a dozen students signed up. Now, Jung has more than 100 students in three classes, including an advanced-placement section with 30 students.
Climate Change Committee prepares for the heat.
Most people don't know Tucson has a climate change committee but it does. And according to the committee, Tucson is on average 2 1/2 degrees warmer now than it was in 1970.
Breathe out?
Pinal County is holding its breath on restrictions tied to air pollution. It still awaits a final ruling from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on how big an area will be carved out for failing to control particulates known as PM10.
Temperature rise tops in lower 48.
Arizona is heating up faster than any other state in the lower 48. This state's continued warming gives ammunition to experts including University of Arizona climatologist Jonathan Overpeck, who has said Arizona is "ground zero" for the impacts of climate change.
Phoenix is hotter and drier, a new normal for the Valley.
On Aug. 1, the National Weather Service will turn the page in its book and begin using new numbers to describe normal weather conditions – the high and low temperatures, rainfall – in Phoenix and cities across the nation.
Climate findings in NAU review grim.
Researchers worldwide expect oceans and ecosystems on land could be the two major places to absorb gases driving climate change, like carbon dioxide. But those so-called carbon sinks on land might not function as well as once expected.
University of Arizona-led research sounds alarm on rising sea levels.
A 1-meter increase in sea level doesn't sound like much. But the 3.3-foot rise would be enough to flood 90 percent of New Orleans, 33 percent of Virginia Beach, Va., and 18 percent of Miami, according to scientists.