Climate

Background

Drought, wildfires, and extreme weather — is this the new normal for Texas?

Latest Posts

Follow this topic

May 29, 2012

Why Climate Change May Increase Water Demands

Climate change has entered the discussion on water availability once again. “The same amount of water won’t go as far as it used to,” says John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas State Climatologist at Texas A&M University. Nielsen-Gammon shed some light on the relationship between climate change and water availability at the 2012 Texas Water Summit held […]

May 25, 2012

In Photos: Carbon Sinks Across the World

What’s a carbon sink? It’s a process where the earth soaks up atmospheric carbon, which there is more and more of in the world. Those “sinks” take the form of forests and oceans, and a new study we reported on last week says that, contrary to previous research, the earth’s ability to soak up carbon has “increased […]

How the Drought Exposed Texas’ Water Insecurity

The drought of 2011 may have been the canary in the coal mine of water security for Texas. That was the consensus of a panel of specialists at the 2012 Texas Water Summit hosted by the University of Texas at Austin’s Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science on Monday. While the recent drought was no […]

May 24, 2012

Lessons from the Outback: How Australia Survived Drought

Texas isn’t alone dealing with the issues of water and drought, and one of the most recent examples of a large population dealing with drought comes from Australia.

Going ‘Native’ in Texas With Less Water

Landscape worker Janna George sweats in the midday sun as she thrusts her shovel into the ground. She’s trying to get up all the grass in the backyard of a South Austin home. As anyone who’s dug into the Central Texas ground and come out with a rock-dented shovel knows, there’s little dirt to dig […]

May 23, 2012

Measuring the Drought: How New Tools Show Its Impact

Tracking the changes in water availability across the state using a variety of tools is an integral component of predicting and responding to drought. That’s what David R. Maidment of the Center of Research in Water Resources at UT had to say at the Texas Water Summit held Monday. As a member of the innovative […]

May 18, 2012

Near-Total Eclipse of the Heart (and Sun) Coming to Texas Sunday

You’re going to need something better than wayfarers this weekend. The first annular solar eclipse of the 21st century for the continental U.S. is coming to Texas Sunday. You can see photos of some notable eclipses in the slideshow above. The eclipse will start in Eastern Asia and cross east over the Pacific, ending in Central […]

May 17, 2012

Report: World’s Carbon Sinks Not Completely Clogged

Carbon emission is one of the scientific issues of our time. While an overwhelming majority of scientists see a link between man-made emissions and global climate change, the rate at which emissions are entering the atmosphere and their precise impact continues to be hotly debated. The findings of a new study written up in Science […]

Drought-Free and Lovin’ It? Not Quite Yet…

The word Thursday derives from the Old Norse thorsdagr, meaning “Thor’s Day.” But here at StateImpact Texas, Thursday means something else entirely. It’s the day the U.S. drought monitor releases it’s weekly drought map! Thor was the Norse god of thunder, and parts of Texas saw plenty of storms (and rain) last week, raising hopes […]

May 14, 2012

Taking a Closer Look at the Drought’s Toll on Trees

Early estimates say between 100 and 500 million trees were killed by the drought. Now the Texas Forest Service plans to take a closer look.

About StateImpact

StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More »

Economy

Oklahoma