Lightning, Weather’s Byproduct, May Become One of Its Predictors

Lightning’s intricate, darting dance across the sky can be mesmerizing or terrifying, elegant or explosive, divine or destructive, depending on how close it is.

But meteorologists have historically viewed lightning as little more than a weather byproduct. Like a rainbow, only with teeth.

That view may be changing as technology has evolved to study lightning and its potential to help predict, if not drive, atmospheric events.  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/science/lightning-weather-prediction.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront

Article courtesy of the New York Times by Kate Murphy

Dutch trains become 100% powered by wind energy

All Dutch trains have been 100% powered by electricity generated by wind energy, the national railway company NS has said. It's renewables target had been met a year earlier than planned.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/10/dutch-trains-100-percent-wind-powered-ns
Article courtesy of The Guardian by Agence France-Presse in the Hague

Penetrating Storm Walls With 8 Powerful New Eyes

Jettisoned from the belly of a plane, a Pegasus rocket blasted into space last week carrying eight hurricane-hunting microsatellites.

Known as the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or Cygnss, the fleet was designed by researchers at the University of Michigan to measure wind speeds near the sea surface. The data will improve how scientists predict and observe hurricanes and tropical storms brewing near the Equator and the tropics, according to NASA, which sponsored the project.  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/science/nasa-cygnss-satellites-hurricanes.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fearth&action=click&contentCollection=earth&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

Article courtesy of The New York Times by Nicholas St. Fleur

UPS tests electric bikes for deliveries in Portland, Ore.

The trial program is part of the delivery company's efforts to reduce its carbon emissions, ease urban noise levels, and improve air quality. The experiment could also help get around traffic congestion.  http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2017/0103/UPS-tests-electric-bikes-for-deliveries-in-Portland-Ore?cmpid=ema:nws:Daily%2520Newsletter%2520%2801-03-2017%29&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20170103_Newsletter:%20Daily&utm_term=Daily
Article courtesy of The Christian Science Monitor by John R. Platt

The Search Is on for Pulling Carbon from the Air

Nations worldwide have agreed to limit carbon dioxide emissions in hopes of preventing global warming from surpassing 2 degrees Celsius by 2100. But countries will not manage to meet their goals at the rate they’re going. To limit warming, nations will also likely need to physically remove carbon from the atmosphere. And to do that, they will have to deploy “negative emissions technology”—techniques that scrub CO2 out of the air.  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-search-is-on-for-pulling-carbon-from-the-air/
Article courtesy of Scientific American by Annie Sneed

Which Cities Will Climate Change Flood First?

Climate change is real, the sea’s waters are rising, and pretty soon, ocean-front property will become ocean-floor property.

For some places, the reality of climate change and sea level rise is already here. Climate change was partly to blame for record flooding in Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma in 2016, and as sea levels rise, we can expect to see a lot more waterlogged areas close to the coast.  https://www.inverse.com/article/25692-which-cities-will-climate-change-flood-first?amp&amp

Article courtesy of Inverse by Kelsey Kennedy

Can Carbon Capture Technology Prosper Under Trump?

The technology, carbon capture, involves pulling carbon dioxide out of smokestacks and industrial processes before the climate-altering gas can make its way into the atmosphere.  http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/science/donald-trump-carbon-capture-clean-coal.html?_r=0
Article courtesy of the New York Times by John Schwartz