Remember Harvey? Houston remains unprepared for the next big flood

In 1914, upon completion of the Houston Ship Channel, city leaders organized a massive carnival on the scale of Mardis Gras, which involved hundreds of revelers riding decorated floats down Buffalo Bayou.  https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Remember-Harvey-Houston-remains-unprepared-for-13710325.php?cmpid=opn
Article courtesy of Houston Chronicle by The Editorial Board

Electric vehicles are the road to the future

The Coalition's scare campaign against electric vehicles (EVs) is hypocritical and Luddite but the bright side is it might, at long last, start a meaningful debate about the role the transport sector can play in cutting carbon emissions.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/electric-vehicles-are-the-road-to-the-future-20190410-p51cte.html
Article courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald

While Congress does nothing, New York City passed its own climate legislation

New York City passed groundbreaking climate legislation, including the largest mandated pollution reduction in any city in the world, just ahead of Earth Day. “Future generations will look back at this moment and they will think of this as one of the most important bills,” Bill Lipton, the director of the Working Families Party, told the crowd at City Hall. “We are starting to turn a corner.”  https://massivesci.com/articles/green-new-deal-new-york-climate-mobilization-act-align/
Article courtesy of Massive Science by Greta Moran

Startup Nikola Bets Hydrogen Will Finally Break Through With Big Rigs

Hydrogen has been a promising but elusive vehicle fuel for half a century, powering a range of fuel cell cars and SUVs but never quite solving cost and efficiency snags and lack of fuel stations that make it less attractive than batteries for zero-emission vehicles. The problem isn’t the technology, argues the founder of Arizona startup Nikola Motor, but that big trucks are a much better choice for hydrogen.   https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2019/04/14/can-a-15-billion-bet-on-fuel-cell-big-rigs-be-a-game-changer-for-hydrogen/#3901d6b1fe4c
Article courtesy of Forbes by Alan Ohnsman

Arctic is warmest it's been in 10,000 years, study suggests

Researchers studied permafrost samples in the Yukon near the Dempster Highway and determined that temperatures in the Arctic today are almost 2 C warmer than at any time in the past 10,000 years.

The temperatures recorded today are even higher than the previous highs believed to have occurred during the early Holocene period, about 9,900 and 6,400 years ago, when Earth's axis was tilted more strongly toward the sun, the report states.  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/arctic-warmest-in-10000-years-1.5094392?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar

Article courtesy of CBC News Written by Alex Brockman, Interview by Qavavao Peter

Fracking in Arizona Could Lead to the Next Helium Boom

The high desert of northern Arizona was once a tropical forest, home to large animals with sharp teeth—crocodilians, small dinosaurs, and reptiles. Freshwater sharks swam in the streams. Trees fell, animals died off, and the whole mess fossilized in layers of primordial muck. Millions of years later, the desert heaved up petrified logs, sharks teeth, and bones. We know this area today as Petrified Forest National Park—a place where tourists can hike and take in sweeping views of the Painted Desert. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/fracking-arizona-could-lead-next-helium-boom-petrified-forest-national-park
Article courtesy of Sierra by Ron Duncan

How Hydrogen is Transforming These Tiny Scottish Islands

Scotland’s Orkney islands produce more clean energy than their inhabitants can use. Their next step? Hydrogen. Here’s why that matters – and what the rest of the world could learn.  http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190327-the-tiny-islands-leading-the-way-in-hydrogen-power
Article courtesy of BBC-Future by Diego Arguedas Ortiz