This paper evaluates whether mangroves can mitigate the impact of hurricanes on economic activity. The paper assembles a new, regionwide panel data set that measures local economic activity using nightlights, potential hurricane damages using a detailed hurricane windstorm model, and mangrove protection by mapping the width of mangrove forests on …
A group of island states most vulnerable to global warming have lashed out against rich nations for wanting to delay a new international climate pact until years after the Kyoto Protocol on curbing carbon emissions expires in 2012. The 42-member Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) said countries such as …
The remnants of Hurricane Rina bore down on Cancun and other resorts on Mexico's popular Caribbean coast on Thursday, chasing away tourists and causing massive flights delays. Rina was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday. It sent vacationers packing from the Yucatan peninsula on Wednesday, causing villages to be …
Hurricane Jova flooded the streets of Mexico's main Pacific port with torrential rain on Wednesday, inundating popular beach resorts and killing at least two people in a mud slide. Streets in the port of Manzanillo were underwater, coastal communities were flooded and roads were blocked due to fallen trees and …
Hurricane Jova eased on Tuesday as it was about to reach Mexico's Pacific coast, threatening one of the country's busiest cargo ports and tourist resorts with high waves, heavy rainfall and flooding. Downgraded to a Category 2 storm, with top winds reaching 100 miles per hour, Jova was about 85 …
A new plan to curb global warming risks becoming a battleground between rich and poor nations and could struggle to get off the ground as negotiators battle over the fate of the ailing Kyoto climate pact. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol covers only emissions from rich nations that produce less than …
A new plan to curb global warming risks becoming a battleground between rich and poor nations and could struggle to get off the ground as negotiators battle over the fate of the ailing Kyoto climate pact. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol covers only emissions from rich nations that produce less than …
The House on Friday passed a new version of a stopgap spending bill about 30 hours after rejecting a nearly identical version of the legislation, intended to keep the government open and to provide assistance to victims of natural disasters. House Republican leaders, trying to recover from a humiliating political …
More Americans than last year believe the world is warming and the change is likely influenced by the Republican presidential debates, a Reuters/Ipsos poll said on Thursday. The percentage of Americans who believe the Earth has been warming rose to 83 percent from 75 percent last year in the poll …
The US Senate approved $6.9 billion in disaster relief funds Thursday over a yearlong period, a measure that faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. By a 62-37 vote, the Senate approved funds for the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help communities cope with natural …
Tropical Storm Nate sprang to life in the western Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, Tropical Storm Maria formed in the Atlantic and Hurricane Katia churned up surf along Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast, forecasters said. The trio of tropical cyclones came during what is traditionally the busiest part of …
Gulf Coast residents from Texas to Florida struggled with a third day of severe weather on Monday with one man dead and a teenager missing in rough waters as remnants of Tropical Storm Lee lashed the region. The tail end of the storm is expected to produce rain accumulations of …
After testing New Orleans' flood defenses over the weekend, Tropical Storm Lee moved northeast on Monday after weakening to a tropical depression, and threatened to bring heavy rains and flooding to a large section of the Southeast. Moving slowly inland, the powerful rainmaker was on course to hit Mississippi on …
Tropical Storm Lee crawled onto southern Louisiana’s coast today as New Orleans prepared for one of the biggest tests of its flood defences since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005. The National Hurricane Center said Lee’s centre was about 125 miles west-southwest of New Orleans, with maximum sustained winds …
A slow-moving and soggy storm that has been dawdling in the Gulf of Mexico for days is expected to come ashore this weekend, bringing rainfall so heavy that officials say excessive flooding is all but inevitable in areas along the coast. While it is still parked offshore and may not …
Gurmeet Singh thought that she had squirreled away enough water. In her preparations before Tropical Storm Irene, Ms. Singh, whose house has water supplied by a private well, filled her largest pots and the hot tub to the brim. That should have been enough to flush the toilets for a …
La Nina, a weather phenomenon typically linked to flooding in the Asia-Pacific, African drought and a more intense hurricane season over the Atlantic, could occur in a weak form this year, the World Meteorological Organization said Thursday. A borderline La Nina situation has developed in recent weeks in the tropical …
Katia, a Category 1 Hurricane, has weakened to a tropical storm but some restrengthening was forecast during the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest report on Thursday. At 4:36 p.m. ET (2036 GMT), Katia was located about 930 miles east of the northern Leeward …
Floodwaters finally started to recede from areas of the U.S. northeast devastated by Hurricane Irene but many communities were still under water on Wednesday as relief workers battled cut-off roads and raging rivers to deliver emergency supplies. The storm battered the East Coast with up to 15 inches of rain …
Weather forecasters are keeping a close eye on a new hurricane churning in the mid-Atlantic even as the East Coast recovers from Irene. The National Hurricane Center in Miami late Wednesday night said that Tropical Storm Katia, which had been steadily gaining force, had become Hurricane Katia. It wasn't clear …
New Jersey and Vermont struggled with their worst flooding in decades on Monday, a day after Hurricane Irene slammed an already soaked U.S. Northeast with torrential rain, dragging away homes and submerging neighborhoods underwater. The massive storm churned up the U.S. East Coast over the weekend killing at least 38 …
