EPA Releases First Climate Adaptation Plan

For the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has publicly released a draft plan on how the department’s programmes will adapt to global warming, in a move that could lay additional groundwork for important new emissions rulemaking the agency may announce in coming months.

Tracking Sediment Carried by Mississippi Flood to Louisiana’s Wetlands

The spring 2011 flood on the Mississippi was among the largest floods ever, the river swelling over its banks and wreaking destruction in the surrounding areas. But a study also shows that the floods reaped environmental benefits, transporting and laying down new sediment in portions of the Delta, that may help maintain the area’s wetlands.

Retooling New York for Apocalyptic Storms

During World War II, a German U-boat made its way into New York Harbour. It fired two torpedoes at a British tanker, splitting the hull in three places and igniting it in flames. The captain and 35 members of his crew burned to death. Seventy years later, New York Harbour is Lower Manhattan’s first line of defence against another threat: the rising tides of the sea.