Climate Change
Climate Change Spells End For Climate-Monitoring Weather Station on Cape Cod
Since November, the bluff on which the weather station sits has eroded at a rate of 1.78 feet each week, on average. Now, all that stands between the building and the sea is 30 feet of sand. It’s a cruel irony: in this place where scientists study Mother Nature, she’s telling them to leave.
Read MoreAs Sea Levels Rise in Boston, Stormwater May Have Nowhere To Go
Even the experts agree: no one wants to think about the sewer system. “Most people, all they care about is you flush the toilet, it goes away. You do the sink, it goes away. The water comes out, the water turns off. It rains, the water goes away. As long as it’s gone, nobody thinks…
Read MoreThe Blue Line Was Named For Boston Harbor. Now The Sea Threatens The Service
Tidal flats and marshland once surrounded much of Boston, swelling and soaking as the rain fell and tides ebbed and flowed. But over the course of the city’s nearly 400 years, those sensitive areas were slowly filled in to make more buildable land, leaving just 200 acres of wild marsh along the border between Boston…
Read MoreBranching Out: Novel Tree Syrups Could Make Forests, Farmers More Resilient
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire are studying new ways to make syrup out of the northern forest — not from maple trees, but from beeches, birches, sycamores and more. They want to create new markets for an industry that, right now, depends on just one kind of tree – making it vulnerable to…
Read MoreOn Revere’s Pearl Avenue, Residents Grapple With The Rising Tide Of Climate Change
In the Beachmont neighborhood of Revere, there’s a street called Pearl Avenue. It’s a wide quiet street with views of the Atlantic Ocean, Belle Isle Marsh and the Boston skyline — the sort of place that’s great to raise a family, residents say. And in fact, many of its residents are part of one big,…
Read MoreCoastal Seniors and Climate Change: Retirement Dreams Threatened As Coastal Living Increasingly Risky
When Nelson Orr, 70, retired from his job as an X-ray tech at a Boston hospital, he knew what would come next. He and wife moved full-time into their gray-shingled beachfront home in the town of Barnstable, embracing its original exposed beams and decorating with an old wooden carousel horse in the entranceway. “This is…
Read MoreHow Risk From Climate Change Will Reshape Flood Insurance In N.H. and New England
People living on and off the coast of New England will soon be at a greater risk from flooding due to heavier rain and rising seas caused by climate change. Global warming will put more pressure on the federal flood insurance program, which is already overstretched, prompting an overhaul to be completed later this year.…
Read MoreEarth Day 2021: Fighting Climate Change Around New England
For Earth Day 2021, NHPR reporter Annie Ropeik hosted a roundtable of reporters from the New England News Collaborative for a special episode of NHPR’s The Exchange. They highlighted innovations and signs of progress in tackling climate change in New England, as well as the issues that are top of mind. GUESTS: Daniela Allee – NHPR reporter…
Read MoreAs New Hampshire Warms, UNH Studies Effects Of More Freeze-Thaw Cycles
In New Hampshire and much of New England, climate change is already causing a lot more of what’s sometimes called winter whiplash — rapid freeze-thaw cycles, from unusually warm to bitter cold and back again mid-season. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire are working to learn more about how this affects ecosystems and people.…
Read MoreA Triple-Decker For The 21st Century: Airtight And Solar-Powered
Standing in front of her three-level house in Somerville, Lena Sheehan looks down at the construction of a new high school and transportation hub just a block away. “I can’t get over it, I haven’t been here in so long,” she says. “This is the new T — isn’t that brilliant, right beside the house.”…
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