UCS Spotlight: Global Warming
The 2012 Drought in America, Worst in Fifty Years
The United States is experiencing its worst drought in half a century, with serious and far-reaching implications for everything from food supplies to electricity production, biofuels to property values. To raise awareness of the drought’s impacts, the Union of Concerned Scientists is featuring a series of blog posts that explores the science and potential consequences of this historic event.
Read the Series | Subscribe to the RSS Feed | The Energy-Water Collision
Drought Across America, Worst in Fifty Years
The United States is experiencing its worst drought in half a century, with serious and far-reaching implications for everything from food supplies to electricity production, biofuels to property values. To raise awareness of the drought’s impacts, the Union of Concerned Scientists is featuring a series of blog posts that explores the science and potential consequences of this historic event.
Read the Series | Subscribe to the RSS Feed | The Energy-Water Collision
Latest Press Releases08/02/12
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Features
- Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living
Our new book, Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living, draws on two years of in-depth research and analysis to offer reliable, science-based answers that will help you "sweat the right stuff" in every phase of your life—from what you drive to what you eat. (And while you're waiting for your copy to arrive, learn how you and your friends can reduce your carbon emissions by 20 percent with our Cooler Smarter web tool!)
- Electric Vehicles' Global Warming Emissions and Fuel-Cost Savings
Electric cars produce lower global warming emissions and cost significantly less to fuel than the average compact gasoline-powered vehicle. Learn more about these benefits—and discover how they vary based on where you live.
- Climate Change and Your Health—Heat in the Heartland: 60 Years of Warming in the Midwest
Rising temperatures are not just a concern for the future. Dangerously hot weather is already occurring more frequently in the Midwest than it did 60 years ago. Our new report documents this trend in 10 Midwestern cities, explores its health implications, and looks at what major cities are doing to adapt to these changes and protect their residents..
Analysis
- Climate Change and Your Health: After the Storm: The Hidden Health Risks of Flooding in a Warming World
Heavy rainfall events that can lead to flooding have been increasing at the same time as temperatures have been rising in the United States. This report combines a review of flooding health risks with a look at how climate change and current development patterns will likely increase the threat in the years ahead.
- U.S. Power Plants Strain Water Resources
Power plants are stressing freshwater resources around the country, according to a new report by the Energy and Water in a Warming World Initiative (EW3). The report, “Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst for a Precious Resource," is the first systematic assessment of how power-plant cooling affects freshwater resources across the United States and of the quality of the data available on power plant water usage. - Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy
Reducing oil dependence. Strengthening energy security. Creating jobs. Tackling global warming. Addressing air pollution. Improving our health. The United States has many reasons to make the transition to a clean energy economy.We need a comprehensive set of smart policies to jump-start this transition. Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy (“the Blueprint”) answers that need.
Policy Center
- The UCS Policy Center
The UCS Policy Center contains updates and background information on specific federal, regional, and local policy proposals, as well as fact sheets, testimony, letters, and UCS positions, including the two links below: - Attack on the Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act, originally passed in 1973 and amended in 1990, was designed to protect our public health and environment and has successfully done so for nearly 40 years. This hallmark legislation is currently under attack in Congress.
- Protecting Scientist Whistleblowers
When a federal employee steps forward to protect the public from harm, that worker is often harassed, demoted or fired. Over the years, court decisions have eroded whistleblower protection laws, rendering them largely ineffective. Furthermore, the ability of employees to report waste, fraud, and abuse depends greatly on Executive Branch leadership.
Consumer Info
- Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living
Our new book offers reliable, science-based answers that will help you "sweat the right stuff" in every phase of your life—from what you drive to what you eat. (And while you're waiting for your copy to arrive, learn how you and your friends can reduce your carbon emissions by 20 percent with our Cooler Smarter web tool!)
- The UCS Hybrid Scorecard
The UCS Hybrid Scorecard is the first comprehensive listing of hybrid vehicles available on the US market. Vehicles are scored on both environmental performance and value, easing the burden on the planet and your pocketbook.
- Cool It! Global Warming Card Game
Cool It! is the new card game from UCS that teaches kids about the choices we have when it comes to climate change—and how policy and technology decisions made today will matter.
- Eggs and Meat from Community Agriculture
While confined animal feeding operations in the US deliver meat and eggs and tremendous environmental cost, community supported agriculture (CSA) can deliver these foods affordably, efficiently, and sustainably.
