Yale Environment 360

Norway is the best prepared country for climate change, and has been so for almost 20 years, according to rankings compiled by the University of Notre Dame. New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark rounded out the top five, while Chad, Burundi, Eritrea, Central African Republic, and Congo make up the bottom of the Global Adaptation Index.

The rankings highlight the disparities between the world’s relatively wealthy, developed nations and its developing economies when it comes to dealing with climate change. Many of the highest ranking countries do face moderate exposure to climate change, the researchers said, but access to amenities such as electricity, sanitation, clean drinking water, and functional governance have left them better prepared.

The economies of many developing countries, however, depend on natural resources, which makes their political and economic stability more susceptible to climate change. The index ranked 178 countries on their vulnerability and readiness to adapt to droughts, extreme weather, and other natural disasters associated with global warming.

A new mapping tool from the U.S. Department of Energy lets users see how geothermal power plants across the country are taking advantage of the heat stored within the earth’s crust.

Most of the nation’s 154 operational and planned geothermal plants are clustered in western states, where geothermal heat potential is especially high (red areas). Notably, the map identifies two areas that appear ripe for new geothermal development: one in the Great Plains and another at the border of Virginia and West Virginia.

This map shows locations of existing and in-development geothermal plants, over a base layer that shows geothermal heat flow potential in different parts of the country. Red indicates high heat flow potential, and blue is low potential. Numbers indicate multiple power plants are clustered in an area. An interactive version of this map is available at energy.gov.

The bulk of the facilities are conventional geothermal plants, which generate power using fluid found naturally deep below earth’s surface. Steam captured at the surface spins a turbine, which then powers an electric generator.

A newer type of hydrothermal technology, called enhanced geothermal, forces cold water from the surface down into the hot crust, which also generates steam that powers a generator. Both types are generally considered clean sources of energy.

Global investments in energy-efficiency measures have reached $310 billion annually — nearly $100 billion more than investments in renewable energy last year, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. Efficiency measures saved the equivalent of 2 billion tons of oil between 2001 and 2011 in the 18 countries evaluated in the report, which is more than the annual energy demand of the U.S. and Germany combined.

The residential sector saw the largest improvement in efficiency, with energy demand falling 5 percent from 2001 levels, according to the report. Homes and businesses are commonly turning to efficiency measures such as low-energy lighting, smart thermostats, and improved insulation to lower energy costs.

In the transportation sector alone, energy-efficiency measures could reduce up to $190 billion in fuel costs over the next six years, the report says. To limit global temperature increases to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, the largest share of emissions reductions — 40 percent — will need to come from improvements in energy efficiency, the agency said.

By 2030, residents of Washington, D.C., and Annapolis, Maryland, could be experiencing more than 150 tidal floods every year — up from an average of just 50 today — according to a recent study of sea level rise and coastal flood risk along the U.S. East Coast by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

In another 15 years, that number could jump to 400 floods annually, the study says. A home purchased in some of the more flood-prone parts of those two cities could see daily flooding before a 30-year mortgage was paid off, according to the study. The increased frequency will be driven by sea level rise, researchers say, which exacerbates the effects of so-called “nuisance flooding” linked to tidal cycles, rainfall, and storm surges.

Relatively few cities on the East and Gulf Coasts now face tidal flooding on a regular basis (left; circle size represents the number of flood events). But by 2045, sea level rise will bring more tidal floods to nearly every location. Many communities can expect a 10-fold increase in tidal flood frequency (right). (Image credit: Union of Concerned Scientists)

Other cities on the Atlantic coast will also see increased flood frequency: Miami, Florida, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, can expect an average of 240 flood days per year, while Philadelphia and Baltimore could average as many as 180 tidal floods by 2045, according to the study.

Over the next 30 years, coastal communities in the Eastern U.S. can expect to see a roughly one-foot increase in sea level — a mid-range scenario, by most estimates — the report noted.

The number of animals on the planet has fallen 52 percent in the last 40 years, according to an analysis by the conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The group’s Living Planet Index, which tracked the populations of more than 10,000 vertebrate species from 1970 to 2010, revealed major declines in key populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.

The situation is most dire in developing countries, the report said, where wildlife populations have fallen on average by 58 percent. Latin America saw the biggest declines, with more than 80 percent of the region’s animals lost since 1970.

Globally, freshwater populations have plummeted 76 percent. This year’s numbers are worse than those calculated in the last report in 2012, which found declines of 30 percent since 1970.

The organization attributed this to new statistical weighting, which it said better represents each region’s biodiversity, though other researchers have been critical of the new methodology. Habitat loss and degradation was cited as the primary cause of biodiversity loss.