UK Floods Linked to Warming

(NEWSER) - Britain and the Netherlands are bracing for massive flooding tomorrow as a huge storm in the North Sea churns its way to the coast, BBC reports. The entire coast is under alert for the first time in three decades, says the Dutch Transport Ministry. The storm surge is expected to peak around dawn, prompting thousands of evacuations in affected areas, the Guardian notes. More»

Labels will allow consumers to compare

(NEWSER) - Calories, fat, sodium ... carbon footprint? The new measurement may soon appear on British product packaging. Under a plan proposed yesterday, the government will develop standards to measure a product's environmental impact from manufacture through shipment and disposal, allowing companies to list the information as they do nutrition facts. Consumers can then decide how green they want their goods. More»

Region could see 20 inches of rain

(NEWSER) - A tropical depression heading toward the Gulf Coast could soak the area in as much as 20 inches of rain, prompting concerns about flash floods in Louisiana, whose governor declared a state of emergency yesterday. What could become Tropical Storm Lee prompted warnings from Mississippi to Texas, the AP reports, with heavy rain expected over southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama through Sunday. More»

Severe storms won't let up in soaked Ohio, Miss. River valleys

(AP) - Thousands of southeastern Missouri residents watched helplessly today as Black River water crept toward their homes after overflowing the levee protecting their town, as officials predicted a "catastrophic failure." Several homes in and around Poplar Bluff were partially submerged, while water filled the front yards of other houses. The river topped the levee in multiple spots, raising concerns that it would give way under the weight of inch after inch of rain that has been falling since the weekend. "It was too late for sandbagging. There are too many places. All we can do is wait and see," Police Chief Danny Whiteley said. A levee break would send water flowing into the city's south side and likely displace about 7,000 people. More»

Two studies tie weather disasters to pollution effects

(NEWSER) - We may have no one but ourselves—in part—to blame for the heavy rains and floods that have been plaguing everywhere from Nashville to Australia in recent years. Prior studies discovered that the likelihood of experiencing severe precipitation on a given day jumped 7% over the years 1951 to 1999, and a new study, based on elaborate computer modeling, has found that the increase cannot be attributed to natural variability. The computers found that the bump only made sense when mankind's effects on the atmosphere, by way of activities like the burning of fossil fuels, were factored in. More»