Today's Update on Hurricane Irene

As seen in this image from NOAA, Hurricane Irene's eye has formed Southeast of Florida.

Today's latest NOAA projections of Hurricane Irene's path have the storm reaching us, here in New England, sometime in the latter half of Sunday.

When it does reach us, it is projected to still be a Category 2 hurricane which, Andrew Revkin of the NYT warns, could mean hazardous flash flooding.

If and when Irene makes landfall, it will be the first Hurricane to hit the US mainland since Hurricane Ike in 2008.

How Ice Sheets Influence Tectonic Activity

In a piece from CNN.com, Cornell University Professor Rowena Lohman discusses some of the dynamics behind yesterdays 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia. With respect to climate, Dr. Lohman cites "...the melting of large ice sheets and glaciers that used to cover North America during the last ice age 14,000 years ago. When the ice sheet was on top of the North America, it pressed down on the Earth's crust, causing it to sink lower. Since the ice melted and the weight was removed, the crust has been slowly rebounding back to its normal position, and that motion causes earthquakes."

This phenomenon is known as Post Glacial ( or Isostatic) Rebound and is also discussed in this National Geographic piece from 2008.

Cities Are Sources of Concerns and Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation

The September (2011) Scientific American features a special issue on cities.

Today, CNN's website prominently displayed this opinion piece by Reiner de Graaf, Partner at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. De Graaf reminds the reader of how unequal development affects sustainable development and adaptation to climate change. For example, he cites that three of fastest growing urban regions in the world, Kabul, Dhaka and Nairobi, have been impacted by environmental hazards. In addition, of the 27 cities predicted to have over 10 million inhabitants by 2020, 21 will be located in the developing world. De Graaf concludes that "...it could well take an ecological equivalent to the U.N. Security Council... to create the realpolitik that climate change will inevitably have to become subject to."

This may paint a bleak picture, however there are many working to improve the urban environment. This interactive image from Scientific American shows some of the environmental solutions being implemented in cities around the (developed) world. Scientific American is devoting its September issue to improving the cityscape- check it out! For more on finding a road to sustainable cities, read this recent blog post from Charles Wolfe in the Huffington Post.