Climate Change

Federal forecasters are predicting the seventh straight above-normal Atlantic hurricane season and urging preparedness to avoid a repeat of disasters like Hurricane Ida, which lashed Louisiana and produced tornadoes and floods in the northeast last year.

The European Parliament is taking steps to reverse climate policies that promote the use of wood pellets to replace coal in power plants. That would put the brakes on a controversial industry that's booming in the Southeast.

Duke Energy filed plans with North Carolina regulators Monday for reducing and eventually eliminating carbon emissions from its power plants to meet state climate goals. The Charlotte-based utility offered four scenarios that would eliminate coal fired power plants and add new gas, nuclear and renewable energy.

Duke Energy will present North Carolina utility regulators with a plan Monday for shifting away from fossil fuels. Actually, it's expected to be not just a single plan, but several plans.

Two wind turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia are generating climate-friendly electricity and providing data that's being used to plan for a much larger offshore wind farm there. WFAE climate reporter David Boraks visited and got a glimpse of a budding industry that officials eventually hope to see off North Carolina, though planning here is years behind.

North Carolina officials led by Gov. Roy Cooper are at an offshore wind conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, this week promoting the state as a base for offshore wind development.

Forecasters last fall predicted a warmer, drier winter for the Carolinas, and that's what we got. It's a trend dating from at least the 1970s. In fact, federal weather data show that winters are warming faster than any other season across the region.

A new bridge that will bypass an often-flooded section of the main road on North Carolina's Outer Banks will open as soon as this week, ahead of the spring and summer travel season. It's a fix for a problem that has worsened with climate change.

Spring is high season for beach replenishment projects along the Carolinas coast. They're popular with waterfront property owners and communities that rely on beach tourism. But they're also increasingly expensive. And coastal scientists say they make no sense environmentally, especially as sea levels rise.

There's still a long way to go before the city of Charlotte meets its climate goals. City staff reported signs of progress this week, such as the debut of electric buses on city streets. But they also said the city may need to buy carbon offsets to hit its target of eliminating fossil fuel emissions in its buildings and vehicles.