The Stream, May 26: The La Nina Factor

The La Nina weather pattern may be playing a part in the surge of U.S. tornadoes this spring, Reuters reports. But experts said it was uncertain if climate change is responsible for the high number of natural disasters.

Energy
The Swiss government has decided to phase out all of the country’s five nuclear power plans, amid growing public hostility to the industry, the BBC reports. About 40 percent of Switzerland’s energy comes from nuclear power. How is the country going to make up for it?

Investors in ExxonMobil and Chevron are demanding more transparency into shale gas production amid concerns about potential environmental risks from hydraulic fracking, the Financial Times reports.

China
Elizabeth Economy, director of the Asia Studies program at the Council on Foreign Relations, explains why it matters that China acknowledged “urgent problems” with the massive Three Gorges Dam.

China’s energy woes continue. The country’s top five power producers reported $1.62 billion worth of losses in their thermal power plants in the first four months of the year, according to the Xinhua news agency. Meanwhile, a severe drought is crippling the hydropower capacity in central and southern China at the start of the summer season.

Morocco, on the other hand, is enjoying abundant rainfall this year that is expected to boost the country’s wheat and barley harvests, and help it cut grain imports, Bloomberg reports.

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