RENEWABLE ENERGY: Solar-powered aircraft completed the final leg of a history-making cross-country flight Saturday night, gliding to a smooth stop at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport. The Solar Impulse touched down at JFK at 11.09pm ET, completing the final leg of the cross-continental journey that started in California in early May. For Saturday's final leg, the aircraft left Dulles International Airport outside Washington, DC, a little before 5am. The flight plan for the revolutionary plane, powered by some 11,000 solar cells on its oversized wings, had called for it to pass the Statue of Liberty before landing early Sunday at New York. But an unexpected tear discovered on the left wing of the aircraft Saturday afternoon forced officials to scuttle the fly-by and proceed directly to JFK for a landing three hours earlier than scheduled. Pilot Andre Borschberg trumpeted the milestone of a plane capable of flying during the day and night, powered by solar energy, crossing the U.S. without the use of fuel.

Solar-powered plane lands in New York to complete cross-country trip | World news | guardian.co.uk: ""It was a huge success for renewable energy," Borschberg said while standing in front of Solar Impulse on the runway at JFK. "The only thing that failed was a piece of fabric."

Bertrand Piccard, the other pilot who took turns flying the Solar Impulse across the United States, said the flight across the country tested the entire project team." CLICK LINK TO READ MORE

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UPDATE: With Climate Change, Wildfires: Bigger, Fiercer Blazes Expected In West..A draft federal report released earlier this year said climate change is stressing Western forests, making them more vulnerable to fires. What's happening now "is not new to us," said climate scientist Don Wuebbles of the University of Illinois, one of the main authors of the federal report. "We've been saying this for some time." Communities nestled next to wilderness are used to girding for fire season, which typically occurs in the summer. Compared with decades past, however, the traditional fire season now lasts two months longer and first responders sometimes find themselves beating back flames in the winter...

Climate Change And Wildfires: Bigger, Fiercer Blazes Expected In West: "More than two dozen wildland fires are burning from Alaska to New Mexico, fueled by triple-digit temperatures and arid conditions. In the Arizona mountain town of Yarnell, a blaze apparently sparked by lightning killed 19 members of an elite firefighting squad who had deployed their emergency shelters Sunday when erratic monsoon winds sent flames racing in their direction.

While no single wildfire can be pinned solely on climate change, researchers say there are signs that fires are becoming bigger and more common in an increasingly hot and bone-dry West." CLICK LINK ABOVE TO READ MORE

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