The recent devastation spread by hurricanes Harvey and Irma in the Caribbean, Texas, and Florida, has revived public and media attention to the possible impacts of climate change on weather. (Read about it in The New York Times and The Washington Post.) In a 2006 analysis of the numerous hurricanes and record damage 2005, William D. Nordhaus, in NBER Working Paper No. 12813, documented a rise in the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic, found "substantial vulnerabilities" to intense hurricanes along America's Atlantic coast, and projected billions of dollars in increased costs of annual U.S. hurricane damage.

In the months preceding and following the purchase of a new home, buyers increase spending on home-related durables and home improvement projects. A study in the latest edition of The NBER Digest finds that this translated into a $14.3 billion annual decline in household spending during the Great Recession. Other studies featured in the monthly Digest include an analysis of the roles of scientists and engineers in U.S. industry, a calculation of which colleges best prepare students from low-income families for high-earning careers, an examination of the impact of high-speed internet's arrival in Africa, a look at hiring of women in venture capital firms whose senior partners have more daughters, and a study of the video gaming and work hours of young American men.

The U.S. Acid Rain Program introduced in 1995 initially regulated sulfur dioxide output of only the 110 highest emitting power plants, making it possible for researchers to identify long-term effects of pollution exposure on otherwise similar populations. A study summarized in the current edition of the NBER's Bulletin on Aging and Health finds that trends in mortality changed significantly after the onset of the Acid Rain Program between populations near to and far from affected plants, linking reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions to a decline in mortality.