Climate Science

05/08/21
Author: 
Sarah Kaplan

Aug. 5, 2021

‘The consequences of a collapse would likely be far-reaching’

Human-caused warming has led to an “almost complete loss of stability” in the system that drives Atlantic Ocean currents, a new study has found — raising the worrying prospect that this critical aquatic “conveyor belt” could be close to collapse.

05/08/21
Author: 
Steven Mufson
Permafrost, seen at the top of the cliff, melts into the Kolyma River outside of Zyryanka, Russia, in July 2019. A new study has found that methane is being released not only from thawing wetlands but also from thawing limestone. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)

Aug. 2, 2021

Scientists have long been worried about what many call “the methane bomb” — the potentially catastrophic release of methane from thawing wetlands in Siberia’s permafrost.

But now a study by three geologists says that a heat wave in 2020 has revealed a surge in methane emissions “potentially in much higher amounts” from a different source: thawing rock formations in the Arctic permafrost.

04/08/21
Author: 
Denise Chow
Earth's horizon seen from the International Space Station as it orbits above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile, on Nov. 21.NASA

Aug. 1, 2021

For decades, Earth’s energy system has been out of whack.

Stability in Earth's climate hinges on a delicate balance between the amount of energy the planet absorbs from the sun and the amount of energy Earth emits back into space. But that equilibrium has been thrown off in recent years — and the imbalance is growing, according to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications.

29/07/21
Author: 
Katharine Gammon
Vast areas of the Amazon rainforest are being burned and cleared for grazing cattle — a double blow to global warming, as cattle produce methane and cleared forests release carbon into the atmosphere. Photograph: Florian Kopp/imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock

July 28, 2021

Carbon emissions, ocean acidification, Amazon clearing all hurtling toward new records

A new study tracking the planet’s vital signs has found that many of the key indicators of the global climate crisis are getting worse and either approaching, or exceeding, key tipping points as the earth heats up.

Overall, the study found some 16 out of 31 tracked planetary vital signs, including greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat content and ice mass, set worrying new records.

 

16/07/21
Author: 
Jessica Corbett
The study found fires produced about 1.5bn tonnes of CO2 a year, with forest growth removing 0.5bn tonnes. The 1bn tonnes left in the atmosphere is equivalent to the annual emissions of Japan. Photograph: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images

July 14, 2021

The findings, said one expert, "show that the uncertain future is happening now."

Following years of warnings and mounting fears among scientists, "terrifying" research revealed Wednesday that climate change and deforestation have turned parts of the Amazon basin, a crucial "sink," into a source of planet-heating carbon dioxide.

10/07/21
Author: 
Emma Pattee
Marty Hoffert: ‘It never actually occurred to me that this was going to become a political problem.’ Photograph: Zack Wittman/The Guardian

2 Jul 2021

Experts’ discoveries lie at the heart of two dozen lawsuits that hope to hold the industry accountable for devastating damage

26/06/21
Author: 
The Energy Mix
New Orleans flood - Hunter King/Twitter

June 25, 2021

Dangerous climate thresholds that will fundamentally reshape life on Earth “are closer than once thought” and will create unavoidable, dire consequences in the short term, even if humanity gets greenhouse gases under control, according to a leaked draft of an upcoming United Nations science report obtained earlier this week by Agence France-Presse.

24/06/21
Author: 
Maanvi Singh
A section of Lake Oroville that is normally underwater lies dry and cracked under the California sun. Photograph: Aude Guerrucci/Reuters

18 Jun 2021 

Researchers had long forewarned of this crisis and now they’re seeing their studies and models become real life

The heatwave gripping the US west is simultaneously breaking hundreds of temperature records, exacerbating a historic drought and priming the landscape for a summer and fall of extreme wildfire.

19/06/21
Author: 
Victoria Bekiempis
The sun rises over a neighborhood in Encinitas, California, amid a heatwave last year. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

June 17, 2021

Scientists from agency and Noaa say Earth’s ‘energy imbalance’ roughly doubled from 2005 to 2019 in ‘alarming’ way

The Earth is trapping nearly twice as much heat as it did in 2005, according to new research, described as an “unprecedented” increase amid the climate crisis.

18/06/21
Author: 
Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
 Burger - Canadian fast-food chain A&W — like many other major food companies — recently announced it will help ranchers supplying it to farm using more sustainable "regenerative" techniques. Photo by Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
June 18th 2021

International food giants are reinventing how they grow — and market — food in a bid to convince eco-conscious consumers their products are environmentally friendly.

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