Climate Change: Generational Evil
In 2012, the dangers of human-caused climate disturbance became undeniable, making this the fundamental moral issue of our time.
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It’s Official: 2012 Was Hottest Year Ever in U.S.
The numbers are in: 2012, the year of a surreal March heat wave, a severe drought in the corn belt and a massive storm that caused broad devastation in the mid-Atlantic states, turns out to have been the hottest year ever recorded in the contiguous United States. How hot was it? The temperature differences between…
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Coral Fights Back Against Warming Seas
In the world of coral reefs, most of the news is pretty gloomy. Rising ocean temperatures have led to massive die-offs from Indonesia to Florida; emissions-driven acidity could dissolve corals’ structure-building ability in 20 years; rising sea levels threaten to block sunlight even from healthy reefs; and in November NOAA called on Congress to afford…
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Ice Swirls off the Coast of Greenland … for Now
From Slate’s Bad Astronomy blog: Global warming is real. Temperatures are changing, climate is changing, and most importantly, arctic ice is changing, melting. It is absolutely critical we understand this process better so that we can better understand the implications, and some of the most formidable tools in our possession are Earth-observing satellites. Their keen…
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Building Support for Locally Relevant Climate Tech
Climate Innovation Centers can promote clean technologies but need backing with a coordinated effort
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The Kyoto Scorecard
The Kyoto Protocol on climate change used to be a big deal. So big that the future of humanity was said to hinge on its implementation. Did you know it expired on New Year’s Day? We’re guessing you didn’t, but don’t worry. It’s no big deal. Adopted in 1997 and in force since 2005, the…
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2012: Top Ten Signs of a Warming World
Another year, another set of climate records. Here are the top ten signs you are living in a warming world, 2012 edition:
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Climate Science Makes an Eleventh-Hour Comeback
This was the year climate change vanished from the political agenda – and then suddenly reappeared, after Hurricane Sandy shook the country. It was just a few years ago that President Barack Obama flew to Copenhagen to rescue faltering climate treaty talks amid bipartisan calls for global warming action. But in 2012, there wasn’t a…
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As Forests Disappear, Examining the Mechanisms of Their Death
Everywhere, trees are dying. The boreal forests of Canada and Russia are being devoured by beetles. Drought-tolerant pines are disappearing in Greece. In North Africa, Atlas cedars are shriveling. Wet and dry tropical forests in Asia are collapsing. Australian eucalyptus forests are burning. The Amazon basin has just been hit by two severe droughts. And…
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British Team Abandons Drilling in Antarctic Lake
An ambitious British plan to search for minute forms of life in an ancient lake beneath Antarctica’s ice has been suspended because of technical problems, the scientist leading the project said. In a move that clears the way for U.S. and Russian teams to take the lead, Professor Martin Siegert said technical problems and a…