Climate

Tech

50 years ago, the future of solar energy looked bright

In the 1970s, scientists and engineers were coming around to the idea of “farming” the sun’s energy on a large scale.

Climate

A UN report says stopping climate change is possible but action is needed now

We already have a broad array of tools to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, a new report finds. Now we just have to use them.

Climate

A global warming pause that didn’t happen hampered climate science

Trying to explain why global warming appeared to slow down in the early 2000s distracted scientists and shook their confidence.

Climate

Wally Broecker divined how the climate could suddenly shift

Wally Broecker’s insight into the shutdown of the great ocean conveyor belt spurred the study of abrupt climate change.

Climate

Forests help reduce global warming in more ways than one

Trees are often touted as bulwarks against climate change for their capacity to sequester carbon, but that’s just one part of the story.

Climate

Smoke from Australia’s intense fires in 2019 and 2020 damaged the ozone layer

Massive fires like those that raged in Australia in 2019–2020 can eat away at Earth’s protective ozone layer, researchers find.

Climate

How did we get here? The roots and impacts of the climate crisis

Over the last century and a half, scientists have built a strong case for the roots and impacts of human-caused climate change.

Climate

A UN report shows climate change’s escalating toll on people and nature

The latest United Nations' IPCC climate change report underscores the urgent need for action to avoid the worst consequences of global warming.

Physics

Freshwater ice can melt into scallops and spikes

Ice submerged in liquid water can melt into three different shapes, depending on the water’s temperature.

Climate

Satellites have located the world’s methane ‘ultra-emitters’

Plugging leaks from methane ultra-emitters would make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions — and be cost-effective for those countries, scientists say.

Oceans

The past’s extreme ocean heat waves are now the new normal

Marine heat waves that were rare more than a century ago now routinely occur in more than half of global ocean, suggesting we’ve hit a “point of no return.”

Climate

Intense drought or flash floods can shock the global economy

Rainfall extremes have powerful impacts on the global economy, affecting the manufacturing and services sectors more than agriculture.