Topic: Climate Change

The World Is Getting Warmer Faster Than Expected

AP

A new report from the International Energy Agency says global temperatures will rise twice as fast as projected if countries don't act to slash their admissions soon.

By Philip Bump

May 21, 2013

Should We Blame Climate Change for the Moore Tornado?

Was Oklahoma's massive storm an inevitable side effect of higher atmospheric temperatures, or was it simply a bad storm, like so many before? Here's a survey of opinions so far.

Comments | 623 Views

By Philip Bump

May 20, 2013

A Warmer Climate Could Lead to 90% More Heat-Related Deaths in Manhattan

As the weather in New York City creeps back toward summer-like temperatures, a bit of warning: Enjoy it while you can. By the 2080s, Manhattan could see as many as 91 percent more heat-related deaths thanks to global warming.

Comments | 1,040 Views

By Philip Bump

May 20, 2013

The Midwest Has Less Water, More Drought in Its Future

For decades, the High Plains Aquifer has provided irrigation for the nation's breadbasket. But we're depleting it far faster than it's being filled — just as the prospect of climate change-related drought becomes more evident.

Comments | 832 Views

By Philip Bump

May 17, 2013

The EPA Could Lose Its Power to Fight Climate Change Before Using It

Advocates of action on climate change hold a trump card. When the Supreme Court in 2007 determined that carbon dioxide is a pollutant, the EPA got a mandate to regulate it. But, what the court giveth, the court can rescind in a tightly contested vote.

Comments | 1,868 Views

By Philip Bump

May 16, 2013

Chart of the Day

What the Scientific Debate Over Climate Change Looks Like: 97.1% Agreement

It is true that there is not unanimity in the scientific community over the role of humans in climate change. But with nearly every scientific paper for 20 years agreeing that warming is linked to human behavior, we're as close to unanimity as we'll get.

Comments | 1,036 Views

By Philip Bump

May 15, 2013

Insurers Aren't So Worried About Climate Change That They're Preparing for It

There are few industries more exposed to financial risk from climate change than insurance. Unsurprisingly, the industry at large is trying to figure out how to limit its losses from extreme weather events. Individual insurers are a little slower to act.

Comments | 3,093 Views

By Philip Bump

May 14, 2013

Chart of the Day

The Temperature in One South Dakota Town Just Rose 70 Degrees in 24 Hours

On Sunday, the low temperature was 22 degrees in Aberdeen, South Dakota — that's ten degrees below freezing. The next day, according to the National Weather Service, the high hit 92.

Comments | 1,852 Views

By Philip Bump

May 13, 2013

Chart of the Day

Extreme Weather Drove More Than 30 Million People from Their Homes in 2012

In case you weren't sure what climate change looks like, here's a preview: It looks like tens of millions people displaced from their homes due to climate- and weather-related events each year.

Comments | 205 Views

By Philip Bump

May 13, 2013

Why You May Soon Be Eating More Insects

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization wants to be clear about its report today. "We are not saying that people should be eating bugs." Just that global changes may necessitate it.

Comments | 410 Views

By Philip Bump

May 10, 2013

Chart of the Day

There's More Carbon Dioxide in the Air Now Than Any Time in 3 Million Years

It has happened. For the first time, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels passed a daily average of 400 parts per million. There is now more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than at any point since 2.9 million years before humans existed.

Comments | 1,222 Views

By Philip Bump

May 9, 2013

Chart of the Day

The More Climate Polls Stay the Same, the More the Earth Changes

About twice a year, Yale University's Project on Climate Change Communication releases a survey assessing how Americans feel about the environmental threat. On Thursday, it released the latest version. We've extracted the four most important graphs.

Comments | 813 Views

By Philip Bump

May 7, 2013

Climate Scientists and Meteorologists Predicted California's Massive Wildfires

The massive wildfires flattening thousands of acres in Southern California were predictable. As was the cause that Governor Jerry Brown blamed yesterday: climate change.

Comments | 1,414 Views

By Philip Bump

May 3, 2013

Chart of the Day

2012 Was a Cold Year in a Spectacularly Hot Decade

For twenty-seven years, the world's average temperature has been hotter than the average during the second half of the 20th century. Last year, it was the ninth-warmest in recorded history — but still cold for the past ten.

Comments | 998 Views

By Philip Bump

May 3, 2013

The White House Convenes Scientists to Discuss the World's New Ocean

Despite its straight-from-science-fiction premise, it's real: A group of scientists meeting at the White House to discuss a brand-new ocean. Impending Arctic ice melt makes this just another day in the geopolitics of climate change.

Comments | 2,982 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 30, 2013

Chart of the Day

The Atlantic Ocean Off the East Coast Was the Warmest Ever Recorded in 2012

During the second half of last year — the hottest recorded year in U.S. history — ocean temperatures off the East Coast also hit their highest temperatures in the 150 years measurements have been kept. It's not a comforting record.

Comments | 197 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 26, 2013

The Oddly Tepid Political Fight Over Global Warming

The odds are good that you didn't know about yesterday's House hearing on climate change or a new video from OFA. The urgency with which scientists look at the issue has still not been translated to Capitol Hill — or to the rest of America.

Comments | 1,553 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 25, 2013

The Drought-Stricken Midwest's Floods: Is This What Climate Change Looks Like?

The dramatic images resulting from this week's floods in the Midwest are, in a way, a welcome sight — six months ago, the region was wracked by drought. That extreme see-sawing is close to what some climate change models predict.

Comments | 1,367 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 8, 2013

Public Opinion on Global Warming Is Easier to Change Than Science

If you're curious what a motivated political campaign to undermine established science looks like, allow Gallup and its new poll of climate change attitudes to demonstrate.

Comments | 1,778 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 8, 2013

Global Warning May Be More Dramatic Than We Realize

A new study on global warming has concluded that rise in global temperatures over the last century is even more shocking that you think, because the Earth should actually have been getting colder during that time.

Comments | 4,977 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 6, 2013

Apparently, Al Gore Didn't Want to Sell Current TV to Oil-Rich Al Jazeera

Did you really believe that Al Gore would get away with selling Current TV to Al Jazeera for $500 million without getting sued? Silly optimist.

Comments | 2,890 Views

By David Wagner

Feb 19, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Tuesday Columns

Bill McKibben on the Keystone XL pipeline, David Brooks on the shortcomings of big data, William Pesek on China's North Korean neighbors, Scott Winship on the robot economy, and Jonah Goldberg on liberal Hollywood.

Comments | 1,897 Views

By David Wagner

Feb 18, 2013

Today in Research

Highway Paleontologist Digs Up a New Species of Whale

Discovered: How a California law lead to a whale fossil discovery; over half of moviegoers want to puke while watching 3D films; dogs sniff out other dogs in crowds; tracking climate change through Rock Hyrax urine.

Comments | 5,649 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Feb 12, 2013

The Hole in the Ozone Has Shrunk to a Record Low

The European Space Agency delivered some good news for climate change deniers recently: the infamous hole in the ozone over Antarctica is shrinking.

Comments | 652 Views

By David Wagner

Jan 25, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Friday Columns

Dexter Filkins on women in combat, Ron Fournier on Obama's great liberal expectations, Malcolm Potts on fighting terrorism through education, Jonathan Weil on Caterpillar's missing millions, and Jim Yong Kim on climate change.

Comments | 2,428 Views

By David Wagner

Jan 24, 2013

How Obama Could Nix the Keystone Pipeline (and Why He Won't)

President Obama will be confronted with the first big policy decision of his second term where environmentalists and business interests are at odds: the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Despite promising to act on climate change in his inaugural address, all signs point to the controversial project going forward.

Comments | 1,671 Views

By David Wagner

Jan 21, 2013

What They're Saying About Obama's Speech

Let's take a look at the instant pundit reaction to specific segments of the inaugural address, from gay rights and health care to gun violence and climate change.

Comments | 3,587 Views

By David Wagner

Jan 15, 2013

Maybe Pot Doesn't Make Teens Dumb After All

Discovered: Lighting up might not lead to dumbing down; playing music can put you on a natural high; black carbon is twice as bad as we thought; evidence that obesity is inherited.

Comments | 4,375 Views

By David Wagner

Jan 11, 2013

New York Times Closes Environment Desk on Same Day 'Extreme Weather' Hits Front Page

Talk about mixed signals. On the very morning The New York Times signaled its plans to reassign its nine environment desk journalists to other sections, the paper ran a chilling photo of "extreme weather" above the fold on A1. 

Comments | 1,456 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Jan 8, 2013

It's So Hot in Australia That They Added New Colors to the Weather Map

This deep purple is a brand-new shade that the Australian bureau of meteorology was forced to add to its heat index because their country is, you know, kind of on fire.

Comments | 63,337 Views

By David Wagner

Dec 31, 2012

Today in Research

What Science Can Tell Us About 2013

Discovered: Scientists hazard their latest guesses about what we'll experience in the new year, showing us previews of rising sea levels, soaring temperatures, and a close encounter with a supercomet. 

Comments | 12,750 Views

By David Wagner

Dec 10, 2012

Today's Best

Five Best Monday Columns

Linda Hirshman on DOMA and Prop 8, Gordon G. Chang on China's deindustrialization, Carl F. Nathan on drug-resistant bugs, Michael Jacobs on the Doha climate deal, and Albert R. Hunt on campaign finance.

Comments | 2,414 Views

By David Wagner

Dec 7, 2012

U.N. Decides to Decide to Do Something About Climate Change Later

The organization's major global warming conference brought almost 200 countries together in Doha for the last two weeks, and, well, there was a lot of bickering.

Comments | 267 Views

By David Wagner

Dec 5, 2012

Today's Best

Five Best Wednesday Columns

Eliza Gray on Bradley Manning and the TimesDaphne Wysham on the World Bank, Henry Paulson on China's cities, Shadi Hamid on Egypt, and Mark Adomanis on Syria.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Nov 27, 2012

Five Best Green Stories

How Canada Stifles Scientists; China's Reckless Fracking

InsideClimate News on fleeing climate experts up North, The Guardian on British vegetable shortages, The New York Times on cities, Scentific American on a coming Dust Bowl, and Mother Jones on Chinese fracking.

Comments | 1,284 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 27, 2012

Today in Green Research

Mother Nature Killed the Truffle; The Last Great Turtle Lives!

Discovered: Climate change threatens the fanciest of ingredients; permafrost is melting; WiFi networks could stifle bovine belching; scientists find relatives of Lonesome George the tortoise.

Comments | 482 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 26, 2012

Today in Research

The Case of Too Many Facebook Friends; Smoking Rots the Brain

Discovered: why social media's popular kids are stressed out; cigarettes harm brain activity; ocean acid is corroding snail shells; the end of the permanent case of the tryptophan naps.

Comments | 3,718 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Nov 26, 2012

Five Best Green Stories

U.S. Jumps Out at Doha Talks; A Fracking-Free Future

The Associated Press on the UN climate meeting, The Boston Globe on plastic bags, The New York Times on a fracking ban, Grist on undercover work, The Guardian on the Kyoto Protocol.

Comments | 1,191 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 26, 2012

Today's Best

Five Best Monday Columns

Warren Buffett on taxing the ultra-rich, William D. Cohan on Jon Corzine, Dennis Ross on the Middle East, John Vidal on climate change, and E.J. Dionne on the Catholic Church. 

Comments | 3,972 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 21, 2012

Today in Research

The Puniest Planet; The New Truth About Wormholes

Discovered: Why a key dwarf planet has little atmosphere; roots of PTSD run deep; climate change could affect our past as well as our future; studying holes in old books reveals insect histories.

Comments | 3,873 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Nov 21, 2012

Five Best Green Stories

What Holiday Shopping Does to Mother Nature; Mass-Produced Nuclear Reactors

National Geographic on holiday shopping, Scientific American on Gobi bears, Grist on water consumption, The New York Times on small nuclear reactors, The Guardian on a global climate deal. 

Comments | 517 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 19, 2012

The Weird Coalition Sounding the Alarm on Global Warming

Who would've thought that a Big Four accounting firm, the CIA, and now The World Bank would be some of the loudest voices calling for action on global warming? 

Comments | 7,314 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Nov 16, 2012

Five Best Green Stories

How China Could Stop Environmental Protests; Australia's Marine Parks

Mother Jones on protest in China, The Guardian on building bamboo bikes, The Daily Climate on coal plants, Reuters on Australia's marine parks, Scientific American on Obama's energy and green policies. 

Comments | 862 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Nov 15, 2012

Five Best Green Stories

Cuomo Wants Action on Climate Change; Urban Farms Ready to Sprout in Chicago

New York Daily News on Cuomo's climate change vision, ClimateWire on the state of the electric grid, The Guardian on rats, Grist on Chicago's urban farming plans, and SFGate on Greenbuild

Comments | 622 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Nov 13, 2012

Five Best Green Stories

Gore Urges Obama to Be 'Bold'; A Conservation Biologist's Hero

The Guardian on Al Gore, The New York Times on an "Indiana Jones," Grist on post-election optimism, ClimateWire on snowpacks, and Co.Exist on fishing. 

Comments | 1,019 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Nov 12, 2012

Five Best Green Stories

Climate Change Puts Panda Population at Risk; Why Trees Fall

Discovery News on pandas, Grist on for-profit local food, Scientific American on falling trees, Politico on how climate change threatens national security, The Guardian on sea ice. 

Comments | 375 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Nov 9, 2012

Five Best Green Stories

Maya Civilization Changed with the Climate; What's Next For Green Legislation

The New York Times on Maya civilization and climate change, Wired on environmental legislation, TreeHugger on Siemens' The Crystal, Scientific American on the extinction of freshwater fish, The Hollywood Reporter on Matt Damon's documentary.  

Comments | 3,104 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 7, 2012

Today in Green Research

Distilling Diesel from Sugar; Tokelau Islands Go Fully Solar

Discovered: Brewing renewable fuels from simple sugar; New Zealand-administered islands powered only by the sun; engineers study butterfly textures; sardines dying off in the Caribbean.

Comments | 1,720 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 5, 2012

Today in Green Research

Earth Could Be 11 Degrees Warmer by 2100; Never-Before-Seen Whales Wash Ashore

Discovered: First sighting of spade-toothed whale; huge temperature spike predicted in this century; natural insect repellant; how an ancient volcano eruption precipitated acid rain. 

Comments | 9,499 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Nov 5, 2012

How Donald Trump Convinced America Climate Change Is Real

Hurricane Sandy is being touted as the reason Mitt Romney lost his mojo, the reason people are being nice in New York again, and perhaps most significantly—the galvanizing reason that there's bipartisan cognizance of climate change in an election season that largely ignored it. We beg to disagree on the latter: that might have to go to Donald Trump.

Comments | 3,741 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 1, 2012

Today in Research

Science Can Predict Twitter's Trending Topics; Light from Dead Stars

Discovered: Twitter memes foreseen with 95 percent certainty; detecting light from extinguished stars; sea levels rising faster than previously thought; deepest supernova observed.

Comments | 2,267 Views

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