Author: Chris Mooney
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Global carbon emissions reached a record high in 2018: ‘We are in trouble’
Global emissions of carbon dioxide have reached the highest levels on record, scientists projected Wednesday, in the latest evidence of the chasm between international goals for combating climate change and what countries are actually doing. Between 2014 and 2016, emissions remained largely flat, leading to hopes that the world was beginning to turn a corner.…
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Major government climate report says damages are ‘intensifying across the country’
The federal government on Friday released a long-awaited report with an unmistakable message: The effects of climate change, including deadly wildfires, increasingly debilitating hurricanes and heat waves, are already battering the United States, and the danger of more such catastrophes is worsening. The report’s authors, who represent numerous federal agencies, say they are more certain…
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Major Trump administration climate report says damages are ‘intensifying across the country’
The federal government on Friday released a long-awaited report with an unmistakable message: The impacts of climate change, from deadly wildfires to increasingly debilitating hurricanes and heat waves, are already battering the United States, and the danger of more such catastrophes is worsening. The report’s authors, who represent numerous federal agencies, say they are more…
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The oceans’ circulation hasn’t been this sluggish in 1,000 years. That’s bad news
The Atlantic Ocean circulation that carries warmth into the Northern Hemisphere’s high latitudes is slowing down because of climate change, a team of scientists asserted Wednesday, suggesting one of the most feared consequences is already coming to pass. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation has declined in strength by 15 percent since the mid-20th century to…
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2017 was among the planet’s hottest years on record, government scientists report
2017 was among the hottest years ever recorded, government scientists reported Thursday. The year was the second-hottest in recorded history, NASA said, while scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported 2017 was the third-warmest they’ve ever recorded. The two government agencies use different methodologies to calculate global temperatures, but by either standard, the…
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Smoke from wildfires may be surprisingly deadly, scientists report
As firefighters continue to battle California’s devastating Thomas Fire — now the fourth-largest in state history — a group of scientists presented new results suggesting that air pollution from such massive blazes may be one of their deadliest consequences. Speaking at the annual American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans, the researchers, from Colorado State…
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New science suggests the ocean could rise more — and faster — than we thought
Climate change could lead to sea level rises that are larger, and happen more rapidly, than previously thought, according to a trio of new studies that reflect mounting concerns about the stability of polar ice. In one case, the research suggests that previous high end projections for sea level rise by the year 2100 — a little over three feet —…
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Interior Dept. rejects 25 endangered species petitions, including several linked to climate change
WASHINGTON – The federal Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday declined 25 separate petitions to list a variety of species as endangered or threatened, including the high-profile Pacific walrus, which is contending with sharp climate change trends in the Arctic where it spends much of its life atop floes of floating sea ice. The agency…
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Scientists mapping Greenland have produced some surprising – and worrying – results
Greenland, the world’s largest island and home to its second largest ice sheet, is a land of ragged cliffs, breathtaking fjords and unimaginable amounts of water on either side of the freezing point. It has also, until now, been something of a mystery. Greenland drew some pointed attention during the world wars and the Cold…
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EPA just gave notice to dozens of scientific advisory board members that their time is up
The Environmental Protection Agency has given notice to dozens of scientists that they will not be renewed in their roles in advising the agency, continuing a scientific shake-up that has already triggered resignations and charges from some researchers that the administration is politicizing the agency. Members of the EPA’s Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) whose terms…