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Three Graphs Show How Climate Change Threatens Your Health Today
A new report released this week by the Lancet medical journal details “unequivocal and potentially irreversible” growing threats to public health from climate change. The report finds that the delayed action on climate change worldwide has jeopardized human life and livelihoods over the past 25 years, with harms “far worse than previously understood.” A related briefingREAD MORE
Climate Change Impedes World-Record Marathon Attempt
Running fans hoped to see history made in Berlin on Sunday, when Eliud Kipchoge, widely regarded as the world’s top marathoner, set out to break a world record. But the Kenyan, who took gold in the men’s marathon in Rio, fell 35 seconds short of making history. His brush with greatness would not be notable butREAD MORE
Fish Are Shrinking
Seafood lovers be warned. That delectable slab of seared tuna on your plate soon could become a lot smaller — and more scarce — thanks to climate change. As ocean temperatures climb, many species of fish — tuna among them — likely will shrink, decreasing in size by as much 30 percent, according to a new study published in the journal Global Change Biology.READ MORE
Scientists Develop Spit-Powered Battery
You can make a battery out of a lemon, a tomato, an orange or a stack of pennies. And now, thanks to a miracle of modern science, you can make a battery using spit. Researchers at Binghamton University have created a paper-based bacteria-powered battery. One drop of saliva can activate the device, which can generate enoughREAD MORE
Trump’s Oil Problem
Since the beginning, President Donald Trump promised that stripping regulations on oil companies would drive employment. “We’re bringing back jobs big league,” he said. But, after six months of regulatory rollback, Trump has done almost nothing that will create jobs on oil fields or offshore rigs. That’s because low oil prices, not environmental protections, are stuntingREAD MORE
Climate Change Is Sapping Your Strength
We already know how prolonged drought, high heat and heavy rains prompted by climate change can wreak havoc on agriculture. But there is more disturbing news. If we do nothing, growing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide from emissions will seriously impair the nutritional value of wheat, rice and other staple crops, putting millions of people aroundREAD MORE
The Winds Above Wyoming
This is the second of five installments in a series about clean energy. There’s the Wyoming you see on postcards — the snow-dusted mountains and caramel-colored prairies where movie stars build their second homes. But there’s another Wyoming — the one that powers America’s homes and businesses. The Cowboy State churns out more coal than all of Appalachia, and it’sREAD MORE
Bye-Bye, Diapers. Hello, ‘Elimination Communication.’
Jeffrey Bender and his wife, Rosemary She, already felt ashamed about sending two children’s worth of disposable diapers to landfills. They didn’t want to do it with their third. But, cloth diapers were not a guilt-free option, since they devour their own share of energy and water. So they decided to abandon diapers altogether. “We feelREAD MORE
A Climate Policy Donald Trump Could Get Behind
There was time in Los Angeles when the smog was so bad you couldn’t see down the block. Then, the state mandated that catalytic converters were installed in every car, which had to be submitted to regular smog checks. The new requirements were a boon for auto mechanics, who were authorized to carry out the emissionsREAD MORE
Solving the Mystery of the Sahara
Today, the Sahara Desert is defined by undulating sand dunes, unforgiving sun and oppressive heat. But just 10,000 years ago, it was lush and verdant. So, what spurred the shift from woodland to wasteland? A new study suggests humans played a big role. Author David Wright, an environmental archeologist at Seoul National University, says that asREAD MORE
Automakers Try to Delay the Inevitable
When most people think about clean energy, they think of wind and solar providing their homes and workplaces with electricity. But the transportation sector — which includes cars, trucks and airplanes — recently overtook the electricity sector as the leading source of greenhouse gases in the United States. There are tremendous opportunities to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, allREAD MORE
There Are More Americans Working in Solar Than in Coal or Natural Gas
In his first hour as president, Donald Trump promised to resurrect middle-class manufacturing jobs in the United States. It will be all but impossible for him to reverse the tides of globalization and automation, but the future may nonetheless be bright for the American worker, thanks to a trend that predates and will outlast the 45thREAD MORE
Global Clean-Energy Investment Is Down, but Look What’s Going Up
Global investment in clean energy fell by 18 percent last year, according to new research from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Investment still lags behind the level needed to meet the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement. But last year’s 18 percent drop doesn’t tell the whole story. Lurking among the numbers are a few brightREAD MORE
Hurricane Matthew Was Deceptively Powerful
As Hurricane Matthew barreled toward the Southeast, millions of Americans fixated on a single measure of its destructive power: wind speed. While they tracked miles per hour like adrenaline junkies watching a speedometer, they took their eyes off a far more important factor. It was rain, not wind, that dealt the most damage as Matthew rumbledREAD MORE
Ancient Waters Are Keeping the Southern Ocean Cool
It’s one of the most befuddling questions in climate science. As carbon pollution cranks up the global thermostat, the Southern Ocean is getting cooler, not warmer. While Arctic sea ice has dwindled, Antarctic sea ice has persisted and even grown. What could explain this phenomenon? Finally, scientists have cracked the case. According a new study publishedREAD MORE
Microgrids: New York’s Next Big Thing
Ask New Yorkers what they remember about Hurricane Sandy, and they’ll say the blackout. Floods cut power to most of Lower Manhattan, plunging America’s financial and cultural epicenter into total darkness. Or rather, near-total darkness. New York University continued to buzz and glow throughout the night. The reason? NYU runs on a microgrid, a semi-independent energy system ableREAD MORE