Stories featured in
Unforgettable Sights of Our Changing World
President Trump’s proposed 2019 budget would slash funding for NASA’s Earth Science Division, and while his budget hasn’t gained traction in Congress, it is an important statement of the administration’s priorities. In a nod to his allies in the fossil fuel industry, Trump is calling for the elimination of vital programs that monitor carbon pollution andREAD MORE
The Grapes of Trash
German monk and theologian Martin Luther probably said it best: “Beer is made by men, wine by God.” It’s true — the world loves its wine. Americans, in fact, downed close to a billion gallons of it in 2016. But winemakers create a lot of waste when they produce all that vino, most of it in seeds, stalksREAD MORE
Stories from Six Bangladeshi Women on the Front Lines of Climate Change
We already know that climate change affects women disproportionately, but it is especially dramatic in Bangladesh. Caught between erratic rainfall and rising sea levels, women are struggling to guard their lives and livelihoods. During an especially severe tropical cyclone in 1991, for example, 90 percent of the 140,000 people who died in the country were women.READ MORE
The U.S. Military Secret That Was Just Revealed by Climate Change
At the height of the Cold War in the 1950s, the Greenland ice sheet hosted a number of clandestine U.S. Army bases whose job it was to get an estimated 600 medium-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads ready for deployment. The largest of these sites was Camp Century, which had the public facade of a scienceREAD MORE
The Trump Effect on Climate News
All press is good press — except when it isn’t. For those who are happy about President Trump’s attacks on climate science and policy, this will come as bad news. By shining a spotlight on the issue, Trump drove media coverage of climate change last year. New analysis from Media Matters for America finds that, following a yearREAD MORE
No Country for Snow Men
Imagine that Steph Curry, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant went to the same summer camp growing up. Every June, they showed up the same gym, trained on the same court and drank from the same cooler of Gatorade. ESPN would make documentaries about that camp. Curry would wax poetic about his bygone summers inREAD MORE
Climate Change Is Shrinking Sparrows
In 1847, German biologist Carl Bergmann posited that cold climates give rise to bigger bodies, and that animals who live in warm places typically are smaller. It made sense, since bigger bodies preserve heat more efficiently than smaller ones. One question remained unanswered. What about birds who endure both hot and cold? As it turns out,READ MORE
Birds Are Changing Their Tune
Mike McGrann has a good ear. He can identify a bird just by listening to it sing. He also can tell from its song if it’s bragging about its territory, about to migrate, or seeking a mate. McGrann shrugs off his skill — he can recognize the sounds of more than 200 species — saying other ornithologists can do it,READ MORE
Five Ways Cities Can Slash Carbon Pollution Right Now
It’s been a banner year for cities in the fight against climate change. This week, more than 50 mayors gathered in Chicago this week for North American Climate Summit. Each signed a charter calling on mayors to make specific plans to cut carbon pollution in line with national commitments under the Paris Agreement. Over the lastREAD MORE
Would Humanity Survive on a Frozen Planet?
What would happen in the future if, after centuries of warming, the climate suddenly shifted to the opposite extreme? Could humanity survive in an icy wasteland? That’s the premise of Above the Timberline, a fantasy adventure written and illustrated by Gregory Manchess. In a conversation with Nexus Media, Manchess revealed what inspired the story and sharedREAD MORE
Clean Power from Turkey Poop
Israeli scientists have found a new use for turkey leftovers. But don’t pull those Thanksgiving scraps out of the freezer just yet, because it’s not what you think. It’s not about the meat — it’s about the poop. Researchers believe turkey and other poultry waste hold promise as a renewable fuel for heat and electricity. “Poultry litter mightREAD MORE
Rising Seas Could Erase Chunks of History
Extreme weather events powered by climate change already have shown how rising seas threaten coastal communities: flooding and destruction of homes followed by widespread migration and resettlement. That’s horrible enough. But sobering new research suggests that many iconic symbols of the nation’s history also could be wiped out by rising waters. An estimated 13,000 archeological andREAD MORE
A Better Kind of Cow Fart
Raising cattle contributes to global warming in a big way. The animals expel large amounts of methane when they burp and fart, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide. U.S. beef production, in fact, roughly equals the annual emissions of 24 million cars, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. That’s a lotREAD MORE
Betting on Climate Change
In an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson challenged former GM executive — and ardent climate denier — Bill Lutz to a bet. “You take all the scientists who author these papers, get them to pool their money and invest in companies that would benefit from global warming,” said Tyson. “And take all the peopleREAD MORE
ABC and NBC Failed to Explain How Climate Change Fueled Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm that has laid waste to Barbuda and inundated Puerto Rico, is headed for Florida. The most powerful storm ever to descend on the Atlantic, Irma has produced winds so fierce some scientists have suggested it deserves a new classification — Category 6. Will the major broadcast networks report on the role ofREAD MORE
Climate Policy Increasingly Showing up in Court
When it comes to climate change policy, don’t underestimate the power of the courts. That’s the message from new research that analyzes the growing — but under-recognized — role of the judiciary in the fate of climate change regulations, and the increasing influence of science in climate litigation. “The new watch-phrase in climate change activism — from both sides — is ‘see you inREAD MORE
LA Is Painting Its Streets White to Keep the City Cool
Labor Day weekend delivered record-breaking temperatures to California, as a heat wave swept the state, fanning the flames of the largest wildfire Los Angeles has seen in decades. The unusually warm weather bears the mark of climate change, which is fueling record heat around the globe. While politicians elsewhere waffle on climate change, officials in LosREAD MORE
Your Commute Is Making You Sick
For millions of Americans, the rush-hour commute is more than just frustrating. It’s also dangerous, exposing drivers to unsafe levels of air pollution. Rolling up the windows won’t solve the problem. An ongoing study in Atlanta has found that people are exposed to more pollution sitting in the driver’s seat than they would be watching trafficREAD MORE
Solar Plants Take Root on Farms
If the United States wants to kick its coal habit, it will need to install a lot more solar power. That raises an important question: Where should all those panels reside? They could always go live on a farm upstate. Increasingly, solar companies are working with farmers to install solar panels on their land. Photovoltaic arraysREAD MORE
Where Your Coffee Table Comes From
Paul Pavol lives in Pomio, an area on the southern edge of Papua New Guinea where old-growth rainforests were once abundant. “Forest is our wholesale. Forest is our timber yard. Forest is our freezer. Forest is our supplier,” he said. “It was free for us.” But in 2010, “a big barge brought in the machines,” saidREAD MORE
A Different Kind of Pipeline
Arizona civil engineer Mo Ehsani thinks he has the answer to the global coral bleaching crisis — a pipe that delivers cool water to stressed corals. Bleaching, a consequence of climate change, is destroying some of the world’s most stunning reefs. “Our reckless acts are killing these beautiful creatures that have lived for 20 million years,” said Ehsani,READ MORE
Young People’s Burden (VIDEO)
This week, renowned climate scientist James Hansen published a new paper outlining the risks associated with rising temperatures. The paper is intended provide the scientific basis for a lawsuit claiming the U.S. government has not done enough to stop climate change. The plaintiffs include a number young Americans, among them Hansen’s granddaughter, Sophie Kivlehan. “This intergenerationalREAD MORE
Growing Pains
This is the last of five installments in a series about clean energy. Disruptive technologies may face terrific backlash, but eventually low cost and convenience prevail. Computers replaced typewriters. Cassettes replaced records. Cars replaced horses. And none of it happened overnight. At the turn of the 20th century, most Americans thought of the automobile as aREAD MORE
Vermont and the Meaning of Green
This is the fourth of five installments in a series about clean energy. Brian Champney can brag about his 450 acres of farmland, 250 dairy cows and — if the permits go through — exactly one wind turbine. He is as stereotypically Vermont as a Bernie Sanders tote bag or a freezer full of Ben and Jerry’s. And, like manyREAD MORE
Clouds Over the Sunshine State
This is the third of five installments in a series about clean energy. Imagine you’re packing for a Florida vacation. A swimsuit, shades and a few gallons of sunscreen are probably the first things to go in your bag. If you’re driving south from Georgia to Disney World, you’ll see a big, blue sign when youREAD 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
Game Changer
This is the first of five installments in a series about clean energy. In the spring of 2009, Mark Parkinson, then governor of Kansas, was considering a request from Sunflower Electric to build a new coal-fired generator in Holcomb, a small town in the western half of the state. Parkinson, eager to draw more wind developersREAD MORE
This Engineer Is Using Old Cell Phones to Stop Illegal Logging (VIDEO)
On a 2011 hike through the Indonesian rainforest, Topher White stumbled across a rogue logger cutting down a tree. The man was working just a short distance from the ranger station, but the din of chirping birds and buzzing insects obscured the sound of his chainsaw, keeping him hidden in plain sight. This gave White anREAD 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
Beans Over Beef
There’s an old childhood ditty about eating beans that starts off “beans, beans, they’re good for your heart,” and ends with a snicker-inducing line about their other well-known effects — (rhymes with “heart”). It turns out, though, that beans are good for more than your heart. Eating them also could be good for the climate. Shunning beef forREAD MORE
A Natural Home, in the Heart of the City
Later this summer, Christopher Brown will publish his first novel, Tropic of Kansas, which imagines the United States in a time of dangerous climate change and political upheaval. Nexus Media talked to Brown about climate change, wildlife and how he built an underground home in Austin, Texas. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.READ MORE
Another Reason Climate Change Could Keep You Up at Night
During October, 2015, it was abnormally hot in San Diego. Daytime temperatures soared into the high 90s, and evenings were only modestly cooler. Night after night, the heat kept Nick Obradovich awake. His friends and colleagues were having the same experience, sleepless at night, lethargic and grumpy during the day. “Clearly the heat was taking aREAD MORE
Economic Inequality Is Driving Climate Change
We often talk about how climate change exacerbates social and economic inequality, but rarely do we consider the opposite: that inequality itself can be a driver of climate change. “What’s missing from the conversation is what our inequality crisis is doing to our planet,” said Susan Holmberg, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and author ofREAD MORE
This Brooklyn Startup Is Revolutionizing the Way We Buy and Sell Power (VIDEO)
In Brooklyn, you can buy honey collected from an urban bee hive. You can buy lettuce grown atop an old bowling alley. And now, you can purchase free range, gluten free, fresh, organic solar power right off your neighbor’s roof. Brooklyn startup LO3 Energy is revolutionizing the way homeowners buy and sell electricity. They are makingREAD MORE