Forests not only serve as refuges from city life, but could also be among the last fortresses between a livable planet and an increasingly hostile one. Forests can pull carbon from the air and store it in roots and leaves, locking it out of the atmosphere. Through complex markets, nations …
Read More »How Times Readers Made the Switch to Heat Pumps
Last month, I shared my story of switching to a heat pump and of how doing the right thing for the planet turned out, at least in my case, to be a frustrating experience as a consumer. Almost immediately, I was inundated with emails from readers eager to share their …
Read More »Global Electricity Demand Is Rising Faster Than Expected, I.E.A. Says
Demand for electricity around the world is rising faster than expected, making it harder for countries to slash their emissions and keep global warming in check, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday. Over the next decade, the world is poised to add the equivalent of Japan’s annual electricity demand …
Read More »What Flying in a Wind Tunnel Reveals About Birds
It happens every fall: The days grow colder, the nights grow longer, the birds grow restless and then they take flight. In North America alone, billions of birds fly south for the winter, sometimes in enormous undulating flocks. It is one of nature’s great spectacles as well as an athletic …
Read More »The World’s Oldest Termite Mound Is 34,000 Years and Counting
Last month, Michele Francis, an environmental scientist at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, relocated to central Connecticut only to discover that her new home showed signs of termite damage. When an exterminator suggested setting out traps, Dr. Francis demurred. “I wondered if I could persuade the termites to eat the …
Read More »The Climate Fix: Solutions for a Warming World
As we report on climate change, it’s all too easy to get caught up in the often troubling news. Ferocious storms wreak havoc around the globe. Planet warming-emissions keep rising. Scientists warn of catastrophic tipping points. Yet those headlines, crucially important as they are, often overshadow a different, equally important …
Read More »They’ve Got a Plan to Fight Global Warming. It Could Alter the Oceans.
In a quiet patch of forest in Nova Scotia, a company is building a machine designed to help slow global warming by transforming Earth’s rivers and oceans into giant sponges that absorb carbon dioxide from the air. When switched on later this year, the machine will grind up limestone inside …
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