Last month was the second-hottest September ever recorded; it came after the world’s warmest summer ever, in a year that is on track to be the most searing in recorded history. There’s only so much the human body can take. Heat killed 60,000 people in Europe alone in 2022, and …
Read More »Changing the DNA of Living Things to Fight Climate Change
With the push of a red button, a milky-colored liquid sprayed onto a load of corn seed at a warehouse in central Missouri. It was a hint of a revolution underway in American agriculture, driven by a desire to combat climate change while still feeding and fueling the world. Inside …
Read More »Wildfires in the West Aren’t Just Getting Bigger. They’re Faster, Too.
Wildfires aren’t just tearing through larger swaths of the American West. They’re spreading more quickly, too. A team of researchers looked at NASA satellite data on 60,000 wildfires in the contiguous United States between 2001 and 2020. After classifying each blaze by the most it grew in a single day, …
Read More »The U.N.’s Verdict on Climate Progress Over the Past Year: There Was None
One year after world leaders made a landmark promise to move away from fossil fuels, countries have essentially made no progress in cutting emissions and tackling global warming, according to a United Nations report issued on Thursday. Global greenhouse gas emissions soared to a record 57 gigatons last year and …
Read More »Can Biological Engineering Change the World?
Science is always focused on breakthroughs and the next big thing. And, too often, there is loads of hype about what benefits to society a particular breakthrough might bring. But when I saw the image of Albert Einstein peering out of a petri dish in the office of Christopher Voigt, …
Read More »Scientists Are Mapping Landslide Risk in Alaska. Some Homeowners Don’t Want to Know.
James and Bill Montivér had just finished boxing up their home on a steep road in Ketchikan, a fishing community turned cruise ship stop in southeast Alaska, when they heard a screech like a jet engine over the sounds of pouring rain. Bill, who was scrubbing the kitchen cabinets, screamed …
Read More »Much of Ireland Is an Ecological Desert. Meet the Man Who Wants to Rewild It.
Is Ireland really all that green? Ecologically speaking, the answer is no, says Eoghan Daltun, a sculptor who restored a patch of native rainforest in the Beara Peninsula, on the country’s rugged southwestern coast. “Ireland really coasts on its reputation as the Emerald Isle,” Mr. Daltun said in a recent …
Read More »A ‘New Day’? Justices Step Back, Slightly, From an Aggressive Climate Stance.
The conservative-majority Supreme Court has taken an aggressive stance against many environmental rules in recent years, but three small victories for regulators this month have left some analysts wondering whether a shift is underway. The latest sign came on Wednesday, when the justices declined to block the Environmental Protection Agency …
Read More »The World’s Carbon Sinks Are on Fire
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 »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 …
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