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Scientists are sounding the alarm because this warming is shockingly bigbigger than what we would have expected given the long-term warming trend from fossilfuel-caused climatechange. According to recent data from NOAAs National Center for Environmental Information, 2024 is likely to be even warmer than 2023.
Swain and the other authors note that previous research has focused solely on the precipitation side of the equation rather than the full bloom-and-burn cycle driven not just by lack of rain but by an increasingly thirsty atmosphere evaporating moisture out of plants and soil. Not necessarily. But e xtreme weather is already the context.
A new dataset released by InfluenceMap provides information on heat-trapping emissions traced to the 122 largest investor and state-owned fossilfuel companies in the world. Fossilfuels are the main driver of climatechange and the terrifying effects of it that we see happening across the world.
This could be met from a variety of sources—including pollution fees on fossilfuel companies, the elimination of fossilfuel subsidies, and wealth taxes on the richest people. Climate vulnerable countries need funding to start flowing quickly. Progress on support for climate adaptation. to 2.8 °C
In a new study released today, UCS attributes substantial temperature and sea level rise to emissions traced to the largest fossilfuel producers and cement manufacturers. Every delay in phasing out fossilfuels will burden future generations who need to adapt to rising seas and recover from loss and damage due to sea level impacts.
Understanding sea level rise as a long-term, multi-generational problem is essential to comprehending the scale of climatechange and the need for bold action now. While this knowledge may be sobering, it underscores the importance of reducing emissions, holding major polluters accountable, and adapting to a changing world.
In an important win for climate accountability in the United States, the US Supreme Court decided that lawsuits filed in Colorado, Maryland, California, Hawai’i, and Rhode Island against fossilfuel companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Suncor, and others will remain in state courts.
By Bob Berwyn The latest anomaly in the climate system that cant be fully explained by researchers is a record annual jump in the global mean concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere measured in 2024.
According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange report published Monday, Southeast Asia coastal zones are among the world’s most climate vulnerable regions. There are a handful of high-impact “tipping points” that could drastically change global or regional water cycles.
My colleague Dr. Kristy Dahl and I arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, last week for the 61st session of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange (IPCC). These documents offer an internationally accepted summary of the state of climate science, and form the backbone of many legal briefs I prepare.
He recently published a children’s book titled Goodnight FossilFuels! that’s specifically about climatechange and fossilfuel accountability. I checked out the science books, and there were some interesting titles but literally nothing about climatechange.
But this new study from my colleagues working on climatechange and fossilfuel accountability couldn’t be ignored. In short, the study concludes that fossilfuel companies are in part to blame for the extraordinary damages resulting from western wildfires (including those sparked by utilities).
The summary for policymakers of the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange (IPCC) sixth synthesis report was released on March 20th (available online as a PDF ). There is a recording of the IPCC Press Conference – ClimateChange 2023: Synthesis Report for those who are interested in watching an awkward release of the report.
Climate models are the main tool climate scientists use to predict how Earth will respond to more heat-trapping pollutants in the atmosphere. But what exactly is a climate model? Lets start off easy by breaking down the phrase climate model.” change at each grid point. What causes a circulation?
The IPCC compiles scientific insights on climatechange, informing policymakers and the public about risks and possible actions. In essence, combined with climate models, they provide a way to envision the consequences of different actions or inactions. What Are Future Climate Scenarios?
is a serious blow to the EPA’s ability to fight climatechange—and could have dangerous repercussions beyond this case. The timing of the decision feels especially harsh, as the nation is in the throes of the “ Danger Season ” for hazards such as heat waves, drought, wildfires and hurricanes, all worsened by climatechange.
I feel like climatechange is going to have to get worse before it gets better. Climatechange has been a big, scary, looming problem for basically the entirety of my life; I cannot remember a time when it was not at least a background concern. This holiday season, I’m especially grateful for their tone of determination.
The second perspective we offer in our new analysis comes from pulling back the lens to take into account not just carbon at the smokestack, but also the carbon from other steps in the process, as well as other gases that also trap heat when thrown up into the atmosphere. And we don’t need to have all the answers to make a difference.
Attribution science , which is about understanding the role of climatechange versus natural weather patterns and climate variability, can help us better understand the connections between extreme weather and climatechange, provide new insight into what specific emissions are driving the worst impacts, and help shape climate solutions.
Climate models are the main tool scientists use to assess how much the Earths temperature will change given an increase in fossilfuel pollutants in the atmosphere. As a climate scientist, Ive used them in all my research projects, including one predicting a change in Southwestern US precipitation patterns.
Methane gas has devastating effects on the climate system and its extraction and combustion generate numerous harms to human health. Compared to carbon dioxide (CO2), methane doesn’t linger for long in the atmosphere after being emitted. But during the decade it does linger, its heat-trapping potential is 80x stronger than CO2.
(For a deeper dive on what’s really going on here in Egypt, check out the Climate Action Against Disinformation’s website.). A small number of big corporations are responsible for the climate crisis. of the observed rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide and 52 percent of the rise in global average temperatures between 1880 and 2015.
It is urgent to implement the Methane Pledge as soon as possible given methane, a potent heat-trapping gas, already has devastating effects on human health and the climate, which will continue for years to come. But its short lifetime in the atmosphere is also a reason for hope. We need to phase out fossilfuels.
“Danger Season” refers to the warmer months when, turbo-charged by climatechange, extreme events like heat waves, heavy rainfall, wildfires, and poor air quality bring miserable and often dangerous, conditions. This NASA graphic captures how climatechange affects the extreme weather that tends to play out in Danger Season.
Don’t forget to add on top of that the cost of climatechange. From increasing costs of insurance and everyday items like coffee and chocolate, to major expenses when dealing with climate crisis infrastructure damage, like damaged roads, bridges and buildings, we know climatechange is expensive.
Scientists have unequivocally confirmed that human activities, primarily the burning of fossilfuels, are driving unprecedented changes to the Earth’s climate, raising fundamental questions about our responsibility to safeguard the environment for future generations.
Climatechange, biodiversity loss and plastic pollution represent an unprecedented threat to the ocean and life on Earth as we know it. First, climatechange. The increased CO 2 , which creates warmer temperatures in the atmosphere, is absorbed by the ocean.
But with estimates suggesting that sea level rise will affect more than one billion people around the world in the next 25 years, this is one member of the dysfunctional climatechange family that shouldn’t be ignored. Why is this? Read on for the science you need to know about sea level rise, in seven parts.
Supran and his colleagues compellingly summarize the research, concluding: “All told, ExxonMobil was aware of contemporary climate science, contributed to that science, and predicted future global warming correctly.” Such a constraint would clearly place a limit on the amount of fossilfuels ExxonMobil could extract, produce and market.
This week, Circle of Blue looks at a major new climate report, which finds that a warming planet is accelerating the water cycle. The Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange, a group of the world’s leading climate scientists, has released its sixth assessment report. The report, while grim, does offer hope.
Heightened flood risk The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in a recent outlook that about 44 percent of the United States is at risk of floods this spring, equating to about 146 million people. Fuel transport – Spring floods can hinder the transportation of fuels like coal.
Since starting with Environmental Defence in January, I’ve been grappling with an updated version of those song lyrics: “Why we must talk about climatechange when everything is burning?” Given the human cost of climatechange, you might think that talking about it while it is ravishing our nation would be easy.
Without the considerable carbon absorption capacity of our lands (and oceans), we’d currently have much more CO 2 in the atmosphere and an accelerated timeline of warming. In North America, the land carbon sink between 2004 and 2013 offset roughly 39% of fossilfuel emissions , but varied substantially year to year.
Earlier this year, ExxonMobil released its annual Advancing Climate Solutions report detailing the company’s current and planned contributions to a net-zero future. These kinds of curves are fairly standard when comparing strategies to address climatechange as you can see in the comparable figure below. Who needs units anyway?
Dr. Susan Avery, a physicist and atmospheric scientist, is the former director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts. Avery was added to the board—a majority of shareholders for the first time approved a climate-related shareholder proposal.
While there is enormous potential for UN climate negotiations to transform climate action, meaningful progress has been delayed in part by the fossilfuel industry’s deceptive tactics. Last year’s COP was notable as the first to explicitly mention “fossilfuels” in the final decision document.
A multidisciplinary team of scientists will work with city officials and community groups to protect vulnerable residents and communities from extreme weather, flooding, urban heat islands and fossilfuel pollution.
At the evening seafood reception that year, in a corner near the fresh oysters, a board member of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association remarked to me, “Everyone blames everything on climatechange, but they blame the Right Whale on lobstering.” His remark has remained with me ever since.
Decades ago, their own scientists told car companies and oil companies about climatechange, information the companies chose to ignore. He talked her into studying climatechange. She went on to become the head of the climatechange program at Argonne National Lab and a professor at UC Davis.
In fact, studies show that clean energy is a more affordable option than continuing to rely on fossilfuels. The Atmospheric Fund has released analysis which indicates that Ontario is capable of ramping up renewable energy sources fast enough to meet its rising electricity demand and phase out gas-powered electricity by 2035.
The IPCC issued the massive first volume of its new report on climatechange on Monday. This volume focuses on climate science: how much will the world warm, and what will the impacts be? with high confidence that human-induced climatechange is the main driver of these changes.”. C of warming.
The very first American trial of a youth climate lawsuit was hardly blockbuster Court TV, but we learned a lot from the proceedings. As I outlined here , Montana state law prohibits the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions or climate impacts–– inside and outside the state’s borders––when reviewing projects and approving permits.
In recent years, The Netherlands has become the leading site of climatechange litigation. Now the same district court has gone further, again in favor of environmental groups but now against Royal Dutch Shell (“Shell”) , the world’s largest non-state-owned fossilfuel company. These lawsuits face three key barriers.
Four important global reports released in the last two days set up a deeply sobering context for the upcoming annual international climate talks in Egypt, also called COP27. Source: UN ClimateChange 2022 NDC Synthesis Report. Source: UN ClimateChange 2022 NDC Synthesis Report. The UN NDC Synthesis report.
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