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EartherClimate ChangeWhy Do Heat Waves Make Ozone Pollution So Much Worse?
Boy, is it hot? The gnarly heat wave we’ve been dealing with since last week isn’t quite over yet—and it doesn’t just cause us to sweat and complain. Events like these usually bring awful ozone pollution, too. And that’s stuff people need to worry about, especially as they’re outside enjoying their Fourth of July. With … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
The American Museum of Natural History’s New Climate Exhibit Delivers on Science But Avoids Solutions [Updated]
A new interactive climate change exhibit will open at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) this week, becoming the museum’s first permanent installation dedicated to modern day, human-caused climate change. It’s replacing a climate-centric portion of the museum’s Hall of Planet Earth, which features a ton of good rocks and a pretty awesome piece of … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
The Arctic Ocean Is Quickly Becoming the Atlantic
The seas between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans are a battleground between two opposing bodies of water. And it appears that the Arctic is starting to lose the war. This is happening faster than models projected, and scientists don’t quite know what the long-term impacts will be. The rapid “Atlantification” of the Arctic Ocean is … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Changing NOAA’s Vision to Exclude Climate Has Been a Long Time Coming
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) appears to be on its way to being Trumpified. No, it’s not getting encased in gold. Instead, climate and conservation are out, the economy and national security are in. The Commerce Department recently held a “Vision Setting Summit” where Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, NOAA’s acting administrator talked about … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
TV Meteorologists Double Down on Climate Outreach as Ted Cruz Attacks It
On Thursday, TV meteorologists around the world busted out red, white, and blue striped ties, pins, and mugs on the air. It wasn’t a random burst of America pride, but rather an attempt to raise awareness about climate change. The accessories featured a recent visualization by University of Reading climate scientist Ed Hawkins showing average … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate Change
Turns Out Our Methane Emissions Are Really Fucking Bad
Methane comes from more than cows. As notorious a poster child cattle have become, a huge portion of our methane emissions are produced by the oil and gas industry. A study out Thursday explores how much worse these greenhouse gas emissions actually might be. Published in Science, the study’s analysis of national methane emissions from … Continued
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EartherClimate ChangeThe Alluring Dream of Carbon Capture
Our addiction to fossil fuels is unrelenting, which means that the skies will continue to fill with carbon dioxide for the foreseeable future. Efforts to scale back coal and oil consumption are underway, but once the trigger has been pulled, it’s hard to put the bullet back into the chamber: conventional wisdom states that the … Continued
Robin George Andrews -
EartherClimate Change
Antarctica Is Losing An Unfathomable Amount of Ice
Three trillion tons of ice is an near impossible thing to wrap your head around. Even the standard comparisons—it’s 1.2 billion Olympic swimming pools—don’t really make it compute any better. But it’s that very profound nature that makes what’s happening in Antarctica so alarming. New findings published in Nature on Wednesday show that the seventh … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Senate Republicans Actually Want to Ratify an Obama-Era Climate Pact
It’s not every day you learn Congressional Republicans are excited to pass an Obama-era climate deal, but that seems to be the case when it comes to a treaty that would eliminate an obscure but potent greenhouse gas. On June 4, a group of 13 Senate Republicans sent a letter to President Trump urging him … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate Change
Giant Iceberg Is Screwed
There’s no shortage of going-ons on Earth that astronauts can see from space: auroras, towering clouds, volcanic eruptions. Now, there’s a grim addition to the list: a (once) massive iceberg that’s got a date with death. In March 2000, the biggest iceberg ever to peel off the Ross Ice Shelf began its 18-year trek in … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
Americans Think Climate Research Should Be NASA’s Top Priority
Most of us (understandably) associate NASA with rockets and space exploration, but the space agency also keeps an eye on our home planet. And it turns out the public is more supportive of NASA’s efforts to monitor Earth’s ever-warming climate than you might expect. A new Pew survey released on Wednesday looked at how Americans … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate Change
Hawaii Is Owning the Rest of Us On Climate Change
Just over a year after President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. will jettison the Paris climate deal, Hawaii has set the most ambitious climate goal of any state: carbon neutrality in just 27 years. That goal was outlined in a bill signed Monday, along with a bill to create a carbon offset program and another … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
There’s Way Too Little Ice Around Svalbard Right Now
If you came here looking for good Arctic sea ice news, I have some. Kidding, there’s no such thing as good Arctic sea ice news these days. When we last checked in with ice in the north, the picture was, uh, not good! The Bering Sea had lost all of its ice roughly a month … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
The Great Barrier Reef Has a Surprisingly Morbid History
It’s no secret the Great Barrier Reef is in dire straights thanks to human-caused global warming. But it turns out dramatic upheaval is nothing new for the world’s largest living thing. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered five large-scale die-offs over the past 30,000 years, all of them tied to abrupt changes in sea level … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate Change
This Climate Visualization Belongs in a Damn Museum
There’s a new global warming illustration that’s fit for the Museum of Modern Art or the Getty. Seriously, just look at that stunner up there. Ed Hawkins, the climate scientist who made the viral temperature spirals, is back at it again with another striking view of our warming planet. His latest visualization strips out all … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Breaking: Trump Administration Climate Change Report Mentions Climate Change
The resistance is on a roll. Fresh off the small victory of the NASA administrator saying accurate things about climate change, the National Park Service has released a report on climate change that mentions climate change. Last month, Reveal obtained a draft of a National Park Service report on sea level rise that showed mentions … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Why Is an Ozone-Destroying Chemical Coming Back, and How Do We Stop It?
The ozone hole, which we’ve previously described as the “quintessential ‘80s problem” became alarmingly relevant again this week. Scientists reported that emissions of trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11), an ozone-destroying substance banned under the Montreal Protocol, have apparently been rising since 2012. Despite a global treaty prohibiting CFC-11’s use, someone’s breaking the law. So, why is someone fucking with … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate Change
GOP Member of Science Committee Thinks Falling Rocks Are Causing Rising Sea Levels
Mo Brooks is just a plain-spoken man from Alabama with some theories on climate change. Luckily, because everything is terrible, he’s a congressman and sits on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee so he has a platform to float some of his entirely unfounded ideas like, for instance, sea levels are rising because rocks … Continued
By AJ Dellinger -
EartherClimate ChangeJim Bridenstine, Welcome to the Resistance
In any other country in the world, this would not be news. But nevertheless, take a deep breath and get ready to hear something big: a Trump administration official used scientifically accurate terms to talk about climate change. I know. Big. Recently-minted NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine held a town hall with NASA employees on Thursday … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Bering Sea Ice Is Basically Gone
Bering Sea ice has been battered all year by warm waters and wild winter heat waves. But at least it won’t have to suffer any more, because now it’s nearly all gone, basically a month ahead of schedule. The bizarre saga of Arctic sea ice this winter has extended into spring, with the Bering Sea … Continued
By Brian Kahn