In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “endangerment finding” empowered the U.S. to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases. This scientific and legal determination ruled that planet-warming gases such as carbon dioxide are dangerous to human health and welfare. Now, the Trump administration has moved to rescind that finding. At an auto dealership in Indiana on […]
Deadly ‘Wet-Bulb’ Temperatures Are Smothering the Eastern U.S.
An oppressive heat dome has gripped the eastern U.S. this week, prompting the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue heat warnings for nearly 170 million Americans. To make matters worse, severe humidity is making high temperatures feel even hotter. Extreme heat and humidity make for a deadly combination. The human body lowers its temperature by […]
Is Climate Change an Existential Threat?
The constant deluge of bad news about rising global temperatures and their impacts can make it feel like the world is ending. Is it? If a 60-mile-wide (100-kilometer-wide) asteroid slammed into Earth tomorrow, it would render the planet inhospitable to nearly all life forms, save for the hardiest extremophiles. This mass extinction event would wipe […]
As Trump Scrubs Climate Reports, NASA Breaks Its Promise to Save Them
Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has launched a major effort to limit public access to information about climate change. After the president canned the official government site that hosted the national climate assessments earlier this month, NASA has broken its promise to publish them on its own site. On Monday, July 14, […]
U.S. Lawmakers Blame Canada for Ruining Summer With Wildfire Smoke
The Canadian province of Manitoba is suffering through its worst wildfire season in its history, and to add insult to injury, several U.S. lawmakers are complaining that smoke wafting south is making it difficult for Americans to enjoy summer. Six Republican Congress members shared their concerns in a letter addressed to Canadian Ambassador Kirsten Hillman […]
Lost in Space: A ‘Game-Changing’ Emissions Satellite Just Went Dark
An $88 million satellite backed by billionaire Jeff Bezos is lost in space. MethaneSAT, designed to sniff out sources of methane emissions across the globe, only survived about 15 months in Earth’s orbit before meeting its untimely end. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), which launched the satellite in March 2024, announced its demise on July […]
Why Some AI Models Spew 50 Times More Greenhouse Gas to Answer the Same Question
Like it or not, large language models have quickly become embedded into our lives. And due to their intense energy and water needs, they might also be causing us to spiral even faster into climate chaos. Some LLMs, though, might be releasing more planet-warming pollution than others, a new study finds. Queries made to some […]
Mega-Tsunamis That Shook the World for 9 Days Revealed in New Satellite Images
Scientists have finally solved the mystery behind two strange events that shook the entire planet for nine days straight. Their findings close the book on a years-long effort to trace the seismic signals back to their source. In September 2023, global seismometers detected something strange. The Earth was experiencing minor tremors every 90 seconds—and the […]
Solar Tax Credits Are on the Chopping Block—Install Soon or Pay the Price
For the last two decades, homeowners have been able to claim thousands of dollars in federal tax credits to help offset the high upfront costs of going solar. Things were supposed to stay that way through 2034. But, this week, the U.S. House of Representatives proposed abruptly ending the incentives at the end of the […]
Why Snow in New Zealand’s Alps Turned an Alarming Shade of Red
During the Southern Hemisphere’s summer of 2019–2020, mountains in New Zealand turned red. New research finally explains why. Researchers have revealed that New Zealand’s Southern Alps turned red after a massive dust storm in southeast Australia sent clouds of red dust across the sea, dumping around 4,500 tons onto the snow. Their work, detailed in […]