Science
Not Winging It: Birders Hope Hard Data Will Help Save the Species They Love—and the Ecosystems Birds Depend On
The magnolia warbler travels as many as 2,000 miles, high above the Gulf of Mexico and across the entirety of the United States, before arriving in the cool climate of Canada’s boreal forest to breed. On a morning in May, one of the tiny yellow songbirds found itself entangled in a black net strung up […]
Read MoreJames Hansen Warns of a Short-Term Climate Shock Bringing 2 Degrees of Warming by 2050
A team of scientists led by former NASA climate researcher James Hansen, who formally raised the alarm about climate change to U.S. government leaders in his 1988 testimony to Congress, is working on a new study that warns of a possible short-term spike of planetary heating 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2050. In […]
Read MoreBracing for Climate Impacts on Lake Erie, the Walleye Capital of the World
Peg Van Vleet began fishing on Lake Erie when she was just 5 years old. A charter boat captain for more than two decades, and also the vice president for environmental issues for the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association, she’s looking forward to a great fishing season this year in its western basin. “The young […]
Read MoreGuam gets pummeled by Typhoon Mawar — another cyclone charged by warming seas
It’s the strongest cyclone to hit the U.S. territory in 20 years.
Read MoreThe global treaty to save the ozone layer has also slowed Arctic ice melt
That’s because chemicals banned under the 1987 Montreal Protocol are also potent greenhouse gases.
Read MoreAt Lake Powell, Record Low Water Levels Reveal an ‘Amazing Silver Lining’
If you want to see the Colorado River change in real time, head to Lake Powell. At the nation’s second-largest reservoir, water levels recently dipped to the lowest they’ve been since 1968. As the water recedes, a breathtaking landscape of deep red-rock canyons that cradle lush ecosystems and otherworldly arches, caverns and waterfalls is emerging. […]
Read MoreEl Niño could cost the global economy $3 trillion
A new study shows the weather cycle packs a heavy financial punch.
Read MoreWarming and Drying Climate Puts Many of the World’s Biggest Lakes in Peril
Water storage in many of the world’s biggest lakes has declined sharply in the last 30 years, according to a new study, with a cumulative drop of about 21.5 gigatons per year, an amount equal to the annual water consumption of the United States. The loss of water in natural lakes can “largely be attributed […]
Read MoreIt’s near certain that the next 5 years will be the hottest yet
El Niño may push global temperatures past 1.5C, the World Meteorological Organization warned.
Read MoreFossil Fuel Companies and Cement Manufacturers Could Be to Blame for a More Than a Third of West’s Wildfires
The climate-warming emissions from the world’s 88 largest fossil fuel companies and cement manufacturers are behind more than one third of the wildfires that have increasingly plagued Western North America in recent decades, according to new research. The study published today in Environmental Research Letters by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy […]
Read More