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3 Mins Read By: Shannon Osaka Already stressed by the threat of coronavirus and widespread unemployment, the United States has erupted into protests after the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, by a Minneapolis police officer. Now, prominent groups in the environmental movement — which has long struggled with a dark, racist past — are speaking out […]
5 Mins Read By: Ari Kelo From unleashing toxic pollutants in neighborhoods populated by people of color to building oil pipelines on indigenous lands, environmental racism has a long and disturbing history in the United States. Despite this, most injustices caused by environmental racism have gone unchecked and unresolved. The Covid-19 pandemic has made this clear, revealing the […]
4 Mins Read By: Mark Kaufman Some fires won’t die. They survive underground during the winter and then reemerge the following spring, as documented in places like Alaska. They’re called “overwintering,” “holdover,” or “zombie” fires, and they may have now awoken in the Arctic Circle — a fast-warming region that experienced unprecedented fires in 2019. The European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service is […]
9 Mins Read By: Ilana Cohen, Evelyn Nieves, Judy Fahys, Marianne Lavelle, James Bruggers Friends of the Earth tweeted #BlackLivesMatter, and the head of the NRDC promised “to be fully and visibly committed to the fight against systemic racism.” When New York Communities for Change helped lead a demonstration of 500 on Monday in Brooklyn to protest George […]
11 Mins Read By: Kabir Agarwal & Shruti Jain The attack is a highly irregular one, say experts. Farmers on the field feel that the measures taken were too little and too late. Large swarms of desert locusts have entered areas in India where they had not been seen since 1993 and have already caused damage to crops […]
5 Mins Read By: Sarah Derouin New research reveals a deep-sea mining experiment that took place 26 years ago still has significant and persistent impacts on benthic life. Mining for rare metals can involve a good amount of detective work. It can take time and skill to find the most abundant sources. But in the deep ocean, metallic […]
4 Mins Read By: Jonathan Larsen Automaker CEO Elon Musk reopened his California factory despite county’s coronavirus orders. The California Tesla factory that reopened this week has a long history of racking up environmental violations, government records show. Tesla CEO Elon Musk threatened to move the Fremont, CA, factory to Texas or Nevada, after county officials refused to let […]
10 Mins Read By: Fred Pearce New research indicates that parts of the Amazon and other tropical forests are now emitting more CO2 than they absorb. Some scientists are concerned this development, which is not yet incorporated into climate models, could put the temperature goals set by the Paris Agreement out of reach. It is not often you meet a […]
4 Mins Read By: Hannah Thomasy Scientists are concerned that current climate models do not fully account for the impact of atmospheric conditions on the Greenland Ice Sheet and, consequently, may dramatically underestimate melting. It’s no surprise that warming temperatures are bad news for the Greenland Ice Sheet, a body of ice that’s 3 times the size of Texas. But […]
4 Mins Read By: Jenessa Duncombe People untroubled by climate change are more likely to forgo masks in public. According to a recent poll by the technology company Morning Consult, the decision to wear a mask in the United States correlates with an individual’s concern about climate change. In an online survey of 2,200 adults on 14–16 April, a little […]
3 Mins Read By: Chris Chen While current climate models are often inaccurate and have large outcome ranges, artificial intelligence (AI) once again shows itself to be a potential solution. Companies like Google and IBM are already directly working on applying the technology — and they’re showing promising initial results. Microsoft, on the other hand, has also invested in using […]
5 Mins Read By: Amanda Holpuch Supply chain problems and workplace infection risks mean experts are urging US producers to focus on sustainability. Americans are nearing a future where the nation’s beloved steak dinners, cheeseburgers and barbecue are under threat, if the world’s second largest meat processor is to be believed. Tyson Foods warned “the food supply chain […]
5 Mins Read By: Emily Holden Revealed: Oil and mining firms – some with ties to Trump officials – taking advantage of funding, review shows. US fossil fuel companies have taken at least $50m in taxpayer money they probably won’t have to pay back, according to a review of coronavirus aid meant for struggling small businesses by the investigative […]
9 Mins Read By: Alexander C. Kaufman The world’s seventh-largest emitter has launched a Green New Deal. But critics say there are big problems. South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s ruling party won a landslide victory in last month’s national election as voters turned out in huge numbers in a show of support for a government whose successful containment […]
4 Mins Read By: Roku Goda Cherry blossoms have long been loved by Japanese and celebrated in poetry as harbingers of spring. In the early Heian Period (794-1185), Ariwara no Narihira penned a piece about how people became very excited every spring when the delicate pink flowers bloomed. This year’s cherry blossom viewing parties were drastically reduced after […]
6 Mins Read By: Robert Kibet With imposed flight restrictions across borders to help contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, countries in the East and Horn of Africa are finding it hard to respond to a double shock as a second wave of desert locusts loom. Juliana Nkirote, 49, a smallholder farmer in Ntangilia, Kenya, watched helplessly last […]
4 Mins Read By: Tim Radford Within 30 years, there could be clear blue water over the North Pole – not good news for most of the planet. Within three decades, the North Pole could be free of sea ice in the late summer. The latest and most advanced climate simulations, tested by 21 research institutes from around the […]
6 Mins Read By: Lynn Freehill-Maye When Jackie Augustine opens a chicken coop door one brisk spring morning in upstate New York, the hens bolt out like windup toys. Still, as their faint barnyard scent testifies, they aren’t battery-powered but very much alive. These are “solar chickens.” At this local community egg cooperative, Geneva Peeps, the birds live with […]
6 Mins Read By: Annie Leonard The fossil fuel industry is dependent on our plastic dependency. We can starve it. The fossil fuel industry is in trouble and has a sneaky idea for saving itself: It wants to produce lots more plastic. Many people don’t realize it, but almost all plastic is made from fossil fuels. So the same […]
3 Mins Read By: George Valiotis Now, more than ever, leaders need to take concrete actions to build a more sustainable world. There are two sides to any story, even during pandemics. While social distancing and the subsequent shutdown of entire industries have been unwelcome consequences, they have also helped heal the environment at levels thought too idealistic only a few months […]
6 Mins Read By: Julia Fine A record number of Americans are concerned about climate change, a recent study by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication found. If you’re among them, you may be interested in learning more about the climate crisis and what you can do about it. Luckily, […]