Arctic Sea Ice Just Hit Its Eighth-Lowest Minimum Ever Recorded
The Arctic ice cap melted to hundreds of thousands of square miles below average this summer. Climate change is pushing temperatures up most rapidly in the polar regions and left the extent of Arctic sea ice at 1.79 million square miles at the end of the summer melt season. This is the time when it reaches its lowest area for the year, before … Read More
Here’s How Climate Change Could Turn U.S. Real Estate Prices Upside Down
If Florida gleaned anything from Hurricane Andrew, the intensely powerful storm that tore a deadly trail of destruction across Miami-Dade County almost exactly 25 years to the day that Hurricane Harvey barreled into the Texas coastline, it was that living in areas exposed to the wrath of Mother Nature can come at a substantial cost. At the time… Read More
Here’s How Climate Change is a ‘Death Sentence’ in Afghanistan’s Highlands
The central highlands of Afghanistan are a world away from the congested chaos of the country’s cities. Hills roll across colossal, uninhabited spaces fringed by snow-flecked mountains, set against blistering blue skies. In this spectacular, harsh landscape, one can pinpoint more or less where human settlement becomes impossible: at an altitude… Read More
Can Business Save the World from Climate Change?
“We are still in.” On June 5, 2017, with these four words a group of U.S. businesses and investors with a combined annual revenue of $1.4 trillion sent a powerful message to the world: U.S. president Donald Trump may have withdrawn from the Paris agreement on climate change four days earlier, but corporate America was not following suit. “We Are… Read More
Alaska Towns At Risk from Rising Seas Sound Alarm
The U.S. government’s withdrawal from dealing with, or even acknowledging, climate change may have provoked widespread opprobrium, but for Alaskan communities at risk of toppling into the sea, the risks are rather more personal. The Trump administration has moved to dismantle climate adaptation programs including the Denali Commission, an … Read More
Court Scuttles Rule Cutting Potent Greenhouse Gas
One of the most powerful climate pollutants on earth, hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs, account for a small portion of U.S. climate pollution, but scientists say it’s important for countries to urgently cut them just because they’re so potent — and growing. A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the EPA cannot regulate HFCs under the Clean Air Act.… Read More
Disaster and Neglect in Louisiana
A year after the worst rainstorm in a rainy state’s history killed 13 and damaged nearly 100,000 homes, the federal government has provided less than half of what Louisiana says it needs to recover. Adding to the rebuilding woes, FEMA rejected a $16 million request to fund counseling services beyond Aug. 25, even as the state’s residents report … Read More
Massachusetts May Overlook Climate Impacts of Biofuels
Massachusetts is considering a plan that would classify wood pellets and other tree products as sources of renewable energy, allowing the logging industry to contribute to the state’s climate goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions. However, research shows that burning biomass to generate electricity can actually make climate change worse by … Read More
