Climate Change

For 20 years, even before the movement had a name, Hilton Kelley was fighting for environmental justice in his hometown of Port Arthur, Texas. The Gulf Coast city of 55,000 is home to a disproportionately high number of industrial polluters in relation to its population, as well as to the largest…

Unconcerned about climate change on Earth, senator wants to create atmospheres on other planetsIn June 2018 the journal Science published research showing that chlorophyll-containing blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, that were grown in extremely red light could carry on some photosynthesis despite the light's low energy.Visit our Librarian Gateway…

Image copyright Getty Images A new material developed by scientists could give a significant boost to a new generation of hydrogen-powered cars. Like a bath sponge, the product is able to hold and release large quantities of the gas at lower pressure and cost.Containing billions of tiny pores, a single…

Bill McKibben and Elizabeth Kolbert explain how and why President Trump is rapidly rolling back environmental protections—weakening auto-emissions standards and the controls on mercury released by power plants, among other actions—in the midst of the worst viral pandemic in more than a century. Carolyn Kormann interviews a disease ecologist who…

A “megadrought” gripping the western United States is the worst one in 500 years, scientists say. And it’s the first to be influenced by human-caused climate change. A study published this week in the journal Science investigates the occurrence of megadroughts in western North America over the last 1,200 years. While a megadrought has…

Melting in Greenland in 2019While high temperatures were critical to the melting seen in Greenland last year, scientists say that clear blue skies also played a key role.In a study, they found that a record number of cloud free days saw more sunlight hit the surface while snowfall was also…

Two of the nation’s essential commercial waterways face extraordinary risk from climate change and associated flooding, a new report from the nonprofit American Rivers says. In its updated list of “America’s Most Endangered Rivers,” the group says marked increases in precipitation across the Upper Mississippi and Lower Missouri rivers, combined with poor…

Photo: City of Monroe, Louisiana (Twitter)Easter Sunday turned deadly in the U.S. South after a wave of violent tornadoes tore through the region. At least 18 have died as a result of the outbreak and the risk of twisters isn’t over yet, as severe weather continues up and down the Eastern…

Image copyright Getty Images President Trump wants the United States to start mining on the Moon for minerals.The US president recently signed an executive order stating America has the right to explore and use resources from outer space.The order also said the US did not see space as a common…

Climate change is testing Earth’s limits. It’s altering weather patterns, intensifying natural disasters and breaking temperature records left and right. Eventually, many parts of the world may settle into a “new normal” as climate conditions shift beyond anything the planet has experienced in human history. That could be devastating for…