Global Warming

Researchers from the University of Washington conducted an initial experiment of cloud brightening technology in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay.

A Secretive Experiment Released Salt Crystals Over San Francisco Bay—Could It Help Curb Warming?

The technology could make clouds reflect more sunlight, cooling the Earth below. But even the scientists leading the study say letting go of fossil fuels is a much-preferred response to climate change

A coal power plant in Germany.

80 Percent of Global CO2 Emissions Come From Just 57 Companies, Report Shows

Many of these companies increased their fossil fuel production after the Paris Agreement was signed in 2016

Methane plumes observed at a Louisiana landfill during the study. More than 14 percent of U.S. methane emissions were reported to have come from landfills in 2021.

More Than Half of U.S. Landfills May Be Methane 'Super-Emitters,' Study Finds

Aerial observations of hundreds of large landfills across 18 states found they are leaking 40 percent more methane than is reported to the EPA

Melting ice redistributes mass to Earth's equator, slowing its spin rate. Changes in Earth's spin affect its synchronization with atomic clocks.

Melting Polar Ice Sheets Are Slowing Earth's Rotation. That Could Change How We Keep Time

As ice melts into water and flows toward the equator, it redistributes mass around the Earth, affecting the planet's spin, a new study finds

The Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin, as seen through blooming cherry blossom branches.

158 Cherry Blossom Trees Will Be Cut Down in D.C. in Effort to Withstand Sea-Level Rise

The National Park Service's restoration project will reconstruct a protective seawall and plant 274 new cherry blossoms when work is complete

Wildflowers, spongy tundra grass and Brooks Range mountains emerge from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Alaska's North Slope.

Alaska's Frigid North Slope Was Once a Lush, Wet, Dinosaur Hotspot, Fossils Reveal

Conditions north of the Arctic Circle, where dinosaurs roamed in abundance during the mid-Cretaceous, were warmer than today, with rainfall comparable to “modern-day Miami”

Mars' orbit has an impact on Earth's oceans and climate in cycles of 2.4 million years, new research finds.

Mars Has an Unexpected Influence on Earth's Oceans and Climate, Repeating Every 2.4 Million Years, Study Finds

The gravitational interactions between Mars and Earth as they orbit the sun may have periodically promoted a warmer climate and changes in ocean circulation on our home planet

Scientists conduct sampling at Crawford Lake in Ontario, Canada, in April 2023. Last summer, a working group chose the lake as a representative location for the influence of human activity on the planet due to the history recorded in its sediment.

Scientists Reject Proposal to Define the Anthropocene, a Geological Age Marked by Human Activity

Experts had suggested a new epoch started in the mid-20th century, but the recent vote demonstrates how tough it is to pinpoint when humans' impact on the planet began

The Smokehouse Creek Fire has become the largest wildfire in Texas history.

The Largest Wildfire in Texas History Is Raging. Here's What You Need to Know

More than one million acres of land have been engulfed in the Smokehouse Creek Fire, placing it among the largest blazes to ever strike the U.S.

Without enough food, humpback whales become thinner, more susceptible to disease and less likely to reproduce.

7,000 Humpback Whales May Have Starved to Death During the 'Blob' Heatwave

The unprecedented marine heat between 2013 and 2016 in the North Pacific likely drove the whales' 20 percent decline, a trend revealed by citizen science observations

A single locust swarm can comprise between four billion and eight billion individual insects.

Giant Locust Swarms Could Expand to New Areas With Climate Change, Study Suggests

In the coming decades, erratic periods of rain and drought could create new hot spots for the ravenous grasshoppers in west India and west central Asia, threatening crops and food security

Natural gas flaring emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The majority of atmospheric methane comes from human activity, with the agricultural sector and the oil and gas sector contributing the most from human activities.

New Satellite Will Track Methane Emissions From Space and Pinpoint Their Sources With A.I.

The mission, set to launch next month, comes as countries and fossil fuel companies pledge to reduce emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas

A house in the Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles was pushed off its foundation by a mudslide on Monday morning. No one was in the house when the mudslide occurred. Recent storms caused at least 475 mudslides in the Los Angeles area.

California Hammered by Heavy Rains, Mudslides in Devastating Atmospheric River Storms

Some areas received as much as 13 to 15 inches of rain over a five-day period as storms felled trees, destroyed homes and killed nine people

Dry and cracked ground at the La Vinuela reservoir near Málaga, Spain, last year. Reservoirs in the country's Catalonia region have fallen to 16 percent capacity amid years of drought and extreme heat.

Earth Clocks Hottest January on Record, Marking 12 Months Above 1.5 Degree Celsius Warming Threshold

Though the world has not officially breached the Paris Agreement, the historic heat on land and at sea is a "significant milestone"

Orange elephant ear sponge, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ocean Sponge Skeletons Suggest a More Significant History of Global Warming Than Originally Thought

Analysis of the sea creatures’ skeletal chemistry suggests the world’s temperatures have increased by 1.7 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times

An entire neighborhood in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines, destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. More than 6,500 people died during the storm, which had maximum sustained winds of 195 miles per hour. Winds of those speeds would be above the threshold for a hypothetical Category 6 for tropical cyclones proposed by researchers.

Do We Need a Category 6 Designation for Hurricanes?

Global warming is leading to more intense storms well above the threshold for Category 5 hurricanes, scientists write in a new paper

During the Little Ice Age, which spanned roughly 1250 to 1860, average global temperatures dropped by as much as 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

These Paintings Reveal How the Dutch Adapted to Extreme Weather During the Little Ice Age

Artists like Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Hendrick Avercamp documented locals' resilience in the face of freezing winters and food shortages

The 2023 Doomsday Clock on display before a Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists event on January 24, 2023. The Bulletin has been setting the clock since 1947 based on analysis of threats facing humans from technologies people have made. 

Doomsday Clock Stays at 90 Seconds to Midnight Amid Climate Change, War and A.I.

For the second year in a row, the clock is the nearest it has ever been to signaling our total annihilation

Bottom trawling is a polarizing fishing practice that involves dragging heavy nets and equipment across the seafloor.

Seabed Trawling May Be Spewing Huge Amounts of CO2 Into the Atmosphere

New research suggests the controversial fishing method is also contributing to increased ocean acidification, which can harm marine wildlife

Researchers studied roughly 50 numbats over the course of a year.

As the Planet Warms, Australia's Numbats Are at Risk of Overheating

The endangered, squirrel-sized marsupials forage for termites during the day—but they can become too hot after just ten minutes in direct sunlight, according to new research

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