By Jane Donohue, The Cool Down “Gray whales are resilient … so I hope that they’ll be able to do that moving forward as well.” Since 2019, nearly 700 dead gray whales have washed up on beaches in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. A new study suggested the die-off is a result of …
The Reintroduction of Wolves in Colorado is Giving Me Life Right Now
By Justine Calma, The Verge Colorado’s new wolves are important to the future of packs across the US. They’re also very cool on camera. Colorado Parks and Wildlife released five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County, Colorado, on Monday, December 18th, 2023. Pictured is a young female brought …
Welcome to the Extinction Capital of the World
By Benji Jones, Vox Our planet faces a mass extinction. I visited ground zero. PEARL CITY, Oahu — On a warm November afternoon in a trailer not far from Pearl Harbor, a scientist named David Sischo popped open the lid to a small plastic tank. From a jumble of leaves, …
Earth on Verge of Five Catastrophic Climate Tipping Points, Scientists Warn
By Ajit Niranjan, The Guardian Humanity faces ‘devastating domino effects’ including mass displacement and financial ruin as planet warms. Many of the gravest threats to humanity are drawing closer, as carbon pollution heats the planet to ever more dangerous levels, scientists have warned. Five important natural thresholds already risk being …
Emissions Gap Report 2023
UNEP As greenhouse gas emissions hit new highs, temperature records tumble and climate impacts intensify, the Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record – Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again) finds that the world is heading for a temperature rise far above the Paris Agreement goals unless countries …
Controlled Burns can Provide Years of Protection Against Wildfires, New Study Shows
By Tik Root, Grist New research finds that “beneficial” fires can cut the risk of high intensity blazes by 64 percent. When data scientist Xaio Wu arrived at Stanford University for his postdoctoral fellowship, California was coming off a record-breaking wildfire season. In 2020, nearly 9,900 fires had burned more than …
Microplastics Found in Clouds Could Affect Weather and Global Temperatures
By Aliya Uteuova, The Guardian Scientists in eastern China find 24 out of 28 water samples have plastic particles commonly seen in synthetic fibers and packaging. Air, water, soil, food and even blood – microplastics have found their way virtually everywhere on Earth, and now that list includes clouds. Bits of plastic …
In the Florida Everglades, a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hotspot
By Amy Green, Inside Climate News Drainage has exposed the fertile soils of the Everglades Agricultural Area, a region responsible for much of the nation’s sugar cane. ORLANDO, Fla.—It used to be the water spilled over Lake Okeechobee’s southern shore, flowing eventually into the sawgrass prairies of the Florida Everglades. …
The Surprising Reason Sea Creatures Are Getting Hungrier
By Matt Simon, Wired As ocean temperatures climb, so do animals’ metabolisms. If extra food isn’t available, they’ll starve. Boom and bust don’t hit much harder than in the Bering Sea. After reaching historically high numbers, the population of snow crabs there cratered by 90 percent following a heat wave in 2018 and 2019. Some …
South America’s Lake Titicaca Nears Record Low Water Level as El Niño Bites
By Marco Aquino, Reuters LIMA, Nov 3 (Reuters) – The water level at Lake Titicaca on the Peru-Bolivia border is edging towards a record low, exacerbated by the weather phenomenon known as El Nino that is expected to get still more intense in coming months. The waters of the sprawling …