Our Fragile Earth

Forest carbon storage has declined across much of the Western U.S., likely due to drought, fire  and climate change. Many[…]

Big Oil is failing to fulfill Paris Agreement climate targets. Their increase in fossil fuel production is inflaming global military[…]

Antarctic ice shelves hold twice as much meltwater as previously thought. Slush–water-soaked snow–makes up over half of all meltwater on[…]

The carbon stored globally by plants is shorter-lived and more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought. Existing climate models[…]

Heat has long been associated with a range of negative health outcomes, including increased risk of decreased productivity and cognitive[…]

The climate cost of the first two years of the war on Ukraine was greater than the annual greenhouse gas[…]

Recently a paid army of right-wing commentators has been engaging in an unusually public, concerted effort to get the Supreme[…]

In the first four months of the war, with some 156,000 to 200,000 buildings destroyed or damaged in the Gaza[…]

Climate change threatens mental health.  yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/05/climate-change-is-affecting-mental-health-literally-everywhere/?utm_source=Weekly+News+from+Yale+Climate+Connections&utm_campaign=dff9d4371d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_05_16_02_41&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-dff9d4371d-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

When air temperatures in Antarctica rise and glacier ice melts, water can pool on the surface of floating ice shelves,[…]

Sudden, severe dry spells known as flash droughts are rising in intensity around the world (a notable exception is the[…]

In 2023 Antarctic sea ice reached historically low levels, with over 2 million square kilometers less ice than usual during[…]

The Environmental Protection Agency is underestimating methane emissions from landfills, urban areas and U.S. states. From landfills they’re 51% higher[…]

In 2023, insurers lost money on homeowners coverage in 18 states, over a third of the country. Companies are raising[…]

Plants grown in pollution-stressed situations release more allergens. Air pollutants can change the chemical composition of pollen, increasing pollen allergens’[…]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is underestimating methane emissions from landfills, urban areas and U.S. states. Methane emissions from landfills[…]

For more than half a century petrochemical companies and the plastics industry have promoted reuse, while  knowing of the technical[…]

Coastal management strategies intended to protect people, property and infrastructure from storm impacts can, over decades, increase vulnerability, even leading[…]

A feedback loop may be accelerating the melting of the floating portions of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, pushing up[…]

Even if CO2 emissions were drastically cut down starting today, the world economy is already committed to an income reduction[…]

As sea levels rise, coastal groundwater is lifted closer to the ground surface while also becoming saltier and more corrosive.[…]

From Maine to Delaware, the coastal U.S. Northeast is heating faster than most regions of North America thanks to the[…]

The intrusion of warm ocean water beneath Greenland’s Petermann Glacier is the culprit in the accelerated melting it has experienced[…]

The U.S. is producing energy at a pace never seen before and from a broad mix of sources and locations[…]

The intrusion of warm ocean water beneath Greenland’s Petermann Glacier is the culprit in the accelerated melting it has experienced[…]

Soil stores 80 percent of carbon on earth. With increasing cycles of drought that crucial reservoir is cracking and breaking[…]

Some 35,000 to 60,000 U.S. emergency department visits for asthma each year may be linked to oak, birch, and grass[…]

A survey of Australian university Generation Z students (born between 1995 and 2010) found climate change their number one environmental[…]

High concentrations of methane have been discovered in meltwater from three Canadian mountain glaciers, where it wasn’t thought to exist–adding[…]

The Panama Canal’s future could be problematic along with global trade. Facing a near unprecedented rainfall deficit the Canal has[…]

The Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition reported early in 2023 that a sample of fossil fuel sector-linked entities spent[…]

Appalachia’s fracking boom is fueling expansion of American plastics manufacturing, including production of vinyl chloride, the carcinogen used to make[…]

Vast amounts of methane are stored as marine methane under the oceans. It seems that fire-ice (frozen methane trapped as[…]

Heavy exposure to soot is closely linked to cancer, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular dysfunction. It’s estimated that around 7 million[…]

A new study finds that, with warmer air able to hold more water vapor, intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall[…]

Hydrogen is being promoted as a ‘clean’ alternative to the fossil fuels used for domestic heating, transport, and heavy industry,[…]

Hydropower has a far greater climate impact than thought. Reservoirs—including those created by hydropower dams—contributed nearly 29 million metric tons[…]

Eight people in the U.S. have contracted malaria from local mosquitoes—the first such cases in 20 years, signaling that the[…]

The U.S. will have to spend approximately $2.1 trillion on transmission in the next three decades. The cost of new[…]

Ancient pathogens escaping from melting permafrost have real potential to damage microbial communities. In computer simulations, the ancient invading pathogens[…]

A previously underestimated risk lurks in the Arctic’s frozen soil. When permafrost thaws and becomes unstable it can lead to[…]

Even if the world stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow, ocean levels will continue to rise and keep rising for centuries[…]

The world’s biggest development banks agreed to funnel their financial support to businesses, promising to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But[…]

Ecological collapse is likely to start sooner than previously believed with tipping points amplifying and accelerating one another. In some[…]

Carbon stocks buried deep underground are vulnerable to climate change with implications for mitigating global warming through the natural carbon[…]

Hundreds of thousands of fish washed up dead along Texas beaches over the weekend as weather, water, and temperature conditions[…]

The heat index—which combines temperature with humidity—-soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit across much of Puerto Rico on June 5th, with[…]

Even if greenhouse gas emissions are sharply reduced, the Arctic will be ice-free in September in coming decades, causing an[…]

The world is currently on track for 2.7C of heating, meaning that 2 billion people will experience average annual temperatures[…]

One in five people could live in dangerously hot conditions by the end of the century if global warming continues[…]

More than half of the world’s large lakes and reservoirs have shrunk since the early 1990s—due mainly to climate change[…]

As La Niña ends and a new El Nino develops, there’s a 98% likelihood that the world will experience new[…]

Despite global efforts to transition away from fossil fuels, U.S. oil and gas production is nearing record levels. Air pollution[…]

A major Greenland glacier is interacting with the ocean tides, resulting in previously unaccounted for melting and potentially faster sea[…]

Between 10 and 23% of crops worldwide are lost to fungal infection each year despite widespread use of antifungals. An[…]

A devastating drought in the Horn of Africa, where tens of millions of people and animals have been pushed into[…]

The ocean is heating up more rapidly than experts previously realized. As the planet has accumulated as much heat in[…]

When spring arrives, as many as 81 million Americans experience seasonal allergies. As the planet warms and more CO2 is[…]

For the first time since 2019, a Canadian bank is the world’s worst financier of fossil fuels, dethroning serial fossil-fuel[…]

By the century’s end the heaviest days of rain and snowfall across much of North America will likely release 20[…]

A warmer Arctic has been linked to extreme winter weather in the midlatitude regions. Although the link to climate change[…]

Studying a former ice sheet that retreated at the end of the last Ice Age, about 20,000 years ago, scientists[…]

The current rate of greenhouse gas emissions and resulting rapid melting of Antarctic glaciers is leading a vital deep ocean[…]

Food waste contributes half of the annual carbon released by the entire global food system—9.3 gigatons–double previous estimate. That’s around[…]

Carbon emissions from wildfires in boreal forests, the earth’s largest land biome and a significant carbon sink, spiked higher in[…]

The bulk of a large coastal glacier in Alaska sits below sea level and is undercut by channels, making it[…]

Lyme isn’t the only worrisome tick disease in the Northeast. Babesiosis, which can cause flulike symptoms or worse, and could[…]

Hydrogen is often heralded as the future’s clean fuel of, but leaky hydrogen infrastructure could end up increasing atmospheric methane[…]

The fossil fuel industry has been reaping record profits. Last year, European lawmakers voted to classify fossil gas and nuclear[…]

Intense global warming could shut down the ocean’s ability to soak up CO2, leading to accelerated warming. The decline happens[…]

Photo: Sahara desert When global temperatures increase by 4 degrees Celsius, harmful plant emissions and dust will also increase by[…]

Revenues from oil and gas projects backed by European and U.S. companies financed Vladimir Putin’s regime to nearly USD 100[…]

Scientists have identified 27 global warming accelerators (feedback loops like warming in the Arctic, leading to melting sea ice, which[…]

Worldwide glaciers are melting rapidly, leaving massive glacial lakes in their wake. If a lake rises too high or the[…]

Human activity and extreme drought are causing far more damage to the Amazon rainforest than previously thought. Up to 38%[…]

Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is currently not plausible. Social change is essential to meeting the temperature goals[…]

If self-driving cars are widely adopted, their emissions will rival those generated by all the data centers in the world[…]

Photo: Spy Pond The 99 acre glacial lake in Massachusetts that I face has no ice on it currently despite[…]

The world could lose as much as 41% of its total glacier mass this century, or as little as 26%,[…]

U.S. university biology textbooks published in the 2010s contained less climate change content than those published in the 2000s. Passages[…]

Americans are leaving many of the U.S. counties hit hardest by hurricanes and heatwaves, and moving towards dangerous wildfires and[…]

Photo: Antarctica Temporarily overshooting the climate targets of 1.5-2 degrees Celsius could increase the tipping risk of several Earth system[…]

The PFC (synthetic, fluorine-containing chemicals) byproducts of aluminum production, are among the most potent and longest-lasting greenhouse gases by far. […]

Photo: Keystone spill With its latest leak of nearly 600,000 gallons into a northern Kansas creek (part of a watershed[…]

The number of our planet’s lakes has increased substantially in recent decades, especially small lakes. Bacteria and fungi feeding on[…]

Photo: Tibetan plateau The next pandemic may come from melting ice, not bats or birds. Genetic analysis of soil and[…]

Tens of thousands of microbes have been found in each milliliter of collected surface meltwaters from eight European and North[…]

Directly affecting plants, increased concentrations of CO2 worsen the nutritional quality of food by decreasing protein and mineral concentrations from[…]

Photo: Boston’s “Emerald Necklace”  Several parks designed by Olmsted (father of landscape architecture) and his sons are now dying from[…]

As Egypt warms almost twice as fast as the rest of the world, the Nile is drying up. Rising seawater[…]

Ice is continuously streaming off Greenland’s melting glaciers at an accelerating rate, dramatically increasing global sea levels. How much ice[…]

The past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record. The rate of sea level rise[…]

Climate change could trigger the Congo peatlands to release billions of tons of carbon. Thousands of years ago drought caused[…]

A river has been discovered under the Antarctic ice sheet which affects the flow and melting of ice, potentially accelerating[…]

Just 26 of 193 countries that agreed in 2021 to step up their climate actions have followed through with more[…]

Photo: Hailstones–imagine some as large as a baseball Western wildfires are sparking stronger storms in downwind states as their heat[…]

Find yourself sneezing more often than usual? Pollen seasons are 20 days longer, present 21% more pollen, and start around[…]

The Greenland ice sheet may be more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought. Rising air and ocean temperatures both[…]

Photo: Nile River Unless immediate, ambitious, and transboundary climate action is taken, overall warming of up to 5°C in this[…]

Climate change likely made hurricane Ian wetter and more intense and is probably responsible for extra damages of about U.S.[…]

Acidity levels are increasing three to four times faster than ocean waters elsewhere along with a strong correlation between the[…]

Photo: Tampa All the way back in 2015 Tampa, a city at the highest risk for hurricanes in the U.S.,[…]

A single pound of SF6 (V) heats the planet as much as 25,200 pounds of CO2 and remains in the[…]

Recent focus has been on Antarctica’s surface melting–processes that could trigger or accelerate ice-sheet mass loss. An additional process could[…]

Recent focus has been on Antarctica’s surface melting–processes that could potentially trigger or accelerate ice-sheet mass loss. An additional process[…]

The six most likely to be crossed soonest: Greenland Ice Sheet collapse West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse Collapse of ocean[…]

MORE ON WEST ANTARCTICA A total loss of West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier and surrounding icy basins could raise sea level[…]

Radioactive elements are naturally present in many soils and rock formations, and in water flowing through them. Oil and gas[…]

Photo: Tibet The Tibetan Plateau, known as the ‘water tower’ of Asia, supplies freshwater for nearly two billion people who[…]

Vast swaths of the continental U.S. will experience prolonged and dangerous heatwaves by 2050, with the heat index in places[…]

Thawing Arctic hillsides release a significant amount of organic carbon locked in frozen ground for thousands of years but which[…]

Photo: Symbol for Covid More than 58% of human diseases caused by pathogens, like dengue, hepatitis, pneumonia, malaria, Zika and[…]

A brutal drought, made worse by climate change, is plaguing Northern Kenya. Over the past two years 85% of the[…]

Enhanced Western U.S. wildfire activity will likely correspond to increasingly frequent air quality degradation at local to continental scales. In[…]

In the past 30 days, 1,403 daily high-temperature records and 2,856 records for warmest overnight low temperature have been set[…]

Image: Tianshan Mountains, bordering China Rising annual temperatures and dwindling yearly precipitation across the mid-latitudes of Central Asia have extended[…]

More of the world’s coastal glaciers are melting faster than ever. Greenland’s ice sheet alone holds enough ice to raise[…]

Trees have been dying all over Western North America. British Columbia lost 80% of its mature lodgepole pine in 2006[…]

The Arctic is heating up more than four times faster than the rate of global warming. This trend has stepped[…]

Hundreds of millions of dark money dollars went into nominating and confirming the three judges appointed to the Supreme court[…]

Earth could be delivering more, and removing less, methane into the air than previously estimated, the impact possibly four times[…]

Climate change is putting enormous strains on global water resources, and the Tibetan Plateau is suffering from a water imbalance[…]

The trees and shrubs in mangrove forests absorb a substantial amount of greenhouse gas emissions, help protect communities from rising[…]

Scientists have been stunned to find that the rates of global heating in the North Barents Sea are up to[…]

Two major glaciers in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) are losing ice at the fastest rate for at least[…]

More areas of year-round unfrozen ground have begun dotting Interior and Northwest Alaska and will continue to increase due to[…]

Image: Mauna Loa Observatory There’s now more carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere than at any time in the past four[…]

The major oil and gas companies BP, Chevron, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Repsol, Shell, and TotalEnergies are involved in over 200[…]

Having nearly half-a-trillion dollars of gas pipelines in development makes no sense economically since many of these projects will become[…]

The death rates of Australia’s tropical trees have doubled in the last 35 years, a trend consistent across the diversity[…]

Nitrous oxide emissions pose an increasing climate threat. The growing use of nitrogen fertilizers in the production of food worldwide[…]

The US Energy Information Administration says US coal production is projected to rise 3% in 2022 even as coal-fired generation[…]

Fossil fuel companies could jeopardize worldwide efforts to protect the climate, using a legal tool that could cost countries billions[…]

Warming means wild animals will be forced to relocate their habitats, likely to regions with large human populations, dramatically increasing[…]

Western drought Lake Mead has plummeted to an unprecedented low, exposing the original 1971 water intake valve which can no[…]

Despite its pledge to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2040, those produced by JBS, the world’s largest meat processor,[…]

Extinction Rebellion activists formed a blockade at the entrance of a New York City newspaper printing facility on April 22,[…]

Coal power rose by 9.0% in 2021 to a new all-time high and 2% above the previous record set in[…]

Ozone levels in the upper and lower atmosphere were responsible for almost a third of the warming in ocean waters[…]

Like flash floods, flash droughts come on fast–drying out soil in a matter of days to weeks. This can wipe[…]

Just some of the contributions to the climate crisis from the war in Ukraine include: exhaust from constant traffic of[…]

East Antarctica’s Conger Ice Shelf collapsed during the region’s unprecedented March heat wave, with parts of the area seeing temperatures[…]

A few days ago parts of Antarctica were more than 70 degrees warmer than average and in the Arctic were[…]

Lake Powell, a critical Colorado River reservoir, has fallen to a record low level, raising new concerns about a power[…]

Over the past 20 years, the Arctic has lost about a third of its winter sea ice volume, largely due[…]

The Amazon rainforest, the world’s single largest remaining tropical rainforest, is losing its ability to bounce back from damage caused[…]

Photo: the Nile River The UN predicts that by 2030 almost half (47%) of the world’s population will suffer from[…]

Check the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. In fact we’re probably in more trouble than indicated because what[…]

Photo: NASA map showing fires from 7/19 to 8/17/2021 It’s mostly rising temperatures thawing out frozen Arctic ground but increasing[…]

Recent Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps don’t capture the degree of risk. There’s actually high probability of flood damage[…]

Photo: Eunice The UK’s recent storm Eunice had record gusts of up to 122 miles an hour even without a[…]

By 2080 around 70% of the world’s oceans could be suffocating from a lack of oxygen, potentially impacting marine ecosystems[…]

With rising temperatures, thawing Arctic permafrost could be emitting greenhouse gases from previously unaccounted-for carbon stocks. Particularly affected is so-called[…]

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s “Natural gas and the environment” page, “Natural gas is a relatively clean burning[…]

Photo taken from my balcony shows the lake in front of me this morning during a whiteout. The snow is[…]

Earth’s global average surface temperature in 2021 tied with 2018 as the sixth warmest on record with the past eight[…]

Hard to believe that yesterday FERC decided to allow the Weymouth compressor station to continue to operate despite recognition of[…]

You’ll see water from the last storm where it shouldn’t be. I’d guess it won’t take much more sea level[…]

Those of you who have followed my blog for the past two years know I’ve posted about loss of ice[…]

Large wildfires and severe heat events are happening more often simultaneously, worsening air pollution across the western U.S. In 2020,[…]

From 1984 to 2000 the average burned area in 11 western states was 1.69 million acres per year. For the[…]

Climate change will expand the range of tropical hurricanes (cyclones) making millions more vulnerable, including those in cities like New[…]

The Himalayan glaciers have lost ice ten times more quickly over the last few decades than on average since the[…]

The U.S. logs the greatest number of powerful twisters in the warmer months from March to July. Climate change could[…]

Wilder winds are altering currents; the sea is releasing CO2, and ice is melting from below. The Southern ocean’s Antarctic[…]

Last year unprecedented blazes released 35% more CO2 than in 2019, itself the previous record high for Arctic wildfire emissions.[…]

Partial photo of “clean coal”: Chris LeBoutillier  The fossil fuel industry spends millions on shaping its image to try to[…]

The impact of plastics on the climate and health is greater than thought due to increased use of coal for[…]

Photo credit: Copernicus/Kayrros Despite the pandemic, 2020 saw the biggest one-year jump in atmospheric methane concentrations on record. Nearly half[…]

Companies in the digital technology industry are significantly underreporting the greenhouse gas emissions arising along the value chain of their[…]

Photo: Clay Banks Global warming will cause the world’s soil to release carbon as its storage declines strongly  with average[…]

The number of air pollutants emitted by gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers may exceed the air pollutant emissions of[…]

Photo: Malaysian palm trees The Washington Post reports a giant gap between the greenhouse gas emissions nations are reporting to[…]

Global warming has caused extreme ice melting events in Greenland to become more frequent and more intense over the past[…]

Rivers flowing from the Tibetan Plateau and  surrounding Asian mountains that support one-third of the world’s population have experienced rapid[…]

Photo source: Guardian/Vice/CCN/YouGov poll. Note: ±4% margin of error. In a poll about 90% of Republicans said they have neutral[…]

Manchin, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, makes nearly $500,000 a year—roughly three times his congressional salary—from[…]

Partial photo: Matt Palmer The full magnitude of the impact on climate change from smoke created by seasonal fires in[…]