Australia Has Finally Woken Up to Climate Change

Australia Has Finally Woken Up to Climate Change

Labor went into the election with a range of climate and energy promises, including a commitment to a 43 percent reduction in emissions, which McKenzie says is “certainly not enough.” Analysis suggests this is still consistent with 2 degrees of warming.

How to Make the Video Game Industry Greener

How to Make the Video Game Industry Greener

(When contacted, Nintendo declined to comment on the discrepancy in reporting and instead pointed to its most recent CSR report which states that its renewable energy usage is now 44 percent.).

The Wetlands Are Drowning

The Wetlands Are Drowning

“We often call them ecosystem engineers,” says Pat Megonigal, an ecologist who directs the Smithsonian’s Global Change Research Wetland and studies the plants.For a long while, wetland researchers have wondered whether that skill could help the plants build their way out of climate change.

Carbon-Rich Peat Is Disappearing. But Is It Also Growing?

Carbon-Rich Peat Is Disappearing. But Is It Also Growing?

Yet the Arctic is warming up to four times as fast as the rest of the planet, making permafrost thaw so rapidly that it’s gouging holes across the landscape , releasing carbon.

Burning Crops to Capture Carbon? Good Luck Finding Water

Burning Crops to Capture Carbon? Good Luck Finding Water

One controversial idea is known as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, or BECCS: You’d grow crops and burn them for energy, then capture the emissions coming out of the facility and pump them underground as liquefied gas.

The Pandemic Gave Scientists a New Way to Spy on Emissions

The Pandemic Gave Scientists a New Way to Spy on Emissions

For example, they can add up how much gasoline is being burned and how many fossil fuel power plants are running at a given time, to calculate how much carbon is being exhaled into the atmosphere.

'Vampire Energy' Is Sucking the Life Out of Our Planet

'Vampire Energy' Is Sucking the Life Out of Our Planet

Studies from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have found that more than 100 billion kilowatt-hours are wasted every year because of vampire energy, “costing American consumers over $19 billion—about $165 per US household on average—and 50 large (500-megawatt) power plants’ worth of electricity.”.

The Surprising Climate Cost of the Humblest Battery Material

The Surprising Climate Cost of the Humblest Battery Material

But a pair of recent studies suggest that those estimates are woefully out-of-date and undercounted, failing to include the energy-intensive processes required to produce modern, anode-ready graphite.Knowing the approximate carbon intensity of the power supply, he began mapping out the laborious steps for turning that graphite into anodes.

Some (Kinda) Good Climate News: 2 Degrees Is Doable

Some (Kinda) Good Climate News: 2 Degrees Is Doable

That shift is clear in a darn near uplifting paper that publishes today in the journal Nature: Modeling by an international team of scientists shows that if nations uphold their recent climate pledges, including those made at COP26, humanity may keep warming under 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the goal outlined in the Paris Agreement.

Biofuels Are Getting a Second Look—and Some Tough Questions

Biofuels Are Getting a Second Look—and Some Tough Questions

The RFS was supposed to reduce reliance on fuel imports and lessen the environmental impact of the transportation sector, but when it was introduced some scientists warned that it might end up increasing overall emissions.

A Wave of Startups Is Tackling Cow Burps and Other Climate Issues

A Wave of Startups Is Tackling Cow Burps and Other Climate Issues

His startup builds on earlier science, which found that feeding cattle a particular kind of algae—Asparagopsis taxiformis, to be specific—could reduce their methane burps by 80 percent or more.

Companies May Soon Have to Reveal a Hidden Risk: Carbon Emissions

Companies May Soon Have to Reveal a Hidden Risk: Carbon Emissions

Companies use energy and produce greenhouse gases directly, of course—by operating offices and data centers , making products, and converting carbon-absorbing wilderness into wasteland.

A Bold Idea to Stall the Climate Crisis—by Building Better Trees

A Bold Idea to Stall the Climate Crisis—by Building Better Trees

Of all the potential fixes for the climate crisis, none has captured hearts and minds quite like tree planting.If newly planted forests aren’t properly cared for and monitored, the trees can die and any carbon they stored will be released back into the atmosphere.

Astronomers Tally the Growing Carbon Footprint of Space Science

Astronomers Tally the Growing Carbon Footprint of Space Science

Next-generation ground-based observatories will be enormous, such as the Extremely Large Telescope, which will eclipse the size of the Colosseum in Rome when it is completed in 2024.Now some researchers are thinking about the carbon footprint of modern astronomy and realizing that they, like everyone else, might have to consider alternative ways of doing business in order to keep climate-warming emissions in check.

Machines of War Take a Heavy Toll on Ukraine—and the Planet

Machines of War Take a Heavy Toll on Ukraine—and the Planet

But a hidden crisis is unfolding too: The carbon emitted by war machines is helping warm the planet at a critical moment in human history, when every day not spent decarbonizing adds to the compounding misery of climate change.

Cities Are Unlikely Yet Powerful Weapons to Fight Climate Change

Cities Are Unlikely Yet Powerful Weapons to Fight Climate Change

Today, some three and a half billion people are highly vulnerable to the ravages of climate change—rising seas , heat waves , droughts , wildfires .“One of the most striking conclusions in our report is that we're seeing adverse impacts being much more widespread, and being much more negative than expected in prior reports,” said coauthor Camille Parmesan of the University of Plymouth and University of Texas at Austin, speaking at a Sunday press conference announcing the findings.

Energy Firms Are Going ‘Green’ by Offloading Dirty Coal Plants

Energy Firms Are Going ‘Green’ by Offloading Dirty Coal Plants

The state-owned company had been under pressure from the Swedish government to lower its carbon footprint by getting rid of the power plants and their coal pits, which sprawl across a vast stretch of eastern Germany close to the Polish border.

Can You Be an NFT Artist and an Environmentalist?

Can You Be an NFT Artist and an Environmentalist?

The Bitcoin and Ethereum platforms operate on a principle called “proof of work” (PoW), in which computers solve complex puzzles to verify a transaction, for which that computer (or “miner”) is then rewarded with some amount of the cryptocurrency.

It Might Be Time to Take Methane Removal Seriously

It Might Be Time to Take Methane Removal Seriously

So perhaps, Jackson and other scientists suggest, it's time to think about removing methane from the atmosphere, in addition to cutting back on new emissions.

The Mysteries of the Ponderosa Pine

The Mysteries of the Ponderosa Pine

© Scott Carpenter/TNC Photo Contest 2021 Stick your nose into the bark of a tall, old ponderosa pine, and you’ll get a distinctive whiff of vanilla or butterscotch.Like an unruly family, the chemicals, plants, insects and birds do their thing, unwittingly helping the trees and the forest.

Can ‘Green’ Ammonia Be a Climate Fix?

Can ‘Green’ Ammonia Be a Climate Fix?

The wind powers a chemical plant that makes ammonia, which can not only be spread as fertilizer under the turbines, but also fuels an experimental tractor, stores energy for a non-windy day, and—soon—will heat the barns that dry their grains.

Europe Is in the Middle of a Messy Nuclear Slowdown

Europe Is in the Middle of a Messy Nuclear Slowdown

Its neighbor Belgium currently sources nearly 40 percent of its electricity from nuclear power but has committed to closing down its seven remaining reactors by 2025.Critics of Europe’s nuclear shutdowns say losing reliable sources of low-carbon energy is the last thing we should be doing when we need to reduce emissions.

A Project to Count Climate Crisis Deaths Has Surprising Results

A Project to Count Climate Crisis Deaths Has Surprising Results

As part of this search, the UK government has made its first attempt at putting a number on climate change deaths.The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS)—an independent government agency responsible for producing official data—has for the first time reported climate-related deaths and hospital admissions in England and Wales.

Is There Really Such a Thing as Low-Carbon Beef?

Is There Really Such a Thing as Low-Carbon Beef?

To achieve its certification, Low Carbon Beef requires the meat to come in at least 10 percent below 26.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents per kilogram of carcass weight—a way of expressing greenhouse gas emissions that takes into account the different warming impacts of gases such as methane.

Savanna Fire Management Can Fund Africa’s Protected Areas

Savanna Fire Management Can Fund Africa’s Protected Areas

Now, a new study demonstrates that fire management on Africa’s savannas can generate enough carbon revenue to fill the funding gap for many protected areas, as well as help restore the rangelands health and meet international climate commitments.

Wildfires Are Digging Carbon-Spewing Holes in the Arctic

Wildfires Are Digging Carbon-Spewing Holes in the Arctic

In the past 70 years, wildfires have burned 3 percent of the landscape but are responsible for 10 percent of thermokarst formation.

The Quest to Trap Carbon in Stone—and Beat Climate Change

The Quest to Trap Carbon in Stone—and Beat Climate Change

“Thirty years down the road, this can be one of the largest industries on the planet,” enthused Gebald (slightly broader, curly brown hair).A nearby geothermal plant provides clean power to Climeworks' carbon capture facility.

A Clean Industrial Revolution Is the Only Way to Hit Net Zero

A Clean Industrial Revolution Is the Only Way to Hit Net Zero

Investors will accelerate the move away from technologies that contribute to climate change, building on a global trend that has seen private capital invest more and more in the energy transition, growing to $500 billion (£361 billion) in 2020.Investors will also increasingly reward companies that take courageous steps to fund technologies that we need to reach zero, but that haven’t been deployed yet—technologies like clean hydrogen, direct air capture, long-duration storage of electricity, and sustainable aviation fuels.

How an Aquarium Collects Curious Creatures From the Deep

How an Aquarium Collects Curious Creatures From the Deep

Here’s the collection of another comb jelly, with notable tentacles and brilliant flashes of color, likely belonging to a new genus (the classification above species) that hasn’t been formally described by researchers.

Climate Change May Make Hurricanes Hit Sooner and Last Longer

Climate Change May Make Hurricanes Hit Sooner and Last Longer

In a study published in November in the journal Earth’s Future, a team from three universities examined storm tracking data from the past 100 years and used it in a global climate model that takes into account changes in environmental conditions caused by heat-trapping greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane.