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Climate Change

Page Updated:
Jan. 20, 2025

• • Where Cold in U.S. Will Be Most Dangerous in Coming Days

  These Maps Pinpoint Those Places
  
  

  Jan. 19, 2025 - The coldest air of winter so far will have invaded much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States by Sunday’s end. And in many places, the chill will be dangerous.

  Alerts for cold weather are in effect for nearly half the country’s population, running from the northern Plains to the Gulf Coast and from the Rockies to the Southeast.

• • More Americans, Risking Ruin, Drop Their Home Insurance

  The Risks, Either Way
  
  

  Jan. 16, 2025 - Homeowners in places most exposed to climate disasters are increasingly giving up on paying their insurance premiums, leaving them exposed to financial ruin, according to sweeping new government data.

  The numbers show how climate change is eroding the underpinnings of American life by making home insurance costlier and harder to hang on to, even as wildfires, hurricanes and other calamities increasingly threaten what is, for many people, their most valuable asset.

• • The Global Economy and Climate Shocks

  Could Face 50% Loss
  in GDP Between 2070 and 2090
  
  

  Jan. 16, 2025 - The global economy could face 50% loss in gross domestic product (GDP) between 2070 and 2090 from the catastrophic shocks of climate change unless immediate action by political leaders is taken to decarbonize and restore nature, according to a new report.

  The stark warning from risk management experts the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) hugely increases the estimate of risk to global economic wellbeing from climate change impacts such as fires, flooding, droughts, temperature rises and nature breakdown.

• • How Climate Change Is Complicating Ice-Fishing

  Wide Temperature Swings in Wisconsin and Minnesota have Delayed the Formation of Ice Thick Enough to Support Anglers
  
  

  Jan. 15, 2025 - Andy Volicek has been ice fishing at his cabin in Washburn County, Wisconsin, roughly 75 miles northeast of the Twin Cities, every year for more than two decades. But lately, unseasonably warm winters have forced Volicek to postpone his trips.

  Last winter was the hottest on record in the contiguous United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with the previous winter also ranking among the warmest in many states’ histories.

• • The Polar Vortex Will Soon Hit the U.S.

  See How Cold it’ll Get Where You Live
  
  

  Jan. 15, 2025 - January has already been colder than average in most states east of the Rocky Mountains for the first time in two years — and now, more frigid air is coming.

  A lobe of the polar vortex, a stormy ring that typically keeps the coldest air locked up near the North Pole, will dip southward into the United States this weekend into next week.

• • The Floods This Time: In the Mediterranean

  Climate Change Is Already Here
  
  

  Jan. 14, 2025 -Short, heavy rainfall is typical of the Mediterranean, but like many of the climate extremes in recent years, including the current fires in Los Angeles, nothing is typical about what has been happening there recently.

  In the autumn, deadly floods wreaked havoc along an arc from Spain to the Balkans, and from Morocco to Libya. More than 200 people were killed in Valencia in October, not long after a deluge dumped five times the month’s ordinary rainfall across Europe in a single week.

• • L.A. Fires Show Limits of America’s
  Efforts to Cope With Climate Change

  California has Focused on Fortifying Communities Against Wildfires. But...
  
  

  Jan. 10, 2025 - This week’s fires around Los Angeles present a puzzle: Why is California, the state best equipped to deal with wildfires, seemingly unable to prevent blazes from consuming entire chunks of the country’s second-largest city?

  California’s building code for wildfires is among the most protective in the nation. Its local fire departments are backed up by CalFire, the state fire agency, which has a $4 billion budget and some of the best trained firefighters in the world...

• • ‘Ironic’: How Climate Change Is Supercharging Disasters

  The Consequences of
  a Warming Planet
  
  

  Jan. 10, 2025 - As Los Angeles burned for days on end, horrifying the nation, scientists made an announcement on Friday that could help explain the deadly conflagration: 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history.

  With temperatures rising around the globe and the oceans unusually warm, scientists are warning that the world has entered a dangerous new era of chaotic floods, storms and fires made worse by human-caused climate change.

• • You Just Lived Through the Hottest Year On Record. Again.

  In 2024, Scientists Say, Temperatures Reached 1.6 Degrees Celsius Above Preindustrial Levels
  
  

  Jan. 9, 2025 - This is a climate era when even the most ferocious records are bound to be broken.

  Scientists in Europe Friday confirmed that 2024 had been the hottest year on record — and the first to surpass a dangerous warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) that nations had pledged not to cross.

• • Scientists Pull Million Year Old Ice Core From the Antarctic

  Analysis of the Ancient
  Ice is Expected to Show Our Atmosphere and Climate have Evolved
  
  {NBC NEWS -By the Associated Press}
  
  

  Jan. 9, 2025 -An international team of scientists announced Thursday they’ve successfully drilled one of the oldest ice cores yet, penetrating nearly 2 miles (2.8 kilometers) to Antarctic bedrock to reach ice they say is at least 1.2 million years old.

  Analysis of the ancient ice is expected to show how Earth’s atmosphere and climate have evolved. That should provide insight into how Ice Age cycles have changed, and may help in understanding how atmospheric carbon changed climate, they said.

• • These Cities Will Be Hit Hardest by the Winter Storm

  From Texas to the Carolinas
  
  

  Jan. 9, 2025 - Winter storm warnings, watches and advisories cover more than 20 states as parts of the South brace for their biggest snowstorm in years.

  From Dallas to beyond Atlanta — including Little Rock, Nashville and Raleigh, North Carolina — heavy snow and ice will lead to hazardous conditions, with the potential for power outages, widespread slippery roads, delayed and canceled flights, and school and business closures in the days ahead.

• • Melting Antarctic Ice Could Awaken 100 Hidden Volcanoes

  As Ice Recedes, Hidden Volcanoes Under Antarctica Awaken, Reshaping Predictions for Climate Change
  
  

  Jan. 9, 2025 - When glaciers melt, they expose more than just ancient landscapes. Beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet lies a fiery secret—active volcanoes that may become more restless as the ice retreats.

  In a new study, researchers reveal how the shrinking ice alters the dynamics of magma chambers buried deep in the Earth’s crust, potentially setting off volcanic eruptions that could further accelerate ice loss.

• • Extreme Weather Events Pose
  Outsized Risks for Food Delivery Workers

  As Climate Change Worsens, Those Delivering Your Food Are Increasingly Exposed to Heat, Wildfire Smoke and Other Dangerous Weather Events
  
  

  Jan. 7, 2025 - A large swath of the United States is currently in the throes of a polar vortex, a weather phenomenon characterized by severe snowfall, strong winds and icy chill. For those who couldn’t stock up on food before the storm, hot meals or sweet treats are just a few clicks away thanks to a number of delivery apps such as DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub.

  Click now for more information.

• • Southern States Bracing for their Biggest Snowstorm in Years

  Snow and Ice Could Cause Hazardous Travel Conditions in At Least 10 Southern States Thursday and Friday
  
  

  Jan. 7, 2025 - Areas from Texas to the Carolinas will experience their first major winter storm in years from Thursday into the weekend — with snow stretching as far north as New England, and into areas pummeled by a storm earlier this week.

  In advance of the new storm, winter storm warnings, watches and advisories spanned 10 southern and central states as of early Wednesday.

• • Prime Apple-Growing Areas in US Face Increasing Climate Risks

  Some of the Most Productive Apple Regions in America are Facing Big Challenges from a Changing Climate
  
  {WSU INSIDER}
  

  Jan. 6, 2025 -Researchers analyzed over 40 years of climate conditions that impact the growth cycle of apple trees from bud break and flowering through fruit development, maturation and color development.

  While many growing areas are facing increased climate risks, the top three largest apple-producing counties in the U.S. were among the most impacted: Yakima in Washington, Kent in Michigan and Wayne in New York. In particular, Yakima County, the largest of the three with more than 48,800 acres of apple orchards, has seen harmful trends in five of the six metrics the researchers analyzed.

• • Climate Crisis ‘Wreaking Havoc’ on Earth’s Water Cycle

  Global Heating is Supercharging Storms, Floods And Droughts, Affecting Entire Ecosystems and Billions of People
  
  

  Jan. 6, 2025 - The climate crisis is “wreaking havoc” on the planet’s water cycle, with ferocious floods and crippling droughts affecting billions of people, a report has found.

  Water is people’s most vital natural resource but global heating is changing the way water moves around the Earth. The analysis of water disasters in 2024, which was the hottest year on record, found they had killed at least 8,700 people, driven 40 million from their homes and caused economic damage of more than $550bn (£445bn).

• • Researchers Pave the Way for Climate-Ready Crops

  With Potatoes that Thrive in Heat
  
  

  Jan. 3, 2025 - Climate change may have been a hot potato topic around the dinner table at festive celebrations this year. Now, researchers have developed their own ‘hot potato’ that fares better under climate change: in fact these tubers grow up to 30% larger than normal, during heatwave conditions.

  Key to their discovery is a process called photorespiration, a troublesome feature of plant photosynthesis. Photorespiration occurs when Rubisco, a key enzyme in photosynthesis, reacts with oxygen molecules instead of with carbon dioxide as normal.

• • How an Antacid For the Ocean Could Cool the Earth

  A New Technology Promises to Remove Carbon From the Atmosphere and Prevent Ocean Acidification
  
  

  Jan. 3, 2025 - The world’s oceans stow vast amounts of carbon dioxide. Now, a growing group of scientists and companies say they’ve found a way to increase that storage capacity by tweaking ocean water chemistry.

  The technique, known as ocean alkalinity enhancement, usually involves dissolving acid-neutralizing rocks in the ocean, allowing it to absorb more carbon dioxide.

• • Weatherwatch: 2025 Likely to
  Be Another Year of High Temperatures

  Despite Pacific Ocean Moving into a La Niña Phase, 2025 is Forecast to be One of Three Warmest Years on Record
  
  

  Jan. 2, 2025 - What kind of weather lies ahead in 2025? The Met Office’s global forecast suggests it will be one of the three warmest years on record, surpassed only by 2024 and 2023. This is despite the Pacific Ocean moving into a La Niña phase, which normally brings slightly cooler conditions.

  Click now to for the rest of the this story.

• • Coastal Cities Should Restore Their Wetlands

  Valencia Floods Showed Why
  
  

  Jan. 1, 2025 - Valencia, a city and province in south-east Spain, became synonymous with disaster in October 2024 when floods killed at least 231 people. Extreme rainfall will happen more often as the climate warms and the cost to coastal cities like Valencia is expected to reach up to US$63 billion (£50 billion) annually by 2050.

  Click now to read more.

• • How Smallholder Coffee Farmers are Navigating Climate Change

  Fairtrade Give Them a Choice
  {euro news}
  
  

  Dec. 31, 2024 -The warming climate and extreme weather are responsible for reduced coffee production, which, in turn, also impacts the quality of coffee beans.

  Sourcing experts say that climate change was partly responsible for the global surge in coffee prices in 2024, which has adversely affected smallholder coffee farms.

  By 2050, there may be less suitable land for growing coffee. However, farming cooperatives in major coffee-producing countries are fighting back, supported by conscious consumers.

• • The Year That Was

  Record Heat, an Election, a Push for Justice and Reasons for Hope
  
  

  Dec. 30, 2024 - In a year of record-setting heat, intensifying extreme weather and a bitterly partisan presidential election in which climate change was almost never mentioned, the transition away from fossil fuels made significant progress that was still not nearly enough.

  It was that kind of year.

• • The Rivers Run Dry and the Lights Go Out:

  A Warming Nation’s Doom Loop
  
  

  Dec. 30, 2024 - Just a decade ago, the small, resource-rich nation of Ecuador was embarking on a bold transition to hydroelectric power.

  It was one of many South American countries betting that their abundant rivers, harnessed by dams, could satisfy growing energy needs — and help drive economic expansion, lifting millions from poverty and leading the way into a new era of prosperity.

  Today, those grand designs are colliding with a warming climate.

• • Positive Climate Tipping Points?

  How Close Are We to Them
  
  

  Dec. 26, 2024 - Tipping points have often become synonymous with climate collapse. But for scientists researching how societies can achieve sustainable change with today's knowledge and technology, tipping points can also be positive.

  Transformation researchers like Ilona M. Otto, of the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change in Graz, Austria, believe societies can introduce social changes that would help bring about a rapid green transition.

• • UK's Most Precious Heritage at Risk From Extreme Weather

  A Warning From the National Trust
  
  

  Dec. 26, 2024 - Storms and flooding have damaged some of the UK's most precious heritage, according to the National Trust - the UK's biggest conservation charity.

  It says extreme weather is taking a toll on the estates it manages in England and Wales, with many mature trees brought down and flooding damaging buildings and gardens.

• • Why Aren’t There Giant Animals Anymore?

  Today's Animals, Including Polar Bears, are Shrinking Due to Climate Change and Human Impacts
  
  

  Dec. 24, 2024 -In the Mesozoic Era, dinosaurs were the undisputed rulers of the land. The Argentinosaurus, possibly the largest dinosaur ever, stretched up to 100 feet long and weighed around 100 tons. These creatures evolved into such massive sizes for various reasons, including defense against predators, efficient feeding strategies, and thermoregulation.

  Following the dinosaurs‘ extinction, mammals took center stage. With so many ecological niches suddenly vacant, our mammalian ancestors quickly swelled in size from mouse-sized to legendary megafauna dimensions, exemplified by the wooly mammoth and the towering Megatherium, a giant ground sloth.

• • Greenland Losing 563 Cubic Miles of Ice in Under 30 Seconds

  Watch the Video
  
  

  Dec. 24, 2024 -We all know (hopefully) that warming temperatures is driving ice loss. But seeing it makes it all the more disturbing. Don’t get me wrong, the visualization produced by NASA and ESA is beautiful, but what it’s showing is simply heartbreaking. Between 2010 and 2023, Greenland lost 563 cubic miles (2,347 cubic kilometers) of ice, which is enough to fill Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake.

• • Scrubbing Carbon From the Sky

  The New Climate Gold Rush
  
  

  Dec. 22, 2024 -This summer, Bill Gates huddled in London with representatives of some of the world’s wealthiest people, including the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, the SoftBank founder, Masayoshi Son, and Prince al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia.

  They were evaluating their joint investments in companies that could help the world combat climate change. Among the businesses in their portfolio, four stood out as having a particularly audacious goal: They were working to strip carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, for a profit.

• • Climate Change is Making Plants Less Nutritious

  That Could Already be Hurting Grazing Animals
  
  

  Dec. 20, 2024 - More than one-third of all animals on Earth, from beetles to cows to elephants, depend on plant-based diets. Plants are a low-calorie food source, so it can be challenging for animals to consume enough energy to meet their needs. Now climate change is reducing the nutritional value of some foods that plant eaters rely on.

  Human activities are increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and raising global temperatures. As a result, many plants are growing faster across ecosystems worldwide.

• • Why Seas are Surging

  What One Tide Gauge Reveals about America’s Climate Future
  
  

  Dec. 20, 2024 -The Fort Pulaski tide gauge sits on a small, narrow pier just 15 miles east of Savannah, Georgia. It is one of more than a hundred stations across the country that track high and low tides, temperatures, wind speeds, air pressure — and the rising seas.

  For 90 years, this station has returned a steady stream of data to scientists, locals and ship captains, helping them track the rhythms of the ocean and avoid perilously low tides.

• • The Sunbelt’s Growing Population's Climate Impact

  It Faces Increasing Climate Hazards
  
  

  Dec. 18, 2024 -Counties across the southern half of the U.S., especially those with large and socially vulnerable populations, will be much more exposed to wildfire, drought and extreme heat than other parts of the country as the region’s climate warms in the coming decades, according to new research from the U.S. Forest Service and Resources for the Future.

  The report, “Changing Hazards, Exposure, and Vulnerability in the Conterminous United States, 2020–2070,” builds on the Forest Service’s 2020 Resources Planning Act Assessment, which makes 50-year projections on the conditions of renewable resources across the country’s forests.

• • Climate Change Boosted Wind Speeds in 2024 Atlantic Hurricanes

  The Study Found Human-Caused Global Warming Elevated Temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean by 2 to 3d F on Average
  
  

  Dec. 18, 2024 -Climate change has helped spin hurricanes faster this year, boosting damaging wind speeds for every hurricane in 2024, according to a new study by the Princeton-based nonprofit Climate Central.

  Each year, heat in the atmosphere and oceans provides the fuel that spawns hurricanes along the Atlantic coast between June and November. And this year’s record-breaking North Atlantic Ocean temperatures impacted each of the season’s 11 hurricanes, said Daniel Gilford, a meteorologist and atmospheric scientist with Climate Central and the lead author of the study.

• • Insurers Are Deserting Homeowners as Climate Shocks Worsen

  Without Insurance, it’s Impossible to Get a Mortgage; Without Which, Most Americans Can’t Buy a Home
  
  

  Dec. 18, 2024 -The insurance crisis spreading across the United States arrived at Richard D. Zimmel’s door last week in the form of a letter.

  Mr. Zimmel, who lives in the increasingly fire-prone hills outside Silver City, N.M., had done everything right. He trimmed the trees away from his house, and covered his yard in gravel to stop flames rushing in from the forest near his property. In case that buffer zone failed, he sheathed his house in fire-resistant stucco, and topped it with a noncombustible steel roof. But...

• • Climate Takes its Toll on the ‘Cherry Capital of the World’

  Erratic Weather Adding to the Troubles of Michigan's Cherry Growers Impacts Farmers Everywhere
  
  

  Dec. 17, 2024 -Traverse City is known as “the Cherry Capital of the World,” and the Wunsch family has been growing the small stone fruit for six generations. The farm that bears their name sits on about 1,000 acres in the middle of Old Mission Peninsula, a spit of land poking into a bay at the northern end of Lake Michigan.

  This region has long been considered a cherry haven where long rows of trees teem with red fruit. But as the planet warms, things are beginning to change.

• • Worrying Signs From the Arctic

  Scientists are Seeing Changes that Could Have Consequences for the Whole Planet
  
  

  Dec. 17, 2024 -In a year full of troubling signs that Earth’s climate is rapidly changing, some of the most alarming signals came from the Arctic.

  The thawing tundra has become a source of greenhouse gas emissions, instead of locking away carbon. Sea ice levels are near historic lows. Fires are getting worse. Surface air temperatures are near record highs. And, yes, the polar bears are in trouble.

• • The World Acquifer Threat

  Over 70% Could be Tainted By 2100
  
  

  Dec. 13, 2024 - Coastal regions face a growing peril hidden beneath their surfaces — saltwater intrusion. Over 2.5 billion people rely on aquifers (natural underground water reservoirs) for fresh water, and if enough saltwater infiltrates into aquifers, it can have devastating effects, making the water unsuitable for drinking and agriculture. This salinization is a major global threat, yet it’s rarely discussed.

  According to a new study, this risk was underestimated. By 2100, 77% of aquifers in the coastal areas below are expected to experience significant saltwater intrusion, and climate change is a key factor.

• • 15% of Global Population Lives Within a Few Miles of a Coast

  And the Number is Growing Rapidly
  
  

  Dec. 12, 2024 - Coastal populations are expanding quickly around the world. The rise is evident in burgeoning waterfront cities and in the increasing damage from powerful storms and rising sea levels. Yet, reliable, detailed data on the scale of that population change has been hard to pin down, until now.

  We study human geography as a sociologist at Mississippi State University and a computer scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Using newly available data from Oak Ridge that combines census results, satellite images and data science techniques, we were able to track growth patterns of coastal populations around the world.

• • Three Questions From Cutting-Edge Climate Science

  An Annual Gathering of Scientists This Week Offered a Glimpse Into the Latest Efforts to Answer Some of the Most Intriguing Questions About Our Warming Planet
  
  

  Dec. 12, 2024 -Every December, more than 25,000 scientists from around the globe descend upon a cavernous convention center to eat dry sandwiches, drink weak coffee and ponder all things Earth and climate and space.

  This is the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, a nonprofit organization for scientists, and it is the place to be if you want to hear about the latest research on topics like melting ice caps, prehistoric droughts...

• • Ocean Heat Wiped Out Half These Seabirds Around Alaska

  The 'Blob' is to Blame
  
  

  Dec. 12, 2024 -The first evidence was the feathered bodies washing up on Alaskan beaches. They were common murres, sleek black-and-white seabirds that typically spend months at a time away from land. But in 2015 and 2016, officials tallied 62,000 emaciated corpses from California to Alaska.

  Since then, scientists have been piecing together what happened to the birds, along with other species in the northeast Pacific that suddenly died or disappeared.

• • New York Climate Activists Urge
  Gov. Hochul to Sign ‘Superfund’ Bill

  Scores Occupied a Reception Room Near the Governor’s Office, Pressing Her to Sign Legislation
  
  

  Dec. 11, 2024 - Climate activists were in the holiday spirit Tuesday as they occupied a festive, mural-clad reception room near Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office. To cheers of “climate change is coming to town,” protestors urged Hochul to close the year by signing what could be the nation’s second climate adaptation bill.

  The Climate Change Superfund Act, New York’s answer to the skyrocketing costs of dealing with damages from climate change, was the focus of about 85 climate change organizers, who pressed Hochul to sign the bill as quickly as possible—and with no major changes.

• • As Teenagers, They Protested Trump’s Climate Policy

  Now What?
  
  

  Dec. 11, 2024 -The youth climate movement that formed under the first Trump presidency is gearing up for his second.

  Activists in groups like the Sunrise Movement, Zero Hour and Fridays for Future have pushed for the Biden administration to step up climate action before its exit next month: They want land protected as national monuments, permits denied for liquid natural gas projects, funds allocated from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Dakota Access Pipeline shut down for good.

• • Scientists Advise EU to Halt Solar Geoengineering

  There’s ‘Insufficient Scientific Evidence’ Backing Efforts to Cool Down the Planet...
  (The Verge)
  
  

  Dec. 9, 2024 -Scientific advisers to the European Commission are calling for a moratorium across the EU on efforts to artificially cool Earth through solar geoengineering. That includes controversial technologies used to reflect sunlight back into space, primarily by sending reflective particles into the atmosphere or by brightening clouds.

  Click now for the rest of the story.

• • How Prepared is Britain for Climate Disasters?

  Storm Darragh Brings
  the Question to Mind
  
  

  Dec. 10, 2024 -Emma Pinchbeck, the chief executive of the independent Climate Change Committee, which advises government, warns that Britain is nowhere near ready for the chaos that shifting weather patterns could bring. Too much of our essential infrastructure wasn’t built to withstand the conditions seen last weekend, which implies more power outages and more disrupted travel.

  Click now to read more.

• • Arctic Tundra Has Long Helped Cool Earth

  Now, It’s Fueling Warming
  
  

  Dec. 10, 2024 -For thousands of years, the shrubs, sedges, mosses and lichens of the Arctic have performed a vital task for the planet: gulping down carbon dioxide from the air and storing the carbon in their tissues. When the plants die, this carbon is entombed in the frigid soil, where it no longer helps warm Earth’s surface.

  But as fossil fuel emissions heat the planet, balmier air temperatures are thawing Arctic tundra, activating carbon-hungry microbes, and more vegetation is being burned up by wildfires..

• • As Teenagers, They Protested Trump’s Climate Policy

  Now What?
  
  

  Dec. 9, 2024 -The youth climate movement that formed under the first Trump presidency is gearing up for his second.

  Activists in groups like the Sunrise Movement, Zero Hour and Fridays for Future have pushed for the Biden administration to step up climate action before its exit next month: They want land protected as national monuments, permits denied for liquid natural gas projects, funds allocated from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Dakota Access Pipeline shut down for good.

• • Earth’s Lands Are Drying Out!

  Nations are Trying to
  Address It in Talks This Week
  
  

  Dec. 9, 2024 - Much of Earth’s lands are drying out and damaging the ability of plant and animal life to survive, according to a U.N. report released Monday at talks where countries are working to address the problem.

  The report was released at the U.N. summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on combating desertification — once-fertile lands turning into deserts because of hotter temperatures from human-caused climate change, lack of water and deforestation. It found that more than three-quarters of the world’s land experienced drier conditions from 1970 to 2020 than the previous thirty-year period.


• • Rising Food Prices Show Destabilizing Impact of Climate Crisis

  Policymakers Must Act As Extreme Weather Events Put More Pressure on Food Inflation and Production Worldwide
  
  

  Dec. 7, 2024 - Your morning – and afternoon – coffee is the latest staple threatened by climate chaos: the price of quality arabica beans shot to its highest level in almost 50 years last week amid fears of a poor harvest in Brazil.

  It follows warnings that orange crops have been wiped out by the catastrophic floods in Valencia, Spain; and the soaring cost of olive oil in recent years, as the southern Mediterranean has sweltered.

• • Why a Two-Year Surge in Global Warmth is Worrying Scientists

  Instead, Global Temperatures Remain at Near-Record Levels
  
  

  Dec. 6, 2024 - As 2023 came to a close, scientists had hoped that a stretch of record heat that emerged across the planet might finally begin to subside this year. It seemed likely that temporary conditions, including an El Niño climate pattern that has always been known to boost average global temperatures, would give way to let Earth cool down.

  That didn't happen.

• • In Mexico, Heat Waves Are Even Killing Younger Adults

  It’s Not Just the Elderly. More than Three-Quarters of Heat-Related Deaths in Mexico Occurred Among People Younger than 35,
  
  

  Dec. 6, 2024 -As climate change pushes global temperatures higher, attention has focused predominantly on the threat that heat poses to older adults, whose physiology makes them more susceptible to health complications.

  But a study published on Friday in the journal Science Advances found that certain types of young people — including seemingly hardy working-age adults — may also be particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures.

• • The Decline of Reflective Low Clouds

  May Have Contributed
  to Recent Record Heat
  
  

  Dec. 5, 2024 - Earth has often been described by astronauts as a glistening marble floating in a black void, but the planet has lost some of its sheen in recent decades, especially with the well-documented decline of ice and snow in polar and mountain regions. New research published today shows the planet is also dulling from a steady decline of low-elevation clouds over some ocean regions.

  And a duller planet absorbs more incoming solar radiation, said

• • A Landmark Climate Court Case

  What to Know About It
  
  

  Dec. 5, 2024 -The most important climate case that a lot of people haven’t heard about is playing out this week and next at the International Court of Justice.

  The court, based in The Hague, adjudicates disputes between nations and issues advisory opinions on big international legal issues. In this case, the judges have been asked by the U.N. to weigh in on what, exactly, international law requires states to do about climate change, and what should be the consequences for states that harm the climate through actions or omissions.

• • North Carolina Town Sues Duke Energy Over Climate Change

  Carrboro Accused Duke, one the Nation’s Largest Utility Companies, of Ignoring Data About Climate Change While Increasing Use of Fossil Fuels
  
  

  Dec. 4, 2024 -A North Carolina town filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing Duke Energy, one of the nation’s largest utility companies, of deceiving the public about climate change and contributing to the warming of the planet.

  The mayor and City Council of Carrboro, a town next to Chapel Hill, said in its lawsuit in North Carolina Superior Court that Duke Energy had known for decades that its operations contributed to the climate crisis but failed to curb its emissions of greenhouse gases.

• • U.S. Defends Climate Accord as
  Nations Call for Stronger Global Action

  In a Landmark International Hearing on Climate Change, a U.S. Representative Backed the Paris Agreement, But...
  
  

  Dec. 4, 2024 -A representative of the United States took the podium on Wednesday at a landmark hearing before the International Court of Justice and declared that the climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced.

  But in her remarks, the U.S. representative, Margaret L. Taylor, also argued that the existing United Nations system to address climate change is sufficient, despite criticism that it has failed to stop the dangerous rise in global temperatures.

• • Climate Victims On the Grenadian island of Carriacou

  Now the Dead Are Included
  
  

  Dec. 3, 2024 - It’s a macabre picture: tombs, headstones and wreaths, lovingly selected by family members, floating into the oblivion of the ocean, and with them the remains of loved ones uprooted from their final resting place. Some are dragged back to land, washed up on beaches on the Grenadian island of Carriacou, transforming the beautiful Caribbean shoreline into a chaotic graveyard./

  This disturbing reality, says Grenada’s prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, is a poignant example of the gravity of the climate crisis and its impact on his country.

• • Nearly All Arctic Sea Ice Could Melt by 2027

  A Group of International Scientists Used Climate Models to Predict When the Arctic might See its First ‘Ice-Free’ Day
  
  {INDEPENDENT}
  

  Dec. 3, 2024 -Nearly all of the Arctic’s sea ice could melt by the summer of 2027, a group of international scientists has warned.

  Sea ice – frozen seawater that floats on the ocean’s surface – in the region has diminished to near-historic lows following decades of shrinking and thinning in one of the fastest-warming areas on the planet...

• • Clean-up Begins in Malaysia Towns
  Hit by Six Months of Rain in Five Days

  Floods Kill Dozens, Damage Homes and Crops in Malaysia and Thailand
  
  

  Dec. 3, 2024 -Residents in the Malaysian town of Tumpat were returning to submerged homes and shops as deadly floodwaters began to ease after being inundated by more than a metre of rain in a matter of days, but there were forecasts of more rain to come.

  Peninsular Malaysia, particularly its northeastern coast, and southern Thailand have been battered by torrential rains which fuelled floods that killed dozens of people, and damaged homes, transport links, and thousands of acres of rice crops.

• • An Arctic Hamlet Is Sinking Into the Thawing Permafrost

  Canada is Losing its Permafrost to Climate Change. The Indigenous residents of Tuktoyaktuk Have Decision to Make
  
  

  Dec. 2, 2024 -On the shore of Lake Tiktalik in Canada’s Western Arctic, the thawing permafrost had set off two huge landslides into the water, leaving yawning craters on the tundra. These “thaw slumps” measured several hundred feet wide and just as deep.

  Jaden Cockney, 17, clambered down the side of one slump as his boss, William Dillon, looked on cautiously. Jaden was part of the team that Mr. Dillon, 69, had created to measure the retreating permafrost.

• • A Strange New Climate Era is Beginning to Take Hold

  The Next 10
  Years Will Look Very Different
  for the Climate Change Story
  
  

  Nov. 27, 2024 -For almost a decade, climate scientists and environmental leaders have coalesced around a rallying cry: “Keep 1.5 alive.” It’s a reference to the historic pact nations reached in Paris in 2015 to try to limit Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since the start of the Industrial Revolution.

  Now, in a year expected to be the hottest on record, the aspiration of that era appears dead. Instead, the world has entered a new one, where clean energy is rapidly growing — but not fast enough to keep temperatures in check.

• • Are All These U.N. Climate Talks Doing Any Good?

  What the U.N. Negotiations, Known as COP, Can (and Can’t) Do to Combat Climate Change
  
  

  Nov. 26, 2024 -When this year’s United Nations climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, ended on Sunday, most developing countries and climate activists left dissatisfied.

  They had arrived at the summit on Nov. 11 with hopes that wealthy nations would agree to raise the $1.3 trillion per year that experts say is needed to help poor countries shift to cleaner energy sources and cope with extreme weather on a warming planet.

• • Fiji is Already Relocating Villages Because of Climate Change

  Dozens of Villages Have to
  Move or Be Destroyed
  
  

  Nov. 25, 2024 -Fiji, an archipelago of over 300 islands, is on the front lines of the climate crisis: nearly two-thirds of its population lives within five kilometers of the shoreline. The country is vulnerable to rising seas and powerful cyclones and is already feeling the devastating effects of climate change. In 2016, Cyclone Winston claimed 44 lives and caused $1.4 billion in damages.

  Now, Fiji faces another challenge: relocating communities at risk of inundation. Over 40 villages have been identified for potential relocation in the next decade...

• • Climate Talks End With a Bitter Fight

  And a Deal on Money
  
  

  Nov. 23, 2024 -Negotiators at this year’s United Nations climate summit struck an agreement early on Sunday in Baku, Azerbaijan, to triple the flow of money to help developing countries adopt cleaner energy and cope with the effects of climate change. Under the deal, wealthy nations pledged to reach $300 billion per year in support by 2035, up from a current target of $100 billion.

  Click now for more.

• • Climate Talks End With a Bitter Fight and a Deal on Money

  The Financing Plan, Calls for $300b Per Year in Support for Developing Nations, but...
  
  

  Nov. 23, 2024 -Negotiators at this year......’s United Nations climate summit struck an agreement early on Sunday in Baku, Azerbaijan, to triple the flow of money to help developing countries adopt cleaner energy and cope with the effects of climate change. Under the deal, wealthy nations pledged to reach $300 billion per year in support by 2035, up from a current target of $100 billion.

  Click now to read all about it.

• • The Human Cost of Global Warming in 2024

  Far From the Climate Talks
  
  

  Nov. 22, 2024 -The dissonance is jarring.

  Inside a stadium in the authoritarian petrostate of Azerbaijan, diplomatic deliberations to slow down climate change are snagged over money.

  Outside, the burning of fossil fuels has exacted incalculable human losses. Millions of people are suffering. Nature is losing.

• • Biden's Proposals to Address Colorado River Shortages Fall Short

  The Critical Waterway’s Future as Climate-Driven Drought and Overuse Continue to Diminish its Flows
  
  

  Nov. 21, 2024 -The Biden administration on Wednesday released four alternatives to address the drought-stricken Colorado River’s water shortages, giving seven states, 30 tribes and the 40 million people who rely on the river a taste of how the vital waterway will be managed in the coming decades.

  But the announcement offers little in the way of hard details, with a draft environmental impact statement analyzing the impacts of the Department of Interior’s proposed alternatives pushed back to next year. The states, meanwhile, remain divided over the path forward to deal with shortages on the river.

• The National Climate Change Assessment
• 6 Things We Can Do About Climate Change
• Climate Change Positive Thoughts (free e-Book)
• Get the Climate Lab Book
• Interactive Climate Map 2050 (CC Consequences)
• The People's Dosier on Climate Change

• Global Warming Report from NOAA
• Another Good Global Warming Resource
• More Climate Change Resources
• NY Times Climate Forward: (Climate Change Q&A)
• Carbon Fee & Dividend Video
• Interactive Air Pollution Map 2100