Climate

Climate

Global coral die-offs signal Earth’s first climate tipping point

The corals offer a dire warning, scientists say, and suggests that more such catastrophic points of no return could occur soon — some within a decade.

Earth

Cities across the world are sinking. Here’s how they might rebound

Affected coastal cities tend to flood more often — a growing threat in this era of continuing sea level rise.

Environment

During heat waves, trees spew chemicals that worsen air pollution

New data point to how heat waves and other climate change will make it harder to curb ozone and other types of toxic air pollution — even outside of cities.

Environment

See how aerosols fly through Earth’s skies

These small airborne particles may offset one-third of human-caused climate warming. But the cooling influence of aerosols is fading.

Earth

Scientists Say: Heat dome

Typically, weather enters an area, storms through, then leaves. Here's what happens when steamy summer air gets stalled.

Agriculture

A secret climate superhero lies beneath our farms

Agriculture contributes to climate change. But changes to how farms manage soil might help remove carbon and other greenhouse gases from the air.

Earth

Can engineering save Antarctica’s most vulnerable glacier?

Bold engineering projects might stabilize Thwaites Glacier and slow sea level rise. But no one knows if they will work — or have serious side effects.

Earth

This long-buried glacier ice is at least 770,000 years old

Thanks to climate change, thawing permafrost in the Canadian Arctic has revealed this glacier remnant that could be more than a million years old.

Climate

2024 set new record for hottest year, passing a dangerous heat threshold

For the first year in recorded history, Earth’s average temperature topped 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

Climate

Meet Chonkus, a mutant microbe that could help fight climate change

A hulking marine cyanobacterium, Chonkus has traits that appears to make it especially good for storing away carbon on the ocean floor.

Ecosystems

There’s life beneath the snow — but it’s at risk of melting away

The organisms that make winter homes in this subnivium help forests thrive year-round. But climate change is making this ecosystem disappear.

Climate

Why is Los Angeles on fire?

High heat and little rain have extended wildfire season to year-round in some parts of California. Fast winds and dry conditions are fueling L.A.’s current infernos.