Here are the latest reports from The Washington Posts ‘Energy and the Environment’.
Why uncertainty about climate change is definitely not our friend
For a long time, there’s been one key part of the Earth system that, just maybe, could help us out a little bit with our global warming problem: Clouds. Clouds are central to the climate because their white surfaces reflect sunlight back to space, keeping the planet cooler than it would be otherwise. But they also trap […]
How wasting less food can help save the planet
The more scientists study the issue of food waste — and its worrying implications for both the environment and global food security — the clearer it becomes how much of a problem it is. Now, new research is giving us a few more reasons to clean our plates. A study just out in the journal Environmental […]
These islands just proposed creating the biggest marine reserve on Earth
A new proposal could result in the creation of the largest protected natural area on Earth. Inhabitants of the Austral Islands — the southernmost islands in French Polynesia in the South Pacific — have just presented a proposal to the government of French Polynesia calling for a new marine reserve in their waters. The protected […]
Tesla’s Model 3 orders are through the roof. Here’s what that means for the planet.
This story has been updated. It’s being hailed as simply extraordinary. Since introducing the Model 3 sedan — a far cheaper electric vehicle, aimed for broader consumption, than the Model S — Tesla saw a stunning 276,000 orders in just two days. Tesla aims to sell 500,000 electric vehicles per year by 2020 — an ambitious […]
It’s not just Antarctica — some experts fear Greenland could also melt faster than we thought
Last Wednesday, a blockbuster new study in the journal Nature changed our understanding of the forces affecting ice melt in Antarctica and significantly increased expectations of the ice sheet’s future contributions to sea-level rise. But the news may not stop there. Some scientists are saying that the standing predictions for Greenland — which is warming even faster […]
A rare conviction for the slaying of a Latin American environmentalist
Four men have been found guilty in Costa Rica for the killing of a sea turtle conservationist in 2013. The chief of a three-judge panel said the slaying of Jairo Mora Sandoval, who worked for a green group called Widecast, was tied to his activism in a war “between poachers and environmentalists on the beach.” In […]
Exoplanet oceans could flow in reverse, creating bizarre climates, scientists say
With the explosion of exoplanet discoveries in recent years, we are learning more and more about what the universe can produce — inevitably sparking a Saganesque mix of science and sheer imagination, as researchers try to apply what they know about the Earth’s workings to discern what’s possible elsewhere. The latest result of this line of inquiry […]
This huge region of Brazil is even more deforested than the Amazon
The Amazon has it bad, but the Cerrado may have it even worse. After all, at least you’ve actually heard of the Amazon. The Cerrado isn’t as big, but it’s still one of the largest and most important ecosystems in one of the largest and most environmentally rich countries on Earth — Brazil. It’s an enormous region of dry forests […]
As the climate changes, risks to human health will accelerate, Obama administration says
The Obama administration on Monday released a sweeping scientific report detailing what it has called one of the gravest threats to the nation in coming decades: the major health risks posed by climate change. The report, several years in the making, focuses on the many ways a changing climate could take a toll on Americans. Some involve direct effects, […]
Democrats and Republicans were prompted to recycle. You’ll be surprised what happened next
For some time in the energy policy world, there’s been a trend toward trying to use subtle techniques, often termed “nudges,” to change people’s behavior. For instance, if you learn that your neighbors use less electricity than you do, you might be promoted to act similarly, due to the strong power of social norms. Writ large, behavior […]
For years, we’ve had these key details about Greenland’s melting all wrong
Ice melt in Greenland is one of the biggest preoccupations for climate scientists today, mostly because of the ice sheet’s potential contributions to sea-level rise. But there’s still a lot we don’t know about the processes that contribute to melting, how they interact with one another and how fast they work. Now, researchers say they’ve […]
Bad news for bats: Lethal white-nose fungus is now in the Pacific Northwest
A hiker who noticed a little brown bat dying on a trail near the slopes of the Cascade Mountains in western Washington did what he could to save it. He took it to an animal health center, but within two days it was gone. The death in mid-March seemed unremarkable until a veterinarian who examined […]
As the planet flashes warning signs, U.S. and China pledge hasty signing of climate accord
Against a backdrop of troubling news from the planet — including a scientific upgrade of expectations for sea level rise because of faster melting of Antarctica — the U.S. and China on Thursday pledged to jump-start their climate action plans. The world’s two largest emitters issued a joint statement saying that they will sign the Paris climate agreement, negotiated […]
‘Boaty McBoatface’ became an Internet joke. Here’s why its research will be gravely serious
Last week, the Internet was obsessed over “Boaty McBoatface.” To make a long story short, in an online naming contest for a new ice-strengthened polar research vessel being built for the British Antarctic Survey, this proposed name was winning out over more, er, serious ones — like “RSS Henry Worsley” or “RSS David Attenborough.” On Wednesday, meanwhile, […]
Investigation broadens into whether Exxon Mobil misled public, investors on climate change
More than a dozen state attorneys general gathered in New York earlier this week, ostensibly to announce their support for President Obama’s efforts to combat global warming and to underscore their intention to collaborate on investigations involving climate-related issues. But the undercurrent of Tuesday’s public announcement, which included former vice president and climate activist Al Gore taking […]
The alarming science behind projections of much higher seas in this century
This story has been updated. For many scientists studying Antarctica, and particularly the vulnerable West Antarctic ice sheet, a major new study significantly increasing expectations for sea-level rise is the culmination of a large body of prior research — combined with alarming recent observations. The study, just published in Nature, is based on an improved understanding of past […]
Antarctic ice loss could double expected sea level rise by 2100, scientists say
This story has been updated. Sea levels could rise nearly twice as much as previously predicted by the end of this century if carbon dioxide emissions continue unabated, an outcome that could devastate coastal communities around the globe, according to new research published Wednesday. The startling findings, published in the journal Nature, paint a far grimmer picture than current […]
Even before they start breathing, babies can be harmed by air pollution, scientists say
Air pollution in the U.S. may be causing thousands of premature births each year, a new study suggests — costing the nation billions of dollars along the way. The study, published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, lends support to a growing body of research pointing to the grim health consequences of air pollution […]
Huge swaths of the Great Barrier Reef are seeing ‘severe’ coral bleaching, scientists say
Scientists have declared that key portions of the Great Barrier Reef — over a thousand miles long and the “largest living structure on the planet,” according to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority — are now seeing the worst coral bleaching in recorded history. “We’re seeing very severe bleaching in the northern part of the reef,” […]
What Florida’s ancient past tells us about sea-level rise today
The looming threat of sea-level rise is a cause for anxiety throughout much of the coastal United States, and Florida is one of the unlucky states most at risk. Miami, alone, is considered one of the most vulnerable cities in the nation — it’s already subject to frequent flooding and has plans to spend hundreds of millions […]
A really bad winter for Arctic sea ice just got even worse
First came January, when Arctic sea ice hit a record low monthly extent — the area of ice over the ocean was 1.04 million square kilometers lower than the average from 1981-2010, based on satellite observations. Then came February — and the very same story. The ice grew in comparison with January, as is typical of […]
The enormous carbon footprint of food that we never even eat
Discussions about how to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions frequently center on clean energy, more efficient transportation and sustainable agriculture. But research suggests that if we really want to pay attention to our carbon footprints, we should also be focusing on another, less-talked-about issue: the amount of food we waste each day. Food waste is already a hot topic in […]
Why this new solar market could be set to explode
Right now, there’s an odd thing about solar in the United States (and elsewhere). It’s either really big — at the scale of massive solar farms with the capacity to generate tens or hundreds of millions of watts of electricity — or pretty small: on your rooftop, with maybe as little as 5 kilowatts, or thousand […]
Maryland’s honeybees are being massacred, and the weapon might be in your house
In the end, Maryland lawmakers couldn’t ignore the same haunting story from beekeepers. “I go into winter with a really strong population, managed them to be fat and healthy, treated for mites, with plenty of food,” said Bonnie Raindrop, a keeper in Baltimore County. “But at the end of winter, you open your hives and […]
Clean energy is winning the race against fossil fuels — but the planet is still losing
A new United Nations report has found that 2015 set a slew of new records for global investment in clean energy — and furthermore, the bulk of investment was not in places like the United States or Germany but rather in the developing world. But the report also contained a grim punchline when it came to the impact […]
The Arctic is thawing much faster than expected, scientists warn
This story has been updated. Amid blowout warm temperatures in the Arctic this year, two new studies have amplified concerns about one of the wild cards of a warming planet — how quickly warming Arctic soils could become major contributors of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, causing still greater warming. In a major international study published last week […]
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