All Environment
- Lenka Novak: Learning to never introduce yourself as a climate modeler
Meet Lenka Novak. She’s part of an elite team of scientists hoping to put climate prediction in the palm of your hand.
- Gavin Schmidt: The problem with climate models? People.
Meet Gavin Schmidt. He's part of an elite team of scientists hoping to put climate prediction in the palm of your hand.
- Cover StoryMeet the team shaking up climate models
An elite team of scientists is devising a model that may put climate prediction in the palm of your hand.
- Tapio Schneider: Climate science meets the ‘physics of everyday life’
Meet Tapio Schneider. He's part of an elite team of scientists hoping to put climate prediction in the palm of your hand.
- First LookAmid many losses in 2020, a win for electric cars
COVID-19 has pushed some conversations about climate change to the wayside, but progress continues in the field of electric vehicles. In the European Union, new incentives and stricter regulations on carbon emissions have spurred growth in electric car sales.
- How 60,000 discarded flip-flops ended up on a remote island
The Aldabra atoll may be uninhabited, but its beaches are covered with trash. Fishing gear and plastic litter are the biggest problems.
- First LookAs mountains give way to border wall, where does wildlife go?
As work crews rush to build more of President Donald Trump’s border wall before his term ends next month, conservationists fear the environmental damage could be irreversible as the construction upends wildlife habitats.
- First LookElectric cars are on the rise in cities. Can power grids cope?
As electric vehicle sales rise across Europe, more charging stations are needed. Power grids are trying to meet increasing energy demands as they keep pace with government carbon reduction targets. How Sweden is preparing for the switch.
- Can the world outdo the Paris accord? Climate summit dreams big.
At Saturday’s virtual Climate Ambition Summit, nations around the world shared plans to close the climate ambition gap.
- First LookEverest got a little taller, but its height is not set in stone
Mount Everest officially grew after China and Nepal, navigating science and diplomacy, agreed on a new height. Measuring mountains, however, is a tricky business, given the earth’s constant geological changes.
- First LookAs food industry makes green shift, some farmers see an opening
North American food and agriculture industry giants are finding that going green is paying off, as consumers demand more environmentally sustainable sustenance. And farmers adopting low-fertilizer and low-water use practices are cashing in.
- First LookCan Norway’s deforestation program outbid loggers?
One way to fight deforestation is to pay countries to keep their forests from being logged. Norway is leading the way for such programs and has announced it will double the price it pays – but the rate might still not be competitive enough in middle-income countries.
- First LookShould Charleston wall itself off from rising sea levels?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is weighing a $1.75 billion sea wall proposal to ward off storm flooding in Charleston, South Carolina. Residents want a solution as sea levels rise, but question the project's environmental and social impacts.
- First LookTeen power: An Indian girl invents a solar iron to reduce smog
A teen in India has come up with an ingenious way to clean up dirty city air: solar-powered clothes irons. Street vendors typically use charcoal to power their irons, but using solar energy instead would reduce costs and pollution.
- Could the job of preserving America’s wolves shift to states?
As the U.S. Department of the Interior plans to remove the gray wolf from its list of endangered species, Colorado narrowly voted to reintroduce them.
- A pollution solution where the rubber meets the road
A group of recent graduates have devised a potential solution to an invisible problem: tire pollution.
- First LookBidding adieu, US formally exits 2015 Paris climate accord
The U.S. has formally exited the 2015 Paris Agreement. The climate accord was non-binding, so America's withdrawal doesn't bring immediate changes. But climate advocates blasted America's lack of global leadership on climate change.
- First LookRelentless storms: Zeta breaks records as it scours Louisiana
Much of the American Southeast is cleaning up after Zeta, the 27th named storm in a historically busy Atlantic hurricane season. It is the 11th named storm to make landfall in the continental U.S. in a single season, surpassing the nine storms of 1916.
- Who should care for the forest? In Kenya, the question sparks violence.
Despite having their home recognized by an international court, the Ogiek, an Indigenous, forest-dwelling people, still face evictions.
- First LookYoung whales find dining haven in New York City waters
Cleaner waters and stricter environmental laws have contributed to an increase of juvenile humpbacks flocking to the waters around New York City. But the busy waterways also pose a hazard for the whales.