Fake news, algorithmic sentinels, and facts from the future
How easy is it to tell the difference between so-called “fake news” and real news? Could algorithms designed to do that exclude important stories about climate and environment?
climate change
Here is What #ShellKnew about Climate Change in the 1980s
Shell knew climate change was going to be big, was going to be bad, and that its products were responsible for global warming all the way back in the 1980s, a tranche of new documents reveal.
Climate Science – Jet Stream
In this ninth part of our mini-series on climate science, we turn to one of the key suspects in extreme weather events we have experienced in recent years—the shifting shape of the North Atlantic jet stream.
Polar Bears at Ground Zero for Climate Change and Climate Science Deniers
According to alarming weather data released this week, the Arctic just experienced its warmest winter on record. This is devastating news for polar bears, who are suffering as their sea-ice habitat melts from under their paws.
Climate change: The feel-good catastrophe
Last week my newly adopted home of Washington, D.C. had two back-to-back days of summer in the middle of winter. But the long walk I took on day one was not a particularly happy one. As most of the rest of the Washingtonians I encountered were experiencing the feel-good part of the feel-good catastrophe called climate change, I was experiencing the catastrophe part.
Ruin is forever (revisited): Why your death isn’t as bad as that of all humankind
Our actions have planet-wide consequences that we don’t fully understand.
Quantifying our Faustian Bargain with Fossil Fuels
The climate system will heat well past 1.5 degrees Celsius (°C) and perhaps up to 2°C without any further fossil fuel emissions. That’s the conclusion to be drawn from new research which should also help demystify the rhetoric from the 2015 Paris climate talks of keeping warming to below 1.5°C .
Who will drink the last glass of water in Cape Town?
The current water shortage in Cape Town suggests that the effects of climate change can and will continue to surprise us with their suddenness and severity.
Get Used to Saying ‘Bomb Cyclone.’ This is our Climate Now.
Now that one of the strongest nor’easters on record has swirled off to Canada, it’s time to talk about what everyone was thinking during the storm: Is this just what happens now? Short answer: yes. Get used to it. Wild storms like this week’s massive coastal cyclone will be part of winters in the Anthropocene.
2017: Carbon Brief’s End-of-Year Review
As the year draws to a close, Carbon Brief takes a look at 2017’s top climate and energy stories through the medium of numbers…
Western States Lived with a Constant Reminder of Climate Change in 2017
The Eagle Creek Fire was one point in a fire season defined by disastrous, fast-moving fires, from the deadly fires that tore through Northern California in October to the fire that decimated thousands of acres of Glacier National Park in Montana this fall. Taken together, however, these fires seemed to prove what scientists have been warning for years — that climate change will tilt the scales of probability in favor of bigger, more destructive wildfires, and that everyone, not just the most isolated rural communities, will start to pay the price.
Analysis: Why Scientists Think 100% of Global Warming is Due to Humans
The extent of the human contribution to modern global warming is a hotly debated topic in political circles, particularly in the US.During a recent congressional hearing, Rick Perry, the US energy secretary, remarked that “to stand up and say that 100% of global warming is because of human activity, I think on its face, is just indefensible”. However, the science on the human contribution to modern warming is quite clear. Humans emissions and activities have caused around 100% of the warming observed since 1950, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) fifth assessment report.