The World Is Turning Back to Coal
Two big ways carbon pollution is different this year
Aubrey Trinnaman
The Future of Mud
A Senegalese architecture firm is championing a lower-tech material than concrete to help cities prepare for climate change.
The Supreme Court’s EPA Ruling Is Going to Be Very, Very Expensive
The agency can still regulate carbon pollution, just not in the most efficient, system-wide ways.
‘Greenwashing’ Isn’t About Consumers
Corporate climate action has become an employee perk
How to Be a Good Person Without Annoying Everyone
There’s a simple trick to provoking better behavior, without seeming like a self-righteous jerk.
Will These Be the Last Polar Bears on Earth?
A newly identified population in Greenland is less dependent on the vanishing sea ice. But even they can’t hold out forever.
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A Hotter, Poorer, and Less Free America
In the next few weeks, Senate Democrats could fall short—for arguably the third time in 30 years—of passing a climate deal. What will that mean for the planet and the country?
Biden’s Climate Goals Rest on a 71-Year-Old Defense Law
The Defense Production Act has become an important tool as the White House’s climate policy has stalled in Congress.
Kelp Is Weirdly Great at Sucking Carbon Out of the Sky
The start-up Running Tide wants to use kelp buoys to fight climate change. The plan might not work, but it’s still a preview of our climate future.
Scotland’s Billionaires Are Turning Climate Change Into a Trophy Game
A net-zero land rush is sweeping the country, and both locals and wealthy “green lairds” are trying to buy in.
The Democrats Really Are That Dense About Climate Change
The party doesn’t even seem to realize that it’s blowing a once-in-a-decade chance to pass meaningful climate legislation.
Americans Are Missing a Key Stratum of Modern Knowledge
To understand how climate change is altering our planet, it helps to know a little Earth science.
Wheat Can’t Catch a Break Right Now
India’s giant heat wave is having ripple effects for the world’s food supply.
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We Created the ‘Pandemicene’
By completely rewiring the network of animal viruses, climate change is creating a new age of infectious dangers.
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There’s No Scenario in Which 2050 Is ‘Normal’
The two paths to avoid the worst of climate change would still dramatically change the world as we know it.
Dimming the Sun Could Be Climate Science’s Trolley Problem
A popular idea to soften the blow of global warming might also make the world’s malaria problem even worse.
We’ve Never Seen a Carbon-Removal Plan Like This Before
Companies including Google and Facebook are pouring more than $900 million into a nascent technology that’s essential to zeroing out emissions.
The 1.5-Degree Goal Is All But Dead
It was once the pinnacle of humanity’s climate ambitions. A new UN-led climate report essentially concedes that it’s out of reach.
The Left’s Climate Playbook Is Already Outdated
Russia and inflation are pushing America into a new climate era.
A Recipe for Climate Disaster
Extreme rain, rising sea levels, and more frequent wildfires are all making landslides more likely.
American Companies Can’t Sugarcoat Their Carbon Pollution Anymore
Three ways to think about the SEC’s new climate rule
America’s Approach to Energy Security Is Broken
This should have been the moment for renewables. What happened?
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The Global Oil Market Is Based on a Fiction
What we call petroleum is more like a category of chemicals than a single thing.
The World Has One Big Chance to Fix Plastics
For a global plastics treaty to succeed, it will need to tamp down production—and recognize the lives and livelihoods that depend on plastic still.
People Deserve to Know Their Houses Are Going to Burn
The old way of insuring against fires isn’t working anymore.
The Rule of Thumb That Can Save You Money on Gas
The key to coping with high gas prices is better driving habits.
On Top of Everything Else, Nuclear War Would Be a Climate Problem
Even a “minor” skirmish would wreck the planet.
America Is the World’s Largest Oil Producer. So Why Is Losing Russia’s Oil Such a Big Deal?
The U.S. might be “energy independent,” but it still can’t control production.
A Sicker, Poorer, and Less Abundant World
Here are three big takeaways from the new UN-led report, which warns that global warming “is a threat to human well-being and planetary health.”
Russia Probably Won’t Cut Off Europe’s Gas, Because It’s ‘Essentially an Act of War’
Germany has long argued that importing natural gas from Russia would help keep peace. That strategy is being tested now.
Three Theories for Why Gas Prices Are So High
The White House can’t fix one of its biggest political liabilities until it figures out the problem.
The One Group of People Americans Actually Trust on Climate Science
Local meteorologists are better positioned than anyone else to talk their communities through the facts about climate change.
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The White House Is Going After One of Climate Change’s Thorniest Problems
It requires building new factories. Lots of them.
Biden’s Biggest Idea on Climate Change Is Remarkably Cheap
It’s one of the most cost-effective climate policies the U.S. has ever considered, according to a new analysis.
Climate Change Is Stretching Mumbai to Its Limit
Facing sea-level rise, flooding, and landslides, the city’s residents are finding resilience—because they have little other choice.
The Rise of Greenflation
Extreme weather and energy uncertainty are already sending prices soaring.
Not Even Free Money Can Fix a Carbon Tax
A carbon dividend seemed like a great way to solve climate politics. But it might not work.
The Utility of White-Hot Rage
Living in the era of climate change might make us feel guilt, or grief, or anger. How do those who think about these problems every day keep going?
Idaho Is Sitting on One of the Most Important Elements on Earth
The clean-energy revolution is unleashing a rush on cobalt, reviving old mines—and old questions—in a remote forest.
The Simplest Way to Sell More Electric Cars in America
Decades-old laws that protect car dealers are keeping the U.S. stuck in the gas-powered past.
Lumber Prices Are off the Rails Again. Blame Climate Change.
“This is a supply-side problem. This is unlike any other market that any of us lumber traders have ever experienced.”
It’s Not Just Manchin
The 49 other Senate Democrats are making a reckless climate gamble too.
The World Is Half-Prepared for a Different Energy Future
Humanity’s energy plans have two giant gaps.
How Bad Are Plastics, Really?
They’re harmful to health, environment, and human rights—and now poised to dominate this century as an unchecked cause of climate change.
It Keeps on Raining Too Much Too Fast
Even an inch of rain, if it falls too quickly, can overwhelm a place.
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K-pop Fans Have a New Nemesis
Young, progressive listeners are making a stink about carbon-torching NFTs. But will greener versions be enough to get them on board?
We’re Heading Toward a Very American Climate Tragedy
If Democrats fail to pass a climate policy, they will all but guarantee that the world will warm a dangerous degree and that the U.S. will surrender its technological advantage to China.
Snowless Winters Are Already Here
The consequences will go far beyond closed ski resorts.
Climate Change Is Going to Be Gross
The thick layer of mucilage that covered the Sea of Marmara for weeks was an unsettling glimpse of climate change’s more oozy effects.
A New Estimate of the ‘Most Effective’ Way to Fight Climate Change
Climate-concerned donors should focus on helping to pass climate policy, not offset their emissions, an advisory group says.
A Legendary VC Has a Plan for Solving Climate Change
John Doerr’s new book, Speed and Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now, is a checklist for global action.
Climate Advocates Are Gambling With Fate
Climate advocates finally have some power—and all the dilemmas that come with it.
Real Men Drive Electric Trucks
How much will American men have to adapt to help keep the planet from roasting?
The Seven Lawmakers Who Will Decide the Climate’s Fate
Negotiations in Washington, D.C., are far more important than those in Glasgow, Scotland.
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Climate Hype Might Be the Ticket to Decarbonization
Glasgow is a spectacle. That’s kind of the point.
Nuclear Is Hot, for the Moment
The United States, Russia, and France now describe the once-neglected technology as a key part of their decarbonization plans.
Floating Wind Farms Are About to Transform the Oceans
One way or another, life just off the coast of California is about to change.
We’re Heading Straight for a Demi-Armageddon
What happens when we do something—but not enough—to stop climate change?
The Enormous Hole That Whaling Left Behind
The mass slaughter of whales destroyed far more than the creatures themselves.
Steel Is Back
Why a new U.S.-EU trade arrangement about steel is surprisingly important