Science - Inside Climate News

‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Helene Makes Landfall in Florida, Menaces the Southeast

By Amy Green — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 15:40:16 +0000

Forecasters warned of a 15- to 20-foot storm surge in Florida’s Big Bend region. Impacts were expected to be felt as far north as Atlanta and the Appalachian Mountains.

By Amy Green

Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend region with catastrophic and deadly winds and storm surge before menacing a vast swath of the Southeast.

Focus on the ‘Forgotten Greenhouse Gas’ Intensifies as All Eyes Are on the U.S. and China to Curb Pollution

By Phil McKenna — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 22:26:24 +0000

Emissions of the long-overlooked nitrous oxide gas are rising quickly. But proven, low-cost efforts to reduce emissions offer hope.

By Phil McKenna

NEW YORK—As scientists, policymakers and environmental advocates seek to accelerate efforts to address climate change, they’re zeroing in on a pollutant long considered the “forgotten greenhouse gas.”

Unprecedented Numbers of Florida Manatees Have Died in Recent Years. New Habitat Protections Could Help Them

By Amy Green — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The critical habitat in the state would expand to nearly 2 million acres in the first update since the West Indian manatee was protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1976.

By Amy Green

ORLANDO, Fla.—The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week proposed expanding habitat protections for ailing manatees, which in Florida have suffered in recent years through extraordinary habitat challenges that have left the sea cows emaciated and dying.

Baltimore Is Investing in Wetlands Restoration, a Climate Line of Defense

By Aman Azhar — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Wetlands restoration and shoreline rehabilitation efforts in South Baltimore promise to make communities resilient against climate change and severe weather while spawning new green spaces. Scientists say it’s a new science that needs careful and closer scrutiny.

By Aman Azhar

Brad Rogers and Brett Berkley stepped carefully on the gravel sill along the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River in South Baltimore, which when covered with sandy fill will serve as the bed for 11 acres of newly constructed wetlands.

A Walk in the Woods with My Brain on Fire: Summer

Text and photos by David Sassoon — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 09:10:00 +0000

In the past few centuries—a geologic instant—the unfathomably long and patient work of Earth is being undone.

Text and photos by David Sassoon

PLEASANT VALLEY, Mass.—It wasn’t long after dawn—still the cool of the day—but I could feel the weight of summer bearing down. The creek was barely trickling, the beaver pond stagnant. Few insects disturbed its gray surface. Even the birds in this Audubon sanctuary were laying low. I was probably the largest creature walking around these quiet woods, and it would soon be too hot for me to think about anything except reaching the ocean on a vacation still a few weeks in the future.

North America’s Biggest Food Companies Are Struggling to Lower Their Greenhouse Gas Emissions

By Georgina Gustin — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 08:55:00 +0000

A new analysis finds that companies relying on agricultural commodities are making some progress, but decarbonizing the food system is proving difficult.

By Georgina Gustin

Some of the country’s biggest food companies are making a small dent in their greenhouse gas emissions, but most are failing to make substantial and critical reductions, even as consumers and government regulators are pushing harder for them to do so.

‘Grim Outlook’ for Thwaites Glacier

By Bob Berwyn — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 23:05:00 +0000

A new science briefing from an international research team can’t rule out some of the worst-case sea level rise scenarios, including six feet by 2100.

By Bob Berwyn

After six years of probing, poking and sampling a Florida-sized chunk of ice in West Antarctica with submarines, satellites and drills, scientists with the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration said Thursday that a worst-case meltdown scenario still can’t be ruled out, since emissions of climate-heating greenhouse gases continue to set new records each year.

New Study Suggests Major Climate Reports May Be Underestimating Drought Risks

By Bob Berwyn — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 16:37:31 +0000

North America and Southern Africa, in particular, may endure longer dry spells than water managers expect, but research shows rising emissions magnifying both wet and dry extremes.

By Bob Berwyn

Droughts in the coming decades could be longer than projected by current climate models, a new study published Wednesday in Nature warns.

Low Boom, High Pollution? NASA Readies for Supersonic Test Flight

By Marianne Lavelle, Kiley Bense — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Critics say the U.S. space agency is helping to revive an extravagant, fuel-guzzling mode of travel that will worsen the climate crisis.

By Marianne Lavelle, Kiley Bense

At the end of the last century, a wealthy few lived the dream of flying faster than the speed of sound, crossing the ocean in champagne-and-caviar style in a needle-nosed jet called the Concorde.

The Key to Fix California’s Inadequate Water Storage? Put Water Underground, Scientists Say

By Caroline Marshall Reinhart — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

A new study finds that the state should replenish groundwater aquifers to sustain agriculture.

By Caroline Marshall Reinhart

A new University of California Riverside study on California agriculture and climate proposes a plan for new water capture, storage and distribution systems throughout California that will sustain agriculture and keep up with climate trajectories.