Brian Kahn, Author at Gizmodo

Coal Companies Are Sponsoring a Major Climate Conference in Poland Because This Is Our World Now

The world is set to meet in Poland next week to talk about how it can improve on the Paris Agreement and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The best way to do that is end the use of fossil fuels, so naturally the conference’s hosts have announced that coal companies will be partners. The United Nations…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Nov 28 '18

The White House Talking Points About the National Climate Assessment Are Demonstrably False

The White House tried to hide the National Climate Assessment by releasing it on Black Friday. That plan failed. Stories continue to surface and reporters continue to ask questions about the report’s stark findings. Unfortunately, those questions have been answered with lies. Republicans have trotted out the usual zombie climate denier talking points. But the…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Nov 27 '18

The Trump Administration’s New Climate Report Shows Just How Shortsighted and Dangerous Its Border Policies Are

The militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border is one of the defining aspects of the Trump administration. So is climate denial. The two have intersected uncomfortably in the past week. On Friday, the administration attempted to bury a major climate report that including a troubling look at how climate change could cause more human suffering and…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Nov 27 '18

‘Unprecedented’ Fire Conditions in Northeast Australia Force Hundreds to Evacuate Their Homes

It appears no corner of the planet is safe from wildfires. Queensland, Australia is dealing with a bizarre spate of bush fires in what’s normally the wet season, a setup that’s eerily reminiscent of recent conditions in Northern California. At least 70 fires are burning across the state, the largest of which has scorched more…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Nov 26 '18

TV News Allowed Republicans to Spew Unchecked Denial About Major New Climate Report

The Trump administration put out a major report on Black Friday warning of the deleterious effects climate change will have on the U.S. It was an obvious attempt to bury the findings, one that backfired spectacularly as the report garnered front page coverage. It also got the Sunday morning television treatment and that’s where things…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Nov 26 '18

Pacific Crabbers Are the First Big Industry to Sue Big Oil

In 2015, the crab pots sat empty and boats sat idle in small towns up and down the California coast. A wave of warm water—dubbed the Blob—had washed over the West Coast, bringing with it a toxic algae bloom that infected Dungeness crabs with a potent neurotoxin. The state closed the crab fishery, one of…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Nov 22 '18

The Most Vulnerable Nations on Earth Are Holding the World’s First Virtual Climate Summit

For French President Emmanuel Macron to address delegates at this Thursday’s Climate Vulnerable Forum, he would have to hop an 8,510-mile plane ride from Paris to Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Roundtrip, that would put 7.2 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Add in the prime ministers of Grenada, Niger, and Lebanon along with…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Nov 21 '18

The Camp Fire Is Creating California’s Next Housing Crisis

With each passing day, the number of structures destroyed by the Camp Fire rises. The fire is easily the most destructive in California’s history, unleashing a housing crisis of untold proportions. In the short-term, rents could spike, while over the longer term high costs could make any efforts to rebuild the devastated town of Paradise…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Nov 20 '18

Guatemala’s Volcan de Fuego Is Erupting Again, and the Photos Are Terrifying

One of Guatemala’s most violent volcanoes is back at it again. Less than six months after a major eruption killed more than 150, Volcan de Fuego roared to life in the early hours of Monday. Burbling lava and a towering ash cloud visible from space sent about 4,000 people scrambling for safety. Fuego has been…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Nov 19 '18

Rains May Help Fight the Camp Fire This Week—and Create a New Disaster

In what may be the first bit of good news in a while for Northern California, rain could be on the way by the end of this week. It could put the kibosh on the Camp Fire, ending one chapter of the deadliest and most destructive fire in California’s history. Unfortunately it won’t be all…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Nov 19 '18

The Camp Fire Forced Cal and Stanford to Postpone the Big Game

Going outside in the Bay Area now is like smoking a half pack of cigarettes due to smoke from the Camp Fire. Not exactly optimal conditions for peak athletic performance. Saturday isn’t expected to be much better, which has led Cal and Stanford to postpone their annual college football showdown. Dubbed the Big Game, it’s…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Nov 16 '18

The EPA Updated its Fracking Pages With Oil and Gas Industry Talking Points

Fracking opened up a whole new world of U.S. oil and gas production, along with a pandora’s box of impacts on the environment and climate. A reasonable person who wants to learn about those impacts might head over to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) extensive series of web pages covering the topic. But doing so…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Nov 16 '18

California Has the Most Toxic Air on the Planet Thanks to Wildfires

The Camp Fire is an unprecedented disaster in so many ways. Dozens are dead, hundreds are missing, thousands are homeless. But the immediate impacts of the flames are far from the only way it’s assaulting California. As a result of all the smoke, the state is currently home to the worst air quality on the…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Nov 16 '18

Half of the World’s Rain Falls In Just a Dozen Days a Year

When it rains, it pours. Tinder dates, job offers, and bad news all abide by this maxim. But it turns out that precipitation itself does, too. Heavy downpours have been on the rise thanks to climate change. But a new study in Geophysical Research Letters puts why that matters in context. It turns out that…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Nov 15 '18

NOAA’s New Pacific Satellite Has Sent Back Its First Glorious Images of Alaska and Hawaii

When GOES-17 launched, meteorologists’ hearts skipped a beat. The satellite offered a chance to view all of the U.S. in exceedingly high resolution, and with it, the weather forecasting possibilities were endless. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched the satellite in March, but it finally got it positioned in its permanent location late last…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Nov 15 '18

What Happens After an Entire Town Burns to the Ground?

Everyone who fled the Camp Fire has a story about when they knew things were going to be very, very bad on that fateful Thursday that the flames tore through the town of Paradise and the surrounding region. Jeremy Vesely’s came when the spot fire on the ridge above his newly-built home went from smokey to…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Nov 14 '18

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Spent Part of Her Congressional Orientation Demanding Bolder Climate Action From Nancy Pelosi

The new Congress is going to be a bit different than the old Congress. During an orientation week for new members of Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez showed up at Nancy Pelosi’s office. This in itself would not be news, except that she was joining protestors demanding more urgent climate action. Even before they took the House,…

Earther Brian Kahn Nov 13 '18

The Climate Is Basically Doomed If We Build the Fossil Fuel Infrastructure That’s Already in the Pipeline

Boiled down, climate change is a simple math problem. There’s a finite amount of carbon the world can chuck in the atmosphere and still have a stable climate. Each passing year we plunk more of it up there, the smaller the amount we have left to burn. That what makes the findings of a new…

Energy Brian Kahn Nov 13 '18

It’s Official: The Camp Fire Is Now The Deadliest in California’s History

The Camp Fire that overtook the Northern California town of Paradise last week quickly became the most destructive wildfire in state history. Now, with more than 42 dead and hundreds still missing, it is the state’s deadliest. The Camp Fire began on Thursday. Downed power lines likely sparked the blaze, but powerful winds and bone…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Nov 12 '18

Watch 40 Years of Icebergs Breaking off Antarctica

Iceberg mania briefly overtook the internet last month when NASA captured a rectangular freakberg. But icebergs are with us all the time, and there’s a new animation to help you celebrate them in all shapes and sizes. Climate visualization specialists Pixel Movers and Makers have taken more than 40 years of data on the migration…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Nov 12 '18

Brian Kahn

Coal Companies Are Sponsoring a Major Climate Conference in Poland Because This Is Our World Now

The White House Talking Points About the National Climate Assessment Are Demonstrably False

The Trump Administration’s New Climate Report Shows Just How Shortsighted and Dangerous Its Border Policies Are

‘Unprecedented’ Fire Conditions in Northeast Australia Force Hundreds to Evacuate Their Homes

TV News Allowed Republicans to Spew Unchecked Denial About Major New Climate Report

Pacific Crabbers Are the First Big Industry to Sue Big Oil

The Most Vulnerable Nations on Earth Are Holding the World’s First Virtual Climate Summit

The Camp Fire Is Creating California’s Next Housing Crisis

Guatemala’s Volcan de Fuego Is Erupting Again, and the Photos Are Terrifying

Rains May Help Fight the Camp Fire This Week—and Create a New Disaster

The Camp Fire Forced Cal and Stanford to Postpone the Big Game

The EPA Updated its Fracking Pages With Oil and Gas Industry Talking Points

California Has the Most Toxic Air on the Planet Thanks to Wildfires

Half of the World’s Rain Falls In Just a Dozen Days a Year

NOAA’s New Pacific Satellite Has Sent Back Its First Glorious Images of Alaska and Hawaii

What Happens After an Entire Town Burns to the Ground?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Spent Part of Her Congressional Orientation Demanding Bolder Climate Action From Nancy Pelosi

The Climate Is Basically Doomed If We Build the Fossil Fuel Infrastructure That’s Already in the Pipeline

It’s Official: The Camp Fire Is Now The Deadliest in California’s History

Watch 40 Years of Icebergs Breaking off Antarctica

CyberGhost VPN Practically Became FREE: This $1.75/mo Deal Made All VPNs Absurd

Some Unknown Group Is Reportedly Using Claude Mythos Without Permission

SpaceX Obtains Option to Buy Cursor for $60 Billion

The ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Reboot Snags an Exciting Director

Meta Plans to Turn Its Employees’ Clicks and Keystrokes into AI Training Data

Physicists Now Understand Why a Weird Quantum Gas Refuses to Heat Up

Watch the Lego ‘Project Hail Mary’ Set (Almost) Go to Space

Shark Glam Ceramic Multi-Styler Is Nearly Half the Price of Dyson Airwrap at an All-Time Low on Amazon

OpenAI Unveils New Image Generator to Usher in an AI Slop ‘Renaissance’

Xbox Game Pass Now Costs Less, but That Doesn’t Mean It’s a Good Deal

I’ve Tested a Lot of Bad Smart Glasses and These Are the Worst Yet

Roborock’s Qrevo Curv 2 Flow Is the Ultimate Robot Mop—If You Don’t Have Corners or Walls

Alienware’s $350 QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Nixes Everything for a Pretty Screen

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: A Perfect Case for Open-Back Gaming Headsets

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

The Soundboks Mix Is Going to Make You the Most Popular Guy at the Park

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go