Climate change

New research suggests geohacking would be a catastrophically bad idea

In order to get our warming climate under control, some forward thinkers say we should deploy any number of geoengineering schemes. But as the latest computer models show, these efforts would not only be futile — they’d probably result in a complete disaster. https://gizmodo.com/10-ways-geoengineering-could-save-the-world-5959069 Geoengineering techniques include such things as reflecting sunlight from space, ocean…

Are you a “Global Warming Nazi”? Probably (according to this man).

Roy Spencer – a climate-scientist-cum-climate-denier who does not believe in anthropogenic climate change – says that people who label climate deniers “climate deniers” will “kill far more people than the Nazis ever did,” and should be labeled, accordingly, “global warming Nazis.” Because that all sounds pretty reasonable, right? “They indirectly equate (1) the skeptics’ view…

The Great Lakes Experience Their Deepest Freeze in 20 Years

For the first time since 1994, 88% of the surface of the Great Lakes has frozen solid. The image above, like the image of the lakes we posted earlier this week, is a true-color image, which can make it difficult to discern ice from snow and clouds. In the image below, NASA’s Aqua – an…

10 More Viral Photos That Are Actually Total Fakes

The internet can be a tough place to distinguish fact from fiction. Who has time to fact-check all those beautiful, weird, and sometimes horrifying pictures? Well, we do. Today we have ten more images you may have seen tossed around on social media recently. And all of them are lying to you. 1) Is this…

Watch the ice in the arctic disappear over the last 25 years

With the incredibly frosty temperatures we’ve been having this year, it’s easy to imagine that the melting ice might be getting a temporary reprieve — until you watch this video of the arctic ice shrinking over the last few decades, that is. https://gizmodo.com/this-polar-vortex-graphic-is-the-most-upsetting-map-of-1526119904 Temperatures are frosty enough that much of the melted ice refreezes in…

This polar vortex graphic is the most upsetting map of the winter

Just how bad was this winter? Bad. Really, really bad as this terrifying visualization of global temperatures during these last few months shows. Top image: Visualization of the polar vortex this winter / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center with video and images courtesy of NASA/JPL NASA put together this look at the record-breaking cold temperatures…

High school student’s argument for ammonia-fueled cars is awesome

Carbon emissions from cars and other vehicles are a huge part of what is driving current climate changes. Now a high school student has made a passionate argument for ammonia-fueled cars, and he even got it published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Doo Won Kang is a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School…

The great lakes are now frozen enough for a plane to land on the ice

Just how frozen are the great lakes right now? Frozen enough that a plane was able to successfully land on the deeply frosted over waters of Lake Huron today. While flying over Lake Huron today, a pilot of a seven-passenger aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing when the engine stalled. The plane touched…

The terrible effect of one year of California’s drought seen from space

Here’s the effect of one entire year of drought in California, going from February 15, 2013, to February 16, 2014, as seen from NASA’s Terra satellite. It’s really scary to see the land die like this—especially after you read what NASA has to say about it. Note: The white spots at the bottom of the…

Watch Bill Nye debate climate change with a congresswoman

He started with evolution. Up next on the docket: climate change. Of course, in his last debate, Bill Nye’s opponent was a man best known for providing the world with life-sized dioramas of people hanging out with dinosaurs. This time his opponent was a six-term Republican congresswoman. https://gizmodo.com/watch-bill-nye-debate-the-creation-musum-live-right-1516136046 “What we need do is to look…

Watch Bill Nye Debate Climate Change With a Denier

Because, obviously, this is gold. Pure gold. As he points out, you don’t need a PhD in climate science to understand what’s going on here. We love you, Bill. But also, maybe stop giving these loons such a big soap box? [YouTube]

The United States’ weird January weather, summarized in a single map

January was a month of extremes for the continental United States. Pretty much everywhere east of the Rockies endured unusually cold conditions, while most regions west of the range experienced record-breaking warmth (most notably in California, where a devastating drought recently extended into its 13th month). https://gizmodo.com/theres-a-polar-vortex-sweeping-across-america-and-i-1494961441 https://gizmodo.com/californias-terrifying-drought-summed-up-in-two-satel-1506989095 According to Mashable, The divide between East…

A climate map showing every Winter Olympics ever!

Climatologists over at NOAA have mapped out the weather patterns hitting the host cities during the Winter Olympics since their beginning — and, big surprise, the Winter Olympics are heating up, with Sochi among the warmest of the last century. Here it is in more detail: The global rise in temperature could mean that the…

These maps show where species will have to go as climate changes

As our planet warms, certain plants and animals will no longer be able to live in their accustomed locations. By tracking a half-century’s worth of data, scientists from CSIRO have determined where these species will need to go to find new homes. The new research, which was just published in Nature, shows how fast and…

11 Alarming Weather Flukes That Happen When it Gets Really Cold

It’s been a bit nippy out lately. And by “a bit nippy,” I mean the world we once knew has been replaced by an ice-bound hellscape. On the plus side, this means we get to see some of nature’s weirder responses to extreme cold. Here are 11 strange things that happen when the temperature gets…

Would you take a 56-hour bus trip to shrink your carbon footprint?

A meteorologist is quitting flying to reduce his personal impact on climate change. The upside: A smaller carbon footprint. The downside: A trip from Atlanta to Wisconsin now takes him 56 hours. Eric Holthaus, after looking over his personal climate impact, found flying to be his single biggest cause of CO2 emissions. Just quitting flying…

It’s so freaking warm in Alaska that roads turned into rivers

NPR wasn’t kidding: Move to Alaska if you want to avoid the harsh winter in the rest of the US. Here’s proof: A road in Alaska flooded by snow melted by the high temperatures, 40 degrees above normal for this time of year. The temperatures are wreaking havoc in the Land of the Midnight Sun.…

How have the temperatures in your city changed over the years? A new interactive map over atNew Scientist called “Your Warming World” can tell you exactly how much, along with an accompanying graph, using data from NASA going all the way back to 1894.

Google Maps Now Comes with Climate Data

Well this is convenient. The University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit has made its global temperature data available for Google Maps. Dubbed “CRUTEM4,” the data allows Google Maps users to monitor how surface temperatures have changed over time, both globally and locally. Ars Technica’s John Timmer has more info: CRUTEM4 calculates what’s called a…

See How Climate Change Is Affecting Your Backyard With This Map

Climate change is a very real thing, but how is it affecting the area that you live in? Fortunately—or, perhaps, unfortunately—you can find out using this interactive map. Recently updated by New Scientist to roll in the most recent of NASA’s climate data, the map allows you to pin-point your location and see how temperatures…