Climate change

Climate change is moving the North pole and affecting Earth’s rotation

I thought I knew all the dreadful effects of climate change, but this new discovery has truly surprised me: “Climate change is causing the North Pole’s location to drift, owing to subtle changes in Earth’s rotation that result from the melting of glaciers and ice sheets.” The entire Earth is tilting because this change. One…

Welcome to the new, green Arctic

This image is based on satellite observations of the Arctic region over a 30 year period, starting in 1982. What it reveals, according to NOAA, is that the icy area around the north pole is getting greener. In the future, plants will thrive in former ice fields. The image shows changes in surface vegetation over…

Chemists discover a greenhouse gas that’s 7,100 times worse than CO2

Scientists from the University of Toronto have discovered a human-made chemical lurking in the atmosphere that’s an exceptionally long-lived greenhouse gas. Called perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), it’s a record-setting molecule that if left unchecked could have a profound impact on climate. Perfluorotributylamine, which has been in use by the electrical industry since the mid-2oth century, is the…

Here’s Carl Sagan’s original essay on the dangers of climate change

Ballantine has issued a shiny new edition of Sagan’s book Cosmos, with a foreword from Cosmos reboot host Neil deGrasse Tyson. We’ve got an excerpt, which reveals how deeply Sagan was concerned about climate change in 1980 when the book was originally published. With an introduction by original Cosmos series writer and producer Ann Druyan,…

How an Underwater Bomb in Australia Was Heard Around the World

In 1960, scientists did one of those experiments that just aren’t allowed anymore. For the sake of science, they blew up three 3oo-lb anti-submarine bombs off the coast of Australia. A listening station 10,000 miles away in Bermuda—on the exact other side of the planet—waited. And waited. And, about three and a half hours later,…

Shocking before and after photos show the effects of climate change

This is the Muir Glacier in Alaska, shot in August, 1941 and August, 2004. It’s only one example in NASA’s new Images of Change app. Seeing the unbelievable effect of just a few decades of climate change in the following before and after photos is a sad and sobering experience. Northwestern Glacier, Alaska, August 1940—August…

Once we start geohacking, we won’t be able to stop

Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is why geoengineering could save the world from the catastrophic effects of climate change. But a new study suggests that once we get started we won’t be able to stop — and that a sudden halt to our geoengineering efforts could be worse than never doing it in…

Every Weird-Looking Tree Should Get A Beautiful Time Lapse Like This

The Yucca brevifolia, or Joshua tree, only grows in the southwest U.S., mostly in the Mojave Desert, so a lot of people don’t even know about the spike-y and pipecleaner-y weirdo. And the Joshua tree population is declining due to environmental changes so filmmaker Sungjin Ahn wanted to make sure everyone could get a glimpse.…

The actual probability of Earth going to hell in the next few decades

We know that climate change is already affecting Earth’s weather in a major way, but we don’t exactly know how bad things are going to get. However, scientists have a pretty good idea of the probabilities of Earth going to hell in the next few decades. This video shows them. “We wanted to find a…

The coldest years now are warmer than the hottest years before 1998

“The coldest years now are warmer than the hottest years before 1998.” Those are the words of World Meteorological Organization secretary-general Michel Jarraud at the presentation of their latest report. The WMO report says that, looking at the data from January to September, 2013 will be the seventh warmest year in recorded climate history. The…

Skeptical climate blog shamefully downplays Super Typhoon Haiyan

Before the numbers were even in, the science denialist blog Watts Up With That began downplaying the size, strength, wind speeds, overall effects — and even death toll of Super Typhoon Haiyan — a ferocious storm that may have claimed as many as 10,000 lives. https://gizmodo.com/welcome-to-the-age-of-the-superstorm-1460773814 Above: Super Typhoon Haiyan as seen from space. Credit:…

Welcome to the Age of the Superstorm

Almost exactly one year after Hurricane Sandy hit the U.S. eastern seaboard, the strongest typhoon in recorded history has slammed into the Philippines. That’s two superstorms in two years. It’s the new normal, folks — and climate change is likely to blame. https://gizmodo.com/is-frankenstorm-the-result-of-climate-change-scientist-5955609 “Super Typhoon” Haiyan swept through the Philippines last night. Officials haven’t been…

This Is What Climate Change Looks Like

You’re looking at the Upsala Glacier on the Argentine side of the North Patagonian Icefield—or at least, some of it. Because this photo shows that the glacier is rapidly retreating as a result of climate change. Photographed by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, you can see the glacier on the right which is…

Watch the first trailer for James Cameron’s global warming documentary

The Avatar-director has teamed up with producer Jerry Weintraub and a cadre of celebrity correspondents to create Years of Living Dangerously – an eight-part documentary series on the human impact of global warming, to air on Showtime in 2014. “Everybody thinks that this is about melting glaciers and polar bears,” says Cameron about half-way through…

The effects of global warming have reached even the ocean deep. New analyses – published in the latest issue of Science – reveal that water temperatures a kilometer below the surface of the Pacific Ocean have warmed 15 times faster in the last 60 years than at any time in the last 10,000. [New Scientist]

How science fiction could get climate change right

We’ve all seen how terrible things can get when science fiction tries to tackle environmental issues. There’s The Day After Tomorrow, with its super ice-hurricanes, and The Host, starring fish monsters created by pollution. Still, there’s no reason you can’t have disaster porn and accurate representations of climate change at the same time. Here’s how.…

What will plant life look like after centuries of climate change?

Contrary to popular myth, climate change won’t create a barren planet. Instead, it’s likely to encourage the growth of certain plants — especially invasive species. University of British Columbia evolutionary ecologist Rob Colautti studied a typical invasive species called purple loosestrife (pictured above) to see how it had evolved to deal with changes in temperature…

A mammoth smokecloud envelopes Sydney harbor

Smoke from bushfires in the Blue Mountains advanced upon Australia’s largest city yesterday, looming low, thick and massive in the afternoon sky. Image: Rex/Phil Hillyard/Newspix Via New Scientist: Australia’s bushfires play an integral part in the ecology of the country. But climate change is causing them to worsen, along with other extreme weather such as…

Comment of the Day: Hybrid Mutant Shark Edition

In today’s comments, we envied the polite small-talk abilities of the marmoset, looked up at the heavens with a mixture of awe and suspicion, and learned one more reason to fear the deep: hybrid sharks. In response to this post, exposing a potential yeti as just a pretender to the throne ancient polar-brown bear hybrid,…

The EU on track to meet its 2020 climate goals

A recent report from the European Environment Agency, a watchdog group, confirms that several countries are making good on their promises to reduce emissions and switch over to green energy. The AFP reports: By the end of 2012, the EU had reduced its output of heat-trapping greenhouse gases by nearly 18 percent compared to the…