Global warming

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.

A giant avalanche has buried a town behind a 40 foot wall of snow

Oh, and did we mention it’s covering the only road out of town? And that the snow has dammed up the river behind it, creating a giant lake? The series of avalanches first began along Richardson Highway on Friday morning, trapping the 4,000-person town of Valdez, Alaska behind a 40-foot wall of snow covering over…

The U.S. is helping China’s smog reach all the way back to America

China may be the world’s leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, but newly published findings show that much of the country’s pollution is generated by the manufacture of goods for other nations, including the U.S. The irony: Pollution wafting overseas from China has a sizable impact on air quality along America’s West Coast. https://gizmodo.com/chinas-air-pollution-as-seen-from-space-1482191912 Top…

Watch 60 years of global warming in 15 seconds

NASA has released a new visualization showing how global temperatures have risen since 1950. It’s pretty much what you’d expect given that the level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is currently higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years. This visualization was put together by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).…

62 Years of Global Warming in One Terrifying GIF

If you’re on the East Coast you might be getting some snow today, but rest assured the globe is getting warmer by the year. A lot warmer. See for yourself. This visualization from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies was just updated with new data from 2013, which tied for the hottest year since 1880…

Of Course, China’s Bad Air Is Polluting the West Coast

The latest fear-mongering study about pollution in China has arrived, and it’s frightening. According to a new paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, bad air in China is blowing across the Pacific and polluting the West Coast. Scary! Well, not really. It’s hardly a surprise that dirty air from China could become…

New Climate Study Warns of More Frequent El Ninos in the 21st Century

A study published today in the journal Nature Climate Change warns that climate change will cause a dramatic increase in El Nino weather events during the 21st century. Formerly happening once every 20 years or so, we can now expect an El Nino once every 10 years. An El Nino occurs naturally when the temperature…

The World’s Biggest Global Warming Offenders, Visualized

New calculations show that the US, China, Russia, Brazil, India, Germany and the UK were responsible for more than 60 per cent of global warming between 1906 and 2005. Here, those numbers are visualized so it’s plain for all to see. The new research was carried out by Damon Matthews of Concordia University in Montreal,…

Manholes In D.C. Are So Full of Methane They’re Ready to Explode

Washington, DC may not really have been built on a swamp, but it can’t escape the swamp gas. Scientists just published a survey that maps a whopping 5,893 natural gas leaks in the city’s aging pipelines. But the most explosive news? They found a dozen manholes with enough methane in them to explode. A small…

Scientific Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming: A Pie Chart

In reviewing more than 2,000 peer-reviewed publications, authored by over 9,000 authors between November 2012 and December 2013, geochemist James Powell found just one author who rejected global warming. Writes Powell, inviting others to replicate his findings: Anyone can repeat as much of the new study as they wish—all of it if they like. Download…

‘Amateur paleontologist’ Newt Gingrich says global warming is A-OK

Speaking on CNN’s Crossfire last night, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich argued that a hotter planet may be just fine — because dinosaurs and perpetual Caribbean vacations. Describing himself as an “amateur paleontologist,” [ahem] Gingrich rhetorically asked Crossfire co-panelist Van Jones what the right temperature of the planet should be. “Assume for a minute that…

Not even the deepest sea creatures will escape climate change

Climate models are now predicting a “staggering” catastrophe for deep sea marine life — a stark warning that even our planet’s most remote ecosystems are not immune from the ravages of climate change. The new study, led by the National Oceanography Centre, used various climate models to predict changes in food supply throughout the world’s…