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A fraction of oil and gas profits would fund methane emissions cuts, global energy agency says

Aug 7, 2023
IEA advises investing in facilities to reduce the potent greenhouse gas. The U.S. government is already funding such programs.
Methane, a greenhouse gas invisible to the naked eye, is one of the biggest contributors to global warming.
David McNew/Getty Images

Big banks are succeeding at turning a profit, struggling to meet climate commitments

Apr 27, 2023
Two recent studies show the biggest banks are still not doing enough to meet the goals of the Paris Climate agreement.
If banks over-invest in fossil fuels, "They're going to suffer consequences in terms of profitability later on," said UC Santa Cruz professor Galina Hale.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Amid dire climate change projections, a new book argues that hope still matters

Apr 24, 2023
Well-known author Rebecca Solnit co-edited “Not Too Late,” which argues we shouldn't view climate change as a battle we've already lost.
"Not Too Late," said co-editor Rebecca Solnit, is "a toolbox to equip people with the ideas, the hope, the confidence, the context, to go out and do something."
Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images

Climate change is impacting the Panama Canal — and the trade that moves through it

Sep 5, 2022
Officials are searching for a way to increase the flow of water without disrupting the environment and Panamanian society.
Freighters enter the Panama Canal on the Atlantic side. As droughts and storms become more common, the canal needs to find fresh sources of water and new ways to store it. 
Searagen/Getty Images

As wildfire disasters multiply, evacuation planning lags

Aug 8, 2022
Fires are unpredictable. They can spark anywhere, grow to any size and move in any direction, says Caroline Mimbs Nyce of The Atlantic.
Evacuated residents watch a fire burn a hillside in California. Wildfires are a relatively new form of disaster, says Caroline Mimbs Nyce, a staff writer at The Atlantic. "There's no playbook."
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. schools are rebuilding on safer ground to combat flooding and climate change

Jul 18, 2022
Thousands of schools are located in areas subject to flooding, a Pew study says. Rebuilding puts schools in competition for safer land.
Needing to rebuild and re-purchase supplies after a flood can be very expensive for schools and their communities, said Matt Casale with the Public Interest Research Group. Above, volunteers clean a school in Houston after flooding from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. 
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Thirty countries agree to methane emissions cuts to protect the climate

Oct 13, 2021
Pound for pound, it's 28 times better at trapping atmospheric heat than CO2.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (L) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) participate in a news conference about the Senate vote on methane regulation outside of the U.S. Capitol on April 28, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

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Could the history of cooling help us understand global warming?

Jul 7, 2021
Air conditioning makes individuals cooler, but the planet hotter. Writer Eric Dean Wilson explores that paradox in his new book.
Workers install an air conditioning unit in a food stall in Shanghai in 2013. In a new book called "After Cooling," writer Eric Dean Wilson wrestles with the societal costs of individual air conditioning.
Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

NOAA releases warmer climate "normals" for the U.S.

May 4, 2021
The new baseline temperatures are a reflection of climate change.
Climate change is acting as a headwind for agriculture, slowing down productivity growth, according to one expert.
David McNew/Getty Images

Spending, relief bill phases out planet warming refrigerants

Dec 28, 2020
Whenever a polluting product gets phased out, a cleaner one has to be sold by somebody.
The COVID-19 relief package includes legislation to phase out a polluting chemical coolant known as HFC.
Scott Heins/Getty Images