Articles by Christopher Mims

Bangkok could be underwater by 2030

Ten million people live in Bangkok -- a metropolis more populous even than New York City -- and the ground beneath their feet is literally sinking into the ocean.

Texas' official water plan defiantly includes no mention of climate change

The last time Texas created a long-term water plan, in 2007, it conspicuously and controversially left out any mention of the effects of climate change on the state's water resources. In the midst of a drought of biblical proportions, one line from that report in particular stands out:

When considering the uncertainties of population and water demand projections, the effect of climate change on the state’s water resources over the next 50 years is probably small enough that it is unnecessary to plan for it specifically.

Cheap alloy could produce zero-carbon hydrogen from sunlight

An inexpensive combination of two metals common in the manufacture of computer chips can generate hydrogen from water, using only sunlight as an energy source. If the process can be made commercially viable -- and the simplicity and cost suggests it might -- it would mean yet another way to produce energy directly from sunlight, and a potential source of hydrogen for the kind of fuel cells that power both buildings and vehicles.

Peak coal in China means the country's desperate for renewables

China's economic miracle is under severe threat from up to 30 GW in power shortages -- that's more than twice the output of the Three Gorges Dam. Coal plants are shutting down as the cost of fuel outpaces the government-controlled price of electricity. Domestic shortages have driven the price of fuel up 75 percent since 2007, but the Chinese government limits electricity price increases to only 15 percent.