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Climate Climate & Energy

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  • Totally plausible water solution: Collect ice in the desert

    Look, it's very simple. All you need to solve the water shortage is a giant metal leaf that you put in the desert and it uses solar power to grow ice. Then you drink the ice. How is this difficult? Okay, this is not completely for real. The leaf's creators don't think it will singlehandedly […]

    Jess Zimmerman Climate & Energy

  • Cartoon penguins: Biggest threat to children since SpongeBob

    I'm sorry, I will never get sick of right-wing wig-flipping over children's entertainment. Apparently anything but VeggieTales is Marxist indoctrination to some people — and what with Big Government pushing healthy eating, it's not long before a wholesome Christian message isn't enough to keep talking vegetables conservative-friendly.  You'll remember, of course, the "Fox & Friends" […]

    Jess Zimmerman Climate & Energy

  • XKCD illustrates the cost of electricity

    The webcomic XKCD usually has pretty stripped-down images, and saves its complexity for the jokes. But when creator Randall Munroe gets his hands on some data, he can make an infographic you could get lost in. The above (click to embiggen) is just a tiny section of his epic chart comparing how much money gets spent […]

    Jess Zimmerman Climate & Energy

  • Secret Antarctic mountains will help us understand Earth’s climate history

    Deep underneath the Antarctic ice sheet are the Gamburtsev mountains, a mountain range the size of the Alps. Scientists are finally piecing together the story of their creation, destruction, and re-creation, and it could help with modeling future climate conditions. The original Gamburtsev mountains, kicked up by continental drift, were eroded down to the root […]

    Jess Zimmerman Climate & Energy

  • Superstorm hits Alaska

    When the National Weather Service calls a storm "epic," you know something big is going down. (Or that the National Weather Service employs a lot of 20something copywriters, I guess, but in this case it's the former.) The storm currently sweeping over Alaska is going to be one of the most severe Bering Strait storms […]

    Jess Zimmerman Climate & Energy

  • Climate change solves missing persons case

    Texas woman Brenda Kay Oliver has been missing since July 12, 2008, when she disappeared without a trace. Now her beige 1999 Chevrolet Monte Carlo has been discovered in a drought-lowered lake in Martins Mill, Texas. Investigators don’t believe foul play was a factor in her death. But you don't need a smoking gun to […]

    Christopher Mims Climate & Energy

  • Interactive graphic shows just how few resources are left

    Scientific American has put together an interactive feature where you can watch resources disappear before your very eyes. The dates for when things will "run out" are a little fuzzy — they've got animals pretty much running out five minutes from now, even though they're endangered but not extinct. But there are informative videos, and […]

    Jess Zimmerman Climate & Energy

  • Occupy Wall Street moves to bike power

    Now that their gas generators have been seized, Occupy Wall Street is switching to a greener option: human power. Generator bikes can provide 100 hours of power per six hours of pedaling, which helps fuel OWS needs like heat, light, phones, and laptops. As you might have guessed from subtle messages in the above film, […]

    Jess Zimmerman Climate & Energy

  • Critical List: Chances are we’re experiencing climate extremes already; BPA taints receipts

    There's a "2-in-3 probability" that we're already experiencing worse climate extremes, thanks to climate change. Nebraska lawmakers are starting to consider a new route for Keystone XL today. Apparently the Center for Biological Diversity is "virtually alone" in linking population growth and environmental problems. (Apparently New York Times reporter Mireya Navarro hasn't been reading Grist.) […]

    Sarah Laskow Climate & Energy

  • Watch a climate satellite get launched

    NASA's new weather satellite — which in typical NASA acronym-happy fashion, is called the NPP, standing for NPOESS Preparatory Project, standing for National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System — is a state-of-the-art way to measure climate impacts. The satellite will monitor ozone levels, temperatures, vegetation cover, ice cover, air pollution, and other effects of climate change, […]

    Jess Zimmerman Climate & Energy