Climate Science
All Stories
-
![]()
![]()
Destroying dams could save a salmon species
Twenty years and $350 million after President George H.W. Bush first signed an act to restore Washington State's Elwha River, the process to bring down two gigantic dams has begun. That could save the Elwha’s population of salmon.
-
Critical List: China makes solar power cheap; U.K. fishing fleet wastes cod
China is making solar power cheap in order to drive solar growth.
Since 1963, U.K. fishing boats have tossed $1 billion worth of dead or dying cod overboard to keep within their quotas.
In Washington State, what The New York Times calls "the largest dam removal project in American history" will destroy two dams and help salmon regrow their population. -
![]()
![]()
The new abnormal: look who's talking about climate and weird weather
Journalists, experts, and The Onion offer different approaches to the conversation about connections between climate change and extreme weather.
-
![]()
![]()
Federal biologist who reported polar bear deaths now under (deeply weird) investigation
Back in 2006, Dr. Charles Monnett published an article that included observations about polar bear deaths in the Beaufort Sea. In the report, co-authored with another scientist, Monnett reported seeing four dead polar bears in 2004. Monnett works for the federal government, and this month he was put on administrative leave while the government investigates "integrity issues" connected to that report. Administrative leave means he has to put all current research on hold.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a watchdog organization, has formally complained about the investigation. In its complaint, the group includes portions of an interview the Department of the Interior inspector general conducted with Monnett. From the transcript, it appears that they were concerned about the method Monnett and his colleague had used to achieve a rough estimate of the mortality rate. The group writes that "it became clear that the IG agents were focused on what in their mind was a disparity but was, in fact, their inability to understand the note.”
And, if you read the transcript, the investigators do seem tangled up. Here's a sample: -
Critical List: How to support Tim DeChristopher; white dudes think they're smarter than science
Want to support Tim DeChristopher? Go to Washington in August to protest the Keystone XL pipeline. "Consider this your call to action," said Peaceful Uprising, the group DeChristopher founded.
BREAKING: Conservative white dudes (aka the Jim Inhofe Fan Club) are most likely to think they're smarter than science, i.e. doubt the existence of climate change.
In California, though, everyone -- even conservatives -- supports cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. -
![]()
![]()
Don't dam Atlantic fisheries to extinction
Removing abandoned river dams across the Northeast will revive Atlantic fisheries, boost East Coast economies, and help bring the ocean back to life.
-
![]()
![]()
Ice crisis: How disappearing glaciers devastate communities [VIDEO]
Upcoming documentary Glacial Balance shows the human consequences of glaciers receding faster than we'd like to think about.
-
![]()
![]()
Climate change already killing baby polar bears
Climate change isn't just killing polar bears, it's killing baby polar bears. YOU MONSTER.
A study that tracked polar bears swimming long distances found cubs that swam more than 30 miles at a time were more likely to die than cubs that didn't. Baby polars have a hard time making those swims because: -
Critical List: Melting Arctic ice pollutes; wind farm could kill bald eagles
Melting Arctic ice is releasing banned chemicals like DDT, which were trapped there back when they were legal.
Post-tornado clean-up in Joplin, Mo. is going slowly.
Can water heaters store energy captured by wind turbines and solar panels? A startup called GridMobility thinks so. -
![]()
![]()
Packing heat: Why violence boils over on a warming planet
Christian Parenti's new book, The Tropic of Chaos, traces the links between politics, economics, and climate change.
