Climate

Emerging Services Aim to Link Climate to Disasters in Real Time

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NEW ORLEANS—Scientists are getting faster and faster at linking climate change to extreme weather events. If an extreme heat wave, storm or flood occurs tomorrow, scientists could determine in a few days whether it was made worse by climate change. That has some scientists thinking: Why not do it for every disaster as soon as … Read more

Tweaks to U.S. Christmas Trees Could Help Them Survive Climate Change

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Mounting pressure from extreme weather events and lethal diseases—both exacerbated by climate change—threatens to assail U.S. Christmas tree–growing regions and slash production. To help defend these cherished trees and the farms that raise them, researchers are mapping conifer genomes and exploiting the natural characteristics of species that grow outside the U.S. to identify and breed … Read more

It’s Not Actually Size That Determines How Deadly a Meteor Is

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We have a lot to thank meteorites for. Had they not instigated several mass extinction events, including wiping out non-avian dinosaurs, we probably wouldn’t be here today. But some things still don’t add up about the massive scale of decimation they can cause.   “For decades scientists have puzzled over why some meteorites cause mass … Read more

Glimpse of The Future as La Niña Raises Sea Levels in Western Pacific by Up to 20 cm

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Severe coastal flooding inundated islands and atolls across the western equatorial Pacific last week, with widespread damage to buildings and food crops in the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands.   On one level, very high tides are normal at this time of year in the western Pacific, and … Read more

Scorching Siberian Heatwave Confirmed as Hottest Arctic Temperature Ever Recorded

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The UN on Tuesday officially recognized the 38 degrees Celsius measured in Siberia last year as a new record high for the Arctic, sounding “alarm bells” over climate change. The sweltering heat – equivalent to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit– was seen on June 20, 2020 in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk, marking the highest temperature ever … Read more

How Does Climate Change Affect Deadly Tornadoes? A Scientist Explains

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The deadly tornado outbreak that tore through communities from Arkansas to Illinois on the night of 10-11 December 2021, was so unusual in its duration and strength, particularly for December, that a lot of people including the US president are asking what role climate change might have played – and whether tornadoes will become more … Read more

Don’t Look Up review: the funniest climate change movie so far

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By Rowan Hooper NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX The Netflix disaster-satire film Don’t Look Up is a thinly-veiled metaphor for humanity’s haphazard efforts to tackle climate change, told through the story of a giant comet that’s on a collision course with Earth. New Scientist podcast editor Rowan Hooper reviewed Don’t Look Up with the help of Emily Atkin, … Read more

The Holiday ‘Buying Season’ Can Have a Catastrophic Cost, And Not to Your Wallet

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As extreme weather events in Canada and around the world are linked to human-made climate change, there is one story that continues to be left out: the connection between climate change and the products we purchase.   Recent research shows that across a product’s life cycle – from raw material extraction through manufacturing, distribution, use … Read more