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EartherClimate Change
The Most Polluting State in the Northeast Just Took a Key Step Toward Curbing Its Dirty Ways
Thursday was a momentous day for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a carbon market that governs power plant emissions in nine states. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed an executive order entering the state into the agreement. In doing so, he immediately doubled the amount of carbon emissions regulated under the agreement. The order will … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
The Federal Attack on Science Has Reached a ‘Crisis Point,’ Damning Report Shows
Presidents have taken steps to breakdown the integrity of the science federal agencies produce, according to a new report. Under President Donald Trump, however, the situation has gotten a whole lot worse, reaching what the report calls “a crisis point.” New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice published the 72-page report Thursday, offering proposals for … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
Trump Administration Takes the Axe to Federal Marine Life, Invasive Species Advisory Boards
Donald Trump’s administration is moving to kill off two federal advisory boards dealing with the protection of marine life and management of invasive species, the Hill reported on Tuesday. As of Tuesday, the government defunded both the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee (part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the Interior Department’s … Continued
By Tom McKay -
EartherClimate Change
We May Have Been Thinking About a Carbon Price All Wrong
Putting a price on carbon is a key element of climate policy. The idea is simple: Carbon pollution is making the Earth uninhabitable, but companies have no incentive to stop polluting because they’re sociopathic. So slap a fee on every ton emitted, and it should (in theory) cause companies to find other, less polluting ways … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Worrying Report Shows Global Energy-Related Emissions May Increase Through 2050
During a pivotal moment in human history when we should be reducing global carbon emissions, a new report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) says that energy-related emissions will rise through 2050. The federal agency doesn’t expect most emission increases to come from countries like the U.S., though. In a report released Monday, it projects … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
What Would It Be Like to Live in an Era of Geoengineering?
Geoengineering is the bogeyman of climate policy, a word that calls to mind skies bleached sulphur white, dessicated crop fields, and dead zones expanding across the oceans. Humanity has a garbage track record when it comes to manipulating the environment so it’s not as if these fears are unfounded, but the reality is a little … Continued
Rebecca McCarthy -
EartherClimate Change
Your Favorite Snacks May Be Driving Deforestation in Ancient Indonesian Peatlands
Do you love Oreos? How about Pop-Tarts? Instant ramen? All these snacks—often staples in the American household—have become targets in the Rainforest Action Network’s (RAN) latest campaign against palm oil plantations. The organization published an investigation Sunday calling out major snack companies for their role in Indonesia’s deforestation crisis fueled by rising demand for palm … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
Massive Climate Strikes Erupt Worldwide for the Second Week in a Row
Last Friday, an estimated 4 million people turned out for a global climate strike. This week, millions more are at it again. What began last August with 16-year-old Greta Thunberg striking alone in front of the Swedish parliament has ballooned into a worldwide jolt of unrest. Young adults have mobilized, telling leaders that now is … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Nine Million Cubic Feet of Ice May Soon Collapse in the Alps
A glacier is on the verge of collapsing in the northwestern Italian Alps. This is yet another reminder of why global leaders need to take action to stop climate change. Now. Scientists monitoring the Planpincieux Glacier on the Grandes Jorasses Mountain sounded the alarm about the glacier Wednesday. Nine million cubic feet of ice is … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
‘There Is Not a Climate Crisis’: Trump Administration Spouts Brazen Bullshit to Justify Arctic Drilling
It’s no secret that the Trump administration is full of climate deniers. The Bureau of Land Management, however, has taken this denial to a new level by including language that both dismisses the climate crisis and even tries to paint it as positive in the final environmental impact statement to open the Arctic National Wildlife … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
‘Unprecedented Conditions’ Will Rule the Oceans This Century, Striking New Report Finds
Humans live on land, but it’s the watery parts of the planet that dictate our fate. The frozen ice at the poles and in high mountains and the vast swath of ocean that covers nearly three-quarters of the planet mean this place is primarily earth in name only. The ice—dubbed the cryosphere by scientists—and the … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
This Isn’t About Greta, Cowards
Greta Thunberg changed everything on Monday: She lit into the United Nations and then joined 15 other kids in filing a complaint against the world for screwing her life. What followed has been a predictable right-wing backlash. A Fox News guest called her a “mentally ill Swedish child” (she was diagnosed with Asperger’s, which she describes … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Hot Oceans Are Raising the Risk of Coral Bleaching Around the Globe
Seemingly every region of the world has been breaking temperature records these days. The oceans absorb much of this heat, and it’s threatening the world’s corals. Climate change is largely responsible for this crisis—or ourselves because, y’know, we caused this mess. Hawaii, in particular, is seeing its corals suffer this summer. Large parts of the … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
Arctic Sea Ice Hits Second Lowest Extent in Satellite Record
Arctic sea ice has reached its annual minimum. And according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), this year’s extent—1.6 million square miles—is the second lowest extent on record, trailing only 2012 when sea ice dropped to 1.37 million square miles. This year is tied with the minimums we saw in 2007 and … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
Trump Endures Nearly 15 Whole Minutes of UN Climate Summit
President Donald Trump showed up to the United Nation’s Climate Action Summit Monday—for about 15 minutes. The president wasn’t expected to show up at the international meetings at all, so his appearance was a surprise. Even if it was for 15 minutes, max. At least one journalist on Twitter said the president stayed as little … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
It’s Kids vs. the World in a Landmark Climate Complaint
UNITED NATIONS—On Monday, Greta Thunberg and 15 other young people filed a potentially world-changing climate complaint. On an abnormally steamy day in New York, when sweat built on the brows of the dark-suited diplomats funneling into the United Nations for a major climate summit, the group of teens cranked up the heat even further. They … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
The Swiss Just Held a Funeral for a Dead Glacier
With the second mourning ceremony for a melted glacier this year, perhaps 2019 will go down as the year of funerals for glaciers murdered by climate change. On Sunday, hundreds held a funeral for the Pizol glacier in Switzerland’s Glarus Alps. This is the first glacier in Switzerland to be removed from GLAMOS, the nation’s … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
UN Report Warns That Five Year Period Ending in 2019 Is Hottest on Record
Fresh off of a nationwide climate strike on Friday, a United Nations report published on Sunday shows that the five-year period ending at the close of the year (2015-2019) is slated to be the hottest of any five-year period on record. The paper, based on data compiled by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization, found that … Continued
By Tom McKay -
EartherClimate Change
‘This Is Only the Beginning:’ Young People Demand Justice at New York’s Climate Strikes
Earther is working with student journalists to cover Friday’s climate strikes. This story is part of a series of pieces showing the strike through their eyes. You can see previous coverage here. NEW YORK, NY—Picking up where climate strikes around the world left off, young people began to chant, “You had a future, and so … Continued
Michael Izquierdo -
EartherClimate Change
Friday’s Climate Strike Through the Eyes of a Student Photojournalist
Earther is working with student journalists to cover Friday’s climate strikes. This story is part of a series of pieces showing the strike through their eyes. Covering the global climate strike was unlike anything I have ever photographed before. This is one of the only times since I have been a photojournalist that the action … Continued
Lauren Hoffman