Climate Change

Climate change illustration
(Image credit: ParabolStudio | Shutterstock.com )

It's real. It's happening. It's accelerating. And it's our fault. Human activity — particularly the production of greenhouse gasses from fossil fuel emissions — is reshaping our planet, effecting rapid environmental change at a rate never seen before. Global temperature averages are creeping upward, seas are warming, rising and becoming more acidic, and extreme weather events such as droughts, wildfires, floods and powerful storms are more commonplace. Here's where you'll find the latest on the effects of climate change, and the measures that scientists, world leaders and innovators are taking to reduce our harmful impact on the planet and mitigate the damage already done.

Latest about Climate Change

A map showing sea surface temperatures as of April 13, 2023, with warm colors indicating higher temperatures.

The surface of the ocean is now so hot it's broken every record since satellite measurements began

By Stephanie Pappas published

The upper levels of the ocean have never been this hot. Blame the end of La Niña and the ever-present heating effect of climate change.

Yelling, crying koala clutching to a tree as a bush fire burns in the background.

World must act now to defuse 'climate time bomb,' UN scientists warn

By Ben Turner published

The UN's final IPCC report warns that drastic action must be taken immediately, but staving off disaster is within humanity's grasp.

Permafrost melts into the Kolyma River outside of Zyryanka, Russia in Siberia on July 4, 2019. In a new study, researchers looked for ancient viruses in several places in Siberia, including two rivers.

'Zombie' viruses have been revived from Siberian permafrost. Could they infect people?

By Joanna Thompson last updated

Researchers have isolated viable microbes from melting permafrost after tens of thousands of years. But don't worry; they infect only amoebas.

On Feb. 21, Antarctica's sea ice retreated to its lowest extent since satellite records began in 1979.

Antarctica's sea ice reaches its lowest level since records began, for the 2nd year in a row

By Harry Baker published

Antarctica's sea ice recently shrank to its lowest extent since satellite records began more than 40 years ago.

Cracks in the Thwaites Glacier of West Antarctica, which has the potential to contribute 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) of sea-level rise over several centuries, should it collapse.

Doomsday Glacier is melting slower than previously thought — but it's still in big trouble

By Stephanie Pappas published

Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, known as the Doomsday Glacier for the role its melt could play in global sea level rise, is melting more slowly than previously estimated, new research finds. But the glacier is still in trouble.

A polar bear on melting ice in Svalbard, Norway.

Which animals are most likely to survive climate change?

By Emma Bryce published

What animal species will survive projected future droughts, rising temperatures and habitat loss?

A woman looks at wildfires tearing through a forest in the region of Chefchaouen in northern Morocco on Aug. 15, 2021. One of the effects of global warming will be more heat waves in some areas, a risk factor for wildfires.

What are the effects of global warming?

By Alina Bradford, Stephanie Pappas last updated

Reference The effects of global warming will be far-reaching and often devastating, scientists have warned.

Reference
Concept illustration of Global warming/climate change. Half of the Earth is one fire, whilst the other half is not - all on a black background.

10 signs we got closer to climate disaster in 2022

By Tia Ghose published

Earth's climate is warming dramatically, and the signs are all around us, from vanishing glaciers to zombie viruses awakening in melting permafrost.

In this aerial view, icebergs and meltwater are seen in front of the retreating Russell Glacier on Sept. 8, 2021 near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.

Greenland's glaciers are melting 100 times faster than estimated

By Stephanie Pappas published

Scientists are getting a better handle on how fast Greenland's ice is flowing out to sea. Old models that used Antarctica as a baseline were way off the mark.

A research vessel travels through the Arctic Ocean in October 2015.

Surprising loss of sea ice after record-breaking Arctic storm is a mystery to scientists

By JoAnna Wendel published

Although models accurately predicted the evolution of the Arctic storm, scientists were surprised to see just how much sea ice thickness decreased in the storm's aftermath.

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