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Articles on Climate

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The fossil deposits at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles have well-preserved remains of many prehistoric animals that got stuck in natural asphalt seeps over the past 60,000 years. Cullen Townsend, courtesy of NHMLAC

A changing climate, growing human populations and widespread fires contributed to the last major extinction event − can we prevent another?

New findings from the La Brea Tar Pits in southern California suggest human-caused wildfires in the region, along with a warming climate, led to the loss of most of the area’s large mammals.
Language is an ecological phenonemon which responds and evolves with environmental change just as much as environments change with language. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

How language can turn down the temperature of heated climate change discourse

Language is adaptive, self-balancing and evolves with environmental change. Understanding this may be the key to developing more nuanced climate change discourse.
A young boy in Lebanon struggles to stay cool during a heat wave. Climate anxiety is real for millions around the globe and presents serious consequences for us all, especially younger generations. Working to reduce climate anxiety is an essential part of any climate plan. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Reducing eco-anxiety is a critical step in achieving any climate action

Climate anxiety is real and must be considered as a core component of any climate mitigation or adaptation and resilience strategy.
Retrofitting apartment buildings for energy efficiency and solar power can boost affordable housing and climate protection. AP Photo/Steven Senne

Using green banks to solve America’s affordable housing crisis – and climate change at the same time

Massachusetts is establishing the first US green bank dedicated to sustainable affordable housing. Three experts in climate finance explain why better housing can help rein in global warming.
What strategies are the best to make forests more resilient and better adapted to new climate conditions? (Claude Villeneuve)

Can the boreal forest be used to concretely fight climate change?

Can planting trees help us solve the climate crisis? Probably, but to what extent?
Terminus of the Recherchebreen glacier in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, about 760 miles from the North Pole. Arterra Picture Library/Alamy

The melting Arctic is a crime scene. The microbes I study have long warned us of this catastrophe – but they are also driving it

To fully understand the extent of climate-related dangers the Arctic – and our planet – is facing, we must focus on organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye.
The search for a balance in meeting human needs within the limits of the environment is a perennial challenge in the history of humanity. (Shutterstock)

Is it possible to measure sustainable development?

Is it possible to measure sustainable development? Can we go beyond merely embracing virtuous principles and put the concept into use?
Power plants contribute a quarter of the United States’ climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Howard C via Getty images

EPA’s crackdown on power plant emissions is a big first step – but without strong certification, it will be hard to ensure captured carbon stays put

Fossil fuel power plants can avoid most emissions by capturing carbon dioxide and pumping it underground. But to be a climate solution, that carbon has to stay stored for thousands of years.
Satellite image of a forest fire in July 2021 in northern Saskatchewan (Wapawekka Hills). The image covers an area of about 56 kilometres in width and is based on Copernicus Sentinel data. (Pierre Markuse), CC BY 2.0

Forest fires: North America’s boreal forests are burning a lot, but less than 150 years ago

North America’s boreal forests have been burning a lot, probably more and more over the past 60 years. Yet the long-term trend indicates that they are burning less than they were 150 years ago.
Diazotroph (Trichodesmium) bloom in the Coral Sea, captured on 1 September 2019 by the Landsat 8 satellite. The interaction between the physics and biology of the ocean is manifested in these green filaments that snake through the currents. Joshua Stevens/NASA

Climate: modelling micro-algae to better understand the workings of the ocean

The ocean absorbs a quarter of the CO₂ emitted by humans, thanks in particular to phytoplankton, including diazotrophs. Knowing how to model them is crucial to understanding the ocean’s role in climate.

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