In this June 2017 photo, a coal barge is positioned as a backdrop behind U.S. President Donald Trump as he speaks during a rally in Cincinnati. A coal company executive said Trump personally promised to activate emergency legal authorities to keep dirty or economically uncompetitive coal plants from shutting down.
(AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Despite politically powerful coal communities helping elect a president who vowed guarantee their continued prosperity, their future remains more uncertain than ever.
It’s not just about the Great Barrier Reef. Queensland’s rainforests - particularly in the mountains - will also change thanks to a warming climate.
Shutterstock
The reality is that without human intervention, ecosystems will reshape themselves in response to climate change. The Queensland government has launched a climate plan for the state’s ecosystems.
A pod of narwhals (Monodon monoceros) in central Baffin Bay. Narwhals are the most vulnerable animals to increased ship traffic in the Arctic Ocean.
Kristin Laidre/University of Washington
Climate change is shrinking Arctic sea ice and opening the region to ship traffic. Whales, seals and other marine mammals could be at risk unless nations adopt rules to protect them.
Do events like the Global Action Climate Summit raise the profile of politicians like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio?
AP Photo/Eric Risberg
South Africa is a water stressed country but crisis point can be avoided.
A forest fire works its way through a wooded area in Saskatchewan in May 2018. High-income nations have benefitted enormously from fossil fuels and the wealthy should now foot the bill to combat climate change.
Joanne Francis/Unsplash
A wealth tax would put a price on past emissions and could be used to mitigate the negative effects of poverty, including vulnerability to climate change.
An Oregon wildfire in August 2018.
U.S. Forest Service - Pacific Northwest Region
Amazon, Facebook and Google have lofty goals for their effects on global society. But people around the world are still waiting for the positive results. Here’s what the tech giants could do.
The Amazon Basin creates the rain that nourishes farmland across Brazil, one of the world’s major breadbaskets.
Reuters/Bruno Kelly
Brazil’s president-elect wants to roll back environmental laws, saying they hurt rural growth. But preventing Amazonian deforestation has actually made farmland more productive.
Valero’s Benicia Refinery, less than 40 miles from San Francisco.
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
Leftover lactose from cheese production shows early promise as a treatment that can help soils retain water and nutrients, making them more resistant to drought.
The ocean absorbs about 90 percent of the excess heat produced as climate change warms the earth.
Image Catalog
According to a new study, the oceans have absorbed more heat from climate change than previously thought. This could mean the Earth will warm even faster in the future than scientists have predicted.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands with B.C. Premier John Horgan at a news conference where LNG Canada announced its decision to build an export facility in Kitimat, B.C.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
Burning natural gas produces less greenhouse gases than coal or oil. But the methane emissions associated with natural gas production and liquefaction threaten to erode its environmental benefits.
Biologists are gathering evidence of green algae (pictured here in Kuwait) becoming carbohydrate-rich but less nutritious, due to increased carbon dioxide levels. As science fiction becomes science fact, new forms of storytelling are emerging.
Raed Qutena
A study of the social cost of carbon emitted by the shrinking fleet of Texan coal plants suggests that closing more of them down would be good for the climate and public health.
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Jordan Fermanis, The Conversation; Justin Bergman, The Conversation e Dilpreet Kaur, The Conversation
Food fraud, the centuries-old problem that won’t go away
The Conversation55,8 MB(download)
Dairy farmers used to put sheep brains and chalk in skim milk to make it look frothier and whiter. Coffee, honey and wine have also been past targets of food fraudsters. Can the law ever keep up?
The renewable energy industry can also create jobs.
(David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca/flickr)