Large parts of Appalachia’s forests, once owned by coal companies, now make money for investors by storing carbon. But the results bring few jobs or sizable investments for residents.
A wildfire during hot, dry conditions in August 2023 destroyed Lahaina, Hawaii, and devastated Maui’s tourism industry – the heart of its economy.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Fed Chair Jerome Powell bristles at talk of managing climate change, but the damage it is doing the US economy is hard to ignore, as the latest National Climate Assessment shows.
Already, climate change plays out in all parts of the world. Every further increment of warming will bring rapidly escalating hazards, including more intense heatwaves and heavier rainfall.
Frank Jotzo, Australian National University and Mark Howden, Australian National University
A child born now is likely to suffer, on average, three to four times as many climate extreme events in their lifetime as their grandparents did.
The SAR team is looking for victims buried in an earthquake landslide in Cianjur Regency, West Java, Indonesia, November 24, 2022.
BETWEEN PHOTOS/Yulius Satria Wijaya/hp
COP conferences broadly provide a platform for the negotiation of international climate change agreements.
The main driver of climate change is the greenhouse effect – when certain gases in the Earth’s atmosphere trap the sun’s heat and cause global warming.
Richard Drury/Getty Images
A new international report on climate change finds rapid changes could cut emissions from transportation by 80% to 90%. Three behavior change trends could bring big improvements.
A pilot plant near the Salton Sea in California pairs lithium extraction with geothermal energy production.
Michael McKibben
Lithium is essential for batteries that power electric vehicles and store energy from solar and wind farms. A new U.S. source could provide 10 times more lithium than the country uses today.
Several countries, including Bangladesh, are facing increasing flooding as sea levels rise.
AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu
The damage from storms, droughts and sea level rise is in the news almost daily. Some money is flowing to help poor countries, but what isn’t clear is how much impact the funds are having.
In January 2015, a three-day rain displaced nearly quarter of a million people, devastated 64,000 hectares of land, and killed several hundred people in Malawi.
Ashley Cooper/Getty Images
The financial outcome of COP26 is a glass half full, but it’s not far from a failure.
Permaculture practitioners manage their gardens or farms in ways inspired by the sustainability and resilience of healthy natural ecosystems.
simonkr/E+ via Getty Images
Permaculture – a mashup of ‘permanent’ and ‘culture’ – is a way of doing agriculture that’s inspired by the resilience and biodiversity of healthy natural ecosystems.
Coastal communities in Vietnam are struggling to adapt to rising sea levels.
Jon Fitton/Shutterstock
New Zealand has announced a more ambitious pledge to cut emissions, but the commitment relies on buying credits from offshore. There is no system for doing this yet, or for ensuring genuine cuts.
Climate jargon can feel overwhelming.
Illustration by Dennis Lan/USC
Five aspects need attention if African governments are to be able to mitigate, adapt to and manage climate change in the coming critical decade.
Workers wait to enter a Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Logansport, Indiana. The plant had been closed after nearly 900 employees tested positive for the coronavirus.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Being able to identify communities that are susceptible to the pandemic ahead of time would allow officials to target public health interventions to slow the spread of the infection and avoid deaths.
President Donald Trump and other federal and state officials tour a mobile home and RV park on Nov. 17, 2018 in the wake of the Camp Fire.
Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP, Pool
Forest management is not a cure-all for wildfires, although it can help reduce the chances of massive burns. Making this happen will require broad collaborative efforts and more money.
Professor of Public Policy, Psychology and Behavioral Science, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences