The Key to California’s Survival Is Hidden Underground
[ad_1] Water is urban planners’ nemesis. Because the built environment is so impervious to liquid, thanks to all that asphalt, concrete, and brick, water accumulates instead of seeping into the…
2022 Wasn’t the Hottest on Record. That’s Nothing to Celebrate
[ad_1] Asia had its second warmest year on record. On April 30, temperatures reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit in Jacobabad, Pakistan—unseasonably early for the region. When summer came around, heat waves…
What This Fearsome Weapon Reveals About Early Americans
[ad_1] Perhaps, as Davis and other archeologists suggest, those people came from northeast Asia by boat, moving south along the Pacific coastline and setting up camps along the way. “The…
The Climate Struggle Literally Hit Home in 2022
[ad_1] That transition to an all-electric life—no more gas stoves or water heaters, either—will also create jobs. One estimate reckons that the IRA will create nearly a million per year over a…
Wine Is Getting Pricier Thanks to a Logistical Nightmare
[ad_1] A fine wine can be a lot of things: oaky, fruit-forward, maybe even chewy. But wines of recent vintage also have the bouquet of a logistical nightmare, due to…
Bio-Based Plastics Aim to Capture Carbon. But at What Cost?
[ad_1] It’s the year 2050, and humanity has made huge progress in decarbonizing. That’s thanks in large part to the negligible price of solar and wind power, which was cratering even…
The Grim Origins of an Ominous Methane Surge
[ad_1] That is, as we polluted less—heavy industry spun down, flights got canceled, people stopped commuting—we also produced less of the pollutant that normally breaks down methane. It’s a second…
Americans Are Moving Into Danger Zones
[ad_1] Clark also found that Americans are moving away from places prone to fleeting heat waves, like the Midwest, yet are flocking to areas with consistently higher summer heat, like…
The Planet Desperately Needs That UN Plastics Treaty
[ad_1] This week in Uruguay, scientists, environmentalists, and government representatives—and, of course, lobbyists—are gathering to begin negotiations on a United Nations treaty on plastics. It’s only the start of talks, so…
Tiny Aerosols Pose a Big Predicament in a Warming World
[ad_1] Fossil fuels are rapidly warming the planet, and the aerosols from their combustion kill millions of people each year. So we need to rapidly decarbonize. But in an ironic…
Your Phone Can Determine If a Bridge Is Busted
[ad_1] Because you’re a very responsible person who doesn’t text and drive, when you roll over a bridge your smartphone is stuck to the dash, where it is perhaps giving…
Scientists Are Uncovering Ominous Waters Under Antarctic Ice
[ad_1] It’s not a tremendous amount of melt per square foot. But over an area that’s the size of two large European countries, that scales up. “What we concluded is…
The World Is Drowning in Plastic. Here’s How It All Started
[ad_1] In the early 2010s, brands began phasing out the plastic microbeads they’d been adding to toothpaste and face scrubs to boost their scrubbing power. Some of these products contained…
Rats Are Invasive Menaces. These Cameras Spy on Them
[ad_1] Off the coast of Southern California, amid a literal sea of troubles—warming waters, microplastic pollution, overfishing—is a 96-square-mile conservation success story. Santa Cruz Island once teemed with feral pigs…
If You Don’t Already Live in a Sponge City, You Will Soon
[ad_1] Like anything else, water is great in moderation—urbanites need it to survive, but downpours can flood streets and homes. And as you might have noticed, climate change isn’t good…
Cities Need More Native Bees—Lots and Lots of Them
[ad_1] The goal of this scientific project is to better understand which native bees are pollinating which crops in these community spaces, and how gardeners can attract and protect them.…
The Mediterranean Sea Is So Hot, It’s Forming Carbonate Crystals
[ad_1] It’s also worth noting that the Mediterranean Sea is one of the most microplastic-polluted water bodies in the world: In 2020, scientists reported finding 2 million particles in a…
Lawns Are Dumb. But Ripping Them Out May Come With a Catch
[ad_1] But overall, says University of California Berkeley innovation designer Ian McRae, who studies climate resilience in the built environment, lawns are an inefficient way to cool a green space,…
Rurbanization: It’s Time to Make Cities More Rural
[ad_1] Those calculations focus primarily on the emissions from heavy machinery and long-distance trucking and shipping. But Elizabeth Sawin, founder and director of the Multisolving Institute, which promotes interventions that…
Humanity Is Doing Its Best Impression of a Black Hole
[ad_1] The one thing that all human civilizations have in common is that they end. For 10,000 years or so, that’s been the common factor. You can make an argument…
Greenland’s Melting Glaciers Spew a Complicated Treasure: Sand
[ad_1] That sediment is special, indeed. Desert sand from, say, the Sahara is no good for making concrete because it’s too rounded and uniform. Over millennia, winds push those grains…
The Long, Leguminous Quest to Give Crops Nitrogen Superpowers
[ad_1] If crops could feel envy, it’d be for legumes. Bean plants have a superpower. Or more accurately, they share one. They’ve developed symbiotic relationships with bacteria that process atmospheric…
These Trees Are Spreading North in Alaska. That’s Not Good
[ad_1] In the summer of 2019, Roman Dial and his friend Brad Meiklejohn hired a single-engine bush plane out of Kotzebue, on the northwest coast of Alaska. Even those wings…
How the Huge New US Climate Bill Will Save You Money
[ad_1] Today President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, a massive bill that represents the biggest investment in climate action in US history. It puts nearly $400 billion toward…
This Laser-Firing Truck Could Help Make Hot Cities More Livable
[ad_1] When you go on a road trip, you pack snacks and drinks and make sure you have good music to queue. Climate scientist Katia Lamer, on the other hand,…