Royal Dutch Shell Sets Border Carbon CO2 Emissions Goal
Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to eliminate all net emissions from its own operations and the bulk of greenhouse gases from fuel it sells to customers by 2050. The energy giant Continue Reading
Hospital Visits Declined After Sulfur Dioxide Reductions from Louisville-Area Coal Plants
By taking advantage of a “natural experiment” brought on by the closure of one coal-fired power plant and the addition of new pollution controls at others in the area, health Continue Reading
Climate change is forcing Norfolk, Va., and other waterfront communities to plan their retreat from the coasts
On Richmond Crescent in Norfolk, Va., more than a dozen homes rise in varying heights, forming a streetscape bar graph tracing the past decade’s increasing threat of flooding from an Continue Reading
Tornadoes Kill at Least 19 Across the South
At least 19 people died when tornadoes and severe thunderstorms tore across several Southern states Sunday and early Monday, knocking down trees, destroying homes and leaving about a million households Continue Reading
Aircraft emissions fall sharply as pandemic grounds flights FT analysis finds pollution around the world from planes down by almost a third
Aeroplane emissions fell by almost a third last month as the coronavirus lockdown grounded flights around the world, a drop in emissions equivalent of taking about 6m cars off the Continue Reading
Methane Emissions Hit a New Record and Scientists Can’t Say Why
Airborne methane levels rose markedly last year, according to a preliminary estimate published today by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The results show a dramatic leap in concentration of the second most-powerful Continue Reading
U.S. Slashes Carbon Emissions Forecast as People Stay Home
Greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, cars and other sources in the U.S. are forecast to decline by a whopping 7.5% this year as people use less energy amid a Continue Reading
Already Braced for Covid-19, Towns Watch the Rising Mississippi With Fear
From her home window, Belinda Constant, mayor of Gretna, Louisiana, watches the mighty Mississippi flow by. Beyond it are the sparkling lights of New Orleans. She views both warily these Continue Reading
Above-average Atlantic hurricane season predicted, including a possible major hurricane strike
After four active hurricane seasons — each of which featured at least one violent Category 5 storm in the Atlantic — experts at Colorado State University are predicting another active Continue Reading
COP’s Postponement Until 2021 Gives World Leaders Time to Respond to U.S. Election
At this year’s annual United Nations climate meeting, countries were expected to announce emboldened climate pledges and discuss another infusion of funds to help developing countries brace for coming climate Continue Reading
EPA loses case seeking modeling behind Obama mileage rollback
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was wrong to withhold information about how it devised its new fuel efficiency standards, a panel of judges ruled just a day after the Trump Continue Reading
Democrats push for green infrastructure provisions in next coronavirus package
Democrats are pushing for the next coronavirus package to include a litany of green infrastructure provisions in defiance of past GOP rebukes of mixing such measures with efforts to combat Continue Reading
Coronavirus Is Putting Europe’s Green Transition to the Test
Before the pandemic halted daily life and shattered economies, the European Union had set a course for a difficult re-invention. By 2050, the bloc had decreed, under the banner of Continue Reading
Coronavirus: When Meeting a National Emissions-Reduction Goal May Not Be a Good Thing
An mall in lower Manhattan on March 29, 2020, emptied out by the city’s shelter-in-place order imposed to combat Covid-19. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images The sudden drop in emissions tied Continue Reading
US rolls back fuel economy standard to 1.5% annual target, from 5%
The Trump administration Tuesday issued final fuel economy targets for 2021-26 model-year light-duty vehicles, rolling back the existing targets to an annual efficiency increase of 1.5% from 5%. Receive daily Continue Reading
Trump Chides ‘Foolish’ Car Executives After Easing Mileage Rules
President Donald Trump attacked automakers for the second time in a matter of days, chiding their “foolish executives” as his administration completed the final step of a three-year quest to Continue Reading
Abnormally warm Gulf of Mexico could intensify thunderstorm and hurricane seasons
Water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are running more than three degrees above average, increasing the prospects for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes this spring and potentially stronger hurricane activity Continue Reading
Three states push criminal penalties for fossil fuel protests amid coronavirus
Three states have moved toward enacting criminal penalties for protesting against fossil fuels amid the coronavirus pandemic. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) was the first to enact such a law, Continue Reading
New Trump mileage standards to gut Obama climate effort
President Donald Trump is poised to roll back ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards and raise the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come, gutting one of the Continue Reading
Trump Administration, in Biggest Environmental Rollback, to Announce Auto Pollution Rules
The Trump administration is expected on Tuesday to announce its final rule to roll back Obama-era automobile fuel efficiency standards , relaxing efforts to limit climate-warming tailpipe pollution and virtually Continue Reading
Study links air pollution to dementia and cardiovascular disease
People continuously exposed to air pollution are at increased risk of dementia, especially if they also suffer from cardiovascular diseases, according to a study at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the Continue Reading
Coronavirus Can’t Keep the World’s Climate Satellites Down
Here’s one thing that hasn’t changed because of the coronavirus pandemic: NASA and the European Space Agency keep delivering climate data from satellites, even as mission control headquarters empty and some scientists fall ill. The Continue Reading
Coronavirus Already Hindering Climate Science, But the Worst Disruptions Are Likely Yet to Come
A researcher assembles an automatic weather station. Credit: East Greenland Ice-core Project Along with temporarily reducing greenhouse gas emissions and forcing climate activists to rethink how to sustain a movement Continue Reading
Great Barrier Reef Hit By Mass Bleaching, Climate Council Says
Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef has suffered its third mass coral bleaching in five years, according to early results of aerial surveys over the World Heritage site. “I saw coral bleaching Continue Reading
Summer heat comes early for ERCOT as prices spike to $80s/MWh
Electric Reliability Council of Texas wholesale spot power prices have jumped higher than the five-year March average high as parts of the state hit 90-degree weather more than a month Continue Reading
Coronavirus Lockdown: Skies Clear in Rome, Paris and Madrid
Air pollution in some of Europe’s major cities has dropped dramatically since governments ordered citizens to stay home to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Readings from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P Continue Reading
Green Initiatives Almost Derailed The $2 Trillion Stimulus Bill
Oil prices crashed on Monday when the US Senate failed to reach a deal on the Stimulus Bill over the weekend. The idea was to quickly pass legislation that would Continue Reading
Citing virus, EPA has stopped enforcing environmental laws
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday abruptly waived enforcement on a range of legally mandated public health and environmental protections, saying industries could have trouble complying with them during the Continue Reading
Coal’s Demise Is Fueling A Wave Of Green Energy Solutions
The slow and painful death of the coal industry is creating some interesting new opportunities for green energy solutions, with industrious capitalists turning ex-coal-fired power plants into renewable energy hubs, Continue Reading
The Senate’s Stimulus Bill Is Full of Disappointments for Climate Advocates
There was hope among some climate activists in the U.S. that the federal stimulus to address Covid-19 might be the moment to both heal the economy and advance a long-overdue transition to clean energy. Whatever they’d envisioned, Continue Reading
How Scientists Say Diplomacy Has Helped Close the Ozone Hole
Diplomacy can fix large-scale harm done to the planet by industrial pollution. That’s the conclusion of new research published today in the journal Nature showing how skies above the Southern Hemisphere have recovered Continue Reading
A Plant in Florida Emits Vast Quantities of a Greenhouse Gas Nearly 300 Times More Potent Than Carbon Dioxide
A chemical plant owned by Houston-based Ascend Performance Materials emitted 33,046 metric tons of nitrous oxide in 2018. That’s equal to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 2.1 million automobiles. Continue Reading
Scientists just discovered a massive new vulnerability in the Antarctic ice sheet
NASA’s IceBridge mission flew over the Denman Glacier region, in East Antarctica, on Oct. 30, 2019. The glacier is creeping down a slope that plunges into extreme depths, new research Continue Reading
Locust Swarms, Some 3 Times the Size of New York City, Are Eating Their Way Across Two Continents
Climate change is worsening the largest plague of the crop-killing insects in 50 years, threatening famine in Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Millions of locusts swarm in Continue Reading
Indians breathe easier as lockdowns to halt coronavirus clear smog
Indians breathed easier on Monday as lockdowns ordered to combat the spread of the coronavirus in India’s megacities kept cars off the road and closed factories, improving air quality and Continue Reading
NASA data reveals Greenland lost 600B tons of ice last summer
Greenland lost 600 billion tons of ice last summer due to an exceptionally warm season, according to a study released Wednesday. Last summer’s ice loss in Greenland is enough to Continue Reading
The Global Victory Over Ozone-Killing Chemicals Is Coming Undone
Ozone-destroying chemicals once thought to be successfully banished are now making their way into the air again, slowing down our atmosphere’s recovery after those same chemicals effectively ripped a hole Continue Reading
Coronavirus Is Wiping Out Billions In Clean Energy Investments
Deep in the throes of a deadly pandemic, nations everywhere are grappling with the grim reality of a global community on lockdown. Travel bans and restrictions have soared; businesses and Continue Reading
China’s Rethink on Car Pollution May Signal a Retreat on Climate
Beijing’s move toward relaxing emissions standards will ratchet up concern that policymakers around the world may scale back their climate goals as they seek to rescue their economies from the ravages of Continue Reading
China’s greenhouse emissions rise 2.6% in 2019: research group
China’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 2.6% in 2019 despite a fall in the share of coal in the country’s energy mix, driven by a rise in energy consumption and greater Continue Reading
Pollution is plummeting in Italy in the wake of coronavirus, emissions data show
First, it happened in China. Now, Italy. The coronavirus struck hard, and authorities responded with sweeping interventions to keep people from spreading the disease further. As citizens hunkered down at home, Continue Reading
EPHA: Coronavirus threat greater for polluted cities; clean air returning to cities in lockdown
Those living in polluted cities are more at risk from COVID-19, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) warned today. Air pollution can cause hypertension, diabetes and respiratory diseases, conditions that Continue Reading
The Harsh Truth About Emissions Reduction
For a sector that is frequently chided for merely trying to burnish its green credentials, it appears some players are willing to put their money where their mouths are–by going Continue Reading
‘Time is fast running out’: World Meteorological Organization warns climate efforts are falling short
The world is significantly falling short when it comes to efforts to curb climate change, according to a new report released Tuesday by the World Meteorological Organization. The intergovernmental organization’s Continue Reading
Climate Change Is Turning Water Into a Weapon
It’s well below freezing as Renoj Thayyen climbs to the weather station high up in India’s Karakoram mountains, his Koflach boots crunching shin-deep into the snow. The 50-year-old hydrologist has Continue Reading
Greenland and Antarctica ice loss accelerating
Why is Antarctica’s mighty Thwaites Glacier melting? Earth’s great ice sheets, Greenland and Antarctica, are now losing mass six times faster than they were in the 1990s thanks to warming Continue Reading
Trump Administration Presses Cities to Evict Homeowners From Flood Zones
The federal government is giving local officials nationwide a painful choice: Agree to use eminent domain to force people out of flood-prone homes, or forfeit a shot at federal money Continue Reading
Duke, Dominion, Southern won’t hit clean energy targets at current pace: Report
Duke Energy, Dominion Energy and Southern Company are not making investments consistent with their clean energy goals, according to a report released Monday from Synapse Energy Economics. The three utilities Continue Reading
Trump Administration Presses Cities to Evict Homeowners From Flood Zones
The federal government is giving local officials nationwide a painful choice: Agree to use eminent domain to force people out of flood-prone homes, or forfeit a shot at federal money Continue Reading
What the Oil Price Crash Means for the Climate
For those awaiting more aggressive action on climate change, it may look like a breaking point has finally arrived. A sudden collapse in fossil-fuel markets akin to the 2008 financial crisis has Continue Reading