Today marks the 50th anniversary of a remarkable research paper on global warming. Written by meteorologist John Sawyer, the paper – entitled “Man-made carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect” – was published by the journal Nature in 1972. By Prof Richard Betts MBE Carbon Brief The paper discussed some of the key concepts involved in human-caused […]
I discussed the dramatic climate change impacts we’re feeling here in the U.S. even as the first major climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, is signed into law. A reminder there’s much more work to be done. By Dr Michael Mann “It’s a real threat…these sorts of events could become commonplace” Michael Mann on MSNBC […]
Young people, I am sorry to say that – although the path to a bright future exists and is straightforward – it will not happen without your understanding and involvement in the political process. Ever since 2008 I have been amazed by your acumen and your ability to affect national elections and appreciate global issues. […]
“Climate change threatens terrestrial water storage over the Tibetan Plateau” Our new article in @NatureClimate Change, led by Chinese colleagues Xueying Li & @DiLong5. We’ve updated some of the wording in the press release to more accuracy convey the specific findings of the study. By Dr Michael Mann Irreversible declines in freshwater storage projected in parts […]
Recent extreme weather events have underscored the need to cut the CO₂ emissions that are driving up global temperatures. This requires a rapid transition of the energy economy to renewable energy sources, the cheapest being solar photovoltaics (PV). And our newly published research points to a way we can drive down costs of the shift […]
James Lovelock, the maverick scientist and inventor, died surrounded by his family on July 27 2022 – his 103rd birthday. Jim led an extraordinary life. He is best known for his Gaia hypothesis, developed with the brilliant US biologist Lynn Margulis in the 1970s, which transformed the way we think of life on Earth. By […]
“ Global climate crisis hits home in the U.S. amid record heat and pervasive wildfires” — I discussed with Geoff Bennett last night on the PBS NewsHour. By Dr Michael Mann Some excerpts: “There are some aspects to climate change that are playing out faster and with greater magnitude than we predicted a decade or […]
I spoke oh CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes about the unprecedented extreme weather events playing out across the Northern Hemisphere and the clear role played by climate change. By Dr Michael Mann “What we’re seeing here is an example of reaping what we have sown. We have continued to warm the planet for decades with […]
A decade ago, many in the climate community were fixated on an apparent “pause” in rising global surface temperatures. So many studies were published on the so-called “hiatus” that scientists joked that the journal Nature Climate Change should be renamed Nature Hiatus. By Zeke Hausfather CarbonBrief While the hiatus debate generated a lot of useful research on […]
To graduate with a science major, college students must complete between 40 and 60 credit hours of science coursework. That means spending around 2,500 hours in the classroom throughout their undergraduate career. However, research has shown that despite all that effort, most college science courses give students only a fragmented understanding of fundamental scientific concepts. […]
The James Webb Space Telescope team has released the first science-quality images from the new telescope. In them are the oldest galaxies ever seen by human eyes, evidence of water on a planet 1,000 light-years away and incredible details showing the birth and death of stars. Webb’s purpose is to explore origins – of the […]
What else is new? Hotspots are getting hotter. The major hotspot in April stretched from Iraq to India and Pakistan, and toward the northeast through Russia (Fig. 1). Temperature exceeded 45°C (113°F) in late April in at least nine Indian cities,[1] on its way to 50°C (122°F) in Pakistan in May,[2] where a laborer says “It’s like […]
Let’s cheer thing up with some good news. The population of monarchs overwintering in Mexico doubled this past winter to 4 hectares (1 ha = 2.5 acres of fir trees densely covered amounts to about 20 million butterflies), which is about 80 million monarchs. By James Hansen , Makiko Sato and Reto Ruedy There are large […]
Earth Day was started as a movement to bring awareness to the health and well being of our planet. It has special significance for NOAA because this grassroots effort helped usher the creation of our agency the same year — 1970. And for these the last 50 years, NOAA scientists have brought their expertise and innovation to […]
Scientists at a laboratory in England have shattered the record for the amount of energy produced during a controlled, sustained fusion reaction. The production of 59 megajoules of energy over five seconds at the Joint European Torus – or JET – experiment in England has been called “a breakthrough” by some news outlets and caused […]