climate science

National

Why Tampa Bay is at such high risk for hurricane damage

3:10pm October 09, 2024

The area has not taken a direct hit from a hurricane in over 100 years. But its topography and dense population make it especially susceptible to severe damage from storm surges.

Music & Culture

June sizzled to a 13th straight monthly heat record, but July might break string

2:14am July 08, 2024

by Associated Press

It's not that records are being broken monthly but they are being "shattered by very substantial margins over the past 13 months," a climate scientist said.

Scientist to recount adventurous climb in Appalachian State appearance

7:40am November 10, 2023

by Aria Heyneman

Appalachian State University is hosting an appearance Friday by Alison Criscitiello, a National Geographic explorer who is a trained mountaineer and a glacier scientist. Her work includes climbing Mount Logan, the highest peak in Canada, to retrieve samples of ice that are thousands of years old.

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Residents in southern Malawi repair a home destroyed by heavy rain from Cyclone Freddy. Climate change is causing cyclones and hurricanes to get more intense and dangerous.

Cut emissions quickly to save lives, scientists warn in a new U.N. report

1:45pm March 20, 2023

by Rebecca Hersher

Cutting greenhouse gas emissions rapidly and immediately will save lives, livelihoods and ecosystems around the world, scientists say. And there are lots of ways to go about it.

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Flooding in Ocean City, N.J. in October 2020. Thousands of coastal cities around the world are already dealing with rising sea levels, and face catastrophic sea level rise if global warming triggers runaway ice melt.

Science

Humans must limit warming to avoid climate tipping points, new study finds

2:00pm September 08, 2022

by Rebecca Hersher

The Earth has already warmed more than 1 degree Celsius. New research suggests that above 1.5 degrees, massive ice melt, ocean current disruptions and coral die-offs are likely.

Katherine Morgan wipes sweat from her forehead while walking to work during a record-breaking heat wave in Portland in 2021. Scientists say that heat wave would have been virtually impossible without human caused climate change.

Science

Researchers can now explain how climate change is affecting your weather

4:15pm July 07, 2022

by Rebecca Hersher

For decades, it was impossible to say that a specific weather event was caused, or even made worse, by climate change. But advanced research methods are changing that.

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People evacuate from a wildfire north of Athens, Greece, on Friday. A climate-driven heat wave helped create conditions for the fire to burn out of control. Scientists warn that humans are running out of time to curb greenhouse gas emissions and avoid cat

A Major Report Warns Climate Change Is Accelerating And Humans Must Cut Emissions Now

10:15am August 09, 2021

by Rebecca Hersher

The U.N. has released the most comprehensive global climate science report ever. It is unequivocal: Humans must stop burning fossil fuels or suffer catastrophic impacts.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change met in Incheon, South Korea, in October 2018. The pandemic has forced scientists around the world to write the latest U.N. climate report without meeting in person.

Science

Everyone Loves The Chat Box: How Climate Science Moved Online

1:09pm August 03, 2020

by Rebecca Hersher

Scientists from around the world are writing the next major United Nations climate report. Summarizing the state of the atmosphere without meeting in person is as hard as it sounds.

Scientists are using statistics, history and computer modeling to understand exactly how much hotter the oceans are today than they were before industrialization. Harvard researchers just found a clue in shipping records digitized after World War II.

How Much Hotter Are The Oceans? The Answer Begins With A Bucket

1:18pm August 19, 2019

by Rebecca Hersher

Scientists need to track the history of sea temperatures precisely to model climate change. A newly discovered clue in measurements taken by sailors in the 1930s could have far-reaching implications.

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Floodwaters inundated Cataño, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 28, 2017, days after it was hit by Hurricane Maria.

Climate Change Was The Engine That Powered Hurricane Maria's Devastating Rains

11:41am April 17, 2019

by Rebecca Hersher

Maria was the rainiest storm known to have hit Puerto Rico. Scientists say a storm of such severity is nearly five times more likely to occur today, with warmer air and ocean water, than in the '50s.