Science

April was the first month in recorded history with an average concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide topping 410 parts per million (ppm). This dubious new milestone was recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii by the Keeling Curve, a program of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego. ICYMI: […]

The devastating consequences climate change is already having on coral reefs is well known, but now scientists have discovered that yet another unique marine ecosystem is threatened by rising carbon dioxide levels. A paper published in Ecology this month based on research led by the University of Adelaide found that ocean carbon dioxide levels projected […]

Researchers with the European Space Agency (ESA) have mapped in stunning detail the extensive retreat of South America’s Patagonian ice fields, where some glaciers are melting at the highest rates on Earth and contribute to global sea level rise. In a report this week, ESA revealed that between the years 2011 and 2017, Patagonia’s ice […]

U.S. air pollution isn’t declining as fast as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has claimed, a study published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed. To track the levels of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, two pollutants that contribute to smog formation, an international research team used satellite pollution measurements backed up […]

One of the factors driving the plastic pollution crisis is that very little of it gets reused effectively—as of 2015, only 9 percent of all plastics ever made had been recycled, a 2017 Science Advances study found. This is because, as ScienceNews explained, when plastics break down, they usually break down into molecules that can’t […]

Under the guise of “transparency,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a controversial proposed rule Tuesday that actually limits the type of scientific studies and data the agency can use in crafting public health and environmental regulations. The change—long championed by conservative lawmakers, chemical manufacturers and the fossil fuel industry—would only allow […]

The sex of reptiles like snapping turtles is determined by the temperature of the nest, with warmer temperatures leading to female births and colder temperatures leading to male babies. Because of this, climate change is projected to increase the number of female turtle births. However, scientists have discovered that other human impacts on the environment […]

While there are predictions that climate change will displace masses of people in the near future—an Environmental Justice Foundation study reported on by The Guardian put the number in the tens of millions within the next decade—some have indicated that the climate refugee crisis has already begun. The Syrian civil war has been linked to […]