carbon dioxide

Join our newsletter

The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    Human Ancestors Evolved in a Low-Carbon World

    Human Ancestors Evolved in a Low-Carbon World

    By Tim Radford For the entire 2.5 million years of the Ice Age epoch called the Pleistocene, it was a low-carbon world. Atmospheric carbon dioxide hovered around 230 parts per million. Not only did Homo sapiens evolve on a low-carbon planet, so did Homo erectus and most other human species now known only from fossil […]

    Can We Reach 100% Renewable Energy in Time to Avoid Climate Catastrophe?

    Can We Reach 100% Renewable Energy in Time to Avoid Climate Catastrophe?

    By Daniel Ross Ten years ago, two climate scientists, Mark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi, published a groundbreaking article in Scientific American outlining a road map for becoming 100 percent reliant on energy generated by water, wind and sun by 2030. This was something that needed to be done “if the world has any hope of […]

    ‘The Window of Opportunity for Action Is Almost Closed’: UN Report Shows Record Levels of Climate-Changing Gases

    ‘The Window of Opportunity for Action Is Almost Closed’: UN Report Shows Record Levels of Climate-Changing Gases

    The atmospheric concentrations of the three gases most responsible for climate change reached record highs in 2017, the most recent annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin released Thursday from the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) found. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is now at 405.5 parts per million (ppm), or 146 percent of pre-1750 […]

    Energy-Hungry Bitcoin Would Be a Climate Disaster, Study Finds

    Energy-Hungry Bitcoin Would Be a Climate Disaster, Study Finds

    When new technologies like electricity or the dishwasher took off in the 20th century, most of the people racing to adapt them had no idea what trading candles for light bulbs would do to the Earth’s climate. Researchers at the University of Hawaii have set out to make sure that doesn’t happen again when it […]

    Trump EPA Takes Credit For Obama-Era CO2 Reductions

    Trump EPA Takes Credit For Obama-Era CO2 Reductions

    Total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 2.7 percent between 2016 and 2017, according to a report released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on Wednesday. Andrew Wheeler, the acting administrator of the EPA, touted that the report shows that regulations are unnecessary to slash carbon emissions. “Thanks to President Trump’s regulatory reform […]

    Climate Change Economists Win Nobel Prize

    Climate Change Economists Win Nobel Prize

    The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics to a duo for their work on how the world can achieve sustainable growth. The prize was divided equally to William D. Nordhaus of Yale University and to Paul M. Romer of New York University’s Stern School of Business, both Americans, who […]

    5 Ways to Make Your Garden Regenerative

    5 Ways to Make Your Garden Regenerative

    Planting a garden has the power to change the world. Regenerative gardens can help reverse global warming by restoring soil health. We’re bringing victory gardens back. This time, it’s for the climate. Our friends Ron Finley and Rosario Dawson explain how you can make your home garden regenerative in this new video premiere from Kiss […]