Ocean Temperatures Keep Shattering Records—and Stunning Scientists

Ocean Temperatures Keep Shattering Records—and Stunning Scientists

So what’s going on here? For one, the oceans have been steadily warming over the decades, absorbing something like 90 percent of the extra heat that humans have added to the atmosphere. “The oceans are our saviors, in a way,” says biological oceanographer Francisco Chavez of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California. “Things … Read more

The Feds Just Bet Even Bigger on American-Made Heat Pumps

The Feds Just Bet Even Bigger on American-Made Heat Pumps

While everyone’s been focused on accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles to cut carbon emissions, a technological hero has been rapidly ascending under the radar: the heat pump. Instead of burning natural gas or coal to produce heat, this fully electric device extracts warmth from outdoor air—even when it’s freezing outside—and pumps it inside to … Read more

The Surprising Things That Helped Make 2023 the Hottest Year Ever

The Surprising Things That Helped Make 2023 the Hottest Year Ever

In this graph, the orange line shows the global sea surface temperature throughout 2023. The other squiggles are previous years, with the uppermost dashed black line being the average between 1982 and 2011. The dark black line at upper left is where we’re starting out 2024. Notice it’s already at a sky-high level several months … Read more

The White House Just Announced a $623 Million EV-Charging Bonanza

The White House Just Announced a 3 Million EV-Charging Bonanza

In California, the Bay Area’s Contra Costa County will get $15 million, for instance, to deploy more than 100 chargers at its libraries. In Alaska, the Chilkoot Indian Association will get $1.4 million for a charging station in the disadvantaged community of Haines. The city of Mesa, in Arizona, will get $12 million for a … Read more

Why Humans Are Putting a Bunch of ‘Coal’ and ‘Oil’ Back in the Ground

Why Humans Are Putting a Bunch of ‘Coal’ and ‘Oil’ Back in the Ground

In addition to burying solid carbon or sprinkling it on fields, researchers are also turning waste biomass into liquid carbon—oil, essentially, that they pump back into the ground instead of pumping the fossil variety up. “What we do at the highest level is we make barbecue sauce—or liquid smoke for barbecue sauce—and then we inject … Read more

Former NBA Star Rick Fox Is Making a Play for Carbon-Neutral Concrete

Former NBA Star Rick Fox Is Making a Play for Carbon-Neutral Concrete

Rick Fox has spent a lot of time in Hollywood, so naturally he has more than one origin story. Canadian-born, Bahamian-raised Fox played professional basketball in the NBA in the 1990s and 2000s, starring for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. After retiring from the sport in 2004, he became a full-time actor, appearing … Read more

A Brilliant COP Agreement? It Depends Who You Ask

A Brilliant COP Agreement? It Depends Who You Ask

After tense and protracted negotiations, delegates at the United Nations climate conference COP28 have agreed on a deal that calls on countries to transition away from fossil fuels. It is the first time that nations have agreed to such a transition, and marks a major step forward in climate ambitions. But delegates have warned that … Read more