Is it the Godzilla El Niño or harbinger of a future hell? Weird, deadly weather has been sweeping the country for the past week, from tornadoes and blizzards in the Southwest, to historic flooding in the corn belt. If one thing’s certain, it’s that the hottest, climatically wackiest year on record is going out with a bang.
Continue reading Bizarre, Deadly Weather Is Sweeping the Country
The “airpocalypse” of smog swirling over Chinese cities has reached its most dangerous levels yet. Beijing issued its first-ever red alert today, closing schools and taking cars off the road. How bad is it? According to EPA guidelines levels are at 6: “Everyone should avoid all outdoor exertion.”
Continue reading What Life Is Like in Beijing During China’s Worst Pollution Crisis Ever
We already knew the Godzilla Cthulhu Sauron El Niño of 2015 was gonna be bad. But exactly how bad are we talking? According to the World Meteorological Organization, this year’s El Niño is among the three strongest in the past 70 years, and it may become the worst one ever recorded.
Continue reading This Year’s Godzilla El Niño Could Be the Worst Ever Recorded
Scientists have detected a disproportionate number of methane bubble plumes off the Washington and Oregon coast. The warming Pacific ocean may be triggering the release of this powerful greenhouse gas, which has remained frozen beneath the seafloor for thousands of years.
Continue reading Warming Waters Are Releasing Giant Plumes of Methane Off the U.S. West Coast
July 2015 was officially the Earth’s hottest month in recorded history, government scientists confirmed Thursday, following up on preliminary data published earlier this week by NASA and the Japan Meteorological Agency.
There’s a mystery inside trees upon which the fate of coastal cities, threatened by rising sea levels from climate change, may depend. Each year, the Earth’s forests take up about one-quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans, effectively slowing the speed and severity of global warming. They lock up most of this carbon in their stems and keep it there for centuries. This service that they provide to humanity is worth about US$1 trillion each year.
Continue reading Extreme Droughts Weaken Trees’ Ability to Soak Up Carbon
The Fat Cat Collective 