Extreme weather events provide unique opportunities for misinformation to spread widely: rumors swirl on social media, telecom lines go down, and people’s worst fears and angers come to the surface. Join Grist and Climate Central for a virtual conversation with meteorologists, journalists, and researchers about how we can communicate more...
The planet’s vital signs are getting worse. One of the easiest fixes is your diet.
A new report examining more than a dozen of the Earth’s life-sustaining systems paints a pretty bleak picture. Published last week in BioScience, the seventh annual State of the Climate report shows how global warming is producing significant shifts in the planet’s overall health and destabilizing the climate as a...
Soaring oil prices underscore the need to help poor countries adopt renewables
War-induced spikes in oil prices and the arrival of artificial intelligence are widening the economic gap between rich and poor countries, according to the International Monetary Fund’s October report on the world economy. Poorer countries that import most of their fossil fuels have suffered the worst consequences of the United...
Europe’s hottest summer ever was also its deadliest — by far
Climate scientists have already established that Europe’s sweltering summer was the hottest on record. Now they are saying it was likely the deadliest as well, with their models showing that the extreme heat led to more than 50,000 excess deaths in cities alone. The continent has endured five scorching heat...
The hidden history of how Big Oil invented the American Dream
What does going on a date have to do with fossil fuels? Everything, according to the petroleum industry. One advertisement from the pipeline company Energy Transfer follows two people getting ready for a date, the man primping with hair gel, the woman applying lipstick, before meeting at a bar. “That...
Fossil fuels are hiding all over your house. We built a model home to show how.
Freeing yourself from oil is a downright impossible task in modern America. You could put solar panels on your roof, bring tote bags to the grocery store, and drive an electric vehicle, but try as you might, your home would still be brimming with products derived from fossil fuels. Roughly...
In Michigan, 3 tribes are on a mission to bring back a fish that disappeared 100 years ago
Even when they’re young, the characteristic iridescent hues of the Arctic grayling are noticeable at the right angle. On a brisk morning in September, fish and wildlife biologist Sean Leask counted and measured hundreds of these fish, which were raised at the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’...
At the Wall of Wind, engineers blow homes apart to learn how to save them
The first signs of trouble are subtle. The vinyl skirting flutters. Siding near the roofline pulls away. Then the 12 massive fans arrayed across the 14-foot-high Wall of Wind accelerate in unison, forcing air across the laboratory at highway speeds. The manufactured home begins to shudder on its supports. A...
Town leaders chided residents for warning of flash floods. Then, the river took two children.
Peak tourist season had arrived in Ruidoso, New Mexico, and Mayor Lynn Crawford was campaigning to convince the public that the village was safe. A Republican with white hair and a Texas drawl, Crawford said he was frustrated with residents who were sharing warnings of flooding on social media. “They...
California just showed how home batteries will radically remake the grid
Until recently, you’ve had no choice but to be a passive participant in the electrical grid, paying exorbitantly for the juice that flows into your home. But you’re about to play a much more active role — if you’re not already — and get paid to send power from your...