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The False Promise of Carbon Capture as a Climate Solution - Scientific American - Climate (Mar 1) |
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Mar 1 · The False Promise of Carbon Capture as a Climate Solution
Fossil-fuel companies use captured carbon dioxide to extract more fossil fuels, leading to a net increase in atmospheric CO2
Izhar Cohen
Last December the leaders of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai declared victory as the parties agreed to “transition away” from fossil fuels. But there's a big issue that will remain contentious as countries try to define what counts as a transition: so-called unabated fossil-fuel use. Among its provisions, the agreement called for “accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power.”
Abatement in ... | By Naomi Oreskes Read more ...
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Russia’s War on Ukraine Chills Arctic Climate Science - Scientific American - Climate (Feb 23) |
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Feb 23 · In the two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, a chasm has grown between Russian scientists who are studying the Arctic and their counterparts around the world
A Russian officer and soldiers stand next to a special military truck at the Russian northern military base on Kotelny island, beyond the Arctic Circle on April 3, 2019.
Maxime Popov/AFP via Getty Images
CLIMATEWIRE | For much of his career, Alaska-based scientist Vladimir Romanovsky has collaborated with colleagues back home in his native Russia on one of the most important — and enigmatic — aspects of Earth’s climate system.
They’ve been monitoring gradual shifts in Arctic ... | By Chelsea Harvey & E&E News Read more ...
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Chicago Becomes the Latest City to Sue the Oil Industry over Climate Change - Scientific American - Climate (Feb 21) |
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Feb 21 · Chicago has joined several other cities and states in suing oil companies. The effort seeks to hold fossil fuel producers financially accountable for the effects of climate change
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
CLIMATEWIRE | Chicago filed suit Tuesday against six oil companies and an influential industry ally, joining the ranks of local governments looking to hold fossil fuel producers financially accountable for the effects of climate change.
The lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court accuses the companies, their subsidiaries and industry trade association the American Petroleum Institute of waging a campaign to discredit climate ... | By Lesley Clark & E&E News Read more ...
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Unprecedented Fire Season Has Raged Through One of Earth’s Biodiversity Hotspots - Scientific American - Climate (Feb 16) |
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Feb 16 · More than 500 fires have burned across Colombia, including in its delicate and unique highland wetlands, one of the fastest evolving ecosystems on Earth
A woman puts out a forest fire in Bogota on January 25, 2024. This Thursday, Colombia asked the member countries of the United Nations for help to extinguish around thirty forest fires that are ravaging several regions and drowning the capital, Bogota, in smoke.
Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images
With ecosystems ranging from Andean highlands to vast plains to the Amazon rain forest, Colombia—perched at the juncture of Central and South America—is home to nearly 10 percent of the world’s ... | By Quentin Septer Read more ...
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Electric Vehicles Aren’t Ready for Extreme Heat and Cold. Here’s How to Fix Them - Scientific American - Climate (Feb 15) |
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Feb 15 · New materials would help the cars of the future survive cold snaps and other climate disruptions
Lev Dolgachov/Alamy Stock Photo
A bitter cold snap in Chicago forced electric vehicle (EV) drivers to wait in line for hours at charging stations last month; some even found themselves stranded when their battery died while they waited in the queues. The rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power most EVs perform poorly in the cold, so scientists and carmakers around the world are busy scrambling for solutions. These include fancier computer models to ensure peak performance, as well as hardier batteries that keep cars going—and their drivers safe—whether ... | By Molly Glick Read more ...
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Solar Geoengineering Looks to Silicon Valley for New Wave of Funding - Scientific American - Climate (Feb 15) |
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Feb 15 · Tech billionaires are funding research into controversial methods for cooling the planet
The Sun surrounded by heavy smoke from the burning forests in The Sonoran Desert of Phoenix Arizona USA. Solar geoengineering research could get a funding boost.
Vlad Georgescu/Getty Images
CLIMATEWIRE | Climate scientists, environmental activists and philanthropists met privately last month to prepare for an expected surge of Silicon Valley funding related to last-ditch measures for slowing global warming.
The two-day gathering on solar geoengineering — or efforts to increase the reflectivity of the planet through spraying particles into the stratosphere or ... | By Corbin Hiar & E&E News Read more ...
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AI Reveals Hotspots of Climate Denial - Scientific American - Climate (Feb 14) |
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Feb 14 · Echo chambers of climate denial on social media are strongest in the U.S. Midwest and South and in states that depend heavily on fossil fuels
A cracked lake bed at Nicasio Reservoir during a drought in Nicasio, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
CLIMATEWIRE | Nearly 15 percent of Americans still deny that climate change is happening, according to a new study that used artificial intelligence to gather data from social media.
That conclusion is similar to findings from other recent surveys. But by using a deep learning model — based on the technology used in ChatGPT — researchers were able to ... | By Chelsea Harvey & E&E News Read more ...
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What a Climatologist’s Defamation Case Victory Means for Scientists - Scientific American - Climate (Feb 14) |
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Feb 14 · A jury awarded Mann more than $1 million—raising hopes for scientists who are attacked politically because of their work
Michael Mann was responsible for the famous ‘hockey-stick graph’ depicting climate warming.
Greg Grieco/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
US climate scientist Michael Mann has prevailed in a lawsuit that accused two conservative commentators of defamation for challenging his research and comparing him to a convicted child molester. A jury awarded Mann, who is based at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, more than US$1 million in a landmark case that legal observers see as a warning to those who attack scientists working ... | By Jeff Tollefson & Nature magazine Read more ...
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Sucking Carbon from the Air Becomes A Lead Strategy - Scientific American - Climate (Feb 13) |
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Feb 13 · The U.S. Department of Energy will award up to $100 million for projects that remove CO2 from the atmosphere
The Department of Energy said it would provide $100 million for carbon removal pilot projects.
Bernard Lynch/Getty Images
CLIMATEWIRE | The Department of Energy announced up to $100 million in funding for carbon removal pilot projects Monday in an effort to advance technologies designed to suck CO2 directly out of the atmosphere.
While there are a variety of strategies that can be used to remove carbon from the air, both natural and technological, applicants are invited to focus on three specific kinds of pathways.
The first, biomass carbon ... | By Chelsea Harvey & E&E News Read more ...
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Embattled Climate Scientist Michael Mann Wins $1 Million in Defamation Lawsuit - Scientific American - Climate (Feb 9) |
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Feb 9 · Michael Mann secured a win in his legal battle against conservative bloggers who said the climatologist “molested and tortured data” and compared him to a convicted child abuser
Michael E. Mann.
Oregon State University/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)
CLIMATEWIRE | Climate scientist Michael Mann on Thursday secured a win in his long-running legal battle against conservative bloggers who once compared him to a convicted child abuser.
After a four-week trial, a D.C. Superior Court jury awarded the climatologist $1 million after finding that Rand Simberg, writing for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Mark Steyn, writing for the National Review, had ... | By Pamela King & E&E News Read more ...
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