Most recent 40 articles: VOX - Science
 |
An oil executive is leading the UN climate summit. It’s going as well as you’d expect. - VOX - Science (Dec 4) |
|
Dec 4 · The head of COP28 is facing widespread backlash for his comments on fossil fuels.
As the United Nations’ annual climate summit COP28 continues, controversial comments by Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, the head of the conference, are roiling the event and raising questions about how substantive any new fossil fuel agreement emerging from the gathering will be.
In a meeting one week before the conference, Jaber - who is the United Arab Emirates minister of industry and advanced technology as well as the chairman of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company - told a panel he believed there was no science to suggest eliminating fossil fuels would help keep global temperature increases ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Something weird happens when you keep squeezing - VOX - Science (Nov 15) |
|
Nov 15 · Under extreme pressures, matter defies the rules of physics as we know it.
Physicists have a pretty good handle on how stuff behaves on the surface of the Earth. But a lot of matter in the universe exists outside this narrow band of relatively low temperatures and pressures. Inside planets and stars, the crushing force of gravity begins to overwhelm the electromagnetic and nuclear forces that keep atoms apart and maintain the shapes of molecules.
What happens next? Scientists (including a consortium of researchers at the National Science Foundation’s Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures??) are just starting to figure that out. They use a variety of tools (including some ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
It’s not just Paris. There’s a “global resurgence” of bedbugs. - VOX - Science (Oct 15) |
|
Oct 15 · It’s a bedbug’s world now. We’re just sleeping in it.
The biodiversity crisis, explained
On a brisk morning last month, the deputy mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, stood in front of a French TV camera with a serious look on his face and said: “No one is safe.”
He wasn’t talking about the threat of climate change or some frightening new virus. He was talking about bedbugs.
For the blissfully unaware, bedbugs are small wingless insects that bite humans and feast on our blood, often at night. They find us by sensing the carbon dioxide in our breath and our body heat. While bedbugs can carry a large number of pathogens, they don’t seem to transmit diseases to ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
A rare “ring of fire” eclipse is happening Saturday - VOX - Science (Oct 13) |
|
Oct 13 · Here’s why it’s happening - and how to watch.
On Saturday, October 14, the moon will pass directly between the Earth and the sun, casting its shadow across Earth’s surface.
Those in the path of the shadow - mainly in the Western United States, Mexico, and in Central and South America - will be able to look up and see a spectacular event: an annular “ring of fire” solar eclipse.
This weekend’s path notably passes through the Navajo Nation and lands of other Indigenous people in the Four Corners region where these celestial events have particular cultural significance. Citizens of the Navajo Nation, the Diné people, avoid going outside, looking at the eclipse, or ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Mud libraries hold the story of the Earth’s climate past - and foretell its future - VOX - Science (Oct 10) |
|
Oct 10 · Mud can be surprisingly clear.
Tucked away in the rolling green hills of the New York Palisades, there’s an unusual library: the Lamont-Doherty Core Repository. Instead of shelves, it has more than 50,000 white, 8-foot-long trays. And instead of books, those trays hold chalky whitish half-cylinders of sediment.
“It’s a mud library,” says Nichole Anest, the lab’s curator and self-described “mud librarian.”
These sections of mud, known to scientists as marine sediment cores, are special because they contain Earth’s history, written in the language of minerals and microscopic shells.
Most critically, tubes of mud like these are “the backbone of climate science,” ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
It’s clearer than ever that we’re pushing the Amazon rainforest to its dreaded demise - VOX - Science (Oct 8) |
|
Oct 8 · Human survival depends on this iconic ecosystem, and only one thing will save it.
The biodiversity crisis, explained
No matter where you live on this planet, you need the Amazon rainforest.
The largest tropical forest on Earth, the Amazon stores more than 120 billion tons of carbon, which - if unleashed into the atmosphere - would supercharge climate change. It’s also home to a mind-boggling number of plant and animal species, many of which have served as the basis for medicines to fight ailments like cancer and hypertension.
That’s what makes this so alarming: The Amazon forest is dying. Decades of deforestation, wildfires, and rising temperatures are ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
A NASA asteroid sample just landed on Earth. It holds clues about the origins of life. - VOX - Science (Sep 24) |
|
Sep 24 · The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived in Utah Sunday, carrying material from the dawn of the solar system.
A capsule bearing soil from an asteroid located 200 million miles from Earth landed in Utah at 8:52 am Mountain time Sunday, bringing with it - scientists hope - information about the origin of life.
The NASA spacecraft OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, delivered a sample of material from the asteroid Bennu. The space rock is estimated to be around 4.5 billion years old - meaning it formed around the same time as the solar system and likely holds pre-solar material, as well as amino acids, ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Devastating photos reveal how an extreme heat wave is wrecking Florida’s coral reef - VOX - Science (Sep 21) |
|
Sep 21 · The image above was taken at a coral reef in Florida called Pickles in the spring of 2022.
Here’s how that same reef looked earlier this month:
The difference between the two images tells a clear story: Coral in the Florida Keys, home to the largest reef in the continental US, is dying. The ghostly white appearance of the coral above is due to a phenomenon known as bleaching. Coral, an anemone-like marine animal, gets most of its color and food from a kind of algae that lives within its tissue. When that algae disappears, the coral appears stark white. Bleached corals aren’t dead; they are starving to death.
What happened between those two snapshots is extreme and ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
America’s most iconic coral reef is dying. Only one thing will save it. - VOX - Science (Sep 17) |
|
Sep 17 · An extreme heat wave has pushed Florida’s reef to the brink - and burned up years worth of progress.
PICKLES REEF, FLORIDA - As soon as our boat reached the reef, the problem appeared. Looking down through the clear, turquoise water, I saw a handful of stark white patches on the seafloor, some 20 feet below.
I strapped on a tank, leapt into the ocean, and sank down near one of them. It was a large cluster of elkhorn coral, a threatened species that looks a bit like studded moose antlers sprouting from the reef. Normally, elkhorn is a vibrant, golden brown. Here it was bone white, a sunken skeleton.
As I cruised along Pickles Reef, which isn’t far from Key Largo, ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
There is no end to disaster season anymore - VOX - Science (Sep 13) |
|
Sep 13 · An extraordinary autumn is expected after a record-smashing summer.
The wave of unusual disasters this summer now includes Hurricane Lee, a storm that swelled from Category 1 to Category 5 in just 24 hours as it barreled toward Canada. It’s a prime example of rapid intensification made worse by warming ocean temperatures.
It will add to what’s already been an exceptional year of extreme weather. The US has set a new record for the number of billion-dollar disasters in a year - 23 so far - in its history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And this doesn’t even include the costs from Tropical Storm Hilary in California or from the ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Wildfires are coming... for New Jersey? - VOX - Science (Sep 12) |
|
Sep 12 · Climate change is expanding the list of areas at risk for the worst wildfires.
All a wildfire needs is oxygen, an ignition to spark it, and fuel to burn. Its crackling embers and flickering flames don’t know the difference between the California foothills, where residents are used to fire, and more unexpected locales, like the New Jersey coastline, the Florida peninsula, or the slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As the immense destruction of the fire in Lahaina, Maui, continues to unfold, experts who study wildfires say the blaze fits a disturbing pattern of fires in the wildland-urban interface, where people and homes mingle with burnable vegetation. “Every single state in ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
How cars ruin wild animals’ lives - VOX - Science (Sep 12) |
|
Sep 12 · If you love nature, consider not driving in it.
At Future Perfect, we cover some of the greatest threats to life and well-being on Earth. For non-human animals, that usually means factory farming, which kills nearly 10 billion land vertebrates annually in the US alone.
But you might be surprised by another top human-caused killer of land animals, which may be second only to factory farming, although precise estimates are hard to come by: not hunting, or animal testing, or the fur industry. It’s cars.
When I first read about the horrifyingly high numbers of animals killed by cars, in a paper on roadkill by sociologist Dennis Soron, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
How sharks avoid the wrath of an extreme hurricane - VOX - Science (Aug 31) |
|
Aug 31 · These marine predators have a few clever tricks to survive storms like Idalia.
The biodiversity crisis, explained
Hurricane Idalia pummeled Florida on Wednesday morning as it made landfall as a powerful Category 3 storm. Idalia, now a tropical storm off the coast of South Carolina, flooded homes and highways, downed power lines, blew out windows, and has so far been linked to at least one traffic-related fatality in Florida.
Humans have a number of strategies to withstand the impacts of major storms. We fortify our homes, ready flashlights and generators, and, if necessary, evacuate to higher ground. Yet we remain highly vulnerable to storm impacts, as Idalia, Ian, ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
There’s been a shift in how we think about climate change - VOX - Science (Aug 31) |
|
Aug 31 · A climate psychologist explains how we’ve moved beyond hope, anger, and complacency toward something more promising.
Our actions today will determine just how bad climate change will become. But which emotions best drive a person to become politically active? Hope? Anger? Persevering through complacency? What if the fundamental challenge is actually our attention?
This last question gets at a particular theory in psychology that has undergone a revolution in the past few years. It’s a hypothesis called the “finite pool of worry,” coined in 2006 by Elke Weber, a psychologist and Princeton University professor. It states that people can only handle so many negative events ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
How Louisiana - one of the nation’s wettest states - caught on fire - VOX - Science (Aug 30) |
|
Aug 30 · Even traditionally wet states are experiencing unprecedented wildfires.
An unprecedented series of wildfires is burning in Louisiana, making it the latest state to navigate a major natural disaster in recent months. Wildfires - though they take place in the state annually - aren’t typically as frequent or as big as they have been this year.
Much like other places, Louisiana is experiencing record-breaking heat and dryness, which have made it easier for wildfires to proliferate. Both issues are likely being made worse by climate change, which contributes to higher temperatures and drier vegetation. And what we’re witnessing this year is likely just the start: According to ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Hurricane Hilary soaked an already wet California. Is the drought over? - VOX - Science (Aug 22) |
|
Aug 22 · After years of extreme drought, the Western US has finally caught a break. But it may be a short one.
Less than a year ago, California was facing an epic drought. With reservoirs running dry and rivers shrinking, the state, and much of the broader American West, was facing steep, highly consequential water cuts. Some farmers let their fields lie fallow. Cities implemented water restrictions. And the threat of even deeper cuts loomed.
Then came a winter of rain and snow that inundated central California.
And then came Hurricane Hilary.
The first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, Hilary brought record quantities of rain to desert cities ... | By April, California’s snowpack was double the average. By May, only a small fraction of the state was in a moderate drought. Read more ...
|
|
|
|
What we know about the wildfires in Hawaii - VOX - Science (Aug 18) |
|
Aug 18 · The wildfires that have been engulfing parts of the Hawaiian island of Maui since Tuesday, August 8, have killed at least 111 people in what is the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century. The blaze has destroyed more than 2,000 structures, forced residents to seek safety in the ocean, and prompted thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate. Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier estimated that over 1,000 people remain missing.
“We have suffered a terrible disaster,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said.
Wildfires were once rare on the Hawaiian Islands, largely ignited by volcanic eruptions and dry lightning strikes, but human activity in recent decades has made them ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Hawaii could burn again. How can the government prepare? - VOX - Science (Aug 18) |
|
Aug 18 · A Hawaii resiliency expert on climate disasters, FEMA’s role in wildfire response, and the future of Big Oil lawsuits.
President Joe Biden’s disaster declaration came within hours of the wildfires that tore through Lahaina, Maui, last week, where the death toll is at least 111 and a thousand people may still be missing. The disaster declaration helped unlock federal aid for Maui, adding to Hawaii’s emergency stores another 50,000 meals, 10,000 blankets, and $700 cash for survivors in the immediate aftermath.
But questions around the response at every level of government continue to mount. Many of the disaster’s survivors have said the assistance was slow to arrive, ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
9 things everyone should know about Maui’s wildfire disaster - VOX - Science (Aug 14) |
|
Aug 14 · Including how you can help.
The outbreak of wildfires last week in Maui, Hawaii - a state known for its beaches and rainforests but typically not fire - is now the nation’s deadliest such event in more than 100 years. The fires burned thousands of acres and killed nearly 100 people, a greater death toll than any wildfire in California, where summer blazes are common. Hundreds remain missing in Maui, and the death toll is expected to rise.
“This is the largest natural disaster in our history,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said, referring to Hawaii, in a statement Sunday. “It is a harrowing site in Maui.”
Images show that much of Lahaina, a historic town on Maui’s west ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
How should we remember Trinity Site, where the first nuclear bomb was tested? - VOX - Science (Aug 11) |
|
Aug 11 · Oppenheimer’s Trinity Site is where the end began.
To reach the spot where the nuclear age was born and human history swung, turn off of Route 380 at Stallion Gate on the northern edge of the US Army’s White Sands Missile Range, not far from the tiny desert town of Socorro, New Mexico. Drive through the flat, dry, empty scrub the Spanish called Jornada del Muerto, or the Journey of Death, ringed at the horizon by the Sierra Oscura, the Dark Mountains.
After 17 miles or so you’ll reach a vast parking lot that stands largely empty much of the year. Walk past a mangled 200-ton steel tube called Jumbo, and stand before a stone obelisk mined from nearby volcanic rock. The ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
How Maui’s wildfires became so apocalyptic - VOX - Science (Aug 9) |
|
Aug 9 · A large hurricane, drought, and perhaps even invasive grasses are fueling devastating fires in Hawaii.
This week, several wildfires have engulfed parts of the Hawaiian island of Maui in flames, killing several people, burning multiple homes and businesses, and forcing more than a dozen people to flee into the ocean for safety.
Numerous fires - which have so far burned hundreds of acres in Hawaii - have scorched parts of Lahaina, the largest city on the west side of the island, all but destroying a popular tourist strip. Hospitals are overrun with burn patients, thousands of people have lost power, and as of Wednesday morning, 911 service was down.
“We have suffered ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
How Maui’s wildfires became so apocalyptic - VOX - Science (Aug 9) |
|
Aug 9 · A large hurricane, drought, and perhaps even invasive grasses have fueled the devastating fires in Hawaii.
Earlier this week several wildfires engulfed parts of the Hawaiian island of Maui, killing at least 55 people, burning more than 1,000 structures, and forcing people to flee into the ocean for safety.
The brush fires burned hundreds of acres in Hawaii and utterly decimated Lahaina, the tourism heart of the island and the largest city in its west. Hospitals are overrun with burn patients, thousands of people have lost power, and as of Wednesday morning, 911 service was down in part of the island.
“We have suffered a terrible disaster,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Why a “room-temperature superconductor” would be a huge deal - VOX - Science (Aug 7) |
|
Aug 7 · The superconductor frenzy, explained.
For the past several days, I’ve been frantically reloading Twitter accounts to try to learn as much as possible about LK-99, the purported room-temperature, ambient-pressure superconductor a team of physicists based in South Korea claim to have identified.
This is maybe a week after I learned what a superconductor is, or why it matters that it’s at room temperature or ambient pressure. But within days I went from near-total ignorance to utter glee at the possibilities the technology promises. Provided, of course, it’s real.
You, too, can take this journey from ignorance to giddiness. The details of how to make and investigate ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The terrible paradox of air pollution and climate change - VOX - Science (Aug 7) |
|
Aug 7 · Some types of air pollution slow global warming - but at the cost of millions of deaths a year.
“The smoke is very thick, like a dark mushroom in the sky,” said reporter Gus Abelgas in a 1991 television broadcast on the ongoing volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. “It’s just like what we saw in Hiroshima.”
After 500 years of dormancy, Mount Pinatubo’s June explosion represented one of the largest volcanic events of the 20th century. The eruption forced approximately 30,000 indigenous Aeta people to evacuate the nearby area and killed over 200 people. (An additional 426 people died in the three months following the explosion due to poor conditions in ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
We’re in a really odd hurricane season - VOX - Science (Aug 2) |
|
Aug 2 · Oceans are at record high temperatures, but El Niño is keeping a lid on tropical storms in the Atlantic.
Hot water is the fuel for tropical cyclones like hurricanes and typhoons, and the weather this year has boosted the octane rating of the world’s oceans.
Water temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean are at the highest levels since at least 1981, and some United States coastal waters, like those around Florida, recently reached hot tub levels of warmth: more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
As of Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center was tracking one weather system that could possibly lead to a tropical storm. Even if they don’t lead to named storms, these systems could ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
This beetle’s sex is on fire. Literally. - VOX - Science (Jul 28) |
|
Jul 28 · Tinder for these insects is actual tinder.
The biodiversity crisis, explained
For Melanophila beetles, forest fires aren’t just hot. They’re hot.
As flames start ripping through forests, as they often do in the late summer, most animals flee or take refuge for obvious reasons: They don’t want to die. But Melanophila beetles flock to the flames and start looking for sex. While the wood is still smoldering, they find a mate and copulate in the heat of the moment.
Black and roughly thumbnail-sized, Melanophila are among a small number of species around the world known as fire, or pyrophilous, beetles. They are attracted to flames and depend on fire for their ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The ingenious tricks animals use to survive wildfires - VOX - Science (Jul 27) |
|
Jul 27 · Wildfires can be devastating, but for some animals, they’re an opportunity.
The biodiversity crisis, explained
Summer is only halfway over and wildfires in Canada have already burned roughly 12 million hectares of forest (about 30 million acres). That’s an area larger than Ohio and close to double the previous record.
These rampant fires are clearly bad for human communities. They have destroyed homes, forced thousands of people to evacuate, and engulfed cities in Canada and the US in smoke, threatening public health.
But for many plants and animals, from birds to beetles, fire is not such a potent, existential threat. Creatures in Canada and beyond have ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The Vox guide to extreme heat - VOX - Science (Jul 26) |
|
Jul 26 · Heat records will keep falling. Our guide on why it’s so hot, how to stay cool, and climate solutions.
Filed under:
Record-breaking heat is scorching different parts of the globe. Fueled by climate change and a global weather event called El Niño, this summer is especially hot. Oceans all around the world have seen extraordinarily high average temperatures. And as summer sets in, the temperature will continue to climb.
June 2023 was the warmest June on planet Earth since record-keeping began in 1850, according to the nonprofit group Berkeley Earth. But this heat is not surprising. As hot as the weather has been, it may be one of the cooler years of the rest of our ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
What “record-breaking heat” actually means - VOX - Science (Jul 26) |
|
Jul 26 · Temperature records are falling around the world, but those records aren’t equally meaningful.
Like an overturned truck that had been carrying vinyl LPs, 2023 is overflowing with broken records.
The Atlantic Ocean’s surface temperature is at a record high for this time of year while Antarctic sea ice is at a record low for the season. Earth just broke records for its hottest day and hottest June, and is poised to experience its hottest July. Countries like China, India, and Spain set new record highs, while Greece and Italy are likely to set their own records this month. The bottom of the scale is rising too: Phoenix, Arizona, set its highest low temperature on record ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Yes, bird flu is a threat. It’s time to take it seriously. - VOX - Science (Jul 17) |
|
Jul 17 · 13 questions about bird flu, answered.
In the last two years, more than half a billion birds have died globally. The cause isn’t deforestation or climate change or the destruction of grasslands - all of which are contributing to the precipitous decline of wild birds - but avian influenza, i.e., bird flu.
The majority of these birds were farmed chickens and turkeys; as the virus, known as H5N1, began circulating among poultry flocks in the US, Europe, and elsewhere, farmers started culling a record number of birds to stop the pathogen from spreading.
Yet what’s unusual about this virus is that it’s also been spreading rapidly among wild birds and even mammals, such ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
There’s no such thing as a disaster-resistant place anymore - VOX - Science (Jul 13) |
|
Jul 13 · Climate risks are becoming increasingly expensive. Not just locally, but globally.
An estimated 11 million people across the northeastern US are under flood risks or warnings this week after historic levels of rainfall - 1-in-1,000-year events - swept through New England, with rivers in Vermont and New York’s Hudson Valley overflowing and turning town streets into waterways.
Flash flooding killed at least one person in New York, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed several more people are missing. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Vermont, where, according to Gov. Phil Scott, thousands of residents have lost their homes and ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
It’s even hot in Antarctica, where it’s winter - VOX - Science (Jul 13) |
|
Jul 13 · Antarctica isn’t immune to the recent heat baking much of the planet. It could affect the rest of the world.
Temperature records are falling around the world as a strong El Niño brews in the Pacific Ocean and summer rises in the Northern Hemisphere. The planet recently experienced the hottest day and hottest June ever recorded. But some of the most alarming heat right now is occurring far away from most of humanity in Antarctica, where it’s currently winter.
The World Meteorological Organization reported last week that sea ice is at record low levels around Antarctica, 17 percent below the average for this time of year. Sea ice expands and shrinks with the seasons and ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
3 reasons why this summer is so damn hot - VOX - Science (Jul 12) |
|
Jul 12 · One of them rhymes with shmimate range.
In the next few days, temperatures in parts of the American Southwest could approach 120 degrees Fahrenheit, potentially breaching existing heat records and endangering human lives.
Summer is always warm, but this is already among the hottest ones ever. In early July, several days set global (albeit unofficial) temperature records. Last month was the warmest June on planet Earth since record-keeping began in 1850, according to the nonprofit group Berkeley Earth. And it’s not just the air that’s baking; the oceans are exceptionally hot, too.
Why is all this heat happening now? Global weather cycles as well as long-term trends ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The “new abnormal”: The rise of extreme flooding, briefly explained - VOX - Science (Jul 11) |
|
Jul 11 · Climate change is contributing to heavier precipitation, a major factor in flooding.
Parts of the United States’s eastern seaboard have been hit with massive floods in recent weeks, a phenomenon that’s expected to grow more common - and worse - as climate change warms the planet.
“It’s worse than a new normal. I call it a new abnormal,” says University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann.
On Tuesday, Vermont was the site of heavy flooding that trapped people in their homes and shut down roads. Earlier this week, New York’s Hudson Valley similarly experienced torrential rains that led to severe flood warnings. Nationally, 11 million people remain under ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The “new abnormal”: The rise of extreme flooding, briefly explained - VOX - Science (Jul 11) |
|
Jul 11 · Climate change is contributing to heavier precipitation, a major factor in flooding.
Parts of the United States’s eastern seaboard have been hit with massive floods this year, a phenomenon that’s expected to grow more common - and worse - as climate change warms the planet.
“It’s worse than a new normal. I call it a new abnormal,” says University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann.
Friday, New York City experienced intense rains that left parts of the city underwater. Over the summer, the Philadelphia suburbs were hit with heavy flash flooding that inundated roads and killed five people. Earlier this year, Vermont also experienced heavy flooding that ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Yes, it’s hot. But this could be one of the coolest summers of the rest of your life. - VOX - Science (Jul 5) |
|
Jul 5 · Heat waves like those in Texas and Europe are likely to get worse on the whole, not better.
Surprise! This summer is extremely hot.
How hot? July 4 was the hottest day on Earth since record-keeping began more than 40 years ago, according to scientists at the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer project. As Americans grilled burgers and set off fireworks, the global average temperature reached 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit (17.2 degrees Celsius).
And that’s just the average - this week in New York City the heat index neared 100 degrees. That’s nothing compared to the 120-degree temperatures that baked parts of Texas in late June, smashing dozens of records, straining ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The unusual factors behind the extraordinary heat across the southern US - VOX - Science (Jul 1) |
|
Jul 1 · Fast-moving air 8 miles in the sky is pinning hot air over the South, driving the heat index into triple digits.
The South is no stranger to heat, but the temperatures and humidity right now are testing even the hardiest denizens of Dixie as the hot weather stretches into a third week.
The heat wave along the Gulf Coast, stretching over Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico, is straining the limits of infrastructure and human survival.
According to the National Weather Service, extreme heat is the number one weather-related killer in the US. The recent weather has already proven dangerous and deadly in places like Texas, which ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Why the media too often ignores the connection between climate change and meat - VOX - Science (Jul 1) |
|
Jul 1 · The burger-sized hole in climate change coverage, explained.
Last weekend, Elon Musk posted one of his more outrageously false tweets to date: “Important to note that what happens on Earth’s surface (eg farming) has no meaningful impact on climate change.”
Musk was, as he has been from time to time, wrong. As climate experts rushed to emphasize, farming actually accounts for around a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Before you add this to your list of criticisms of Musk, know that if you’re anything like the average person - or Musk himself - you too probably underestimate just how much agriculture, especially meat and dairy production, contributes to ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
AI is supposedly the new nuclear weapons - but how similar are they, really? - VOX - Science (Jun 29) |
|
Jun 29 · What the history of nuclear arms can - and can’t - tell us about the future of AI.
If you spend enough time reading about artificial intelligence, you’re bound to encounter one specific analogy: nuclear weapons. Like nukes, the argument goes, AI is a cutting-edge technology that emerged with unnerving rapidity and comes with serious and difficult to predict risks that society is ill-equipped to handle.
The heads of AI labs OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind, as well as researchers like Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio and prominent figures like Bill Gates, signed an open letter in May making the analogy explicitly, stating: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The Air Quality Index and how to use it, explained - VOX - Science (Jun 28) |
|
Jun 28 · 8 things you should know about the number that measures bad air.
It’s not enough to trust the senses to know when it’s a bad air day. Well before you can see or smell smoke, it can start wreaking havoc on the lungs.
That haze you can see and smell on a particularly polluted day is made of ozone and fine particulate matter.
Fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5 (the 2.5 microns describes its size, 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair) can embed in the cells of the lung and the bloodstream, aggravating inflammation, asthma, heart disease, and mental health. And ozone causes similar damage. In the stratosphere, ozone blocks ultraviolet radiation from the ... Read more ...
|
|
|