Environment / Climate

Sediments at the bottom of the ocean can offer a window into the past, indicating environmental conditions not just from the sea but washed in from terrestrial runoff, as well as preserving the flora and fauna of the time. Scientists access this knowledge by taking exploration cruises to core the se...

Carbon emissions from China are growing faster now than before COVID-19 struck, data show, dashing hopes the pandemic may have put the world's most polluting nation on a new emissions trajectory.

The frequency and severity of wildfires have become increasingly alarming in recent years, substantially due to the effects of climate change. Rising global temperatures, altered weather patterns, and prolonged droughts are all consequences of climate change that contribute to the heightened risk of...

A team led by researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University studied how microplastics in the environment accumulate heavy metals. As the microplastics spread, so does their toxic cargo. Focusing on polystyrene foam, the team collected particles along a river running through Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. T...

An international research team involving scientists from the University of Vienna, the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw and University of Edinburgh has described the process of growing three-dimensional manganese dendrites. The researchers found that it occurs through accretion of mang...

Researchers suggest that strategies to cope with higher temperatures aren’t keeping pace with global warming.

In “The Parrot and the Igloo,” the novelist and journalist David Lipsky spins top-flight climate literature into cliffhanger entertainment.

As scientists make the case that humans have fundamentally transformed the planet enough to warrant our own geological epoch, another question arises: is there anything left untouched by humanity's presence?

When aliens or our distant progeny sift through layers of sediment 500,000 years from now to decode the Earth's past, they will find unusual evidence of the abrupt change that upended life half-a-million years earlier: chicken bones.

Since 2009, a cloistered band of hard-rock geologists and other scientists have toiled on a mission of great consequence.

In 1981, newly minted palaeobiologist Jan Zalasiewicz assumed he was headed for a discreet career retrieving and deciphering fossils from Earth's deep past.

Beneath the seawater in Japan's Beppu Bay lie layers of seemingly unremarkable sediment and sludge that tell the story of how humans have fundamentally altered the world around them.

One person was killed and hundreds of thousands were urged to evacuate their homes in southwestern Japan on Monday, as forecasters warned of the "heaviest rain ever" in the region.

Researchers have found that the plastic mulch used to support the growth of Californian strawberries sheds large quantities of plastic mulch fragments. These particles have been shown to negatively impact soil qualities, casting doubt on the long-term viability of their use. The findings from the su...

Governments will soon likely be able to apply for deep sea mining contracts in international waters, a plunge into the unknown that is worrying conservationists as calls for a moratorium on such digging grow.

World daily temperature records have been smashed this week, according to preliminary data.

The number of forest fires continues to rise in Canada, climbing on Friday to more than 670 blazes—more than 380 of them out of control—with a long and difficult summer ahead.

Communicating science to a general audience can be challenging. Successfully conveying research on polarizing topics such as climate change can be even more difficult.

Janet Yellen, the Treasury secretary, said China, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, can have “greater impact” tackling climate change by working with other nations.

Earth's average temperature set a new unofficial record high on Thursday, the third such milestone in a week that already rated as the hottest on record and what one prominent scientist says could be the hottest in 120,000 years.

The Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission captured this image of the powerful Cyclone Mocha on 13 May 2023 as it made its way across the Bay of Bengal heading northeast towards Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The research findings of Dr. Tao Chunhui, a senior researcher from the Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, were published in Science China Earth Sciences. Over a decade, Dr. Tao's research team conducted investigations into the distribution patterns and formation mechani...

A multi-model ensemble (MME) prediction system has been recently developed by a team led by Dr. Dake Chen. This prediction system consists of five dynamical coupled models with various complexities, parameterizations, resolutions, initializations, and ensemble strategies, to address various possible...

In a warming climate, the sustainability of cryospheric meltwater on the Tibetan Plateau has raised concerns because of its importance for the fragile ecosystem in the headwater regions and the dense populations in the downstream. Existing studies mainly focused on glacier melt and snow melt on the ...

One of the main risks posed by climate change is exceeding the thermal limits of the human body. In hot environments, evaporation is considered to be the primary means by which human bodies cool down. However, atmospheric humidity is a crucial factor affecting the efficiency of evaporation, making t...

Seabirds are one of the world's most threatened animal groups. They already contend with multiple issues, including climate change, accidental capture in fishing gear and being eaten by invasive species like cats and some rodents.

Millennials and Gen-Z experience greater levels of fear, guilt and outrage about the impacts of climate change compared to older Gen-X, baby boomer and post-war groups, new research suggests.

For many, nature-based solutions and climate-resilient development present a "triple win" for sustainable development, climate mitigation and climate adaptation.

Access to safe drinking water is a pressing global issue, with approximately 2 billion people currently lacking consistent access to this fundamental resource—a sobering number that is projected to soar to 5 billion by 2050. The United Nations has made global water safety—ensuring universal access t...

The village of Tean in Staffordshire, England, was hit by a 3.3-magnitude earthquake on June 28 2023. The tremors caused windows and doors to rattle in the surrounding area.

Climate Forward’s lead writer is handing over the reins. She shared her parting thoughts.

Amidst the vast frozen and barren terrain of the Arctic is a unique marine ecosystem supporting a web of diverse natural life that, according to a new study by scientist Kent Moore, is managing to sustain itself against the impacts of climate change—so far.

Researchers from Nagoya University and the National Institute of Polar Research in Japan have found that dust from land without snow cover in the Arctic is a major source of particles that form ice crystals in low-level clouds of the Arctic (at altitudes below about 3 km) during summer and fall.

The German government on Friday warned the elderly, people with health conditions, pregnant women and parents with young children to seek out cool places amid forecasts for a sharp rise in temperatures over the weekend.

The International Maritime Organization, overseer of the highly-polluting shipping industry, has agreed to improve on its target to cut carbon emissions, according to a draft agreement seen Friday by AFP.

A hunter’s kill in upstate New York brought new hope, and trepidation, that wolves could slowly be making their way back to the Northeast.

A hunter’s kill in upstate New York brought hew hope, and trepidation, that wolves could slowly be making their way back to the Northeast.

Climate change and increased human habitation across France's dry, forested region are pushing the limits of firefighters' tried and tested "strike quick and hard" strategy.

Wildfires raging across Canada have already broken records for total area burned, the number of people forced to evacuate their homes and the cost of fighting the blazes, and the fire season is only halfway finished, officials said Thursday.

At least 50 people, including eight children, have been killed by floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains that have lashed Pakistan since last month, officials said Friday.