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In 1000 years, sea levels could rise as much as 28 meters, placing London, as well as many other cities, squarely underwater. Because it can be difficult to picture just what those rising waters mean, one artist has placed a glowing high-water mark around some of London's most prominent monuments. More »
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In the most comprehensive analysis of its kind to date, scientists have used NASA satellites to gauge just how much of the world's ice has been lost to the oceans. Their results? Data collected over eight years of the past decade indicates that melting ice raised sea levels worldwide by an average of 1.48 millimeters. More »
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We've been recording global surface temperatures since 1880, the beginning of what meteorologists call the modern record. In that time, worldwide temperatures have been on the rise. Now, NASA scientists are reporting that the global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest that we've ever recorded. So what's the big deal? In the last 132 years, nine of the ten warmest on record have occurred in the last eleven years.

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Climate change might turn lizards into geniuses, but fish won't be quite so lucky. All the billions of tons of carbon dioxide that enters the oceans each year is like alcohol for fish, turning them into risk-taking idiots. More »
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Just when it seemed like we knew all the dangers of climate change, science has to go and throw us this curveball. Warmer temperatures make lizards' brains develop differently. Last thing we need is some newly super-intelligent lizards judging us. More »
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Back in January 2010, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that they were moving their "Doomsday Clock" from five to six minutes to midnight, a sign of cautious optimism and renewed hope for Earth's nuclear safety. More »
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The UN's latest Climate Change Conference recently concluded after two weeks of intense negotiations in Durban, South Africa. There's going to be a new agreement to address climate change, but does that really mean anything? Let's break down what happened. More »
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Get excited, people. The critically acclaimed BBC documentary series Frozen Planet is slated to begin airing stateside on March 18th, but here's the really good news: the controversial final episode addressing climate change? It will be airing in the U.S., after all. More »
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As global temperatures rise and the oceans heat up, a huge question is how fish that are adapted to one set of temperatures will survive this upheaval. Now we know at least one species could adapt fast enough to survive. More »
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There's a famous story about British moths during the Industrial Revolution, who in just a few short generations adapted to their soot-filled environment by evolving a matching black color. And now we've found the global warming equivalent: Dutch ladybugs. More »
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According to a report published today by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), greenhouses gas levels in Earth's atmosphere have reached a record high. What's more, the report indicates that the rate of that increase shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, it's accelerating. More »
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Most climate change predictions have only examined the next hundred years. But now a new, even more long-term model suggests that temperatures could rise as much as ten degrees Celsius by 2300 — creating conditions not seen for 34 million years. More »
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As sea temperatures rise, many fish species will have to relocate to find waters that can support them. But they won't have a lot of time to look for the right new home. For fish, it's survival of the fastest. More »
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Apparently Boehner isn't alone. Turns out millions of other white, conservative men are skeptical of climate change science; and those who self-identify as having a firm understanding of global warming are even more prone towards climate change denial. More »
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The last decade was the hottest on record, and yet it wasn't until 2010 that an individual year was hotter than the record-breaking 1998 heatwave. Somehow, global temperatures mysteriously flattened out. The explanation may lie thousands of feet underwater. More »
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NASA has released a map charting the movement of massive ice sheets on the continent of Antarctica. By compiling these maps into animations like the one shown above, researchers can, for the very first time, examine how the outward flow of the continent's ice sheets could help us predict future rises in sea level. More »
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The Ice Age can be explained by some well-placed specks of iron. Adding dust to the waters around Antarctica can supercharge plankton growth, causing global temperature drops. To stop climate change, we need a whole lot of iron filings. More »
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Cows give off massive amounts of methane as a by-product of their grassy diet. Kangaroos do not, despite having the same diet. Scientists are looking at that difference and hoping to find a way to combine a cool earth with hamburgers. More »
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It's hard to imagine, but about 55 million years ago, Antarctica was ice-free and full of lush forests. Now analysis of ancient pollen has revealed when the last Antarctic vegetation died out...and what's next for the continents's vast ice sheets. More »
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It's hard to know where to begin when calculating the effects that climate change might have on our planet, but I'm guessing most people haven't considered the smell factor. Global warming could super-charge the production of a particularly smelly gas. More »
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The fact that sea levels are rising probably won't come as a huge surprise. But we now have some much-needed historical context for the melting icecaps and rising waters...and there's zero doubt that, in geological history, higher sea levels meant higher temperatures. More »
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The Sun has been unusually quiet lately, with the solar wind the slowest it's been in 50 years and the sunspot cycle reduced to nothing more than the occasional belch. But don't believe reports that this spells doom for humanity. More »
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James Jaros' new novel Burn Down the Sky offers a disturbing take on the post-global-warming dystopian setting. Our civilization is no more, thanks to skyrocketing temperatures and a catstrophic water shortage — and then there's the deadly "Wicca" virus. More »
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Earth has had five mass extinction events in the last 540 million years, in which more than three-quarters of animal species went extinct. We're on the verge of the sixth mass extinction, but it's not too late to stop it. More »
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A female polar bear recently swam over 400 miles in water barely above freezing, apparently in search of ice that had not been melted by climate change. It's a tale that's equal parts insane, tragic, and completely terrifying. More »
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Storage of carbon dioxide was supposed to be a boon to the environment in Canada. But are reports of dead animals and bubbling ponds signs that it's a danger? More »
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Climate has been the secret driver of history, particularly in the preindustrial world. Empires and kingdoms rose to power when it was warm and wet and toppled when it became cool and dry...and climate might not be done guiding history. More »
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Cattle and other livestock create tons of damaging greenhouse gases, particularly when you consider everything humans have to do to turn a cow in a field into dinner on your plate. There may be one environmentally friendly solution: eating bugs. More »
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Bear attacks are on the rise, and changes in the environment are to blame. There are three factors making it more likely that you'll get a bear claw in the face. More »
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If all we are is dust in the wind, it turns out we could be pretty lasting and important. Dust plays a major role in climate - possibly more of one than we give it credit for. More »
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Everybody wants more optimistic science fiction, but the near future is full of nightmare scenarios like global climate change. How do we get around that? Alastair Reynolds has one idea: a 22nd century saga set after the climate's already changed. More »
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Three hundred million years ago there was a period of global warming. Two hundred million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the land, wreaking havok and spreading terror. Scientists think the two events were intimately linked. More »
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A recent proposal to control global warming is to release sulfur droplets into the atmosphere, which would hopefully block out some of the Sun's rays. Venus has been running an eons-long simulation of just that plan...and it doesn't look good. More »
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Climate change is steering grizzly bears and polar bears on a collision course. When they meet in the middle, fights are inevitable. Find out who is favored to win, evolutionarily speaking. More »
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Climate change could have devastating consequences for much of the world's ecosystems, but at least one area might benefit. Ancient rain forests thrived during severe warming millions of years ago, helping to create today's species diversity. More »
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Science was rarely mentioned on the campaign trail, so what exactly does the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives mean for science? For environmental science, it looks very bad. But on other issues, there's reason for a little optimism. More »
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The polar ice caps are melting, damaging habitats and robbing animals of their basic resources. But polar bears have a decent chance of surviving the upheaval, thanks to snow goose eggs...and a little random good luck. More »
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Global warming affects all of us, but that doesn't mean it'll unite the world. If anything, it'll split the planet in two: Storms in the northern hemisphere will follow a very different pattern than storms in the southern hemisphere. More »
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Despite the many possible technological and political solutions to global warming, one highly effective way to reduce carbon emissions is pretty straightforward: stop procreating. More »
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Blocking out the Sun is being seriously considered as a temporary solution to slow down global warming. But the U.N. might ban these solar shades, perhaps because someone there knows The Simpsons already did it...and it didn't work out well. More »
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