A torrent of giant hailstones in northeast Spain may have been fueled by climate change.
On August 31, 2022, a brutal hailstorm struck the small Spanish city of La Bisbal d’Empordà. The storm unleashed balls of ice up to 12 centimeters wide, causing widespread damage to property and crops, injuring dozens of people and killing a 20-month-old toddler. Computer simulations now suggest that in a preindustrial climate, the storm could not have generated hailstones this big, researchers report in the
SAN FRANCISCO — Several Antarctic glaciers are undergoing dramatic acceleration and ice loss. Hektoria Glacier, the worst affected, has quadrupled its sliding speed and lost 25 kilometers of ice off its front in just 16 months, scientists say.
The rapid retreat “is really unheard of,” says Mathieu Morlighem, a glaciologist at Dartmouth College who was not part of the team reporting these findings.
The collapse was triggered by unusually warm ocean temperatures, which caused sea ice to retreat. This allowed
This summer was the hottest ever recorded on Earth, and 2023 is on track to be the hottest year. Heat waves threatened people’s health across North America, Europe and Asia. Canada had its worst wildfire season ever, and flames devastated the city of Lahaina in Maui. Los Angeles was pounded by an unheard-of summer tropical storm while rains in Libya caused devastating floods that left thousands dead and missing. This extreme weather is a warning sign that we are living
The spring 2014 annual reindeer festival in Yar-Sale, a rural town on the Yamal Peninsula in Western Siberia, was a grim affair. A rainstorm followed by a deep freeze the previous November had turned the normally snow-covered tundra into an ice shield. Reindeer could not paw through the thick ice to access lichen, their primary food source. In a region where winter temperatures can plunge below –50° Celsius, that ground remained frozen months later. Tens of thousands of reindeer had
A judge has ruled in favor of youths who claimed Montana’s use of fossil fuels contributed to the climate crisis and harmed their health.
The ‘monumental decision’ was based on the state’s policy in evaluating requests for fossil fuel permits – which does not allow agencies to assess the effects of greenhouse gas emissions – was found unconstitutional.
The youths, aged five to 22, did not seek a payout following a win but wanted defendants to ‘bring the state energy
As the U.S. auto industry attempts to do its part to slow the warming of the planet, there’s room for debate about how big that role needs to be.
The head of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the industry umbrella group for many automakers and suppliers, argues that the EPA’s proposed emissions rules for the 2027 to 2032 model years are pushing manufacturers too hard. The group calls the EPA’s draft rule “a de facto battery-electric vehicle mandate” that is
“Global warming” is out, “global boiling” is in, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced Thursday.
“Humanity is in the hot seat,” Guterres said at a press conference. “For vast parts of North America, Asia, Africa and Europe, it is a cruel summer. For the entire planet, it is a disaster. And for scientists, it is unequivocal – humans are to blame.”
The science is settled, according to Guterres, but it would seem the fear-based propaganda hasn’t worked in scaring enough
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This story was originally published by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The reporting was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center.
Comau Fjord is a sliver of sea framed by thickly forested mountain slopes. Melting glaciers peek between the crags. Waterfalls tumble down mountainsides, faint lines across vast expanses of gray rock. It is quintessential Chilean Patagonia, but in the austral summer of 2021, the narrow fjord filled
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com.
