The failure to agree a global treaty on plastic pollution highlights how the UN’s requirement for unanimity holds back environmental policy, but there are better ways to make progress
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE01958C, Paper Shang Liu, Shiteng Li, Qijun Yang, Meng Lin Significant progress has been made in enhancing solar interfacial evaporation (SIE) performance at the laboratory scale, however, translating these improvements to meter-scale systems suitable for practical deployment remains limited by... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Open access notables Glacier Geoengineering May Have Unintended Consequences for Marine Ecosystems and Fisheries , Hopwood et al., AGU Advances A bold suggestion to reduce sea level rise is to install underwater barriers to reduce the inflow of oceanic heat around Antarctica and Greenland. Inflow of warm, saline water masses drives ice melt and the destabilization of tidewater glaciers. Whilst the basic theory that barriers would stem oceanic heat flow is uncontroversial, the extent to which barriers might reduce future ice mass loss is less certain. There are numerous concerns about the viability and side-effects of this proposed intervention. We use existing field observations and representative fjord-scale models for the Greenland's largest glacier, Sermeq Kujalleq...
The dwarf planet is cold now, but new research paints a picture of Ceres hosting a deep, long-lived energy source that may have maintained habitable conditions in the past. New NASA research has found that Ceres may have had a lasting source of chemical energy: the right types of molecules needed to fuel some microbial […]
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Volume 130, Issue 16, 28 August 2025.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE02702K, Review Article Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Sowjanya Vallem, Malayil Gopalan Sibi, Rahul Patil, Vishakha Goyal, Giridhar Babu Anam, E. A. Lohith, K. Keerthi, Muhammad Umer, N. V. V. Jyothi, Matthias Vandichel, Subhasmita Ray, Daniel Ioan Stroe, Mani Balamurugan, Sada Venkateswarlu, Jagadeesh Rajenahally, Radek Zboril, Aristides Bakandritsos Amidst escalating global concerns over rising atmospheric CO2 levels, the capture and effective utilization of C1 and C2+ sources are crucial not only for advancing a sustainable society but also... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Two other tropical waves in the tropical Atlantic also bear watching, but have limited support for development this week from the models. The post A weaker Hurricane Erin still a formidable wave and storm surge threat appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have risen an extra 15 parts per million since 1960 due to the declining ability of the land and sea to soak up excess CO2
The state has plugged hundreds of the unused wells, but thousands are still leaking dangerous chemicals and climate-warming methane. The post Orphan wells leave toxic legacy across Pennsylvania appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE02153G, Paper Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Ho Mei Law, Zilong WANG, Shengjun Xu, Longyun Shen, Baptiste Py, Yuhao Wang, Renée Siegel, Juergen Senker, Qingsong Wang, Francesco Ciucci Sodium–ion batteries represent a more sustainable and potentially cost–effective alternative to lithium–ion technology, with sodium–metal anodes showing significant promise for high–energy–density batteries. However, the high reactivity between sodium–metal and conventional... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
NOAA's GOES-19 satellite captured images of Hurricane Erin as it developed in the Atlantic and then rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 storm.
Forecasters expect Hurricane Erin, one of the fastest rapidly intensifying storms in history, to bring flooding and dangerous currents as the Category 4 hurricane travels to the U.S. East Coast this week.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE02978C, Paper John Holoubek, Pu Zhang, Chad Serrao, Huayue Ai, Il Rok Choi, Louisa C Greenburg, Xun Guan, Angela Cai, Wenbo Zhang, Yi Cui Zinc batteries promise low-cost energy storage for the grid but are limited by poor negative electrode reversibility. Thermodynamically stable organic electrolytes can theoretically enhance said reversibility but present high raw... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Volume 130, Issue 8, August 2025.
Floating offshore wind turbines open a whole new playing field for energy companies, which have so far had to stick to shallow waters.
From drought-stricken farms to rising trade barriers, the global coffee industry is facing unprecedented strain. The post Climate change has sent coffee prices soaring. Trump’s tariffs will send them higher. appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 15 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02405-yGenetic diversity must be explicitly recognized in ecological restoration
Video: 00:04:21 Europe’s first MetOp Second Generation, MetOp-SG-A1, weather satellite – which hosts the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission – has launched aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from the European spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 13 August at 02:37 CEST (12 August 21:37 Kourou time).MetOp-SG-A1 is the first in a series of three successive pairs of satellites. The mission as a whole not only ensures the continued delivery of global observations from polar orbit for weather forecasting and climate analysis for more than 20 years, but also offers enhanced accuracy and resolution compared to the original MetOp mission – along with new measurement capabilities to expand its scientific reach.This new weather satellite also carries the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission to deliver...
The latest report on global climate change highlights the impact of higher global temperatures on the water cycle, with atmospheric water vapour levels reaching record levels during 2024.
Open access notables BAMS State of the Climate 2024 [Watch this space; we will plug in a summary and a link to the latest report, to be published Aug. 14 ~9a ET.] Best of times, worst of times: record fossil-fuel profits, inflation and inequality , Semieniuk et al., Energy Research & Social Science The 2022 oil and gas crisis resulted in record fossil-fuel profits globally that rehabilitated the oil and gas industry, obstructed the energy transition and contributed to inflation, but their magnitude and beneficiaries have been insufficiently understood. Here we show the size of profits across countries and their distribution across socio-economic groups within the United States, using company income statements, comprehensive ownership data and...
Since the mid-1990s, the Greenland ice sheet has been losing mass, leaving only three floating tongues remaining. One of these, Nioghalvfjerdsbræ or the 79°N Glacier, is already showing the first signs of instability. In addition to the warm ocean water, which is increasingly thinning the ice from below, the runoff of meltwater on the surface is also playing an increasingly significant role. In a new study, researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute investigated how - caused by global warming - a 21 km2 large meltwater lake formed and developed on the surface of the 79°N Glacier. They observed that over the years, this lake has caused gigantic cracks and the outflowing water is lifting the glacier. Their findings have been published in the journal The Cryosphere.
In Here Comes the Sun, environmentalist Bill McKibben argues that the rapid adoption of solar power should quell our worst climate fears. Is he right, asks James Dinneen
Combining 25 years of space-based data with ocean sampling, scientists have uncovered a change in the microscopic organisms that underpin the Southern Ocean’s food chain and carbon storage.
Human-caused climate change from burning fossil fuels may be involved in a persistent tilt toward dry patterns. The post Why winter rains keep skipping the Southwest appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Video: 00:01:36 Europe’s first MetOp Second Generation, MetOp-SG-A1, weather satellite – which hosts the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission – has launched aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 13 August at 02:37 CEST (12 August 21:37 Kourou time).MetOp-SG-A1 is the first in a series of three successive pairs of satellites. The mission as a whole not only ensures the continued delivery of global observations from polar orbit for weather forecasting and climate analysis for more than 20 years, but also offers enhanced accuracy and resolution compared to the original MetOp mission – along with new measurement capabilities to expand its scientific reach.This new weather satellite also carries the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission to deliver...
Ushering in a new era of weather and climate monitoring from polar orbit, the first in a new series of satellites, MetOp Second Generation, has been lofted into orbit aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. As part of this new satellite’s sophisticated instrument package is the new Copernicus Sentinel-5 instrument, which is designed to deliver critical data on air pollutants, ozone and climate-related gases.
Video: 00:05:14 MetOp-SG-A1 travelled onboard the Canopée ship. Our teams at the European spaceport in French Guiana have been quite busy making sure both the rocket and the payloads are ready for flight VA264.Europe’s first MetOp Second Generation, MetOp-SG-A1, weather satellite – which hosts Copernicus Sentinel-5 as part of its instrument package – is set for liftoff on an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on August 2025.MetOp-SG-A1 is the first in a series of three successive pairs of satellites. The mission as a whole not only ensures the continued delivery of global observations from polar orbit for weather forecasting and climate analysis for more than 20 years, but also offers enhanced accuracy and resolution compared to the original MetOp mission...
Researchers are testing whether increasing UV radiation is altering chemistry of tree leaves, increasing the likelihood and severity of wildfires
The program offers paid training in solar installation, EV charger maintenance, heat pump installation, and more. The post Goodwill’s Clean Tech Accelerator trains people for clean energy jobs appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
A carbon dioxide removal company in Canada is experimenting with ways to treat mining waste to capture and store more CO2
Erin is predicted to hit Category 3 strength by this weekend. The post Tropical Storm Erin likely to become a classic, long-lived Atlantic hurricane appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
A rare "space hurricane" that swirled over Earth's North Pole in 2014 caused intense space weather effects despite unusually quiet solar conditions, a new study reports.
Video: 00:01:45 Experience the preparation of the MetOp-SG-A1 satellite, hosting Copernicus Sentinel-5, scheduled for liftoff on an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 13 August 2025 at 02:37 CEST (12 August 21:37 Kourou time). This timelapse video captures key stages from the encapsulation within the Ariane 6 fairing to the installation in the launch tower.MetOp-SG-A1 is the first in a series of three successive pairs of satellites. The mission as a whole not only ensures the continued delivery of global observations from polar orbit for weather forecasting and climate analysis for more than 20 years, but also offers enhanced accuracy and resolution compared to the original MetOp mission – along with new measurement capabilities to expand its scientific...
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE03005F, Paper Jian Liu, Zhaochen Suo, Longyu Li, Wenkai Zhao, Jingyi Huo, Jiye Chen, Guankui Long, Zhaoyang Yao, Chenxi Li, Xiangjian Wan, Yongsheng Chen Asymmetric acceptors characterized by core asymmetry exhibit great potential for achieving outstanding efficiency, despite the limited number of relevant studies reported to date. In this work, we propose an asymmetric... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE03224E, Paper Shunshun Zhao, Sinian Yang, Xuanrui Huang, Xinwei Wang, Haojie Xu, Qing Ma, Yong Chen, Guoxiu Wang, Shimou Chen Quasi-solid-state or solid-state electrolytes are promising to address the long-standing challenges in zinc batteries, such as Zn dendrite formation and inevitable side reactions. Herein, we report an anhydrous Janus quasi-solid-state... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Unchecked groundwater extraction and climate change have dried continents significantly over the past 22 years, with 101 countries now losing fresh water to the ocean, research reveals.
Warmth is building for many in the coming days, with much of central and southern England likely to reach heatwave criteria by midweek.
Learn more about the Younger Dryas event, an ancient climate change catastrophe that’s typically attributed to glacial meltwater.
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02400-3Estimating transition risk is important for the banking sector, yet current practices still rely on conceptual scenarios. Now, a study provides a concrete approach to help regulators calculate the immediate risk that banks face from exposure to climate policy shocks.
NASA's Curiosity rover has snapped black and white images of a rock on the Martian surface that looks remarkably like a piece of coral.
Hurricanes that intensify rapidly just before landfall are more deadly and destructive. The post Climate change brings more rapidly intensifying hurricanes; NOAA cuts makes forecasting them harder appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
As Greenland’s ice retreats, it’s fueling tiny ocean organisms. To test why, scientists turned to a computer model out of JPL and MIT that’s been called a laboratory in itself. Runoff from Greenland’s ice sheet is kicking nutrients up from the ocean depths and boosting phytoplankton growth, a new NASA-supported study has found. Reporting in […]
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Volume 130, Issue 15, 16 August 2025.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE02847G, Paper Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Hongjun Chen, Heejong Shin, Jianan Erick Huang, Hengzhou Liu, Rui Kai Miao, Rong Xia, Weiyan Ni, Jiaqi Yu, Yongxiang Liang, Bosi Peng, Yuanjun Chen, Guangcan Su, Ke Xie, Anita Wing Yi Ho-Baillie, Edward H Sargent Electrochemical conversion of CO2 into CO, ethylene, and other valuable chemicals is a promising method for carbon capture and utilisation. However, when carried out in an alkaline or neutral media,... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Piles of dirt can cheaply store renewable energy as heat – and that stored energy can reactivate the machinery of retired coal power plants, letting them provide backup power for the electricity grid
Extraordinary discovery of bones from early Ice Age period could reshape how we understand and respond to today’s climate shifts.
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink I’ve been traveling with my family on vacation in Iceland for the past week, so the timing of recent events has been less than ideal. Given that I am cited in both the recent DOE report and EPA proposed rule, I thought it would be useful to address how my work was used and misused in more detail. Expect more on the broader topics covered in the report in coming weeks. Moving away from current policy In their proposed rule titled “Reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards”, the EPA cites my work (among others) to argue that the original 2009 endangerment finding was too pessimistic. Specifically, they say that: With respect to projected increases in GHG concentrations and...
It’s not just that it’s dark and people are asleep. Urban sprawl, confirmation bias, and other factors can play a role. The post The surprising reasons floods and other disasters are deadlier at night appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Wind gusts in excess of 70mph were reported in parts of Scotland at Storm Floris brought impacts for many, but there’s further unsettled weather likely later this week for some.
Proposed cuts to the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance program may leave people without heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. The post Over 50 million Americans struggle to pay an energy bill appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Giant, ridge-like structures of methane ice, known as "bladed terrain," may be much more abundant along Pluto's equator than previously realized, a new study suggests.
Sentinel-6B will measure sea surface height for nearly all of the world’s ocean, providing important data for information products, including weather and hurricane forecasts. NASA has a long record of monitoring Earth’s sea surface height, information critical not only for tracking how the ocean changes over time but also for hurricane forecasting. These extreme storms […]
Pink lakes in Western Australia get their color from pigments produced by microbes, but climate change and other human threats are killing these tiny organisms.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE02503F, Paper Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Yating Yu, Sida Chen, Hai-Peng Liang, Ziqi Zhao, Guangze Chu, Ziting Zhi, Xian-Ao Li, Cheng Li, Ruixin Li, Youzhi Xu, Xin Liu, Minghua Chen, Stefano Passerini, Zhen Chen Single-ion conducting copolymer electrolytes (SIPEs) hold significant potential for next-generation lithium metal batteries (LMBs). However, the unsatisfactory ionic conductivity, limited mechanical strength, and lack of insights into the lithium-ion transport... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
The Trump administration is attempting to argue that greenhouses gases don’t endanger people to reverse regulations limiting these harmful emissions – climate scientists are pushing back
A 17-year-old badly burned his foot and ankle on Monday (July 28) while hiking off trail near the Lone Star Geyser, Yellowstone National Park representatives said.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE03443D, Perspective Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Haoxuan Jiang, Adel Rezaeimotlagh, Sahar Nazari, Tianyu Li, Jingwen Huang, Dorna Esrafilzadeh, Renwu Zhou, Ali Rouhollah Jalili Electrifying ammonia production demands modular systems powered entirely by renewable energy, eliminating dependence on fossil-derived hydrogen. This perspective argues that coupling non-thermal plasma oxidation of air to nitric oxide (NO)... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE03272E, Paper Sai Li, Xianhui Zhao, Zheng Liu, Rang Xiao, Xin Zhang, Binghan Cui, GePing Yin, Pengjian Zuo, Yulin Ma, Chaoyang Li, Ning Wang, Guokang Han, Huaizheng Ren, Chunyu Du The sluggish interfacial kinetics of graphite anodes restricts the fast-charging capability of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), inducing severe lithium plating and electrolyte decomposition, which markedly accelerates battery degradation and raises safety... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Learn how climate change may be making airplane turbulence worse and what routes are best to avoid.
Two other tropical waves in the tropical Atlantic also bear watching, but models show limited support for development this week. The post Strengthening Hurricane Erin on course to recurve out to sea appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
This is a re-post from And Then There's Physics Ted Nordhaus has a recent article in The EcoModernist about why he stopped being a climate catastrophist . His basic argument is that we used to think that we were heading for 5 o C of warming, which would have been catastrophic, but are now heading for more like 3 o C of warming. Despite this good news, many in the climate science and advocacy community have refused to become less catastrophic. Ted, on the other hand, has change his mind and is no longer a climate catastrophist. I’ve been involved in discussions about this topic for more than a decade, and I don’t think I’d ever have described Ted as a catastrophist, at least not as I would expect it to be defined. This reminds me of when one of...
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Advance Article DOI : 10.1039/D5EE02676H, Perspective Carlos D. Díaz-Marín, Zachary J. Berquist Unprecedented artificial intelligence (AI) growth poses major electricity, emissions, and water challenges. Essentially all AI electricity use is converted to heat, representing a Gigawatt-scale resource that can critically boost AI sustainability. To cite this article before page numbers are assigned, use the DOI form of citation above. The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
"Being able to send something out there would enable us to take a lot more precise data than we currently can."
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy . It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). The icy caps of our planet hold a frozen secret. Inside the permafrost, within the Arctic Circle, vast amounts of carbon are stored. And as the climate changes and the world heats, many fear this could lead to a tipping point, where thaw causes a viscous cycle of greenhouse gas emissions. But... Could it? Is permafrost really a tipping element for our planet? And how should we be keeping permafrost frozen - to protect ourselves from as much global warming as possible? Support ClimateAdam on patreon: https://patreon.com/climateadam
A six-week period of extraordinary heat in 2024 melted 62 gigatonnes of ice on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, obliterating all previous melt records
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief A “critical assessment” report commissioned by the Trump administration to justify a rollback of US climate regulations contains at least 100 false or misleading statements, according to a Carbon Brief factcheck involving dozens of leading climate scientists. The 140-page report – “ A critical review of impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the US climate ” – was published by the US Department of Energy (DoE) on 23 July, just days before the government laid out plans to revoke a scientific finding used as the legal basis for emissions regulation. The executive summary of the controversial report inaccurately claims that “CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed”...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, August 10, 2025 thru Sat, August 16, 2025. Stories we promoted this week, by category: Climate Change Impacts (14 articles) Atmospheric Rivers May be Diminishing on the West Coast and Surging in the East, Study Finds "Over a 20-year period, atmospheric rivers could double the amount of rain falling on part of the Southeast, the researchers found." Science, Inside Climate News, Chad Small, Aug 9, 2025. Fossil-fuelled heat has caused tropical birds to decline by `up to 38%` since 1950s An uptick in heat extremes, driven by human-caused climate change, has caused tropical bird populations to decline by up to 38% since the 1950s, according to a first-of-its-kind...
Erin's overnight surge in strength was one of the fastest ever recorded in the Atlantic. The post Erin vaults from tropical storm to Category 5 hurricane in just 25 hours appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Even if Erin avoids making landfall, it will send dangerous surf and rip currents into thousands of miles of shoreline. The post Hurricane Erin embarks on a ferocious week of churning the Atlantic appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE02265G, Paper Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Ganesh Raghavendran, Alex Liu, Oleg A. Borodin, Nathan T Hahn, Kevin Leung, Na Ri Park, Tejas Nivarty, Mingqian Li, Aiden Larson, Yijie Yin, Minghao Zhang, Ying Shirley Meng High-energy density, improved safety, temperature resilience, and sustainability are desirable yet rarely simultaneously achieved properties in lithium-battery electrolytes. In this work, we present an aggregate-rich electrolyte that leverages the complementary... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Advance Article DOI : 10.1039/D5EE04211A, Paper Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Tianye Zheng, Haihong Bao, Feifan Chen, Jingwen Wu, Pengcheng Zhao, Hoi Lut Ho, Shoufei Gao, Yingying Wang, Jiaqiang Huang, Leiting Zhang, Steven T. Boles, Wei Jin Gas evolution is an inherent aspect in batteries. We present an optical fiber spectroscopic technique for operando gas sensing, enabling comprehensive mechanistic studies in batteries and broader electrochemical energy systems. To cite this article before page numbers are assigned, use the DOI form of citation above. The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
For the first time in 35 years, scientists have analysed a new type of all-carbon molecule at room temperature, without the extreme conditions usually required to stabilise this type of molecule
While clearing debris from the devastating floods in Texas in July, volunteers uncovered 15 large dinosaur footprints thought to belong to a formidable prehistoric predator.
Massachusetts is testing bidirectional chargers that turn parked EVs into backup energy sources. The post Electric car batteries could power both vehicles and the grid appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
A policy that relies on farm-specific carbon-intensity scores can promote climate-smart agricultural practices.
A major cycle of Pacific Ocean temperatures is shifting due to climate change, and that could drive decades of megadrought in the western US
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE02556G, Review Article Xingtang Xu, Chonghua Li, Wang Li, Jie Feng, Wen-Ying Li The escalating demand for renewable energy is driving the rapid advancement of innovative energy storage and conversion technologies. Molecular solar thermal (MOST) systems, as a promising alternative energy solution, typically... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by SueEllen Campbell Solar and wind energy systems require some means of saving power for times when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. Such approaches, from batteries to gravity, are developing rapidly and in many different directions. The pieces below sample the richness and complexity of this important topic. Batteries It can feel impossible, at least for a nonspecialist, to stay current on research into new kinds of “regular” batteries, never mind those suitable for large-scale energy storage. One fairly promising recent development is the iron-air battery – or, we might say, rust . See “ How iron-air batteries could fill gaps in renewable energy ” (Alissa Greenberg...
The whales are typically found in areas of the ocean with 15-30% sea ice cover in the summer months, but the Arctic is changing rapidly as the climate warms. The post Bowhead whales are losing habitat they’ve preferred for 12,000 years appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Nature, Published online: 13 August 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02508-8Predictions of climate change are uncertain. That’s why we need to keep finding out how our atmosphere works.
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Simon Evans Renewable energy will overtake coal to become the world’s top source of electricity “by 2026 at the latest”, according to new forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The rise of renewables is being driven by extremely rapid growth in wind and solar output, which topped 4,000 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024 and will pass 6,000TWh by 2026. Wind and solar are increasingly under attack from populist politicians on the right, such as US president Donald Trump and Reform in the UK. Nevertheless, they will together meet more than 90% of the increase in global electricity demand out to 2026, the IEA says, while modest growth for hydro power will add to renewables’...
Researchers caution that the Amazon rainforest could disappear in the next hundred years, due to the combined effects of climate change and deforestation, and a new model predicts how that could transpire.
A 2016 satellite photo shows nearly a dozen swirling dark spots that emerged in the clouds over Heard Island in the Indian Ocean.
Learn more about Plateosaurus engelhardti, the deepest fossil ever found at nearly 9,000 feet below sea level.
Bone fragments found on King George Island have been identified as Dennis "Tink" Bell, a British meteorologist who fell into a crevasse in 1959
The numbers of many tropical birds are plummeting, and now it has been shown that heat extremes intensified by global warming are the biggest factor driving these declines
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters As Hurricane Helene roared toward the Florida Panhandle on September 26, 2024, the storm put on an intimidating display of rapid intensification, ramping up from a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph (129 km/h) winds to a Cat 4 monster with 140 mph (225 km/h) winds in the 24 hours before landfall . Storm damage rises exponentially as the winds increase, so this rise in intensity increased Helene’s destructive power by a factor of about 92, according to a NOAA damage potential scale . Rapid intensification – defined as a 35 mph (56 km/h) or greater increase in the maximum sustained wind speed within a 24-hour period – is something 80% of major hurricanes (Category 3-5) ...
Even as the EPA moves to block greenhouse gas reporting, satellites and aircraft are stepping in to expose the truth. The post Climate polluters may be allowed to stop reporting their emissions. That doesn’t mean they can hide them. appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
A listing of 30 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, August 3, 2025 thru Sat, August 9, 2025. Stories we promoted this week, by category: Climate Change Impacts (12 articles) Troubling scenes from an Arctic in full-tilt crisis The heat that hit Svalbard "The heat that hit Svalbard in February was so intense that scientists could dig into the ground with spoons, 'like it was soft ice cream'." Climate, Grist Magazine, Matt Simon, July 29, 2025. 5 Graphics Explain the Climate-Fire Feedback Loop Insights, World Resources Institute, Kaitlyn Thayer & James MacCarthy, Aug 1, 2025. `A bellwether of change`: speed of glacier shrinking on remote Heard Island sounds alarm Glacial retreat on pristine...
The relatively modest Atlantic hurricane season to date may soon kick into high gear. Long-range outlooks from multiple models are in unusual agreement on the chance of a powerful hurricane moving toward North America in the one- to two-week window. That’s way too far out for any definitive forecasts in terms of location, strength, or […] The post Get ready for an active mid-August in the Atlantic appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE01956G, Paper Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Jin Su, Chun Huang Anode-free lithium metal batteries (AFBs), which use bare Cu current collectors, represent a promising energy storage technology that offers higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries. Without a lithium metal... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
A geomagnetic storm could hit Earth Aug. 8 or 9, possibly bringing the dazzling northern lights with it.
Open access notables Public concerns about solar geoengineering research in the United States , Buck et al., Communications Earth & Environment Solar geoengineering is receiving increased private research funding at a time of growing social media speculation about government weather control. This can complicate public deliberation on solar geoengineering research. Using interviews (N = 64), focus groups (N = 10), and a national survey (N = 3076), we explore initial impressions of the US public on solar geoengineering research, including views on research and beliefs that atmospheric modification to combat global warming is currently ongoing. We find more opposition than support for research and a strong preference...
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE02117K, Paper Junyi Dai, Jiahao Li, Fangxin Ling, Yu Yao, Yanru Wang, Mingze Ma, Jian Feng, Jun Xia, Yinbo Zhu, Hai Yang, Xianhong Rui, Hengan Wu, Yan Yu Sodium iron hexacyanoferrates (Na2FeFe(CN)6) are considered among the most promising cathode materials for sodium ion batteries due to their high theoretical energy density and low cost. However, structural Fe(CN)64- vacancies... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
This is a re-post from and Then There's Physics Since Climateball TM (H/T Willard ) is back with the publication of the first report from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Climate Working Group, I thought it was time to start writing posts again. The report is called A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate , and the authors are John Christy, Judith Curry, Steven Koonin, Ross McKitrick, and Roy Spencer. The first point to make is that if someone had asked me 10 years ago to guess the names of a group of scientists who might be recruited to write a contrarian report on climate science, I would have guessed a significant number of those listed above. Why are there so few contrarians that it’s pretty easy...
Glaciers in Washington, Montana, British Columbia, Alberta and the Swiss Alps have set grim records over the past four years, with both the annual amount of ice lost and the four-year average reaching all-time highs.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE01513H, Paper Cheng Wang, Chang Yu, Bingzhi Qian, Yongwen Ren, Rulong Ma, Yue Chu, Jieshan Qiu Upgrading nitrogen to ammonium fertilizer under environmental conditions presents a promising prospect for the application of distributed renewable energy. Herein, a hybrid plasma-electro-membrane triple intensified system is developed to achieve... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
It's the latest entry in an Atlantic hurricane season dominated by low-impact, high-latitude systems. The post Dexter becomes the Atlantic’s fourth named storm of 2025 appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections In a stark juxtaposition, while nearly half of all Americans sweltered under a life-threatening extreme heat wave made several times more likely by climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency declared this week that it will roll back the agency’s 2009 determination that climate pollution endangers public health and welfare. Known as the “endangerment finding,” this determination has been the basis of the EPA’s efforts over the past 15 years to regulate climate pollutants from vehicles, power plants, and other major sources. “Today is the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the head of the agency whose mission...
Amber and Yellow wind warnings are now in force as Storm Floris brings unseasonably strong winds.
A listing of 27 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 27, 2025 thru Sat, August 2, 2025. Stories we promoted this week, by category: Climate Policy and Politics (9 articles) Trump’s war on windmills started in Scotland. Now he’s taking it global President’s opposition to offshore wind more than a decade ago now threatens a huge industry in the US and beyond US News, The Guardian, Oliver Milman, Feb 24, 2025. Lessons From a Climate Disaster "Bolivia’s record-setting 2024 wildfire season makes clear that emergency responses to climate disasters are not enough and governments must address the root of the problem, a new report says." Justice & Health, Katie Surma, July 27...
An audacious effort to destroy climate regulations is likely headed for a showdown at the Supreme Court. The post The Republican campaign to stop the U.S. EPA from protecting the climate appeared first on Yale Climate Connections.
Data from ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission can be used to estimate how much carbon is stored in forests – and a study has improved our understanding of how reliable this proxy is and how long-term datasets from SMOS can help us to monitor this valuable resource.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE03240G, Paper Gyujin Song, Kwon-Hyung Lee, Hyeongseok Shim, Sang Hyun Lee, Hyeong-Jong Kim, Chanhyun Park, Jingyu Choi, Seok-Ju Lee, Young-Kuk Hong, Jihong Lyu, Jin Chul Kim, Sijeong Park, Hyungyeon Cha, Wooyoung Jin, Jinsoo Kim, Sin Ho Choi, Sang-Young Lee, Sung-Kyun Jung, Michael De Volder, Tae-Hee Kim Dry-processed electrodes based on poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) binder have emerged as a promising technology for sustainable, low-cost and high areal capacity electrode manufacturing. However, understanding its fibrillation behaviour becomes a key... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Open access notables Unprecedented continental drying, shrinking freshwater availability, and increasing land contributions to sea level rise , Chandanpurkar et al., Science Advances Changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) are a critical indicator of freshwater availability. We use NASA GRACE/GRACE-FO data to show that the continents have undergone unprecedented TWS loss since 2002. Areas experiencing drying increased by twice the size of California annually, creating “mega-drying” regions across the Northern Hemisphere. While most of the world’s dry/wet areas continue to get drier/wetter, dry areas are now drying faster than wet areas are wetting. Changes in TWS are driven by high-latitude water losses, intense Central American/European droughts...
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2025, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/D5EE02109J, Paper Jingjing Jiang, Sanlue Hu, Tianshuo Guo, Xiangyong Zhang, Wei Hua, Baohui Ren, Ruijia Liu, Guangming Chen, Zhuoxin Liu, Cuiping Han Anode corrosion in aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) leads to electrochemically inert surface and uncontrolled deposition, severely impeding the batteries' lifespan. Efforts to stabilize the zinc anode have primarily focused on... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Rafael Méndez Tejeda and Pearl Marvell In the past three weeks, two international courts have issued opinions that could provide a boost to those pushing for climate action through justice systems. At the beginning of July, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, headquartered in Costa Rica, declared that the planet is experiencing a climate emergency and that every person has the right to a healthy climate. And on July 23, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ highest court, said that nations must cut emissions to address the “urgent and existential threat” of climate change. Both opinions are advisory, which means they aren’t legally binding. In fact, the United...