Trending

Climate Change

It's real. It's happening. It's accelerating. And it's our fault. Human activity — particularly the production of greenhouse gasses from fossil fuel emissions — is reshaping our planet, effecting rapid environmental change at a rate never seen before. Global temperature averages are creeping upward, seas are warming, rising and becoming more acidic, and extreme weather events such as droughts, wildfires, floods and powerful storms are more commonplace. Here's where you'll find the latest on the effects of climate change, and the measures that scientists, world leaders and innovators are taking to reduce our harmful impact on the planet and mitigate the damage already done.

Related Topics: Extinction, Global Warming, Deforestation, Heat Wave, Hurricanes

Latest Updates

This illustration shows a vertically exaggerated image of the ground under Denman Glacier in East Antarctica, including a deep trough (blue area in the center) beneath its eastern flank.

Antarctica's Denman Glacier is sinking into the world's deepest canyon

By Brandon Specktor

Antarctica's Denman Glacier is falling into the world's largest land canyon.

A massive iceberg floating on its side in Greenland

Ice loss in Antarctica and Greenland increased sixfold in the last 30 years

By Brandon Specktor

Thirty years of satellite data shows ice loss in Antarctica and Iceland has increased by sixfold since the 1990s, putting us on the 'worst case' climate scenario.

Coral blooming in the abyssal depths of Australia's southern coast

'Gardens and graveyards' of coral discovered in hidden canyons off Australia's coast

By Brandon Specktor

Researchers explored three canyons thousands of feet below the water in Southern Australia, revealing both thriving gardens of coral and ashen fossil graveyards.

The rocky coast of Sif Island peeks out under a mound of Antarctic ice.

Melting ice in Antarctica reveals new uncharted island

By Brandon Specktor

Researchers discovered an uncharted island beneath melting Antarctic ice. Its rocky underbelly could hold clues to the continent's response to climate change.

Streaks of red algae coat the Antarctic ice in "blood snow."

Spooky 'blood snow' invades Antarctic island

By Brandon Specktor

Blood-red algae is blooming in Antarctica, leading to plains of creepy 'watermelon snow' across Galindez Island.

Earth on March 29, 2017

What is global warming?

By Stephanie Pappas

Global warming is the gradual heating of Earth's surface, oceans and atmosphere.

Planet Earth with sunrise and flare glint in background.

World's richest person, Jeff Bezos gives $10 billion to fight climate change

By Mike Wall

The world's richest man, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, is starting an organization devoted to battling climate change — and he's putting in $10 billion of his own money to get it off the ground.

Ancient microbial mounds called stromatolites could be a model for how coastal cities survive rising seas in this era of rapid climate change, according to experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats.

How ancient microbes could help save coastal cities from rising seas

By Mike Wall

Trees struggle to remain upright in a lake formed by abrupt permafrost thaw.

Arctic sinkholes open in a flash after permafrost melt

By Mindy Weisberger

Arctic permafrost is thawing, and some zones are melting so quickly that the new landscape becomes a soggy marsh riddled with sinkholes.

Icefin, an underwater robot, took a wild journey underneath a melting glacier in Antarctica.

Surprisingly warm water found on underside of Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier'

By Laura Geggel

For the first time, an underwater robot visited the bottom of Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier.

A Dungeness crab sits on the beach.

Acid in the Pacific Ocean is literally eating away crabs' shells

By Brandon Specktor

Researchers found that baby Dungeness crabs living in the most acidic coastal waters are smaller, weaker and at risk of losing their shells.

The glare of an exploded nuclear bomb rises over a city.

Doomsday Clock is now 100 seconds from midnight

By Mindy Weisberger

A hypothetical timepiece called the Doomsday Clock measures our nearness to Armageddon — by nuclear weapons, climate change and other global threats.

A graphic produced by NASA shows how 2019 temperatures compare with historical averages.

2019 Was the Second Hottest Year on Record, NASA Says

By Meghan Bartels

It's the award no one wanted to win: 2019 was the second hottest year on record, government scientists confirmed yesterday (Jan. 15).

Ocean waters.

Ocean Temperatures Have Reached a Record-Breaking High

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

Our planet's oceans are warmer than they've ever been in recorded human history.

Satellite data shows how ice at the Vavilov Ice Cap flowed in a stream-like pattern toward the ocean on June 24, 2018.

A Never-Before-Seen Event Is Collapsing an Ice Sheet in the Russian Arctic

By Rafi Letzter

The event is permanently transforming the region.

Map of Antarctica ice sheet topography.

Scientists Found the Deepest Land on Earth Hiding Beneath Antarctica's Ice

By Rafi Letzter

A new mapping effort revealed critical new details of Antarctica's hidden land.

A water taxi sits moored in a Venetian courtyard following the second-highest tide in the city's history.

Venice Suffers Worst Flooding in 50 Years, Mayor Blames Climate Change

By Brandon Specktor

Venice is in a state of emergency as the Italian city braces from one of the worst floods in its history.

The Arctic's oldest and thickest ice is vanishing twice as fast as ice in the rest of the Arctic.

The Arctic's Most Stable Sea Ice Is Vanishing Alarmingly Fast

By Mindy Weisberger

Experts once thought that older, more robust sea ice in the Arctic was mostly safe from melting — but that may not be the case.

Red represents record-warmest temperatures. That's a lot of red.

Scorching Hot Take: September Was North America's Warmest Ever

By Mindy Weisberger

September tied the record for the warmest average global temperatures during that month, according to a new NOAA report.

A lidar image shows the outline of an ancient city hidden in a Guatemalan forest

Scientists Want to Make a 3D Map of the Entire World Before Climate Change Ruins It

By Brandon Specktor

A nonprofit called The Earth Archive wants to make a 3D map of the entire planet, before the climate crisis changes Earth's face forever.