Climate change is real and it's getting worse. 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 becoming more common. The threat is so great that humanity must act now to defuse what United Nations scientists call a "climate time bomb" which, if ignored, will yield "untold suffering."
At Live Science, our expert writers and editors cover the impact of global warming, and the measures that scientists, world leaders and innovators are taking to reduce our harmful impact on the planet, with the latest climate change news, features and articles.
Discover more about climate change
—What is climate change, and how is it affecting Earth?
Latest about Climate change
Climate change made April's catastrophic floods worse, report finds
A report into April's deadly flooding has found that climate change made the central Mississippi River valley's extreme weather event more likely and more intense.
Kids born today are going to grow up in a hellscape, grim climate study finds
Exposure to extreme climate events will increase two to seven times more for those born in 2020 compared with those in 1960, a new study warns.
'The Big One' could rock the Pacific Northwest and fuel sea-level rise and massive flooding
The geology of the Cascadia subduction zone has largely staved off climate-related sea-level rise in the Pacific Northwest, but that could reverse in an instant.
Climate wars are approaching — and they will redefine global conflict
Opinion Climate change's profound reshaping of conflict dynamics is already underway. The question facing humanity now is not whether we will confront these pressures, but how we will choose to do so.
Ghost forests are growing as sea levels rise
As trees choked by saltwater die along low-lying coasts, marshes may move in — for better or worse, scientists are learning
A long-lost ice sheet could predict the future of New York City — one in which Lower Manhattan and Coney Island are 'perpetually submerged'
Scientists are rethinking what we knew about a vanished ice sheet — and that could spell trouble for New York City.
The North Pole could shift 90 feet west by 2100
As climate change melts ice sheets and glaciers, water is being redistributed across the globe — and could end up moving the point of Earth's axis of rotation.
Climate change: Facts about our warming planet
Discover important facts about what climate change is, what's causing it, and what we can do to stop it.
