Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica (photo by Jeremy Harbeck of NASA) Think of a glacier as a river of ice moving very slowly downhill. For obvious reasons, glaciers only form in really cold climates, such as tall mountains or locations far from the equator. The Thwaites Glacier, named for geologist Fredrik Read more…
The heart of today’s solar panels is silicon. Silicon is the primary element involved in absorbing sunlight and generating electricity. But it looks like tomorrow’s solar panels may use perovskite instead of silicon.[1] Perovskite is a calcium titanium oxide mineral first discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia by Gustav Rose Read more…
One of the most common criticisms of renewable energy, like solar and wind, is that it’s not available when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. The solution, of course, is energy storage—storing the excess energy which is produced when the sun is shining and the wind is Read more…
Climate scientists have been warning us for decades that we need to arrest global warming before the average temperature on Earth reaches 2°C (3.6°F) warmer than it was at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Now they are saying we may almost be there. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse Read more…
For thousands of years ocean levels remained relatively constant. But now ocean levels are rising, due to climate change and the burning of fossil fuels.[1] Average ocean levels have risen about four inches since 1993. And the pace is accelerating. There are two reasons. One is melting ice, especially in Read more…
In the past I have written about problems that are exacerbated by climate change, such as wildfires, storms, hurricanes, and extreme winter weather. Droughts are another such problem, and now it seems that the problem is moving east.[1] The explorer and geologist John Wesley Powell observed in 1879 that the Read more…
I don’t make stock recommendations on this website,[1] so that is not what this is. But I recently learned about a business that is aggressively trying to make money by tackling climate change, with a goal of completely eliminating the use of fossil fuels in its operations by 2030—a goal Read more…
Eight years ago, I wrote about the uncertainty surrounding how clouds might impact climate change: Higher temperatures and warmer ocean water will increase evaporation, which should result in more clouds. But clouds have two opposite effects. Because they consist of water vapor—a potent greenhouse gas—high, thin clouds trap the sun’s Read more…
California wildfires are nothing new, but this year’s fires were far worse than most, costing dozens of people their lives and destroying thousands of houses and other structures. Many reasons have been offered, but there is no question that climate change played a significant role. Climate change is making the Read more…
Concrete is everywhere in our modern society—roads, bridges, buildings, dams, sewers, parking lots, etc. The foundation of your home or apartment building is probably made of concrete. But producing all of that concrete requires a lot of fossil fuels, generating a lot of carbon dioxide, a potent and plentiful greenhouse Read more…