Our Neighborhood

Earth

Keeping It Green

Climate Change

Page Updated:
April 20, 2026

How Risky is Your
Country From Climate Change?
Climate Crisis Essay
Bloomberg Green - Seattle
Al Gore's Climate Reality Project
Billion $ Weather/Climate Disasters Map
Event: Bloomberg Green - Seattle

• • Deep-Diving Robots Help Crack the
  Mystery of Antarctica’s Vanishing Sea Ice

  Scientists Say the Culprit Was a "Very Violent Release" of Deep, Pent-Up Heat

  
  

  April 17, 2026 -Something strange has been swirling in the waters around Antarctica. From the 1970s until a decade ago, the floating sea ice that radiates from the continent had been expanding, even with climate change already in full swing. Then, in 2016, it suddenly and dramatically contracted — and has yet to recover — as rising global temperatures seemed to catch up with the Southern Ocean. Far from being just a local issue, the loss of sea ice has huge implications for Antarctica’s vast ice sheet, which would drive sea levels up 190 feet if it disappeared.

  Now, scientists say they’ve identified what’s behind this rise and sudden fall, thanks to an assist from deep-diving robots. It all comes down to salinity, winds, and churn. “One of the key takeaways from the study is that the ocean plays a huge role in sort of modulating how sea ice can vary from year to year, decade to decade,

• • Australia Declares Mainland Alpine Ash Forests Endangered

  The Silent Demise
  
  {MONGABAY}

  April 16, 2026 -The Australian government recently listed the iconic alpine ash forests of mainland Australia as an endangered ecological community, citing ongoing threats from increasingly severe, frequent bushfires and climate change. While conservationists supported this decision, members of the timber and forestry industry questioned the move.

  Alpine ash forests occur on high country slopes in the states of Victoria and New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, at elevations of 900-1,500 meters (about 3,000-5,000 feet). These culturally significant forests sit within the traditional lands of many First Nations peoples.

• • How El Nino-Driven Weaker Monsoon Rains Could Impact India

  What Is El Nino? How Does It Affect India's Monsoon?

  
  

  April 16, 2026 -India's weather office has forecast a below-average monsoon in 2026, with an El Nino expected to develop and weigh on rainfall in the latter half of the June to September season.

  In the past, India has seen below-average ?rainfall in most El Nino years, at times triggering severe droughts that ravaged crops and prompted export curbs on certain grains.

• • Critical Atlantic Current Significantly
  More Likely to Collapse Than Thought

  Scientists Say Finding is ‘Very Concerning’ As Collapse Would Be Catastrophic for Europe, Africa and the Americas

  
  

  April 15, 2026 -The critical Atlantic current system appears significantly more likely to collapse than previously thought after new research found that climate models predicting the biggest slowdown are the most realistic. Scientists called the new finding “very concerning” as a collapse would have catastrophic consequences for Europe, Africa and the Americas.

  The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a major part of the global climate system and was already known to be at its weakest for 1,600 years as a result of the climate crisis. Scientists spotted warning signs of a tipping point in 2021 and know that the Amoc has collapsed in the Earth’s past.

• • Climate Change Concern Near Its High Point in U.S.

  More Now Say Seriousness of Global Warming is Underestimated
  
  {GALLUP}

  April 14, 2026 -Americans’ concern about global warming or climate change remains elevated compared with what it had been prior to 2017. At least four in 10 U.S. adults have expressed “a great deal” of concern about the matter throughout the past decade (except for a 39% reading in 2023). Between 2009 and 2016, worry was typically in the low-to-mid 30% range but dropped to as low as 25% in 2011.

  Currently, 44% of U.S. adults worry a great deal about global warming or climate change, among the highest in the full trend since 1989, along with 46% measured in 2020 and 45% in 2017.

• • Inside the Effort to Restore California's Russian River

  From a Climate Reporter
  
  {wbur}

  April 9, 2026 -For a century, California's Russian River has been a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community. But the health of the river and surrounding area is suffering the effects of climate change.

  KQED's Ezra David Romero reports how the community is working to preserve it for another hundred years.

• • Critical Atlantic Current Significantly
  More Likely to Collapse Than Thought

  Scientists Say Finding is ‘Very Concerning’ as Collapse Would Be Catastrophic for Europe, Africa and the Americas

  
  

  April 15, 2026 -The critical Atlantic current system appears significantly more likely to collapse than previously thought after new research found that climate models predicting the biggest slowdown are the most realistic. Scientists called the new finding “very concerning” as a collapse would have catastrophic consequences for Europe, Africa and the Americas.

  The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a major part of the global climate system and was already known to be at its weakest for 1,600 years as a result of the climate crisis. Scientists spotted warning signs of a tipping point in 2021 and know that the Amoc has collapsed in the Earth’s past.

• • Why Blazing Hot Temperatures Have Suddenly Hit the East Coast

  Summer is Here—in April?

  
  

  April 14, 2026, It may be April, but for most of the country, summer feels very much like it’s already here. This week East Coast states are seeing unusually hot days, with temperatures in some major cities reaching as high as the 90s Fahrenheit (mid-30s Celsius).

  On April 15 New York City’s Central Park reached 90 degrees F (32 degrees C), three degrees F higher than the previous record high for the date, which was set in 1941. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., hit the same temperature, breaking the previous record, also from 1941, by one degree F. Philadelphia hit 91 degrees F (nearly 33 degrees C), breaking its 1941 record by three degrees F. Raleigh, N.C., tied its April 15 record of 92 degrees F (more than 33 degrees C) but still has the potential to see records fall in the coming days.

• • Bessent Questions the Cause of Climate Change and Its Economic Toll

  The Treasury Secretary Said It is “Difficult to Deconstruct” the Reasons For Global Warming

  
  

  April 14, 2026 -Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Tuesday that it was difficult to determine the actual causes of climate change, dismissing decades of science that has attributed global warming to the burning of fossil fuels. He instead called on international financial institutions to focus their attention on economic growth and alleviating poverty.

  The comments came in remarks on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Mr. Bessent had previously ordered the World Bank to remove some of its climate finance targets and finance “all affordable and reliable sources of energy” including gas, oil and coal.

• • A Summerlike Heat Wave Will
  Hit the East This Week, Worsening Drought

  High Temperature Records Are Forecast to Be Neared, Tied Or Broken in Nearly 600 Locations From the Plains to Northeast

  
  

  April 13, 2026 -An early heat wave is headed for parts of the East this week, making it feel more like summer.

  Temperatures will rise into the 90s across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, with 80-degree heat stretching from the Midwest to New England — exceeding June averages for around 160 million people. High-temperature records are forecast to be neared, tied or broken in about 600 locations from the Plains to Northeast.

• • Northeast States Set Big Climate Goals

  Now Those Plans Are in Trouble

  
  

  April 11, 2026 -Several years ago, in a burst of climate optimism, Democratic-led states across the Northeast adopted some of the world’s most ambitious policies to shift away from fossil fuels and cut planet-warming emissions.

  But today, many of those states are scaling back or rethinking their climate plans as they miss emissions targets, struggle with soaring electricity bills and confront the Trump administration’s hostility to renewable energy.

• • Near-Record Sea Temperatures in March Pave
  Wave for Return of El Niño and Abnormally Hot Year

  Several Climate Centres Said Last Month That El Niño, a Natural Climate Pattern Characterized by the Warming of Ocean Surface Temperatures That Drives Temporary Spikes in Global Surface Temperature, is Likely to Form
  
  {EARTH.ORG}

  April 10, 2026 -Sea surface temperatures approached historic highs once again in March, paving the way for the return of a warming weather pattern known as El Niño later this year.

  The average sea surface temperature last month was 20.97C, the second-highest value on record for the month, according to the European Union Copernicus Climate Change Service’s (C3S) monthly bulletin published Friday. The climate monitor said this reflects “a likely transition toward El Niño conditions.”

  Several climate centres, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said last month that El Niño is likely to form during the summer months and persist through the end of 2026 and potentially longer, with a one-in-three chance of becoming “strong” in the winter months

• • Emperor Penguins Have Just Been Declared Endangered

  The Antarctic Fur Seal Also Was Newly Labeled as Endangered By a Key International Group, Which Cited a Warming World

  
  

  April 9, 2026 -Two iconic South Pole species, the emperor penguin and the Antarctic fur seal, have been officially declared endangered by the world’s leading conservation authority — a consequence of dramatic changes to their habitats caused by global warming.

  Emperor penguins were already considered near threatened due to the loss of coastal sea ice, which they rely on for raising chicks. Early ice breakup can lead to colonies falling into the ocean before chicks grow their waterproof feathers, causing the hatchlings to drown.

• • Climate Change Denial Sees a Resurgence in Trump’s Washington

  A Conference Near the White House Drew Hundreds of People Who Reject the Scientific Consensus On Climate Change

  
  

  April 9, 2026 -Climate change is a hoax perpetrated by “leftist politicians.” Fossil fuels are the greenest energy sources. More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be harmless.

  These were some of the false claims made at a conference on Wednesday held by groups that reject the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change. What might have seemed like a fringe event in years past this time boasted a prominent keynote speaker: Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and one of President Trump’s possible choices for the next attorney general.

• • Heat Wipes Out Western Snowpack, Raising Fears of Drought, Wildfire

  A Record-Mild Winter and Blistering Spring Heat Will Mean Higher Risks of Water Shortages and Wildfires In the Months Ahead

  
  

  April 8, 2026 -After the warmest winter on record for many states and a blistering March heat wave that left almost no snow in parts of the American West, the region is facing a summer of serious wildfire risks and a drought that could force broad water restrictions.

  New measurements this month show most of the Mountain West won’t be able to rely on melting snow, the region’s largest water source, because there’s hardly any snowpack there. And while some rain is forecast in the coming weeks, any spring precipitation will likely be too little, too late, scientists said.

• • March Smashes Heat Records For Continental US

  ‘Climate Change is Kicking Our Butts
  
  {AP News}

  April 8, 2026 - March’s persistent unseasonable heat was so intense that the continental United States registered its most abnormally hot month in 132 years of records, according to federal weather data. And the next year or so looks to turn the dial up on global warmth even more, as some forecasts predict a brewing El Niño will reach superstrength.

  Not only was it the hottest March on record for the U.S., but the amount it was above normal beat any other month in history for the Lower 48 states. March’s average temperature of 50.85 degrees Fahrenheit (10.47 degrees Celsius) was 9.35 F (5.19 C) above the 20th century normal for March. That easily passed the old record of 8.9 F (4.9 C) set in March 2012 as the most abnormally hot month on record — regardless of the month of the year — according to records released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

• • Scientists Placed a 6-Mile Fiber-Optic Cable in Front of a
  Glacier and Recorded 56,000 Icebergs Breaking Off

  A Glass Thread Strung Along the Bottom of a Fjord Captured the Entire Process of Calving, From the Cracking of Ice to the Breakup of Bergs
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  April 8, 2026 -On Greenland’s coast, glaciers meet the sea in narrow fjords that have been carved over hundreds of thousands of years. Ice cliffs tower hundreds of meters high.

  At a glacier’s terminus, where those cliffs crash into the waters of the Atlantic, small (bus-sized) chunks of ice slough off all the time. Occasionally, a stadium-sized iceberg plunks into the water.

  All this glacial calving impacts sea level rise and global climate, but there’s a lot that researchers don’t yet know about how calving happens. Now, scientists have gotten a detailed look at the whole process using a fiber-optic cable on the seafloor 500 meters from a glacier’s calving front. The findings were published last month in Nature.

• • ‘Non-Survivable’: Heatwaves Are Already Breaching Human Limits

  With Worse to Come

  
  

  April 7, 2026 -Extreme heat is already creating “non-survivable” conditions for humans in heatwaves that have killed thousands and likely many more, according to new research that warns people are more susceptible to rising temperatures than first thought.

  Scientists re-examined six extreme heatwaves between 2003 and 2024 and found that when temperature, humidity and the body’s ability to stay cool were accounted for, all were potentially deadly for older people.

• • WA Declares Unprecedented Fourth Drought Emergency in a Row

  This Year the Snowpack Sits at About Half Its Normal Levels and It’s Melting Early

  
  

  April 8, 2026 -More than two months before the start of summer, Washington officials warn the state is headed for severe drought conditions not seen since the disastrous hot and dry season of 2015.

  Washington Department of Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller declared a statewide drought emergency Wednesday morning.

  This is the fourth such emergency Washington has faced, an unprecedented dry spell in state history. And the fact that state officials started ringing alarm bells so early in the year underscores just how painful they expect the summer drought to be. April 1 is typically when Washington’s mountain snowpack reaches its peak.

• • Why This NASA Climate Scientist Wants You to Stay Angry

  Kate Marvel Reflects On Her Fiery Resignation: “I Don’t Think We Rebuild Science Without Getting Mad”

  
  

  April 7, 2026 -Last month, climate scientist and author Kate Marvel resigned from her position at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, where she had spent more than a decade studying a warming world. In her resignation letter, she cited the Trump administration’s attacks on the field.

  “I anticipated that our work would be questioned,” she wrote, “but only because its implications were politically inconvenient. I never expected that science itself would come under attack.”

• • Epic Winter Drought Creates a Bleak
  Situation For Farmers — and Your Food

  If Rainfall Shortages and Record Heat Continue, the Effects May Ripple Throughout the U.S. Food Supply, With The Cost of Beef Already Surging

  
  

  April 7, 2026 -Justin Perry’s family has been farming the rolling hills of the Nebraska panhandle for four generations, but none of them can remember a winter as warm and parched as this one.

  There was no steady rain to gently soak the soil. No blanket of snow to insulate the fields and pasture. Just warm, dry winds that swept across the landscape, sucking moisture from every inch of exposed earth.

• • How Climate Change Is Reshaping Forests

  Recent Research Found Climate-Fueled Disturbances in European Forests Could More Than Double By the End of the Century

  
  

  April 7, 2026 -The world’s forests are simultaneously climate powerhouses and victims, sucking carbon from the air while facing myriad global warming impacts—from wildfires to pest outbreaks.

  Recent research found that climate change is already driving widespread disturbances in European forests and, by the end of the century, will likely transform the landscapes that communities depend on.

• • Why Our Annual April Showers Are Becoming April Storms

  Heavier Rain Events Are Becoming More Frequent and Intense Across Most of the U.S.—and Experts Say These Regions Will Be Hit the Hardest

  
  

  April 6, 2026 -After months of cold, April brings brightness to the Northern Hemisphere. Rain helps seeds germinate, brings flower blooms, and refills drinking water supplies. But too much can hinder spring planting, lead to major flooding, and damage infrastructure.

  Researchers say April showers are transforming from sprinkles into heavier storms as Earth’s temperature rises. Since the 1950s, heavier rain events have become more frequent and intense across most of the United States, according to the U.S. National Climate Assessment.

• • Warming Waters in the Gulf of Maine May Affect the Future of Lobsters

  Researchers Studying the Crustacean’s Early Life Cycles Find Clues That Can Help the Fishery That Depends On Them Plan For a Warmer Future

  
  

  April 4, 2026 -Curt Brown spent his childhood harvesting lobsters along the coast of Maine. As an adult, he went on to earn a Master of Science from the University of Maine, observing the very waters where he spent years fishing for the crustaceans.

  With a rapidly changing climate, many researchers worry that Maine’s lobsters will eventually move north to colder waters. Brown isn’t so sure, though, seeing all of the forces affecting the ecosystem as highly complex. His studies in marine biology and policy, along with his continued work as a lobsterman, have helped him understand that the lobster industry depends upon various factors, some beyond man’s control.

• • The Alaskan Permafrost is Thawing

  Here’s Why That’s So Worrying

  
  

  April 5, 2026 -Thawing permafrost is among climate science’s worst “positive feedback loops”: As the world warms, permafrost—essentially frozen soil—thaws, releasing fresh water and carbon into the environment. That release further fuels climate change, driving more warming. (Thawing permafrost has also raised concerns about unleashing new pathogens on humanity.)

  And in Alaska, the loop seems to be speeding up. In a new study, researchers tracked how thawing permafrost in a Wisconsin-sized section of the North Slope region of Alaska has added fresh water and dissolved organic carbon to estuaries off the Alaskan coast between 1980 and 2023.

• • The 2026 Southwest U.S. Heat Wave Was One of the Six
  Most Astonishing Weather Events of the Century

  From the Pacific Northwest to Antarctica, It’s Extraordinary Warmth That’s Punching Through Climate Norms With the Most Force
  
  {Yale Climate Connections}

  April 3, 2026 -The mind-blowing heat wave that gripped the southwest half of the United States in late March 2026 joins our semi-subjective top-six list of the meteorologically stunning extreme events this century that have most astonished us. Below is our list, including how the March 2026 mega-event compares to an earlier round of March climate madness.

  We know that climate change is injecting more heat into the atmosphere and ocean system. Heat is energy, which means there is more energy to power extreme weather events — particularly heat waves, droughts, and storms — that would have been virtually impossible in the 20th century.

• • Terrifying New Maps Show the Entire West
  Faces an Extreme Wildfire Threat This Summer

  Amid Drought and Heat Waves, April’s National Wildfire Forecast Shows That Nearly the Entire Western U.S. Will Face an Above-Normal Risk of Wildfires At Some Point In the Next Four Months.
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  April 3, 2026 -Every state in the West is expected to face an above-normal threat of wildfire this summer, according to the latest projections, released Wednesday by the National Interagency Coordination Center.

  The government-run center publishes monthly reports predicting fire risk for the four months ahead, and the change since the March outlook is staggering. The agency denotes elevated risk in red on its maps, and the June forecast from March 2 showed a small swath of rouge in the Southwest. But, citing an ongoing snow drought, rapid snowmelt, and a recent unprecedented heat wave, the latest maps feature red spilling across the Southwest and into the Rockies, Pacific Northwest, and northern California.

• • See Where Flowers and Leaves Are
  Emerging Early After Record-Warm March

  After the Most Unusually Warm Month On Record Across the U.S., the Trees and Flowers Have Taken Notice

  
  

  April 1, 2026 -Temperatures were a whopping 7 degrees above average across the country during March, and it was shockingly toasty in the West, where temperatures were summerlike.

  That means flowers are blooming in the Mid-Atlantic and Central states, and you may notice pollen wafting through the air — depending on where you live.

• • Warming Climate Could Expose Antarctica’s
  Hidden Trove Of Precious Metals

  Melting Ice, Rebounding Land, and Rising Seas Will Change What Resources Are Available in Antarctica
  
  {ZME SCIENCE}

  April 1, 2026 -A warming climate could expose a Pennsylvania-sized chunk of ice-free land in Antarctica by 2300, which could drastically reshape Antarctic geopolitics as well as the continent’s geography.

  A study published in Nature Climate Change is the first to incorporate glacial isostatic adjustment—how land beneath heavy ice sheets uplifts after the ice retreats—into projections of ice-free land emergence in Antarctica. The results reveal that climate change could expose potentially valuable mineral resources that may spur renegotiations of the international treaties that currently govern Antarctica.

• • The Warm, Dry Winter Has Left Firefighters in Wyoming Nervous

  A National Forecast Underscored the Elevated Risk of Wildfire Across the West, Which Just Experienced a Climate Change-Fueled Heatwave After a Winter With Little Snow

  
  

  April 1, 2026 -On the heels of one of the warmest and driest winters on record, parts of Wyoming show “significant fire potential” this spring and summer, according to a national forecast released on April 1.

  The U.S. has set or is approaching records for the number of wildfires ignited and the acreage burned by March, and Wyoming firefighters and district managers have already responded to blazes across the state. While the National Weather Service forecasts rain and snow for parts of Wyoming this week, many firefighters in the state are nervous about the potential for huge, quickly spreading conflagrations this summer.

• • Rapid Snow Melt-Off in American West Stuns Scientists

  Experts Say Brutal March Heat has Left Critical Snowpack at Record-Low Levels

  
  

  April 1, 2026 -Snow surveys taking place across the American west this week are offering a grim prognosis, after a historically warm winter and searing March temperatures left the critical snowpack at record-low levels across the region.

  Experts warned that even as the heat begins to subside, the stunning pace of melt-off over the past month has left key basins in uncharted territory for the dry seasons ahead. Though there’s still potential for more snow in the forecast, experts said it will probably be too little too late.

• • In New England, Catching Climate Data Along With Fish

  Commercial Vessels Are Deploying High-Tech Sensors to Map a Shifting Sea, Providing Critical Data For Scientists and Some Help For the Industry

  
  

  April 1, 2026 -When Bob Hersey Jr., a Maine lobsterman, pulls up his traps, he gets more than tasty crustaceans. He’s collecting vital details about the changing ocean environment.

  Mr. Hersey, who also dives for sea urchins, is among nearly 150 fishermen who have installed temperature sensors on their traps or trawl nets from Maine to North Carolina as part of a program run by a nonprofit organization with help from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

• • Fifth of Arabica Coffee Growing Area to Be Unsuitable By 2050

  Blame It On Climate Change

  
  

  Mar. 30, 2026 -Climate change could result in 20% of current arabica coffee growing areas being classified as unsuitable by 2050, Rabobank forecast in ?a report on Monday.

  Currently, 8% of arabica-growing areas -- found in countries including Brazil, Colombia and Honduras among others -- are unsuitable for cultivation, where crops require more investment and produce lower yields, the bank said.

• • Severe Weather Risks Dot Central U.S. as Calendar Turns to April

  The Stormy Spate Comes Amid a Season Uptick In Expected Severe Weather Chances

  
  

  Mar. 30, 2026 -The calendar is flipping to April, and with it comes an atmospheric shift more conducive to severe thunderstorms and heavy rains over much of the United States. That includes expected severe weather this week.

  Multiple days of severe weather are expected through Saturday, with at least some potential for a few tornadoes Wednesday and Friday. As Gulf of Mexico waters, already milder than average, continue to warm, more moisture will waft north over the central states. It’s why the spring months tend to be the most prolific for tornado activity in the U.S. — particularly April and May.

• • ‘Gargantuan,’ Melon-Size Hail May Be More Common Than We Realize

  Scientists See Signs That the Risk to Property is Increasing, and in the Great Plains, a Team of Scientists Races to Document the Evidence Before It Melts

  
  

  Mar. 29, 2026 -In April, storm chaser Connor Healey was tracking a severe thunderstorm near South Plains, a rural town about 60 miles north-northeast of Lubbock in the Texas Panhandle. The storm was rotating and was gearing up to produce a tornado. It wasn’t raining, so Healey navigated to the perfect position.

  Suddenly, as Healey’s dash-cam footage shows, a white blur can be seen streaking across a backdrop of dark, roiling clouds. Like an icy meteor, a rogue chunk of hail hurtled into the frame from above, barreling toward the ground at estimated speeds exceeding 120 mph. It slammed into the dirt road, disintegrating into a violent explosion of icy shards. It appeared as wide as the utility pole next to it.

• • The Vast Promise – And Uncertain Future – Of Carbon Removals

  The U.N. Estimates That Current Policies Put the World On Track to Warm By 2.8C This Century Beyond the Globally Agreed-Upon Warming Limit of 2C
  
  {EARTH.ORG}

  Mar. 27, 2026 -As global emission reduction targets lag behind schedule, the pressure is mounting to actively remove planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. While new engineered techniques are emerging to supplement traditional nature-based methods, they are plagued by concerns that they provide heavy polluters a “get out of jail free” card – allowing them to emit now and bank on unproven future removals.

  Living things and geological processes have been taking carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air since the planet’s earliest days. However, continuous overshoot of climate goals has brought new immediacy to the need for an alternative to reduction-only strategies, and solutions for human-made carbon removal are gaining momentum.

• • This Year’s US Wildfires Have Already Set Records
  That Could Foreshadow a Smoky, Fiery Summer

  How Drought, Paltry Western Snows and Unseasonable Heat, All Exacerbated By Climate Change, Could Be Priming the U.S. for a Long Wildfire Season

  
  

  Mar. 27, 2026 -As the Western United States limps away from one of the warmest and driest winters on record, wildfires have burned over 127 percent more acreage so far in 2026 than the 10-year average, potentially setting the stage for a long, fiery summer.

  Updated data from the National Interagency Fire Center on the number of ignitions and total acres burned through March 27 shows the country has experienced over 15,000 starts that have consumed more than 1.5 million acres so far this year. The 10-year averages through March 27 are about 9,195 starts and 664,792 acres burned.

• • The Vast Promise – And Uncertain Future – Of Carbon Removals

  As Global Emission Reduction Targets Lag Behind Schedule, the Pressure Mounts to Actively Remove Planet-Warming Carbon Dioxide From the Atmosphere
  
  {EARTH.ORG}

  Mar. 27, 2026 -Living things and geological processes have been taking carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air since the planet’s earliest days. However, continuous overshoot of climate goals has brought new immediacy to the need for an alternative to reduction-only strategies, and solutions for human-made carbon removal are gaining momentum.

  The United Nations estimates that current policies put the world on track to warm by 2.8C this century, well beyond the globally agreed-upon warming limit of 2C.

• • Tennis Courts Serve Up an Unexpected Climate Solution

  Researchers Have Found That Green Clay Tennis Courts Are Able to Absorb Massive Amounts of CO2 Via Enhanced Rock Weathering

  
  

  March 26, 2026 -It’s probably not what most tennis players are thinking about as they focus on the ball whizzing over the net towards them, but the court they are playing tennis on could be playing a role in combating climate change.

  A new study has found that tennis courts made of green clay are able to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide via a process called enhanced rock weathering. In the US alone, green clay courts sequester more than 25,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. And 80% of green clay courts generate net negative emissions within 10 years, according to the study published in the journal Applied Geochemistry

• • Arctic Sea Ice Hits Lowest Winter Level as
  Unprecedented Heat Smashes Records All Over Earth

  The Sea Ice is Crucial to Earth’s Climate Because Without it Reflecting Sunlight, More Heat Energy Goes Into the Oceans
  
  {NBC NEWS}

  Mar. 27, 2026 -Arctic sea ice levels, especially in the summer, are crucial to Earth’s climate because without the ice reflecting sunlight, more heat energy goes into the oceans. Ice of all kinds around the poles acts as Earth’s refrigerator. Wildlife, such as polar bears and seals, also depend on sea ice. Lack of sea ice in the Arctic creates new shipping routes and in doing so causes geopolitical disruptions, making once-ignored places such as Greenland, more desirable.

  The shrinking Arctic sea ice was announced Thursday as temperatures broke March heat records across the United States, all over Mexico, in Australia, across Northern Africa and through parts of Northern Europe. Climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, who tracks extreme temperatures, called the extreme March temperatures “by far the most extreme heat event in world climatic history” and said on social media that the next few days would be “much worse.”

• • Climate-Fueled Wildfires and Dust Storms Drove
  Up Air Pollution Around the World Last Year

  A New Report Shows Air Pollution Threatens the Majority of the World’s Population

  
  

  Mar. 24, 2026 -A new report on global air pollution shows that the majority of the world’s population breathes unhealthy air, and climate change is making the problem worse.

  The report was published Tuesday by IQAir, a Swiss air monitor and purifier company that posts real-time air quality data aggregated from sensors around the world. It shows that in 2025, most of the world’s cities were plagued with unhealthy levels of air pollution, and that climate-driven wildfires and dust storms as well as the continued burning of fossil fuels are driving toxic air across borders and worsening the problem.

• • Wildfires Rip Through Unusual Parts of U.S.

  Raising Fears of a Brutal Season

  
  

  Mar. 24, 2026 -By late March, Nebraska was already in the throes of a historic wildfire event that had burned more than a half-million acres. In South Dakota and Wyoming, strong, dry winds are flaring up big blazes. Dozens of residents in two Colorado counties had to evacuate over the weekend as record hot temperatures and extremely low humidity fueled the rapid spread of fires in the parched brush. And until last week, it was still technically winter.

  Wildfires are ripping across the Great Plains, and other flare-ups are popping up in Arizona and Colorado remarkably early in the season. Firefighters and experts are watching these giant red splotches of burning forest and grasslands with alarm, warning that the timing, ingredients fueling their startling growth, and what they signal about the fire season ahead is a recipe for concern — perhaps signaling an expanding frontier for fire risk in broader patches of the western half of the United States.

• • The Mystery of Antarctica’s Bleeding Glacier

  A Red Stain In Antarctica Turns Out to Be a Pressure Signal, Exposing Active Water Movement Beneath One of Earth’s Coldest Glaciers

  
  

  Mar. 24, 2026 -At first glance, it looks like a crime scene—a deep crimson stain spilled across the blinding white ice. Every so often, the streak deepens and fresh red liquid seeps out of Antarctica’s Taylor Glacier. It looks like the ice itself is bleeding.

  For over a century, the phenomenon known as Blood Falls has stumped scientists. Not necessarily because it’s red, but because it flows. In an environment this cold, water is supposed to be locked solid. Liquids shouldn’t flow, and pressure shouldn’t build. Yet, something deep beneath the ice has been pushing back.

• • Earth’s Climate Records Are Melting

  “We Have Only 5 Meters Left

  
  

  Mar. 23, 2026 -In 2019, researchers collected a 9.5-meter ice core from Austria’s Weißseespitze ice cap, which covers the top sections of Gepatschferner Glacier in the eastern Alps, near the Austrian-Italian border. They analyzed 18 trace elements and organic acids in the core to paint a picture of Earth’s climate and atmosphere over more than a thousand years.

  But Weißseespitze Glacier is melting quickly: As of 2025, the ice was only 5.5 meters thick in the area where scientists collected the core.

• • Earth Being ‘Pushed Beyond Its Limits’
  as Energy Imbalance Reaches Record High

  Earth’s Energy has Moved Dangerously Out of Balance, With Oceans Absorbing Vast Majority of Trapped Heat

  
  

  Mar. 23, 2026 -Our home planet is struggling with a record energy imbalance, which is warming oceans to unprecedented levels, making weather more extreme and threatening health and food supplies, the World Meteorological Organization has warned.

  The U.N. body confirmed 2015 to 2025 were the hottest 11 years ever measured, but a still bleaker message was that the rising temperature experienced by humans on the surface was only 1% of the faster-accumulating heat in the wider Earth system.

• • Jakarta Rapidly Sinks as Climate Change and Overdevelopment Collide

  Across the U.S. and Around the World, Coastal Cities Are Grappling With Rising Seas and Worsening Floods
  
  {PBS NEWS}
  
  

  Mar. 19, 2026 -Across the U.S. and around the world, coastal cities are grappling with rising seas and worsening floods. Now a look at a place facing those threats on an even larger scale.

  Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, now the world's largest city and home to 42 million people, is sinking rapidly, as climate change and overdevelopment collide.

  For our climate series tipping point, Fred de Sam Lazaro reports now from North Jakarta.

• • Farmers Markets Adjust as Climate Change Extends Growing Season

  A New Climate Central Analysis Finds Human-Caused Climate Change Drives Warmer Springs in 98% of 241 Major U.S. Cities.

  
  

  Mar. 24, 2026 -Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirms 84% of United States cities now experience at least an additional week of warmer-than-normal spring days than they did in the 1970s. That’s good news for some warm weather crops, not so great for cool weather crops and areas dependent on snow-fed water. It also significantly impacts what kinds of produce farmers markets provide and when.

  Across the globe, climate change is affecting water levels, insect populations and migration patterns, as well as growing conditions. Researchers with the International Food Policy Research Institute project suitable croplands for corn, potatoes, rice and wheat will shift radically within the next 25 years; in some cases, farmers will be forced to plant new crops. Closer to home, the effects are being felt in grocery stores and farmers markets. As seasons shift, farmers bring different foods to market, while grocers use industrial methods to extend seasonality.

• • After a Glimpse of Hope, WA’s Snowpack Dips Back Into the Red

  With So Little Snow Remaining in the Mountains, Washington is All But Certain to Succumb to Its Fourth Severe Drought in a Row

  
  

  Mar. 24, 2026 -That layer of clean, white snow across Western Washington’s lowlands and mountaintops sure was nice while it lasted.

  But the abnormally warm winter temperatures that followed melted much of that precious winter snowpack away, the water it held now drifting out to sea. Hope of another snowy miracle in the mountains dwindles with each passing day as drought predictions for the summer ahead pick up almost where they left off last month.

• • Report Shows Earth’s Climate is Out of
  Balance, as Indicators Hit New Extremes

  As Warning Lights Flash, U.N. Secretary Gen. António Guterres Calls Out a Global Climate Emergency

  
  

  Mar. 23, 2026 -The world is in a state of climate emergency, the head of the United Nations declared Sunday, following the release of the latest State of the Global Climate report from the World Meteorological Organization.

  “Earth is being pushed beyond its limits while every key climate indicator is flashing red,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. “Earth’s energy imbalance, the gap between heat absorbed and heat released, is the highest on record. Our planet is trapping heat faster than it can shed it.”

• • Where Summer-Like Heat Has Shattered Records

  Where It Will Spread Next

  
  

  Mar. 23, 2026 -A record-breaking heat dome will continue to bring abnormally warm temperatures across the West this week as some of its summer-like heat spreads east.

  At least 14 states have preliminarily broken their March high temperature record. On Thursday, a new national temperature record for March of 110 degrees was set in Arizona. That stood for one day — until it reached 112 degrees in Arizona and California on Friday. Now, around 540 additional high-temperature records are forecast to be neared, tied or broken across 28 states from coast-to-coast.

• • Earth’s Climate is Out of Balance, as Indicators Hit New Extremes

  As Warning Lights Flash, U.N. Secretary Gen. António Guterres Calls Out a Global Climate Emergency

  
  

  Mar. 23, 2026 -The world is in a state of climate emergency, the head of the United Nations declared Sunday, following the release of the latest State of the Global Climate report from the World Meteorological Organization.

  “Earth is being pushed beyond its limits while every key climate indicator is flashing red,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. “Earth’s energy imbalance, the gap between heat absorbed and heat released, is the highest on record. Our planet is trapping heat faster than it can shed it.”

• • Groundbreaking Study Finds a Natural Way to Fight Climate Change

  Beavers Have a Surprisingly Efficient Method of Safely Storing CO2
  
  {USA TODAY}
  
  

  Mar. 22, 2026 -Forget groundhogs and their weather predictions. Now, fellow critters – beavers – are actually doing their part to combat climate change, one dam at a time, a new study says.

  The new research, published on March 18 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, has, for the first time, calculated the carbon dioxide emitted and sequestered due to engineering work by beavers in suitable wetland areas.

• • The Balance That Keeps Climate Stable Is Out of Whack

  The Continued Burning of Fossil Fuels is Locking Heat in Earth’s Atmosphere, Oceans and Land — Instead of Allowing It to Reflect Back Into Space

  
  

  Mar. 22, 2026 -The Earth is out of balance.

  That’s the message from a United Nations report released late Sunday that looked at how much energy from the sun is absorbed by the Earth or reflected back into space.

  Researchers found the gap between the two is the biggest since measurements began in 1960, meaning more of the sun’s heat energy is now staying on Earth. And that energy imbalance is heating up the oceans, atmosphere, and frozen regions of the world, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Global Climate report.

• • Hawaii Assesses Damage Left By Worst Flooding In More Than 20 Years

  People Evacuated On Oahu And Maui As Rains Lifted Houses and Cars, Swept Through Stores and Left Streets Mud-Clogged

  
  

  Mar. 21, 2026 -Hawaii is assessing the extensive damage left by the worst flooding the islands have seen in more than 20 years.

  Heavy rains and floodwater forced thousands on the North Shore of Oahu to evacuate over the weekend and triggered evacuation orders for parts of Maui. Floodwater from rains lifted houses and cars, inundated farms and swept through grocery stores on the islands, leaving behind a thick layer of mud.

• The National Climate Change Assessment
• 6 Things We Can Do About Climate Change
• Climate Change Positive Thoughts (free e-Book)
• Get the Climate Lab Book
• Interactive Climate Map 2050 (CC Consequences)
• The People's Dosier on Climate Change

• Global Warming Report from NOAA
• Another Good Global Warming Resource
• More Climate Change Resources
• NY Times Climate Forward: (Climate Change Q&A)
• Carbon Fee & Dividend Video
• Interactive Air Pollution Map 2100