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China Is Building a Solar Power Station in Space

China Is Building a Solar Power Station in Space

This would take solar power to a whole new level. Front Row Seats China’s Academy of Space Technology is working on an orbital power plant that would capture solar energy in space and beam it back to Earth. The plant would be able to harness solar power even when it’s cloudy back on Earth, since its photovoltaic array would be floating high above any terrestrial weather. With plans to launch a test facility before 2025,...
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For a Climate Reporter, a Dreaded Question: ‘Then Why Is It So Cold?’

For a Climate Reporter, a Dreaded Question: ‘Then ...

When temperatures dip, we hear it over and over. Here’s the answer — and why it matters. Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. What were the temperatures where you live yesterday? What about last week? A month ago? What were the daytime highs and lows two years ago last Tuesday? If I’ve stumped you, that’s the point. Most of us might...
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One thing you can do: Rethink the roses

One thing you can do: Rethink the roses

Another Valentine’s Day is here, and we all know what that means: paper Cupids, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and the classic bouquet of red roses. Lots and lots of roses. This year, Americans are expected to spend $1.9 billion on flowers alone, according to the National Retail Federation. But those beautiful blooms may come with an environmental price tag. Most of the fresh flowers sold in the United States are grown in...
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We need an ecological civilization before it’s too late

We need an ecological civilization before it’s too...

In the face of climate breakdown and ecological overshoot, alluring promises of “green growth” are no more than magical thinking. We need to restructure the fundamentals of our global cultural/economic system to cultivate an “ecological civilization”: one that prioritizes the health of living systems over short-term wealth production.  We’ve now been warned by the world’s leading climate scientists that we have just twelve...
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‘Inkjet’ solar panels poised to revolutionise green energy

‘Inkjet’ solar panels poised to revolu...

What if one day all buildings could be equipped with windows and facades that satisfy the structure’s every energy need, whether rain or shine? That sustainability dream is today one step closer to becoming a reality thanks to Polish physicist and businesswoman Olga Malinkiewicz. The 36-year-old has developed a novel inkjet processing method for perovskites—a new generation of cheaper solar cells—that makes it possible...
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Dispelling the Myths: Renewables in the Grid

Dispelling the Myths: Renewables in the Grid

Around the world, renewable electricity generation by solar and wind is increasing at exponential rates, with shares approaching 50% or more in some countries. New ways to manage energy generation, transmission, distribution, and storage are being established, as well as how to best manage the integration of new renewable electricity with traditional, centralized energy sources, such as coal, gas and nuclear power plants....
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City-Sized 1,000-Foot Deep Cavity Found in Glacier, Warns NASA, Signaling ‘Rapid Decay’ of Antarctic Ice

City-Sized 1,000-Foot Deep Cavity Found in Glacier...

NASA scientists were startled when a recent exploratory mission revealed a huge and rapidly-growing cavity on the underside of one of Antarctica’s glaciers—signaling that the ice mass has been melting much faster than experts realized. The cavity is two-thirds the size of Manhattan—large enough to have contained about 14 billion tons of ice before it melted, according to a report that was published in Science Advances...
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Polar melting: ‘Methane time bomb’ isn’t actually a ‘bomb

Polar melting: ‘Methane time bomb’ isn...

Researchers cast doubt on one of the scariest ideas in climate science. It’s not news that climate science can be alarming. But in this video, climate scientists explain that one of the scariest ideas in the literature — the methane “time bomb” — turns out to be less worrisome than some have feared. “This is a call to action, not a declaration of defeat,” says scientist Ben Abbott of Brigham Young University. ‘This is...
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Why we won’t quit the climate fight

Why we won’t quit the climate fight

Friends and experts may tell us we’re doomed, but there are too many reasons to keep pushing for climate action. Reposted from Earth Island Journal. We are old climate veterans who have tried to do our part, in every way we know how, to keep our fossil-fuel addicted civilization from driving off a cliff. Are we tired? Sure. Discouraged? Absolutely. Pissed off? Yep. Sad? Call it broken-hearted. Quitting? It might be...
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‘Nude’ Shopping Increases Vegetable Sales for New Zealand Markets

‘Nude’ Shopping Increases Vegetable Sa...

Supermarkets around the world should be commended for banning plastic bags, but there’s another single-use foe on the environmental radar: produce packaging. For eco-conscious shoppers, one of the most frustrating things about the grocery store is seeing things like a lone potato spud shrink-wrapped in plastic. That’s why in New Zealand, a group New World supermarkets has ditched plastic wrap for nearly all of...
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German coal phase-out plan will shutter first 12.7GW of capacity by 2022

German coal phase-out plan will shutter first 12.7...

Germany should shut down all of its coal-fired power plants by 2038 at the latest, a government-appointed commission said on Saturday, proposing at least 40 billion euros ($45.7 billion) in aid to regions affected by the phase-out. The roadmap proposals, a hard-won compromise reached early on Saturday after more than 20 hours of talks, must now be implemented by the German government and 16 regional states. They embody...
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2019 Atmospheric CO2 Increase ‘Will Be One of the Biggest on Record’

2019 Atmospheric CO2 Increase ‘Will Be One of the ...

In 2019, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will make one of their highest leaps in the past 62 years of measurement, the UK’s Met Office predicted Friday. This is because the tropical Pacific ocean is expected to be warmer this year, which leads to hotter and drier conditions that make it more difficult for plants to grow and absorb the excess carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels, which is fueling...
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China Is Set To Become The World’s Renewable Energy Superpower, According To New Report

China Is Set To Become The World’s Renewable...

The continuing growth in renewable energy around the world is set to boost the power of China while undermining the influence of major oil exporters such as Russia and Middle East states like Saudi Arabia, according to a new report on the geopolitical implications of the changing energy landscape. With a leading position in renewable energy output as well as in related technologies such as electric vehicles, Beijing now...
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Scientists say Trump’s first 2 years have been fatal for a livable climate

Scientists say Trump’s first 2 years have been fat...

“Cause of death: the Trump presidency.” Two years in, the presidency of Donald Trump has been a possibly fatal disaster for our livable climate, a number of climate and clean energy experts told ThinkProgress. During the 2016 presidential campaign, countless climate experts voiced their concern about Trump, who had infamously called climate change a “hoax” and said it was “created by and for the Chinese.” Trump...
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The most dangerous climate feedback loop is speeding up

The most dangerous climate feedback loop is speedi...

The carbon-rich permafrost warmed “in all permafrost zones on Earth” from 2007 to 2016, according to a new study. Most ominously, Siberian permafrost at depths of up to 30 feet warmed a remarkable 1.6°F (0.9°C) in those 10 years, the researchers found. The permafrost, or tundra, is soil that stays below freezing (32°F) for at least two years. Permafrost warming can “amplify global climate change, because when frozen...
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