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The Chiwaukum fire in Washington state, started by lightning, that burned more than 14,000 acres in July 2014.
(Photo courtesy of Washington Department of Natural Resources)
Article September 15, 2015

Firefighters Feel the Burn of Climate Change

California is experiencing a lengthier fire season, part of a global trend that puts firefighters on the front lines of a changing climate.

Kumik is a high altitude village located in India's northern Ladakh region. High above the village, this melting glacier on Sultan Largo mountain provides the people who live here with their only source of water.
(Image courtesy of Jonathan Mingle)
Article July 1, 2015

Soot, Solidarity and Survival: A Conversation with Jonathan Mingle

Author Jonathan Mingle discusses his new book, Fire & Ice, the powerful particle, black carbon, and climate change around the world.

Beluga whale pod in the Chukchi Sea. Belugas are social animals that often migrate, hunt and interact with each other in groups ranging from ten to several hundred.
(Laura Morse / NOAA)
Press Release June 2, 2015

Environmental Groups File Lawsuit Challenging Shell Oil’s Risky and Reckless Arctic Drilling Plan

Agency gave Shell the stamp of approval to drill in fragile Arctic Ocean, despite threats

Document June 1, 2015

Chukchi Sea Lease Sale Challenge – Filing

Chukchi Sea Lease Sale Challenge – June 1, 2015 Status Report

Walrus hauled out on Bering Sea ice.
(Captain Budd Christman / NOAA Corps.)
Press Release June 1, 2015

Environmental and Alaska Native Groups Continue Fight to Protect the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea from Risky Drilling

Coalition plans to send massive offshore sale back to court after Department of the Interior re-affirmed controversial oil drilling leases in the remote and fragile Arctic Ocean

Walrus cows resting on sea ice in Alaska, while nursing their calves.
(Brad Benter / U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
Press Release May 11, 2015

Department of the Interior Approves Shell’s Risky Arctic Exploration Plan

Agency gives Shell the stamp of approval to drill in fragile Arctic Ocean, despite threats to the Arctic and the climate

Máximo Ba Tiul (center) describes the case of Santa Rita project in Guatemala.
(Photo courtesy of Víctor Quintanilla)
Article December 5, 2014

Protecting Human Rights in All Climate Actions

Some clean development projects aimed at combating climate change cause grave human rights violations.

On the eve of the first day of COP20, the UN climate talks in Lima, a Vigil for the Climate was held near the Pentagonito where the UN talks are to be held.
(Photo courtesy of Our Voices / Flickr)
Article December 4, 2014

Six Things You Need to Know About the UN Climate Talks in Lima, Peru

Here’s everything you need to know about the most important conference you’ve never heard of.

Article September 27, 2013

We Cause Climate Change, We Can Stop It

The good news in today’s U.N. report on global warming is that I’ll be dead before the predicted ocean rise floods my island home in San Francisco Bay. But here’s what I—and you and every other human on Earth—won’t escape, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Responsibility. It is almost 100 percent certain that…

Article September 24, 2013

Big Week for Black Carbon

Black carbon is the sooty, particulate pollution that reaches deep into your lungs and causes asthma and other respiratory and heart diseases. Black carbon also plays a major role in global warming—second to only carbon dioxide. Here’s a great introduction to black carbon that may spur you to action, and even make you smile. Termed…

Article April 24, 2013

Arctic Athabaskans Urge Black Carbon Reductions to Protect Homelands

Our homelands—the Arctic wildlife and ecosystems that are the foundation of our culture and traditional ways of life—are fast changing. Arctic warming has made the weather, the condition of the ice, and the behaviors and location of fish and wildlife so unpredictable that our Elders no longer feel confident teaching younger people traditional ways. If…

Article April 3, 2013

Renowned Scientist Quits NASA Over Climate

Dr. James Hansen has never been shy about standing up for his scientific principles. In 1988, speaking before Congress, Dr. Hansen laid out a blunt truth, “It is time to stop waffling so much and say that the evidence is pretty strong that the greenhouse effect is here.” The statement caused an eruption of controversy,…

Article March 22, 2013

Arctic Whales, Shell Execs & Spider Legs

This comes on the heels of a report from the Department of Interior, which summarized a 60-day investigation into Shell’s 2012 Arctic Ocean drilling season and was highly critical of the oil giant’s operations.
At a press conference announcing the findings, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar declared that Shell had “screwed up,” and the report concluded:

Article March 12, 2013

Scope of Science: The Dark Side of Soot

Be green: get rid of black

Article February 15, 2013

Obama Has Spoken, Now He Must Lead

Last week, President Obama demanded that Congress take action on climate change, or else he would. But, after years of political gridlock on the climate issue, coupled with rising seas and worsening droughts, one thing is clear: the nation simply cannot afford to wait any longer to take action. Though Congress may eventually pull together…

Article February 1, 2013

Time To Confront A Major Climate Pollutant: Soot

As the environmental ministers of the Arctic nations, including the United States, meet in Sweden next week, they have an opportunity to show leadership on an important though less well-known climate pollutant, black carbon (soot). While carbon dioxide remains the most important, long-lasting pollutant forcing climate change, recent studies have revealed that short-lived climate forcers…

Article January 28, 2013

Scope of Science: Climate in a New Era

Crops shriveled to dust this summer while thermometers hit continuous triple digits in the Midwest and Southwest regions. Yet, what about the current “snowmageddon” occurring in our mountain regions, and record lows on the east coast? Global warming is the all-encompassing term for what is happening to our planet today. As we increase the amount…

Article January 23, 2013

Court Acts In Favor Of Cleaner Air

The mention of soot conjures images of black clouds pouring out of unfiltered cars, or of cities lost in dark fog. At times in our history, soot pollution has helped stain entire ecosystems black, famously causing moths in Britain to change color from white to black to better hide in their environment. These images are…