Climate

Laura Mistretta is a senior Environmental Science and Policy major at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. As a student of environmental science I have made it a priority to understand the root causes of climate change in the hopes of contributing to a solution. My classes have highlighted numerous possible points of intervention: […]

As food supplies have tightened, a new geopolitics of food has emerged—a world in which the global competition for land and water is intensifying and each country is fending for itself. We cannot claim that we are unaware of the trends that are undermining our food supply and thus our civilization. We know what we need to […]

By Johannes Friedrich “Big data” has never been bigger. New tools—such as satellites, cloud computing and other technological upgrades—are fueling a “data revolution,” allowing researchers to analyze the world in ways they’ve never been able to before. Graphic courtesy of Mom’s Clean Air Force But while compiling and analyzing this data is incredibly important, the […]

By Tim Radford The catastrophic floods that soaked Europe last summer and the United Kingdom this winter are part of the pattern of things to come. According to a new study of flood risk in Nature Climate Change annual average losses from extreme floods in Europe could increase fivefold by 2050. And the frequency of destructive […]

The Prescott College Board of Trustees has approved a landmark fossil fuel divestment resolution, making a commitment to shift endowment investments from the 200 largest fossil fuel corporations to clean, green energy companies and other socially responsible investments aligned with institutional values. The college is proud to stand behind this resolution as a part of […]

By Rocky Kistner As the Arctic melts, oceans acidify, storms intensify and crops wither in drought-stricken areas of the globe, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the dire consequences of climate change. Faced with the onslaught of polluter cash that line the pockets of politicians and smear the findings of climate scientists, who can we turn […]

By Hannah Hickey Pine forests are especially magical places for atmospheric chemists. Coniferous trees give off pine-scented vapors that form particles, very quickly and seemingly out of nowhere. Forests are thought to emit many more of these scented compounds as temperatures rise, potentially slowing effects of global warming. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock New research by […]

With a shift of nearly two billion dollars away from fossil fuels, the divestment campaign has moved into new territory. Last week, seventeen of the world’s largest philanthropic foundations announced commitments to pull their money out of fossil fuel companies and reinvest it in the clean energy economy. The newly formed Divest-Invest coalition urges other organizations to take […]