New Atlas

Environment Audio available

Humanity may be nearing the point of no return for climate action, according to new study

Anthony Wood August 30, 2018

An international team of scientists has proposed a series of deadlines by which humanity must take serious action to combat climate change if it is to meet the ambitious goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, and stave off potential disaster.

Image of Earth captured by NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite

Space Audio available

NASA's new lasers to reveal polar ice changes down to the width of a pencil

Nick Lavars August 26, 2018

NASA is preparing to launch a new tool into orbit that will bounce lasers off polar ice to finely monitor elevation changes over time, providing new insights into not only the severity of climate change, but how it is directly impacting seal level rise.

The western edge of Antarctic iceberg A68

Environment

Four-mile-long iceberg breaks off Greenland glacier in dramatic video

Nick Lavars July 10, 2018

Many consequences of climate change can be imperceptible, but others can catch our eye in the most dramatic of ways. One such example is a monumental chunk of ice breaking off a glacier and washing into sea, something dramatically captured on video by scientists in eastern Greenland last week.

Scientists have captured a four-mile iceberg breaking off the Helheim Glacier in Greenland

Environment

Research finds runoff from melting glaciers is giving climate change a boost

Nick Lavars April 18, 2018

Scientists investigating melting glaciers have discovered evidence of a previously unknown vicious circle, whereby melted glacial water alters the chemistry on the surface of the ocean and drives further glacial melting, in turn accelerating the rise of seal levels.

Melted glacial waters might themselves be a driver of global warming, a new study suggests

Environment

New satellite to set sights on industrial methane leaks

James Holloway April 16, 2018

According to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the oil and gas industries alone release 75 million metric tons of methane each year. In response, the organization is planning to launch MethaneSAT to identify major sources of methane emissions and identify opportunities for reduction.

MethaneSAT could be keeping tabs on the oil and gas industries by 2021

Environment Feature

XPrize's Marcius Extavour on how we can turn our CO2 problem into something useful

Nick Lavars April 10, 2018

Launched in 2015 and yesterday whittled down to 10 finalists, the Carbon XPrize has now progressed to its final stage. As these teams prepare for this final phase, New Atlas chatted with XPrize's Dr Marcius Extavour about the possibilities that their solutions may bring.

XPrize's senior director of energy and resources, Dr Marcius Extavour

Environment

Norway's Global Seed Vault set for multimillion-dollar fortification

Nick Lavars February 25, 2018

When you have water seeping into a doomsday facility built to shore up food supplies for the future, well, that's hardly ideal. But such breaches should be a thing of the past, with authorities overseeing the Svalbard Global Seed Vault planning a multi-million dollar overhaul of the structure.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault sits around halfway between Norway and the North Pole

Environment

Is the humble sandwich a climate change culprit?

David Szondy January 25, 2018

Scientists have found a surprising global warming culprit – sandwiches. In the first study of its kind, the researchers carried out an in-depth audit of various sandwiches and found that they could be responsible for as much annual carbon as 8.6 million cars in Britain alone.

Sandwiches have a surprisingly large carbon footprint

Environment

Giant fans, starfish assaults and the half-baked plan to save the Great Barrier Reef

Nick Lavars January 22, 2018

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is in a bit of trouble. The Australian government has announced a AU$60 million plan to preserve the world's largest living structure, but environmental experts are wondering whether it is simply a way of avoiding a larger, more complex issue.

Researchers at work examining coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef

Environment

The geoengineering debate: Can imitating volcanic eruptions combat climate change?

Rich Haridy November 16, 2017

With the once controversial idea of battling climate change through geoenginnering slowly gaining popularity, new research from the University of Exeter offers evidence that this untested approach could result in climate chaos.

A new study suggests launching particles into our atmosphere to mimic the cooling effects of volcanic ...