Yale e360

Having won rights to develop wind farms off the coast of Scotland, Shell, Total, and BP are set to invest more in wind power than in oil and gas drilling in the North Sea in the years ahead, the latest evidence of oil majors changing tack on renewables to…

The Covid pandemic has hit African tourism and the wildlife conservation it supports extremely hard. But Indigenous-managed projects, such as the Il Ngwesi eco-lodge and conservancy run by Maasai in Kenya, have benefited by local people’s stewardship of…

Berlin's regional parliament is considering creating a car-free zone in the German capital in response to a concerted push from a local advocacy group. The car ban would apply to the space ringed by the S-Bahn train line, which circles the city center, an area…

Amazon Indigenous leader Juma Xipaia has fought against massive dam projects and the incursion of illegal loggers and miners onto her community’s lands. In a Yale e360 interview, she explains why what’s at stake is the survival of her people and their…

Coal is down and oil is up according to the latest projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Coal plants will account for 85 percent of power capacity being retired in the U.S. this year, consistent with a long-term downward trend in…

From Minnesota to the Northwest Territories, researchers are studying dramatic changes in the vast northern forests: thawing permafrost, drowned trees, methane releases, increased wildfires, and the slow transformation of these forests from carbon sinks to…

2021 was the fifth-hottest year on record and close to 1.2 degrees C (2.1 degrees F) warmer than the preindustrial average, according to an analysis from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. The last seven years were the hottest ever "by a…

Last year, deforestation in Brazil's Cerrado region, one of the largest savannas in the world, reached its highest level since 2015, according to newly released data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Following that announcement, an INPE…

In France, where junk food ads must include messages imploring consumers to snack less and eat more fruits and vegetables, car ads will soon be required to include messages encouraging people to walk, bike, or take public transportation, French media…

Numerous startups are creating synthetic palm oil in the lab, hoping to slow the loss of tropical forests to oil palm cultivation. But palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil, and producing a synthetic version on a large scale remains a daunting…

Beijing met state air quality standards for the first time in 2021, though it still faces high levels of pollution as it prepares to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Read more on E360 →

Electric cars accounted for roughly two-thirds of new sales in Norway last year, a key milestone on the country’s way to ending the sale of gas-powered cars by 2025, Reuters reported.Read more on E360 →

NASA's Earth Observatory regularly publishes striking satellite images of our rapidly changing planet, this year showing everything from the massive fires in Greece and California to the historic floods in China and the Netherlands. These photos document the…

The renewable energy firm, Savion, is building a 200-megawatt solar installation on a former coal mine on the border of Kentucky and West Virginia. When completed, it will be the largest solar project in Kentucky.Read more on E360 →

Installed solar capacity in the European Union grew by 34 percent in 2021, and Europe is now on pace to quadruple its solar energy generation by 2030, according to a new report from SolarPower Europe, a trade organization. Read more on E360 →

Three droughts over the past two decades have affected the Amazon’s ability to bounce back after severe dry spells, reducing the vast rainforest’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, according to a new study by Brazilian and Portuguese researchers.…

Microbes in oceans and soils across the globe are evolving to eat plastic, according to a study. Read more on E360 →

As scientists rapidly improve their ability to decipher past climate upheaval through ice cores and other "proxies,” historians are re-examining previous political and social turmoil and linking it to volcanic eruptions, prolonged droughts, and other…

The Twelve Days of Christmas, which last from December 25 through January 5, have grown warmer in 97 percent of the U.S., according to a new analysis from Climate Central that evaluated temperature trends across 246 locations since 1969. Read more on E360 →

Wind was Spain's leading source of electricity in 2021, El País reported. In total, renewables accounted for 47 percent of power generation this year, up from 30 percent a decade ago. Roughly half of 2021's renewable energy came from wind power, with 10…

Having banned oil exploration in its territorial waters, Denmark is investing $2.4 billion into a plan to capture CO2 from the energy and industrial sectors and inject it into the seabed in geological formations that previously held oil and gas deposits.Read…

The campaign to preserve half the Earth’s surface is being criticized for failing to take account of global inequality and human needs. But such protection is essential not just for nature, but also for creating a world that can improve the lives of the poor…

Seeking to cut down on methane pollution from organic waste, California is launching a statewide food waste recycling program in January, the largest such initiative in the United States, the Los Angeles Times reported.Read more on E360 →

In recent decades, cattle grazing has accounted for around two-thirds of deforestation in Brazil, with ranchers clearing forest to create pastures. Halting climate change demands not only stopping deforestation, but reversing it, for instance, by turning…

Renewable energy skeptics argue that because of their variability, wind and solar cannot be the foundation of a dependable electricity grid. But the expansion of renewables and new methods of energy management and storage can lead to a grid that is reliable…

Wildlife officials in Florida will feed starving manatees, whose food supplies have dwindled as a result of marine pollution, Reuters reported. Such interventions are extremely rare, as conservationists are wary of making animals dependent on humans for food.…

Faced with worsening floods and a shortage of housing, the Netherlands is seeing growing interest in floating homes. These floating communities are inspiring more ambitious Dutch-led projects in flood-prone nations as far-flung as French Polynesia and the…

China used cloud seeding to generate rain and clear pollution ahead of the Communist Party's July 1 centenary celebration in Beijing, according to a new study.Read more on E360 →

Ecuador's constitutional court has blocked plans to mine copper and gold in Los Cedros, a protected cloud forest, ruling that the plans violate the rights of nature.Read more on E360 →

The U.S. generates more plastic waste than any other country, producing roughly 287 pounds of plastic per person per year, according to a new congressional report.Read more on E360 →