Join three heat experts to talk about how we map, monitor, and lessen the impacts of urban heat islands.
No. By a large majority, climate scientists agree that average global temperature today is warmer than in pre-industrial times, and that human activity is the primary contributing factor.
Yes, there are, but the only new process on Earth that has been identified that can account for the significant tipping of Earth's carbon balance is human activity, including deforestation, biomass burning, cement production, and—especially—fossil-fuel emissions.
Yes, human activities exert a cooling influence on Earth in several ways. Overall, this cooling influence is smaller than the warming influence of the heat-trapping gases humans put into the air.
Yes, human activity is putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere faster than natural processes take it out. Rising carbon dioxide levels are strengthening Earth's greenhouse effect and causing global warming.
If you missed our August 29 tweet chat, here's the transcript. Read what the fire and smoke experts had to say about the FIREX-AQ field campaign and its mission to study what's in the smoke from wildfires and agricultural burning.
Trees within a city can help reduce urban heat, control stormwater, and provide habitat to local wildlife. As climate conditions change, a Chicago group is working to enhance the reilience of the city's urban forest.
Globally, carbon emissions from fires were near the long-term average in 2014, but North America's emissions were 70% higher than average.
From soybeans and sunflowers in North Dakota to cotton and winter wheat in Texas, large stretches of croplands in the U.S. Great Plains rely exclusively on rain. Those croplands are likely to face longer dry spells by mid-century.