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INTO THE RED

Climate and the fight of our lives

The climate crisis is now an emergency. We believe solutions must begin here, in our communities, state, and region. Globe journalism will shine light on obstacles to decisive action, illuminate paths toward solutions, and hold to account elected leaders responsible for guiding us to a better future.

Latest climate stories

OPEC+ makes big oil cut to boost prices; pump costs may rise

Oil is trading well below its summer peaks because of fears that major global economies such as the US or Europe will sink into recession due to high inflation, rising interest rates and uncertainty over the war in Ukraine.

Climate change made Hurricane Ian worse, study finds

Hurricane Ian pummeled parts of Florida, killing dozens and inflicting tens of billions of dollars in damage. Much of the devastation has been due to the storm’s relentless rainfall, which a new analysis says was made significantly worse by climate change.

Will the Supreme Court restrict the scope of the Clean Water Act?

The Supreme Court on Monday is hearing a case that could threaten the heart of the Clean Water Act, one of the most iconic and fundamental pieces of environmental legislation ever passed in the United States.

These reporters stood in the howling winds and rain of Hurricane Ian. But why?

Live shots of reporters broadcasting amid hurricane-force winds and rain prompted many to question this staple of TV weather coverage.

How climate change is fueling destructive storms like Ian

Ian intensified by 67 percent in less than 22 hours from Monday to Tuesday. That kind of “rapid intensification,” as scientists call it, used to be exceedingly rare. But it’s becoming more common amid the climate crisis, which is pushing up ocean temperatures.

Featured projects

As Earth’s temperature rises, Massachusetts residents’ sense of urgency on climate change declines

Despite increasingly urgent international warnings, fewer Massachusetts residents see the climate crisis as a very serious concern than they did in 2019, a new poll from MassINC and the Boston Globe shows.
The Lobster Trap: Part 1

The lobster trap

The plentiful catch that brought wealth to fishing families is at risk, as climate change warms the Gulf of Maine. A way of life is on the line, but lobstermen can't, or won't, imagine another.
Climate change on Cape Cod

At the edge of a warming world

The flexed arm of Cape Cod has challenged the power of the sea for centuries, but the contest has escalated. Climate change is altering our vacation paradise in myriad ways, perhaps forever. The message in the sand is clear — if only we will look.

Accountability

Manchin ends pipeline push, easing path for spending bill

A procedural vote Tuesday advancing the funding bill succeeded easily, 72-23, after Democrats announced that the West Virginia senator’s proposal would be stripped from the final legislation.

Climate change could worsen supply chain turmoil

In addition to the toll of human injury and death, increasing natural disasters are likely to wreak sporadic havoc on global supply chains, exacerbating the shortages, delayed deliveries, and higher prices that have frustrated businesses and consumers.
RI POLITICS

Green Report Card gives R.I. Assembly high grades on environment

Two years after giving legislature an “incomplete,” the Environment Council hails “the best two years of environmental policymaking in R.I. history.”

Climate disasters are unfolding all over the planet. Here’s a look at some of them.

Torrential downpours in Texas. Historic heat in China. Europe’s worst drought in 500 years. Glacial melting in Antarctica. Each of these events bear the fingerprints of climate change, providing yet more evidence that this crisis isn’t some far-off threat.

Climate Science

Climate change made Hurricane Ian worse, study finds
Hurricane Ian pummeled parts of Florida, killing dozens and inflicting tens of billions of dollars in damage. Much of the devastation has been due to the storm’s relentless rainfall, which a new analysis says was made significantly worse by climate change.

How climate change is fueling destructive storms like Ian

Boston’s hospitals among the nation’s most vulnerable to dangerous hurricane flooding

Politics and Policy

At Harvard, researchers work to hold Big Oil accountable for misinformation

A group of Harvard researchers, who helped reveal oil industry efforts to cover up climate science and obscure its role in climate change, is holding a first-of-its kind conference this week to tackle climate accountability.
RI POWER SUPPLY

Rolling blackouts in R.I. this winter? Clean energy advocates say they’ve heard these warnings before.

ISO New England, which manages the power grid, says a shortage of natural gas could require controlled power outages across the region during prolonged cold weather this winter.

Manchin’s permitting reform legislation would be a climate disaster, environmental advocates say

The long-awaited bill text, released on Wednesday, has environmental activists and many Democratic representatives heated.

Climate change protesters close one side of Seaport Blvd. bridge before dispersing; 15 arrested

Environmental activists who sought to block major intersections in Boston dialed back those plans and instead marched down several streets downtown and closed one side of the Seaport Boulevard bridge for about 30 minutes during the Wednesday morning commute.

An interactive look into climate change

How Massachusetts feels about climate change in 12 graphics

The percentage of Massachusetts residents who believe climate change is as a very serious concern has decreased since 2019. That’s just one finding from a new poll conducted by MassINC Polling Group for the Boston Globe.

Maps: These parts of Boston, Revere, and Quincy are vulnerable to rising sea levels

One measure of a warming planet and human-caused climate change is rising sea levels, which Massachusetts’ coastal towns are increasingly grappling with.

Boston’s ‘heat islands’ turn lower-income neighborhoods from hot to insufferable

In a recent city report, officials noted that temperatures in leafier neighborhoods are often significantly lower than in more densely populated areas.

Into the Red: How the Globe will cover climate change

To report on the most pressing issue of our time, the Globe’s climate team is expanding and rethinking its coverage.

The Globe's climate team wants to hear from you

Share your thoughts and questions about the impact of climate change in your community.

How-Tos

Northeastern researchers have a plan to protect Boston from rising sea levels: floating vegetation mats they call the ‘Emerald Tutu’

ENVIRONMENT

DEM: ‘Substantial’ solid waste from Woonsocket sewage plant released into Blackstone River daily

As war rages, a struggle to balance energy crunch and climate crisis

More Climate stories

Boston’s hospitals among the nation’s most vulnerable to dangerous hurricane flooding

The authors found that even a relatively weak Category 2 hurricane could render major medical centers unreachable due to flooded roads, effectively paralyzing their ability to respond to storm injuries and threatening critical ongoing care.

At Harvard, researchers work to hold Big Oil accountable for misinformation

A group of Harvard researchers, who helped reveal oil industry efforts to cover up climate science and obscure its role in climate change, is holding a first-of-its kind conference this week to tackle climate accountability.

RI POWER SUPPLY

Rolling blackouts in R.I. this winter? Clean energy advocates say they’ve heard these warnings before.

ISO New England, which manages the power grid, says a shortage of natural gas could require controlled power outages across the region during prolonged cold weather this winter.

Manchin ends pipeline push, easing path for spending bill

A procedural vote Tuesday advancing the funding bill succeeded easily, 72-23, after Democrats announced that the West Virginia senator’s proposal would be stripped from the final legislation.

Hurricane Ian strikes Cuba; Florida braces for Category 4 damage

Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane Tuesday and left 1 million people without electricity, then churned on a collision course with Florida over warm Gulf waters amid expectations it would strengthen into a catastrophic Category 4 storm.

Trouble brewing in the power grid as officials warn of possible electricity shortages in N.E. this winter

Russia’s war with Ukraine has destabilized energy markets, particularly supplies of liquefied natural gas.

Local researchers are aiming to create the perfect battery. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Researchers and companies around the world are racing to solve the problem of storing clean energy when the sun isn’t shining on solar farms or the wind isn’t turning turbines.

California moves to ban natural gas furnaces and heaters by 2030

California is committing to a plan that will make it the first US state to phase out gas-fueled furnaces and water heaters in homes, a move environmentalists are betting will provide a template for other states.

Opinion

Michael E. Mann and Wanjira Mathai

UN IPCC report can lead governments to the climate action door, but they must walk through

We have the technology to achieve the necessary reductions in carbon emissions. The obstacles that remain aren’t technological, they’re political.
Ko Barrett

Humans are responsible for climate change and humans have the capacity to solve it

Bill McKibben

Heat pumps could help ease the climate crisis — and the war in Ukraine

Tim Fitzgerald

We can eat our way out of climate change

Sharon E. Burke and Bram Govaerts

Multiple breadbasket failures: Nations must address looming food emergencies