fb-pixel Skip to main content

INTO THE RED

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.

US President Joe Biden at Kansas City International Airport on December 8, 2021.

Biden order would make US government carbon neutral by 2050

The newly signed executive also aims for a 65% reduction in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an all-electric fleet of cars and trucks five years later.

More recent climate stories

Heavy machinery was used to cut trees to widen an existing Central Maine power line corridor on April 26, 2021, near Bingham, Maine.
Two crucial pillars of the state’s plan to cut carbon emissions have crumbled. Where does it go from here?
The Baker administration now lacks a clear path to meeting its obligations under the state’s new climate law.

Kathleen Theoharides is the Secretary, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts. Photographed at Walden Pond. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
Kathleen Theoharides, Mass. secretary of energy and environmental affairs, sizes up state’s climate goals
After attending last month’s climate summit in Glasgow, Kathleen Theoharides, the state’s secretary of energy and environmental affairs, returned home to find that crucial pillars of the Baker administration’s plan to address climate change had collapsed.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio attends Netflix's "Don't Look Up" World Premiere on Sunday in New York.
‘Don’t Look Up,’ a thinly veiled warning about climate change, premieres in New York City
The movie, filmed in Boston, is making a splash in the climate movement.

ENVIRONMENT
National Grid is the property owner of the $400 million Tidewater Landing project site, which is being redeveloped into a soccer stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
National Grid says not ‘more than 20 gallons’ of coal tar oil spilled in Seekonk River at Tidewater Landing site
On Dec. 1, weathered coal tar oil breached the booms at National Grid’s $400 million Tidewater Landing site in Pawtucket, marking the second spill in the last month at the site.

An interactive look into climate change

A woman and her dog walked along Wollaston Beach in Quincy in April.

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.
asdfsdfs

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.
asdfasdfasdfs

Data from the recent heat wave reveal troubling trends. These four charts show the damage inflicted

The stunning numbers highlight an alarming phenomenon at work as climate change makes periods of extreme heat more common and prolonged: The warming climate is leading us into a dangerous vicious cycle.

Accountability

Biden plan to overhaul federal oil and gas leasing program stops short of leasing ban sought by climate activists

The long-awaited report by the Interior Department stops short of recommending an end to oil and gas leasing on public lands, as many environmental groups have urged.

Southwest Airlines commits $10 million to Yale University to support climate change initiatives

Southwest Airlines announced a $10 million commitment to Yale University’s Center for Natural Carbon Capture to research technological advancements and find new solutions to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.
COP26 Climate Summit

Climate talks draft agreement expresses ‘alarm and concern’

Negotiators at the United Nations climate talks are considering a draft decision that highlights “alarm and concern” about climate change.

Kerry says other nations must do far more to address climate change

With carbon emissions rising at a rate that has been called “catastrophic,” Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said Thursday that he worries other countries won’t commit to sufficient steps to reduce their greenhouse gases at upcoming international climate negotiations in Scotland.

Climate Science

Floodwaters slowly receded in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Lafitte, La. on Oct. 14.
Study finds Atlantic hurricanes becoming more frequent, destructive
The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season ended Tuesday, marking the close of the sixth consecutive above-average season. A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published Thursday offers evidence that there is indeed a long-term trend toward increasing numbers of Atlantic hurricanes.

A large melt pool forms in the Ilulissat ice fjord below the Jakobshavn Glacier, at the fringe of the vast Greenland ice sheet.

The Arctic could get more rain and less snow sooner than projected, researchers find

A waved albatross pair nuzzles on the Galápagos Islands.

Why climate change is forcing albatross couples to divorce

Opinion

Olivia Cerf and Ben Butterworth stand near the heat pumps they installed at their Melrose home.
Cynthia Stone Creem and Lori A. Ehrlich

A better future for heating your home

A bill in the Legislature empowers utilities to offer clean, renewable thermal energy in order to enlist those companies in the effort toward networked ground source heat pumps, technology already being used cost-effectively in many of our communities.
Maria J. Santos

Thinking locally to solve the climate change and biodiversity crises

Susan Joy Hassol and Michael E. Mann

Let’s emerge from Glasgow still in the fight

The Globe's climate team wants to hear from you

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

Politics and Policy

Biden order would make US government carbon neutral by 2050

The newly signed executive also aims for a 65% reduction in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an all-electric fleet of cars and trucks five years later.

Kathleen Theoharides, Mass. secretary of energy and environmental affairs, sizes up state’s climate goals

After attending last month’s climate summit in Glasgow, Kathleen Theoharides, the state’s secretary of energy and environmental affairs, returned home to find that crucial pillars of the Baker administration’s plan to address climate change had collapsed.
ENVIRONMENT

Oil spill in Seekonk River linked to National Grid’s Tidewater Landing project in Pawtucket

It’s unclear how much oil spilled into the water, but dead fish have washed up onshore and the river’s surface was slick with rainbow-tinted sheen.

Controversial plan for Oregon natural gas terminal abandoned

A Canadian energy company pulled out of a controversial natural gas pipeline and marine export terminal on the southern Oregon coast after failing to obtain all necessary state permits.

How to

A Tesla charges at a station in Topeka, Kan., April 5, 2021.

Biden bill includes boost for union-made electric vehicles

Instead of converting 100,000 homes a year, as its climate plan dictates, Massachusetts last year switched just 461 households from fossil fuels to heat pumps.

Heat pumps could be key to fighting climate change, but how? We answer your burning questions

A heat pump at a home in Melrose owned by Ben Butterworth and his wife Olivia Cerf.

Ditching oil and gas heat is a key way to fight climate change. Here’s how to secure a heat pump for your home

More Climate stories

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, left, spent Friday in Boston with local elected officials and community members for discussions centered on energy justice, weatherization, and energy efficiency retrofits. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey and Congresswoman Katherine Clark, seen in the background, also attended.

Can federal funds help Mass. kick fossil fuels?

Massachusetts is lagging behind on the big changes it needs to make quickly in order to meet its ambitious climate goals. US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm sent the message that help is on the way — despite logjams in Congress.

The summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island covered in snow as seen from Waimea, Hawaii on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016.

This weekend, Hawaii will get more snow than Boston

Parts of Hawaii could be blanketed in snow this weekend. That's not as uncommon as you might think.

ENVIRONMENT
National Grid is the property owner of the $400 million Tidewater Landing project site, which is being redeveloped into a soccer stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Oil spill in Seekonk River linked to National Grid’s Tidewater Landing project in Pawtucket

It’s unclear how much oil spilled into the water, but dead fish have washed up onshore and the river’s surface was slick with rainbow-tinted sheen.

Controversial plan for Oregon natural gas terminal abandoned

A Canadian energy company pulled out of a controversial natural gas pipeline and marine export terminal on the southern Oregon coast after failing to obtain all necessary state permits.

Shell to exit North Sea Cambo oil field project as uneconomic

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is putting its investment in a controversial North Sea oil field on hold because development of the project isn’t economically viable.

Floodwaters slowly receded in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Lafitte, La. on Oct. 14.

Study finds Atlantic hurricanes becoming more frequent, destructive

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season ended Tuesday, marking the close of the sixth consecutive above-average season. A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published Thursday offers evidence that there is indeed a long-term trend toward increasing numbers of Atlantic hurricanes.

The City of Newton published this rendering of Brown Middle School’s proposed solar panel parking lot canopy, which currently has no set construction date.

Steel costs, contract issues delay 10 solar projects in Newton

High steel costs, contract issues and problems with the supply chain due to COVID-19 have delayed construction of six large, solar-panel parking lot canopies and four smaller rooftop projects around Newton.

An operational pumpjack is reflected in a car's side mirror in Penwell, Texas.

Marketing companies are culpable in climate delay, report says

A first-of-its-kind, peer-reviewed report argues that public relations agencies have played a major role in influencing public perception of the challenges and solutions of climate change.

The Climate team