A glacial rift. Greenland's rapidly retreating Helheim Glacier draws researchers from around the world. Leading U.S. climate scientists at the Comer Conference discussed how glacial ice cores and ice sheets hold clues to climate history and to the Earth's future.
Ice age research has gotten hot -- at least to scientists working to predict the near-term impact of global warming. As politicians debate action plans, researchers funded by Chicago's Comer Science and Education Foundation are racing to understand historical climate changes that hold key clues to the future.
Glaciers are retreating, lakes are drying up, and sea levels are rising faster than expected. Extreme weather is on the rise and predicted to become more extreme as temperatures climb with global warming. Yet, paradoxically, scientists realize the evidence of climate change may still be a hard sell.
Alternative energies could return us to 19th century emissions levels to avert climate change, but the politics and economics are proving just as tough as the science.
The world needs a solar revolution to enter the era of energy sustainability and avert the floods, droughts and crop losses expected to result from global warming, according to one scientist. But politics, economics and technical hurdles ensure the world will run on fossil fuels for the near future.
World leaders at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh debated curbs in carbon dioxide emissions but scientists such as Klaus Lackner are pioneering solutions to capture the powerful greenhouse gas that is warming the planet.
From thousands of miles away, climate scientists can keep their fingers on the pulse of Greenland’s glaciers – a harbinger of climate change. Earthquakes caused as ice masses break from the glaciers due to global warming can be felt as far away as South Dakota.
Drought. It's a distant thought during the rainy days of a Chicago spring, with one-fifth of the world’s fresh water supply sitting in our own backyard. But other areas are casting a covetous eye at Great Lakes water while experts say to start conserving fast.
Billions of tons of carbon dioxide could be captured by rocks and a natural chemical reaction that humans can speed up, say researchers from Columbia University.
A partnership of industry giants and environmental advocates have issued a Blueprint for Legislative Action, calling for extensive cap-and-trade and alternative energies.
Shifting wind currents could be forcing more carbon dioxide from the oceans into the atmosphere, upsetting the delicate give-and-take balance and pushing the warming Earth even closer to the edge.
The ocean is one of nature's largest absorbers of carbon dioxide. But changing winds could be weakening its protective powers and accelerating global warming.
Scientists predicting sea level rise agree on only one thing: It's worse than they thought.
Climate change threatens Illinois farmers with heat waves and changing precipitation patterns. A new report suggests lost crops will dwarf the higher prices brought by climate legislation.
The EPA’s proposal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions indicates Obama's commitment to moving forward on climate change controls.
When Stephanie Comer sailed the Northwest Passage with her father, Lands’ End founder Gary Comer, the experience changed their lives. The relative absence of ice concerned Comer who funded nearly $50 million in facilities and research focused on climate change, a commitment his children lead now.
Leading climate scientists contrast climate change driven by human activities with natural cycles of the past. How can we respond? Stephanie Comer, president of the Comer Science and Education Foundation, explains the critical funding needs for abrupt climate change research.
Climate scientist Wallace Broecker, the man credited with coining the phrase “global warming” in the 1970s, contributed to the pivotal concept of just how swiftly and abruptly the earth’s climate can change. For his research, he received the prestigious Swiss-Italian Balzan Prize and one million Swiss francs.
The 20th century stands out as a very wet period in California while climate change and urban sprawl are all but certain to make the current century a dry one. Across the warming Earth, the climate of already arid lands will march toward desert.
At Northwestern's Climate Change Symposium, scientists showed how dramatically shrinking glaciers and rising carbon dioxide levels document a warming planet. Yet only 57 percent of Americans, compared to 71 percent last year, believe the evidence is solid.
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