emissions

Artist’s concept of the X-66 aircraft that Boeing will produce through NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project. Credit: NASANASA and Boeing are developing the X-66, an innovative aircraft designed to advance net-zero aviation emissions by 2050. Featuring the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing concept, it promises significant fuel and emissions reductions.As NASA and Boeing enter the early stages of producing the X-66, the first X-plane specifically focused on helping the United States achieve net-zero aviation emissions…

A privately funded satellite is set to push methane tracking into a new era, once it launches into space on Monday.A collaborative mission between Environmental Defense Fund, Google, the Government of New Zealand and several other partners, MethaneSAT will track methane emissions around the globe in attempts to identify and quantify sources spewing the climate-heating greenhouse gas. For 20 years after its release into the atmosphere, methane gas is 80 times more harmful than carbon dioxide in its ability to increase…

For the ninth straight month, Earth has obliterated global heat records — with February, the winter as a whole and the world's oceans setting new high-temperature marks, according to the European Union climate agency Copernicus.The latest record-breaking in this climate change-fuelled global hot streak includes sea surface temperatures that weren't just the hottest for February, but eclipsed any month on record, soaring past August 2023's mark and still rising at the end of the month.And February, as well the previous two…

Inland waters in China, such as the Yangtze River, could be a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Credit: Lishan Ran Inland waters such as rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and ponds may release copious amounts of greenhouse gases, but this possibility is not well understood. In a new review published in theJournal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Qianqian Yang and colleagues summarize what's known about carbon dioxide…

Relationship between cumulative emissions and global warming, for the historical simulations plus four different SSP scenarios (ssp128, ssp245, ssp370, ssp585). Panel (a) plots cumulative emissions since 1850 (diagnosed using Eq. 1) against global warming since 1850 for each of the nine CMIP6 ESMs (colored symbols) and the Global Carbon Project (GCP) plus global mean temperature observations (black stars). The values shown here are 10-year centered…

Carbon dioxide emissions surged to record levels in 2023, with fossil fuel combustion and deforestation pushing total emissions to 40.9 billion metric tons, threatening global climate goals.Scientists’ annual checkup on Earth’s carbon cycle found that burning oil, coal, and natural gas is impeding progress to limit climate change.Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels rose again in 2023, reaching record levels, according to estimates from an international team of scientists. The continued rise in emissions from the…

But last year, weather conditions caused hydropower to fall short in a major way, with generation dropping by a record amount. In fact, the decrease was significant enough to have a measurable effect on global emissions. Total energy-related emissions rose by about 1.1% in 2023, and a shortfall of hydroelectric power accounts for 40% of that rise, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. Between year-to-year weather variability and climate change, there could be rocky times ahead for hydropower.…

New Satellite Will Launch to Track Methane EmissionsObservations from MethaneSat could be used to independently verify industry reports and enforce regulations on fossil fuel companiesBy Chelsea Harvey & E&E NewsA natural gas flare burns near an oil pump jack at the New Harmony Oil Field in Grayville, Illinois. Credit: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesCLIMATEWIRE | A new satellite mission, spearheaded by the Environmental Defense Fund, aims to help scientists spy on global methane emissions from the oil and…

Credit: Forest Fire Management Victoria In the four years since the Black Summer bushfires, Australia has become more focused on how best to prepare for, fight and recover from these traumatic events. But one issue has largely flown under the radar: how the emissions produced by bushfires are measured and reported. Fires comprised 4.8% of total global…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain E-bikes have captured widespread attention across the U.S., and for good reason. They are the most energy-efficient way to move from place to place, providing exercise in the process, and offer enough assistance while pedaling uphill or into headwinds to make them usable for many types of riders.…