Climate change is real and it's getting worse. Global temperature averages are creeping upward, seas are warming, rising and becoming more acidic, and extreme weather events such as droughts, wildfires, floods and powerful storms are becoming more common. The threat is so great that humanity must act now to defuse what United Nations scientists call a "climate time bomb" which, if ignored, will yield "untold suffering."
At Live Science, our expert writers and editors cover the impact of global warming, and the measures that scientists, world leaders and innovators are taking to reduce our harmful impact on the planet, with the latest climate change news, features and articles.
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Ancient viral genomes plucked from glaciers reveal how pathogens have adapted to Earth's shifting climate
Over the past 41,000 years, viral communities have varied significantly between cold and warm climatic periods, scientists found.
Large patch of the Atlantic Ocean near the equator has been cooling at record speeds — and scientists can't figure out why
Scientists are trying to decipher what drove the recent dramatic cooling of the tropical Atlantic, but so far few clues have emerged. "We are still scratching our heads as to what's actually happening," the researchers said.
Climate change may allow the Earth’s oldest, tiniest creatures to dominate — and that's seriously bad news
Creatures that existed billions of years before plants and animals poised to become dangerous climate change winners.
Earth is wobbling and days are getting longer — and humans are to blame
New studies, which utilized AI to monitor the effects of climate change on Earth's spin, have shown that our days are getting increasingly longer and that our planet will get more wobbly in the future. These changes could have major implications for humanity's future.
Scientists say they can now forecast El Niño Southern Oscillation years in advance
Scientists used thousands of years of climate data to show that El Niño Southern Oscillations can be predicted more than two years in advance.
'The last 12 months have broken records like never before': Earth exceeds 1.5 C warming every month for entire year
Every month has broken the temperature record of the previous for the past 12 months, and the signs of climate breakdown are already here, a new analysis shows.
Gulf Stream's fate to be decided by climate 'tug-of-war'
New research suggests that runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet could prevent icebergs from disrupting key ocean currents. But some scientists have cautioned that other factors may be at play.
Is Earth really getting too hot for people to survive?
To assess risk from heat, scientists use the "wet bulb temperature," looking at the point where the human body isn't able to let enough heat out.
