GoKawiil
Tech News
Researchers studying remote Alaskan rivers have found some running orange, with metal concentrations measured up to 70 times above typical background levels. Scientists attribute the discoloration to thawing permafrost exposing previously frozen minerals to water and air, despite the watersheds being largely undisturbed by human activity.
Landscape architect Billy Fleming has published a book documenting communities that have successfully pursued decarbonization and climate justice initiatives. The book arrives amid a year marked by severe climate disasters, including a glacier-collapse flood in Nepal, a European heat wave blamed for over 35,000 deaths, and crop-destroying temperature swings in the U.S. Midwest.
Apple has continued reducing its overall emissions even as it invests in AI infrastructure, a trend that contrasts with rivals whose emissions are rising due to power-hungry data centers. The company has previously pledged to become carbon neutral across its entire supply chain and product life cycle by 2030.
A glacial-lake collapse triggered flash floods in Nepal's Rasuwa region on 26 August, killing more than 1,400 people and leaving about 6,000 missing, with reconstruction estimated at nearly $5 billion. Nepal formally requested emergency support from the UN's Fund for responding to Loss and Damage five days later, but a month on, no funding arrangement has been finalized beyond an acknowledgment promising urgent consideration.
Climate researchers have released a new map showing how an unusually powerful El Niño weather pattern is expected to alter conditions across different regions worldwide. The map identifies areas likely to see the most significant disruptions to rainfall, temperature and storm activity as the phenomenon intensifies.
In an interview on The Ezra Klein Show, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang argued that AI will require heavy fossil fuel use in the near term because renewable energy capacity is insufficient, likening the resulting pain to surgery necessary to save a patient. He also criticized the US for not building enough fossil fuel plants to meet AI's energy demands.
Climate Impact Lab, a research organization co-founded by University of Chicago economist Michael Greenstone, estimates that roughly 451,000 excess deaths will occur from heat during the first six months of the current El Niño event, compared with a typical year. The group forecasts the hardest-hit regions will be in northern Africa, South East Asia and Latin America, naming Nigeria, Indonesia, Sudan, India and Brazil as the most affected countries. The report notes the El Niño pattern is expected to persist until at least spring 2027.
At this year's Climate Week gatherings around the UN General Assembly, AI's dual role in the climate crisis emerged as a central topic of debate. UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the assembly that artificial intelligence could either help address climate-driven instability and displacement or worsen it, as a new UN Environment Program report found the world has effectively passed the point of limiting warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.
New research finds that 178 major fossil fuel companies have already released enough greenhouse gases to continue raising global temperatures for centuries, even if all of them halted emissions immediately. The study attributes this locked-in warming to carbon already emitted and persisting in the atmosphere, rather than to any future activity.
A new report warns that the current strong El Niño event, which is pushing global temperatures unusually high, could contribute to nearly half a million deaths over the next six months. The report describes the extreme heat as a preview of conditions expected to become the norm within a few decades.
In a UN address, President Trump said the US rejects global efforts to regulate AI and announced he wants federal documents to replace 'artificial intelligence' with 'super intelligence,' arguing the word 'artificial' makes it sound fake. He also dismissed warnings about AI risks, comparing them to past claims about climate change, and said the US is leading China in the technology race.
A study by Fajardo and colleagues, published in Nature, found that Northern Hemisphere conifer species introduced into Southern Hemisphere environments grow noticeably faster than their counterparts in native ranges. The transplanted trees also showed better resistance to and recovery from drought stress compared with those growing at home.