So we can meet the challenge of climate change

More than a century ago, scientists proved that carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere could act as a thermostat – by adding more CO₂ the tide would turn, the earth would cool down when removed. But then again, most scientists thought that the Earth’s climate system was too large and stable to change quickly, so that any fluctuations would occur over such a long period of time as to have little relevance to everyday life.SN: 3/12/22, p. 16).

Now it’s up to the Weather Channel to know how badly they were taught. Everything is changing rapidly. In the past year alone, Europe, Southeast Asia, China, Japan and the American West have endured devastating, record-breaking heat waves (SN: 12/17/22 & 12/31/22, p. 38). As of this writing, torrential rains are causing death and destruction in California. And as levels of climate-warming gases continue to increase in the atmosphere, extreme weather events will become even more frequent.

Given the magnitude of this threat, any effort we make against it will be futile. But that is not the case. Around the world, scientists and engineers; lakes and large bodies; state, national and local governments; and international coalitions are working to put limits on climate change. Last year, the United States signed into law a $369 billion investment in renewable technologies and other energy solutions (SN: 12/17/22 & 12/31/22, p. 28). And the World Bank invested $31.7 billion to help other countries.

In this question, contributing correspondent Alexandra Witze presents each track: which answers will help the most, and which remain challenging. Switching to renewable energy sources like wind and solar should be very easy. We already have the technology, and we have sunk costs in the last few decades. Other approaches that are feasible, but not as much, include more energy efficient industrial processes, hunting for conservative gases and promoting clean fuels. Finally, the goal is to rebuild the global infrastructure. Companies have been breaking down energy infrastructure for centuries, from water and steam to petroleum and natural gas to nuclear power and now innovations. This next change will be the most important yet. But we have the scientific understanding and technological savvy to make it happen.

This cover story kicks off the new series Science News, Climate Fix In future questions, solutions to the climate crisis, including the science behind the innovations, the practicalities, and the social and environmental impacts. You’ll also see an increase in climate coverage for our younger readers, ages 9 and up Science News Explores online and in print.

Along with this, we also welcome our new editor, Michael Gordon Vossius. He comes to us with a deep knowledge of the media industry, experience with both profit and non-profit publications, and a love of science. Before joining Science News Media Group, Voss was publisher of Stanford Social Innovation Reviewand president and editor at Scientific American. With his arrival, publisher Maya Ajmera takes on the new role of executive publisher. Under his leadership we saw new growth. We are fortunate to have these two visionaries guiding our business strategy amid a rapidly changing media environment.