Climate Change - SweetLightning

The Long Way Home

When a beloved species moves back from near-extinction, we feel joy. But this is the Anthropocene, when many more species are threatened than are saved every year.

Members only

Opinion

Keep Up the Measurement Pressure

Visually-spectacular night launch of the Ariadne 6 rocket on August 12th. A tower of flame lights up clouds of vapour. Can this really help the environment?

Science

Sentinel 5 ... Away!

The new spectroscopic instrument Sentinel-5A launched on August 12, 2025. It's ready to help us understand what's going on in our atmosphere.

Science

Science Is Not Enough

The gap between peer-reviewed certainty and public indifference creates problems.

water

More Fish in the Sea

Marine preservation areas work well when properly managed. That's great ... because we need them.

Two-axis graph, showing % of net energy out as a function of EROI. EROI starting at 50 and declining precipitously below EROI of about 5

Paid-members only

Science

EROI and The Net Energy Cliff

Concept Source: Princeton Public Library. “Misinformation, Disinformation & Malinformation: A Guide.”

Climate Change

Misinformation, Disinformation, Malinformation, and Distrust of Climate Science

Misinformation, disinformation and malinformation are forms of rampant pollution of the information ecosystem. This pollution is toxic, promoting distrust in science, and holding back efforts to combat climate change.

Insulation and claddidng being added to a large cylinrical steel tank that is under construction

Greenhouse Gases

Sand Batteries

A company in Finland has brought on line a high-temperature heat storage installation, using crushed local soapstone, to store off-peak and renewable energy for use during peak demand periods

Tiny green frog, doing her best to match a green leaf.

Climate Change

How Not To Be a Boiled Frog

Blink.

Seismogram of 1906 San Francisco earthquake, recorded in Germany, showing arrival of both compressional P waves and S shear waves, as vertical squiggles on a horizontal time axis

How-to

Resilience Borne of Disaster

After experiencing disasters, many places around the world are rebuilding to be more resilient in future. We can learn from the experience of others how to assess our local hazards and risks and upgrade our infrastructure, so as to lessen the damage from future events.

Climate Change

Trees

Trees are beautiful and maybe more. Updated: July 2, 2025

Kitchen counter with open bag of coffee beans, on its side with beans spilling out, next to manual coffee grinder and French press. Behind are ceramic canisters and teapots.

Climate Change

Coffee - Climate Change Gets Personal

Coffee – many of us can’t live without our daily fix, but what is the environmental footprint of our daily cup(s), and what impact does a warming planet have on the future of coffee production?

Map of the western hemisphere showing the flyover path of the International Space Station, with markers to show EMIT-detected plume sites.

Paid-members only

Climate Change

Directly View ISS Methane Data

Climate Change

In Hot Water

To talk climate, we need to talk class, comfort—and coffee.

Climate Change

Flyby

You take a good, hard look at Sagan's "pale blue dot." You learn surprising things.

Climate Change

Hydrogen Economy - hype or hope?

Climate Change

Flooding

With climate-adaptive approaches to flood management and wetland conservation, every dollar spent yields many dollars back in flood damage reduction.

Climate Change

Fire insurance

Climate Change

Climate Politics

An excess of unworthy events becomes worthy of commentary.

A family watches an obviously-dangerous monster crawling towards them, but they are not worried. The monster is slow.

Climate Change

Slow Apocalypse

Why is humanity moving so slowly to respond to climate change?

Climate Change

Gassy knolls: Automation finds the 10 worst methane hotspots

A methane-hotspot tool uses satellite data to find problem regions. We need this tool — and others like it — to stop climate change.

Methane leaks: It's the little ones that'll get us in the end

Members only

Climate Change

Methane leaks: It's the little ones that'll get us in the end

Members only

Climate Change

Climate consequences: Fire

Paid-members only

Climate Change

DIY: Explore Sentinel-5P's methane data

Climate Change

Intense debate

Intensity measurements have a particular use, but we shouldn't rely on them as barometers of progress.