As tens of thousands of people descend on the Mall to speak out on climate change and policy, here are a few important global warming articles from The Washington Post staff.
Without action, say bye-bye to polar bears
In a final plan to save an animal that greatly depends on ice to catch prey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified the rapid decline of sea ice as “the primary threat to polar bears” and said “the single most important achievement for polar bear conservation is decisive action to address Arctic warming” driven by the human emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Read more.
The nation is immersed in its warmest period in recorded history
The U.S. is enduring a stretch of abnormally warm weather unsurpassed in the record books, and it shows no immediate sign of ending. The latest one-, two-, three-, four- and five-year periods — ending in March — rank as the warmest in 122 years of record-keeping for the Lower 48 states, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Read more.
Carbon dioxide levels could reach their highest point in 50 million years by the end of the century
Continuing to burn fossil fuels at the current rate could bring atmospheric carbon dioxide to its highest concentration in 50 million years, jumping from about 400 parts per million now to more than 900 parts per million by the end of this century, a new study warns. And if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated beyond that point, the climate could reach a warming state that hasn’t been seen in the past 420 million years. Read more.
Scott Pruitt causes an uproar — and contradicts the EPA’s own website on climate change
“I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see,” Pruitt, the newly installed EPA administrator, said on the CNBC program “Squawk Box.” Read more.
While Trump promotes coal, other countries turn to the sun
On the solar farms of the Atacama Desert, the workers dress like astronauts. The sun is so intense and the air so dry that seemingly nothing survives. It’s Mars, with better cellphone reception. It is also the world’s best place to produce solar energy, with the most potent sun power on the planet. So powerful, in fact, that something extraordinary happened last year when the Chilean government invited utility companies to bid on public contracts. Read more.
By 2030, half the world’s oceans could be reeling from climate change
More than half the world’s oceans could suffer multiple symptoms of climate change over the next 15 years, including rising temperatures, acidification, lower oxygen levels and decreasing food supplies, new research suggests. By midcentury, without significant efforts to reduce warming, more than 80 percent could be ailing — and the fragile Arctic, already among the most rapidly warming parts of the planet, may be one of the regions most severely hit. Read more.
Top Trump advisers at odds over Paris climate deal
Top Trump officials are feuding over whether the United States should stay in the historic Paris climate agreement. The president, who promised to “cancel” Paris during the election campaign, has faced calls from oil, gas and even some coal companies for the United States to remain a party to an accord endorsed by nearly 200 countries. But many conservatives and climate-change doubters have continued to urge Trump to keep his election pledge and quit the agreement. Read more.
Bonus: With enough evidence, even skepticism will thaw. Experience the interactive.
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National Geographic celebrates Earth Day with flash sale of signed prints
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From April 17 to 22, the company is selling photos taken by 22 world-renowned photographers, and 27 percent of National Geographic Partners’s proceeds will go to the National Geographic Society.
