Author: Errica Jensen

The Amazon still appears from above as a single, continuous mass of green that is dense, humid, and seemingly endless. Pilots who fly over the basin sometimes characterize it as a carpet that extends past the horizon, punctuated only by meandering brown rivers and sporadic scars where the forest has been cleared. From that distance, it’s simple to assume that nothing essential has changed. However, the image feels less stable as it gets closer to the ground. The forest no longer behaves as it once did in areas of southeast Brazil where cattle pastures now cut through the once-thick canopy.…

The term “polar vortex” resurfaced on television, in WhatsApp groups, and even in casual arguments between neighbors standing outside in unusually heavy coats after pipes burst throughout Texas in February 2021 and supermarket shelves emptied overnight. It’s difficult to forget the confusion. Why does it feel like the Arctic has suddenly arrived if the planet is warming? Unfortunately, the solution is not straightforward. The polar vortex is neither a novel phenomenon nor an indication of overstated climate change. A massive swirl of cold air circling the poles high above us is a long-standing feature of Earth’s atmosphere. It acts predictably…

The shift is subtle in the Fairbanks suburbs, where the ground feels oddly soft underfoot and spruce trees lean at odd angles. It seeps in. Once-sturdy roads start to ripple. The slight tilt of a wooden house draws your attention. The long-frozen earth is beginning to lose its hold. For many years, permafrost functioned as a sort of vault, enclosing organic matter that had been kept in cold storage for thousands of years, including plants, animals, and entire ecosystems. That vault is now beginning to open as temperatures in the Arctic rise two to four times faster than the global…

At first, the concept seems almost ridiculous. Summers seem longer, the planet is warming, and glaciers are receding, but a more subdued question keeps coming up: what if all this heat eventually tips the system too far, sending Earth in the opposite direction? Researchers have been simulating that possibility in a UC Riverside lab while gazing at screens that display changing carbon flows and ocean patterns. Their conclusion isn’t particularly comforting. Long-term planetary overcorrection—cooling so severe it resembles the early stages of an ice age—could be brought on by the same forces causing global warming. Not the following day. Not…

It takes time for the sea to arrive. Silently, it slowly advances, moving a little further inland with each passing season. In some areas of Mumbai, the water lingers longer than it used to, collecting close to historic sea walls and seeping into streets where store owners now place sandbags next to their shutters. It’s difficult to ignore how commonplace this has started to feel. Over 7,500 kilometers of coastline support both vulnerable villages and crowded cities in India. However, the sea has steadily risen over the last few decades, initially only a few centimeters, making it difficult to measure…

In some parts of the Amazon, the air used to feel comfortingly heavy—thick with moisture, humming with insects, alive. That heaviness has now shifted in some areas close to the southern borders. It lingers in a different way, carrying a hint of smoke and dust. The silence seems almost unnatural as I stand close to a cattle-only clearing. Not quite empty. Simply… thinner. Although scientists have been discussing a tipping point for years, the discourse has recently changed. It’s no longer just a remote possibility. The Amazon rainforest may already be approaching a point at which a recovery is improbable.…

Recently, there has been a greater focus on the sky than usual. People have been noticing unusual cloud formations, unexpected rain, and a certain heaviness in the air when they step outside in various parts of South Asia and beyond. It’s the kind of situation where discussions about the weather start. And for some reason, almost unavoidably, Bill Gates has become the focal point of that discussion. It’s possible that no contemporary person has emerged as a dependable focal point for anxiety related to technology. Once primarily linked to software and philanthropy, Gates is now involved in a different kind…

This winter in Aomori, the snow didn’t fall so much as it came in; it was heavy, persistent, and almost theatrical. Trains slowed to a crawl, rooflines vanished under thick white layers, and soldiers were once called in for shovels rather than defense. It’s difficult to ignore how the sheer weight of it all felt different this time—not just another snowy season, but something stronger, almost demanding. Snow is nothing new in Japan. Heavy snowfall has long been considered a common annoyance in places like Sapporo, where winter is measured in meters rather than inches. However, it felt different this…

The water in Miami’s Biscayne Bay doesn’t appear dangerous on a gloomy morning. It reflects glass towers and idle boats as it laps softly against seawalls. However, if you speak with locals long enough, a different narrative starts to emerge: one of rising tides every year, flooded streets on storm-free days, and quiet anticipation whenever the weather forecast becomes uncertain. It’s possible that things that were once thought of as infrequent occurrences are now commonplace. Storm surges, which were previously primarily associated with powerful hurricanes, are now acting differently. Stronger storms brought on by warmer oceans are pushing more water…

When Antarctica is first seen on a map, it appears far away and almost hypothetical—an abstract white mass at the bottom of the world. However, the location feels anything but abstract when one is standing on a research vessel that is slicing through the Southern Ocean, as some scientists put it. Dark and agitated, the water bears a silent burden: it absorbs a startling amount of the carbon dioxide that people emit. Long taken for granted, that role is starting to appear vulnerable. The Southern Ocean has been silently removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in deep…