Climate
Cold Storage
Ski Resorts Are Stockpiling Snow to Get Through Warm Winters
Under protective coverings, piles of snow can be stored for a surprisingly long time, allowing ski resorts to mitigate some of the lack of snowfall caused by climate change.
Chris Baraniuk
Crossover Event
A Rare Coincidence of La Niña Events Will Weaken Hurricane Season
Annalisa Bracco and Zachary Handlos
Regulations and Solutions
The 21 Best Portable Chargers for All of Your Devices
Keep your phone, tablet, laptop, and other electronics running with these handheld power banks.
Simon Hill and Scott Gilbertson
Scientists Plan ‘Doomsday’ Vault on Moon
Climate change is threatening Earth’s biodiversity. Could frozen regions of the moon be the best place to “back up” life-forms?
Ayurella Horn-Muller and Syris Valentine
The US Grid Is Adding Batteries at a Much Faster Rate Than Natural Gas
The shift toward renewables is officially in high gear.
John Timmer, Ars Technica
The Quantum Mechanics of the Greenhouse Effect
Carbon dioxide’s powerful heat-trapping effect has been traced to a quirk of its quantum structure. The finding may explain climate change better than any computer model.
Joseph Howlett
Oceans and Waterways
I Spent Two Months Testing Cold-Plunge Pools. I Think I’m Addicted
Keen to try the latest wellness trend, I dipped out of my comfort zone. These are my favorite cold-water plunge pools for any budget.
Emily Peck
Your Guide to Surviving Extreme Weather
How to pack a go bag, get emergency alerts, and find disaster aid.
Lyndsey Gilpin and Jake Bittle
Bayesian Yacht Sinking: Climate Change Created Perfect Storm for Waterspouts
While the exact cause of the deadly sinking of the Bayesian superyacht remains unknown, dangerous waterspouts were spotted in the area. Scientists say they may become far more common.
Alec Luhn
The Physics of Cold Water May Have Jump-Started Complex Life
When seawater gets cold, it gets viscous. This fact could explain how single-celled ocean creatures became multicellular when the planet was frozen during “Snowball Earth,” according to experiments.
Veronique Greenwood
Extreme Heat
She’s the New Face of Climate Activism—and She’s Carrying a Pickax
Sabotage. Property destruction. For Léna Lazare and her cohort, radicalized by years of inaction on the environmental crisis, these aren’t dirty words. They’re acts of joy.
Morgan Meaker
How to Stop Wildfire Smoke Damaging Your Health
Smoke from fires is linked to thousands of premature deaths every year, and is a growing health threat as widespread blazes becomes more common.
Rachel Connolly and Michael Jerrett
The New Gods of Weather Can Make Rain on Demand—or So They Want You to Believe
In a gold-trimmed command center on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, scientists are seeking to wring moisture from desert skies. But will all their extravagant cloud-seeding tech—planes that sprinkle nanomaterials, lasers that scramble the atmosphere—really work at scale?
Amit Katwala
How to Save Your Home From a Wildfire
Small improvements to the roof, siding, windows, and vents of your house can make a big difference when threatened by the risk of flames.
Bryce Young and Christopher Moran
More Stories
Don't Hate the Playa
How to Go to Burning Man in an Extreme Climate and Feel Good About It
Alden Wicker
Photo Essay
To Study Tornados, Bring an Apocalypse-Proof Truck. And Rocket Launchers
Matt Giles and Reto Sterchi
WIRED Podcasts
The Hugely Important Ocean Current You’ve Never Heard Of
Lauren Goode and Michael Calore
Environment
The New UK Government Wants Clean Energy, Sustainable Aviation Fuel, and Public Transport Reform
Matt Reynolds
Flushed With Success
Paris Mayor Defies Poop Threats to Swim in Seine, and Prove a Point
Morgan Meaker
Cool Ideas
Cutting-Edge Technology Could Massively Reduce the Amount of Energy Used for Air Conditioning
Chris Baraniuk
Debt Cyclone
Hurricanes Are Trapping Small Island Nations in Ever-Worsening Spirals of Debt
Courtney Lindsay, Emily Wilkinson, and Matt Bishop