Happy Nice Mall

2021 was another year that felt like five. The presidential transition began with the riots in the Capitol and the power outage in Texas. Before summer began, drought, heat and fires had already swept the West. The Biden administration has faced a number of challenges related to its domestic climate agenda. Then came the United Nations international climate conference in Glasgow in the fall.

Feeling like blur? Here is a summary of the year in our coverage.

Climate Change Is Here

in February, Texas darkened. Major winter storms plunged large parts of the central and southern United States into an energy crisis.

Despite the false claims of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, we explained: No, the reason for the blackouts was: unfrozen wind turbines. The main problem was the cold temperatures, which halted the natural gas production responsible for much of Texas’ power supply.

Fast forward to the beginning of June, When technically it wasn’t summer yet, but the American Southwest already cooking and drying.

by Somini Sengupta

by Blacki Migliozzi and Hiroko Tabuchi

in the oceans, Climate change is causing major changes. The warming atmosphere is causing a tributary of the mighty Gulf Stream to weaken, which some scientists fear could have major climate impacts from the eastern United States to the African Sahel. And in Antarctica, stronger winds are changing currents, the sea is releasing carbon dioxide and the ice is melting from below.

by Moises Velasquez-Manoff and Jeremy White

by Henry Fountain and Jeremy White

inequality

The effects of climate change are not felt equally. Crime is not shared equally. We’ve reported on some of America’s biggest and perhaps most surprisingly, methane emitters. And we took a look at the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in history.

by Nadja Popovich and Brad Plumer

we covered How does disaster relief generally support white people?. And Native Americans forced into America’s most undesirable parts by white settlers and the government are now in lands that have become uninhabitable.

by Christopher Flavelle and Kalen Goodluck

While the science of climate change has become established and we have the technology to address it, the biggest question right now is: Who should pay the bill? This year, climate aid and compensation calls It reached a boiling point at the COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow.

by Shola Lawal

Thorny Path Forward

A major report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change He summed it all up in August.

by Brad Plumer and Henry Fountain

Information about sustainable living has been around for centuries and is often overlooked. Indigenous peoples, often among nature’s most effective protectors, have often been overlooked or worse.

Somini Sengupta, Catrin Einhorn and Manuela Andreoni

We know the way forward requires a transition to renewable energy, but the transition isn’t always easy.

by Dionne Seacey

electric cars will be key in reducing emissions, but when will they be here?

Whenever it happens, they won’t be here without cobalt. And with more than two-thirds of world cobalt production coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country is in the center. Congo’s search for cobalt is caught in an international cycle of exploitation, greed, and playfulness.

by Dionne Sercey, Michael Forsythe and Eric Lipton

We also looked at some of the disadvantages of America’s highways—how they divide many Black communities, increase car addiction, and lead to wildlife deaths—and some solutions to those problems.

Nadja Popovich, Josh Williams and Denise Lu

And how one Indiana city tried roundabouts to reduce emissions and save lives:

by Cara Buckley

politics

domestically, It’s been a busy year in politics, with a new administration, a big infrastructure bill, and long-running debates about how to tackle climate change.

While the Trump administration has often ignored science, the Biden administration has tried to restock. government with scientists, but it wasn’t easy:

by Coral Davenport, Lisa Friedman and Christopher Flavelle

Biden tightens pollution rules a push for phasing out petrol cars, but worsening fires in California showed the limits of his power. Achieving climate targets will take a lot. rather than everything will have to change.

And change will require bipartisanship. As we reported this year, many Republicans in Congress no longer deny that the Earth is warming due to fossil fuel emissions. In fact, some see failure to tackle climate change as “a problem”.political responsibility” For the party. But they also say that oil, gas and coal have been given up. will hurt the economy.

At the same time, Democrats cannot fully agree among themselves.

by Coral Davenport

After all, even with paid family leave and other priorities removed from Biden’s plan, it’s the biggest piece of the spending bill. became a $555 billion plan to fight climate change.

international, Two major conferences took place this year. One you may have heard of. Another, maybe not:

by Catrin Einhorn

John Kerry, the first presidential climate ambassador to lead COP 26 in Glasgow, worked on it. his pitch to save the planet. USA and China at Glasgow conference we came to an agreement, despite the challenges that await China:

by Keith Bradsher and Lisa Friedman

After two weeks of loud conversations and bitter negotiations between nearly 200 countries, the question of whether the world will make significant progress in slowing global warming still depends on the actions of a handful of powerful nations. And these countries disagree about how best to address climate change.

And finally

Now that you’ve caught the news, it’s never too late to brush up on climate science, whether you’re a kid or not.

by Julia Rosen