Start here · Essential guide
How Climate Change Works in Plain Terms
A plain-English walk through the greenhouse effect and the chain from emissions to a warmer planet, including feedbacks, uncertainty and what it means at home.
Nature, Climate and Community
Plain explanations of how climate change, energy systems and footprints work.
Start here · Essential guide
A plain-English walk through the greenhouse effect and the chain from emissions to a warmer planet, including feedbacks, uncertainty and what it means at home.
Meet the main greenhouse gases, where each one comes from and why they differ so much in strength and how long they stay in the atmosphere.
What carbon footprint calculators actually estimate, the assumptions behind them, why results differ between tools and how to use them without over-trusting the number.
How forests, soils and oceans store carbon, why this natural storage helps but is not unlimited, and why cutting emissions still comes first.
How electricity suppliers back green tariff claims, why the label can mean different things, and the questions worth asking before you switch.
A plain explanation of how electricity is generated, moved and balanced in real time, why storage matters and why the grid's mix changes through the day.
How life cycle assessments tally a product's environmental impacts from materials to disposal, and why their results shift with the assumptions behind them.
A plain overview of solar, wind, hydro, bioenergy, geothermal and marine power, with the strengths, limits and trade-offs of each.
The difference between weather and climate, why a single cold day or snowstorm cannot settle questions about warming, and how to read such claims.
Related topics