climate change

In recognition of Earth Day next week, April 22, the Banner is looking to start new conversations about climate change and the environment by launching Encyclopedia Climatica, a new effort featuring the burning questions our readers have about the climate and environment.

In 2024, the evidence and impact of a changing climate were on display. More extreme storms swept the country and, this month, the World Meteorological Organization confirmed that 2024 clocked in at the hottest year on record.

Climate change instruction in our educational institutions is not where it should be currently. It’s a sad state of affairs when the world is visibly changing around us, and our youth don’t know what to make of it.

With rising sea levels and increasing urban heat temperatures, in Boston and Massachusetts, 2024 saw efforts to expand green technology and climate protection, especially with an equity lens in environmental justice communities across the state.

The road to homeownership has historically been challenging for Black and brown people. Now, weather-related natural disasters threaten to put further strain on homeowners, according to a 2024 report by the National Association of Real Estate Brokers.

As local organizations aim to meet climate goals, a collection of nonprofit, private and governmental organizations have invested in the creation of two clean energy projects that will together generate enough electricity to power an estimated 130,000 annually.

Throughout the four years of the Biden-Harris administration, climate efforts saw unprecedented federal support, said local environmental leaders. Now, those same leaders are bracing for limited leadership and investment at the national level as former President Donald Trump prepares for his return to the White House.

In Revere, a mile-and-a-half stretch of the six-lane-wide Squire Road cuts past clusters of shops, a couple of grocery stores, and rows of residential streets. Hidden behind those six lanes, a shopping center and some broad asphalt parking lots is the Rumney Marsh Reservation, and, beyond it, the ocean. But the roadway, with its dark surfaces and extensive pavement, traps heat and makes it hard for anyone outside of a car to traverse from one end to the other or to get to the natural resources on the other side, said Tom Skwierawski, the city’s chief of planning and community development.

Artist Sarah Brophy reimagines the risks of climate change as colorful antagonists in “Climate Monsters,” a virtual reality installation outside the Boston Children’s Museum on the city’s waterfront.

As we celebrate the 59th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) this month, it is important we remember this: The only way to tackle the complex challenges of our time is with a democracy that is responsive to the people it represents.

At a little museum on Huntington Avenue, 200 feet of linen, lined with colorful images of dinosaurs, depicts the history of fossil fuels from the Triassic Period to the late-1900s when researchers showed carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were steadily rising.

On Earth Day 1993, I delivered the first major speech of my life. It was in New York City’s Bryant Park, kicking off a nationwide tour to rally opposition to the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).