By Hannah Richter , Science.  Excerpt: Over the weekend of 24–25 January, a major winter storm blanketed the eastern United States in soft snow. ...in many places, the powder gave way to freezing rain, glazing trees and roads in heavy, dangerous ice, bringing down power lines, and depriving 1 million people of light and heat. Freezing rain is a stealth winter hazard, says Zong-Liang Yang, an earth systems scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. ...“...[freezing rain is] relatively understudied.” ...a handful of scientists are studying how this rare but destructive form of precipitation might be changing in a warming world, drawing on long-term records, new measurements, and computer modeling. One early result: Freezing rain isn’t vanishing—but it is shifting in location and timing. “We want to make an urgent warning that these kinds of winter hazards won’t be less frequent under a warmer climate,” says postdoctoral researcher Chenxi Hu, who works with Yang. Instead, in the ...

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press.  Excerpt: BEIJING -- Even as China's expansion of solar and wind power raced ahead in 2025, the Asian giant opened many more coal power plants than it had in recent years — raising concern about whether the world's largest emitter will  reduce carbon emissions enough  to limit climate change. ...At the same time, even larger  additions of wind and solar  capacity nudged down the share of coal in total power generation last year. Power from coal fell about 1% as growth in cleaner energy sources covered all the increase in electricity demand last year. ...If more of the nation's  1.4 billion people  climb into the middle class, more will be able to afford air conditioners and washing machines. ...The government position is that coal provides a stable backup to sources such as wind and solar, which are affected by weather and the time of day. The shortages in 2022 resulted partly from  a drought  that hit ...

By Bakar institute of Digital Materials for the Planet. Excerpt: A new material developed by BIDMaP researchers captures CO₂ from outdoor air with unprecedented speed, marking a critical leap toward practical direct air capture technology. As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to climb, the scientific consensus is clear: reducing emissions alone is no longer enough. To avert the worst effects of climate change, scientists must also figure out a way to actively remove vast quantities of CO₂ that are already lingering in the sky. One of the most promising technologies for this task is Direct Air Capture (DAC), machines that filter carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. ...a team of researchers from Omar M. Yaghi’s Lab —whose pioneering work on reticular chemistry was recognized with the  Nobel Prize in 2025 —has reported a major breakthrough. In a study published today in  Nature Sustainability , the team unveils COF-1000, a new material that captures carbon dioxid...

By UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design.  Excerpt: Drawing on research developed by Paul Mayencourt’s team at the  UC Berkeley Wood Lab , Mad River Mass Timber has emerged as California’s first producer of dowel-laminated mass timber, which has the potential to improve forest health, mitigate wildfire risk, and accelerate the production of affordable housing — while also contributing toward the long-term goal of decarbonizing the environment. ...With guidance from Assistant Professor  Paul Mayencourt  and the  UC Berkeley Wood Lab , Humboldt County’s  Mad River Mass Timber  is pioneering the commercial manufacture of dowel-laminated timber (DLT) in the state. The first vertically integrated producer of mass timber in California, MRMT transforms waste wood from our forests into construction-ready building panels. ...Weak or small-diameter trees that cannot otherwise be used for construction, such as red fir, hemlock, and Ponderosa pine, can be jo...