内容摘要：The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s

Sea levels, which have swelled due to both warming, expanding oceans and the melting of ice over land, have also been jumping up more rapidly. In the twentieth century, seas were rising by about 1.4 millimeters (0.06 inches) a year, but that’s doubled to 3.6 millimeters a year (0.14 inches) in the past fifteen years, data suggests. Seas have risen by about 21 to 24 centimeters (8 to 9 inches) so far since 1880 on average, according to estimates, with the IPCC suggesting this will likely be up to 43 to 84 centimeters (17 to 33 inches) by 2100.While the climate and global temperatures have fluctuated throughout the Earth’s history, it is the rate of change that is most alarming to researchers. Fossil fuels — made up of ancient decomposing plants and animals deep in the earth — have been dug up at extraordinary rates. Scientists are now starting to pinpoint “details about rates and magnitudes and timing of changes” as well as the varying impact on regions, said Brown University climate scientist Kim Cobb.

With the planet already facing the effects of climate change, adapting to hazards is one major way humans can limit the damage. Weather-related disaster deaths are generally trending lower globally as forecasts, preparedness and resilience improves, scientists say.“The extent to which people are harmed by an extreme weather event is strongly influenced by government policies,” Robinson said, but added that “there are limits to adaptation.”AP Science writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A small plane appeared to have struck a power line before it

in Nebraska and killed all three people aboard, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.Swiss aviation pioneer Bertrand Piccard, center, Raphael Dinelli, left, Climate Impulse engineer and co-pilot, and project manager Cyril Haenel speak in front of the wings of the Climate Impulse, a plane powered by liquid hydrogen, at the press presentation of the project in a hangar in Les Sables d’Olonne, France on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025.(AP Photo/Yohan Bonnet)

The controlled release of liquid hydrogen from ultra-insulated tanks under the airplane’s wings produces energy that seeps into the membrane of a fuel cell that powers the plane.“The plane has the wingspan of an Airbus 320: 34 meters (about 110 feet). It weighs 5-1/2 tons and it flies at 180 kilometers per hour — that means 100 knots at 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) altitude,” Piccard said Thursday.

One aim is to draw on energy from the “turbulence section” of the atmosphere, which airlines could also use one day to help save fuel, he said.Because it’s hydrogen, the only emissions will be water vapor. Still, outside experts caution that the environmental impact of such water-vapor “contrails” remains unknown in a real-world or large-scale scenario.