Effects of Climate Change Stories

  • Taking up the mantle of climate leadership

    WWF Magazine: Winter 2017
    The We Are Still In declaration demonstrated to world leaders that America’s cities, states, tribes, businesses, colleges, and universities will work to meet the commitments of the Paris Agreement.
    wearestillin crowd winter2017
  • What is a walrus haulout and what does it mean for the planet?

    As thousands of walrus come ashore, they congregate in large groups known as “haulouts.” These mass gatherings are dangerous and even deadly for the animals. 

    Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)
  • State, local, and business leaders will continue to support US climate action to meet the Paris Agreement

    June 05, 2017

    Leaders across the US economy reaffirmed their commitment to climate action despite the Trump administration’s decision to pull out of an unprecedented and essential international agreement to curb climate change.

    solar panels on a building in Austin Texas
  • President Trump announces intent to withdraw from Paris Agreement

    May 31, 2017

    The United States has announced its intent to withdraw from the historic Paris Agreement, the world’s first truly global plan to address climate change.

    sea ice in the Arctic
  • Preparing communities for the rising risk of flooding in the face of climate change

    May 24, 2017

    Flooding is currently the most common disaster worldwide, and rising global temperatures will only make it more frequent and severe. WWF has developed an integrated framework for managing floods, giving managers more flexible and effective solutions to prevent or respond to such disasters. 

    A road ripped apart by a flooding river.
  • American companies surge ahead in the fight against climate change

    April 25, 2017

    While current efforts in Washington stand to undo climate change policies, nearly half America’s largest companies are emerging as leaders in setting clean energy targets that will reduce the amount of heat-trapping gases released into the atmosphere and help to curb climate change.

    wind turbine against blue sky
  • Working together to save World Heritage Sites

    April 18, 2017

    On World Heritage Day, we’re highlighting some of the incredible sites that WWF is working to save. These sites belong to all of us, and together we can protect them for wildlife and people around the world.

    Green turtles in the ocean.
  • A whale's eye view of Antarctica

    April 14, 2017

    Whales are awe-inspiring and often elusive creatures. Their distribution and critical feeding areas are currently poorly understood, and as climate change and krill fishing increase, our time to learn more about these giant mammals is running out. However, with the help of Dr. Ari Friedlaender, a whale ecologist and National Geographic Explorer, WWF is using whale tagging to discover a wealth of new information.

    The fluke of a humpback whale diving to feed
  • Arctic ice in trouble

    WWF Magazine: Summer 2017
    The receding sea ice at the North Pole threatens arctic species
    Ship moving through Arctic sea ice
  • Reducing the impact of commuting

    WWF Magazine: Summer 2017
    The average American spends 52 minutes a day commuting. And it pumps tons of carbon dioxide—literally—into the atmosphere every year. But there are quite a few ways to lighten commuting's toll.
    Traffic Magazine Summer2017
  • Can we help wildlife adapt by crowdsourcing human responses to climate change?

    WWF Magazine: Summer 2017
    Climate Crowd, an online platform for crowdsourcing data, helps us learn how rural and indigenous communities around the world are responding to climate change, among other things.
    _alt_
  • A Changing Arctic

    WWF Magazine: Summer 2017
    What climate change and receding sea ices mean for the people, wildlife, economy, and politics of the far North.
    Standing on snow in the Arctic
  • Walrus habitat on the edge

    WWF Magazine: Summer 2017
    In what has become the new normal over the past 10 years, residents of the Inupiat village of Point Lay on the coast of the Chukchi Sea in Alaska have had new neighbors each fall.
    Walrus
  • President Trump rolls back progress made on crucial climate change policy

    March 28, 2017

    President  Trump and his administration announced they would take measures to roll back crucial climate change policies.

    wind farm in United States
  • Going beyond Earth Hour

    Now that you've joined hundreds of millions of people around the world in switching of your lights for one designated hour, continue to show your solidarity for climate action. Try to tackle one, two, or even all nine of the items on this list.

    bicycles on a rack
  • US should continue to lead the way on climate change action

    March 06, 2017

    Congress and the new Administration must continue to make action on climate change a priority, both at home and abroad. Here's how they should do so.

    US Capitol Building and Washington Monument
  • WWF digs a safe home for endangered freshwater seals

    January 24, 2017

    An endangered population of freshwater seals in Finland recently received a lifeline from volunteers in the form of human-made snowbanks.

    A pregnant Saimaa ringed seal
  • 2016 declared the hottest year on record

    January 18, 2017

    Earth’s surface temperatures in 2016 shattered all previous record highs since modern record keeping began in 1880. Much of the warming is attributed to climate change. 

    sea in in Ilulissat, Greenland
  • US government releases a new plan to protect polar bears

    January 09, 2017

    The Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan, which focuses on actions for the two U.S. subpopulations in Alaska, stresses the importance of climate change mitigation in curbing the loss of the polar bear’s sea ice habitat.

    Polar bear with two cubs
  • A new way to predict and prevent the end of coral reefs

    January 05, 2017

    For the first time, researchers have created models to predict when, where, and to what extent coral bleaching will occur in reefs around the world at a finer scale than ever before.

    coral bleaching
  • Report warns of unprecedented struggles in a warming Arctic

    December 13, 2016

    The Arctic is seeing unprecedented declines in sea ice and snow cover triggered by abnormally warm temperatures, according to a new report, the Arctic Report Card, released by the US government.

    Melting ice along the Bering Strait
  • Why do polar bears have white fur? And nine other polar bear facts

    Who doesn't love the big, burly white bears of the north? Polar bears—at the top of the food chain and vital to the health of the Arctic marine environment—are important to the cultures and economies of Arctic peoples. 

     

    Polar bear with two cubs
  • Where do snow leopards live? And nine other snow leopard facts

    Snow leopards scale the great, steep slopes of mountains in Central Asia with ease, blending into the landscape. But these endangered cats face many threats including habitat loss, reduced prey and retaliatory killings. WWF works to reduce human-leopard conflict and protect the fragile snow leopard habitat.

    Snow Leopard
  • James Redford on the power of telling stories to create positive change

    WWF Magazine: Fall 2016
    James Redford remembers a solitary walk in a snowstorm in Timpanogos Canyon, Utah, as the moment his love for nature “shifted into place and never left.”
    A dry canyon in the American southwest