Elizabeth Kolbert
Elizabeth Kolbert has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1999. Previously, she worked at the Times, where she wrote the Metro Matters column and served as the paper’s Albany bureau chief. Her three-part series on global warming, “The Climate of Man,” won the 2006 National Magazine Award for Public Interest. In 2010, she received the National Magazine Award for Reviews and Criticism. She is the editor of “The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009” and the author of “Life on a Little-Known Planet,” “The Prophet of Love: And Other Tales of Power and Deceit,” “Field Notes from a Catastrophe,” “H Is for Hope,” and “The Sixth Extinction,” for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 2015. She received the Blake-Dodd Prize, from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, in 2017.
Flash Floods and Climate Policy
As the death toll climbs in Texas, the Trump Administration is actively undermining the nation’s ability to predict—and to deal with—climate-related disasters.
Sheldon Whitehouse’s Three-Hundredth Climate Warning
The senator’s wake-up calls about government inaction take on a new urgency in Trump 2.0.
Do We Need Another Green Revolution?
As the global population grows, we’ll have to find ways of feeding the planet without accelerating climate change.
Why End Energy Star?
Many of the Trump Administration’s proposed rollbacks of climate policies run counter to its own goals.
Environmentalists Are Rethinking Nuclear. Should They?
Fourteen years after the Fukushima disaster, nuclear power is being rebranded as a climate savior, and fission is in fashion.
Elizabeth Kolbert on John McPhee’s “Encounters with the Archdruid”
The nominal subject was the Sierra Club leader David Brower, but McPhee allowed a mining expert named Charles Park to share the stage.
The E.P.A. vs. the Environment
With the help of the agency, the Trump Administration is doing everything it can to make emissions grow again.
The Second Trump Administration Takes Aim at the Climate
More than thirty actions and executive orders either boost fossil-fuel production or cripple programs that might reduce fossil-fuel use.
Climate Whiplash and Fire Come to L.A.
Climate change has brought both fiercer rains and deeper droughts, leaving the city with brush like kindling—and the phenomenon is on the rise worldwide.
Does One Emotion Rule All Our Ethical Judgments?
When prehistoric predators abounded, the ability to perceive harm helped our ancestors survive. Some researchers wonder whether it fuels our greatest fights today.
The Insurance Crisis That Will Follow the California Fires
For years, experts have warned that homeowner insurance in the state could easily collapse.
The International Court of Justice Takes On Climate Change
Thanks to the maneuverings of the tiny nation of Vanuatu, the entire industrialized world is effectively on trial in The Hague.
At COP29, the Sun Sets on U.S. Climate Leadership
Just how bad a second Trump Administration will be for climate policy remains to be seen, but the most likely scenarios are all pretty bleak.
A Climate Harbinger in Greenland
From the daily newsletter: a report from the ice sheet. Plus: Rachel Kushner’s eerie new spy novel; growing up with Ved Mehta; and should you just give up?
Why Hurricane Milton Is a Sign of the New Abnormal
Weather-wise, the world has entered uncharted territory.
The Rat Studies that Foretold a Nightmarish Human Future
At first, scientists just wanted to figure out the best way to kill these pests. Then they decided that studying rat society could reveal the future of our own.
Should We Kill Some Wild Creatures to Protect Others?
Where humans have tilted the game in favor of one species, some believe we should cull predators to save their prey. Others think it’s a mistake to pick sides.
Vermont Moves to Hold Fossil-Fuel Companies Liable for Climate-Change Damage
A new constituency is willing to stand up to Big Oil (and Gas and Coal): state government.
The “Epic Row” Over a New Epoch
Scientists, journalists, and artists often say that we live in the Anthropocene, a new age in which humans shape the Earth. Why do some leading geologists reject the term?
Flash Floods and Climate Policy
As the death toll climbs in Texas, the Trump Administration is actively undermining the nation’s ability to predict—and to deal with—climate-related disasters.
Sheldon Whitehouse’s Three-Hundredth Climate Warning
The senator’s wake-up calls about government inaction take on a new urgency in Trump 2.0.
Do We Need Another Green Revolution?
As the global population grows, we’ll have to find ways of feeding the planet without accelerating climate change.
Why End Energy Star?
Many of the Trump Administration’s proposed rollbacks of climate policies run counter to its own goals.
Environmentalists Are Rethinking Nuclear. Should They?
Fourteen years after the Fukushima disaster, nuclear power is being rebranded as a climate savior, and fission is in fashion.
Elizabeth Kolbert on John McPhee’s “Encounters with the Archdruid”
The nominal subject was the Sierra Club leader David Brower, but McPhee allowed a mining expert named Charles Park to share the stage.
The E.P.A. vs. the Environment
With the help of the agency, the Trump Administration is doing everything it can to make emissions grow again.
The Second Trump Administration Takes Aim at the Climate
More than thirty actions and executive orders either boost fossil-fuel production or cripple programs that might reduce fossil-fuel use.
Climate Whiplash and Fire Come to L.A.
Climate change has brought both fiercer rains and deeper droughts, leaving the city with brush like kindling—and the phenomenon is on the rise worldwide.
Does One Emotion Rule All Our Ethical Judgments?
When prehistoric predators abounded, the ability to perceive harm helped our ancestors survive. Some researchers wonder whether it fuels our greatest fights today.
The Insurance Crisis That Will Follow the California Fires
For years, experts have warned that homeowner insurance in the state could easily collapse.
The International Court of Justice Takes On Climate Change
Thanks to the maneuverings of the tiny nation of Vanuatu, the entire industrialized world is effectively on trial in The Hague.
At COP29, the Sun Sets on U.S. Climate Leadership
Just how bad a second Trump Administration will be for climate policy remains to be seen, but the most likely scenarios are all pretty bleak.
A Climate Harbinger in Greenland
From the daily newsletter: a report from the ice sheet. Plus: Rachel Kushner’s eerie new spy novel; growing up with Ved Mehta; and should you just give up?
Why Hurricane Milton Is a Sign of the New Abnormal
Weather-wise, the world has entered uncharted territory.
The Rat Studies that Foretold a Nightmarish Human Future
At first, scientists just wanted to figure out the best way to kill these pests. Then they decided that studying rat society could reveal the future of our own.
Should We Kill Some Wild Creatures to Protect Others?
Where humans have tilted the game in favor of one species, some believe we should cull predators to save their prey. Others think it’s a mistake to pick sides.
Vermont Moves to Hold Fossil-Fuel Companies Liable for Climate-Change Damage
A new constituency is willing to stand up to Big Oil (and Gas and Coal): state government.
The “Epic Row” Over a New Epoch
Scientists, journalists, and artists often say that we live in the Anthropocene, a new age in which humans shape the Earth. Why do some leading geologists reject the term?