Climate Change

We’ve been collecting your questions about climate change. Now we’ll give you the answers.

With limited time and resources, individuals, companies and governments are searching for the actions that will make the biggest dent in the emissions contributing to climate change. But there is no silver bullet.

Programs that pay landowners to keep carbon sequestered in forests are beginning to spread, now that California has a cap and trade system designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some say Minnesota should be a bigger player in the carbon offset market.

Washington state's Swinomish Tribe is building a clam garden in hopes of protecting their reservation from sea level rise. This aquatic garden will also provide a home for disappearing native clams.

From stadiums packed with energetic fans to food, beer and waste, sports can have a big carbon footprint. Many sports franchises in baseball, hockey, basketball and football are embracing sustainability in venue design, waste, water, energy and food operations. And some athletes are speaking out about the bigger world around them.

A 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who garnered international attention when she scolded world leaders at the United Nations is visiting American Indian reservations in the Dakotas to talk about oil pipelines.

An ambitious Arctic expedition has reached a milestone. Researchers have found a floe to freeze into, where they'll construct an observatory and study Arctic systems from a ship.

Xcel Energy CEO Ben Fowke says the utility should have no problem reaching its goal of reducing carbon by 80 percent by 2030. It’s that last 20 percent that will require still-nascent technology.

Xcel had wanted to buy the Mankato Energy Center, but the Minnesota Department of Commerce raised concerns about the impact on Xcel’s utility customers.

"The two terms and their relationship to each other are often confused. We turned to Mark Seeley, a professor emeritus of climatology and meteorology at the University of Minnesota, to help us clear up any uncertainty. "