Mark Hertsgaard

@markhertsgaard

Mark Hertsgaard is the environment correspondent of The Nation and the executive director of the global media collaboration Covering Climate Now. His new book is Big Red’s Mercy:  The Shooting of Deborah Cotton and A Story of Race in America.

Men watch from a hillside as a plume of smoke rises after an explosion on March 2, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

The Iran War Is Also a Climate War The Iran War Is Also a Climate War

Climate change is not a peripheral part of what we’re seeing in Iran—it’s structurally embedded in modern warfare.

Mar 5, 2026 / Mark Hertsgaard and Giles Trendle

Donald Trump looks over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as she speaks to US Navy personnel aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier at Yokosuka naval base on October 28, 2025.

Japan’s New Climate Bomb—in the US Japan’s New Climate Bomb—in the US

Bloomberg Green reveals the climate costs of the US-Japan trade deal.

Feb 26, 2026 / Mark Hertsgaard

Winter Olympic Committee Press Conference

The International Olympics Committee Is Urged to Drop Oil Company Sponsors The International Olympics Committee Is Urged to Drop Oil Company Sponsors

Global warming means the future of Winter Games “is literally melting away.”

Feb 5, 2026 / Mark Hertsgaard

Minnesotans film a federal law enforcement agent during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 11, 2026.

Citizen Journalists Are Minneapolis’s Unsung Heroes Citizen Journalists Are Minneapolis’s Unsung Heroes

Without their videos of ICE shootings, we wouldn’t know what is really happening.

Jan 29, 2026 / Mark Hertsgaard

Climate Stories Are Everywhere

Climate Stories Are Everywhere Climate Stories Are Everywhere

Why do many news outlets ignore the connections between climate change and the struggle for democracy?

Jan 22, 2026 / Mark Hertsgaard

Homes burn as powerful winds drive the Eaton Fire on January 7, 2025, in Pasadena, California.

Climate Hushers Need to Get Real Climate Hushers Need to Get Real

Political realism doesn’t outweigh scientific realism.

Jan 15, 2026 / Mark Hertsgaard

A man holds a plaque reading “No War for Oil” in front of the US Embassy in Dublin.

The US Is a Violent Petro-State The US Is a Violent Petro-State

Trump’s attack on Venezuela illustrates fossil fuels’ many perils.

Jan 8, 2026 / Mark Hertsgaard

Chris Packham addresses the audience at a National Emergency Briefing on the climate and nature crisis, at Central Hall Westminster on November 27, 2025, in London, England.

The UK’s Climate National Emergency Briefing Should Be a Wake-Up Call to Everyone The UK’s Climate National Emergency Briefing Should Be a Wake-Up Call to Everyone

The briefing was a rare coordinated effort to make sure the media reflects the science: Humanity’s planetary house is on fire, but we have the tools to put that fire out.

Dec 11, 2025 / Mark Hertsgaard

People participate in a demonstration in front of the main entrance of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, on November 10, 2025.

Backsliding in Belém Backsliding in Belém

Petrostates at COP30 quash fossil fuel and deforestation phaseouts.

Nov 24, 2025 / Mark Hertsgaard

Indigenous Activists to COP30: “We Will Fight to the Death”

Indigenous Activists to COP30: “We Will Fight to the Death” Indigenous Activists to COP30: “We Will Fight to the Death”

Indigenous people lead COP30 protests against agribusinesses that “want to take everything.”

Nov 17, 2025 / Mark Hertsgaard

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