A look at our changing environment.
Wildlife trafficking is the world’s fourth largest form of organized crime, behind only drug trafficking, counterfeiting, and human trafficking. When we hear about wildlife trafficking, we think of elephant ivory, rhino horns, tiger parts, and the like. But so-called forest crimes, which includes poaching protected trees and illegal logging added up to somewhere between $30 […]
People’s views and level of concern about climate change tend to vary according to age, political affiliation, and other demographic categories. But one clear trend is that young people are overwhelmingly concerned about climate change. Given that they will ultimately suffer from its effects far more than older generations, this is not really surprising. A […]
The US is the world’s largest user of nuclear power. Its 94 reactors supply nearly 19% of the country’s electricity. But the number of U.S. reactors has steadily fallen over the past 30 years and new nuclear power plants are a real rarity. The reasons are a combination of perceived dangers following several nuclear accidents […]
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States is the world’s largest producer of natural gas. In fact, natural gas supplies approximately one third of the United States’ primary energy consumption, most of which is used to heat buildings and to generate electricity. While most natural gas is delivered in its gaseous form […]
Cement production accounts for about 7% of global carbon emissions. It is one of the most difficult challenges for emissions reduction. The emissions associated with producing cement come from both the energy used to provide heat for the process and from the chemical reactions that take place in the formation of cement. Cement is an […]
Vast areas of South America have been gripped in drought conditions for months. Rivers in the Amazon basin fell to record-low levels in October. The drought has amplified wildfires, parched crops, disrupted transportation networks, and interrupted hydroelectric power generation in parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The drought is related to the […]
Arctic sea ice has shrunk to near-historic lows during this Northern Hemisphere summer. The minimum extent for the year occurred on September 11th. Ice cover in the Arctic Ocean has been shrinking and thinning for more than 40 years. The amount of frozen seawater in the Arctic goes up and down during the year as […]
Energy storage is a critical aspect of modern energy systems as they move towards heavy dependence on renewable sources such as solar and wind that don’t produce energy at the same rate all the time. Excess energy generated by solar power needs to be stored for when the sun isn’t shining; excess wind energy needs […]
The U.S. has nearly half a million school buses providing daily transportation for about 20 million students. Most of these buses are powered by diesel engines which not only dump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere but also fill kids’ lungs with harmful fumes. Thanks to various federal and state incentive programs, this situation is starting […]
People in remote, low-income regions far from the ocean often need to meet their water needs from groundwater and groundwater is becoming increasingly saline due to climate change. Desalination of brackish groundwater is a huge and largely untapped source of drinking water, but there are challenges in making the process efficient and reliable. Engineers at […]
The Antarctic Peninsula, like other polar regions, is warming faster than the rest of the world. Ocean heatwaves and ice loss are becoming more common and more severe. New research by the universities of Exeter and Hertfordshire in the UK along with the British Antarctic Survey used satellite data to assess how much the Antarctic […]
According to a new report by the International Energy Agency, the world is on track to produce nearly half of the electricity it uses from renewable sources by the end of this decade. The report also finds that in nearly every country, large wind and solar plants are the cheapest forms of new power. Between […]
According to a new U.N. report, the world’s rivers had their driest year in at least three decades. Record heat and droughts in many places contributed to low levels of water in many of the world’s rivers. The world faces problems of either too much or too little water. The warming climate has fueled both […]
The frequent and massive megafires in places like Canada and the American west have led to a lot of research on the impact of smoke on humans but there has been less study of the effects of smoke on plant health. Researchers at the University of California, Davis have found that trees are just as […]
The Industrial Revolution, which basically got underway in the mid-19th century, was largely enabled by coal, which fueled iron manufacturing, railroads, steam engines, and more. Most of these things got their start in Britain, which inspired the rest of the world to follow suit. The world’s first coal-burning power plant began producing electricity at the […]
As the dangers of climate change continue to grow, so has interest in geoengineering – deliberate tinkering with the earth’s climate system. In particular, stratospheric solar geoengineering – releasing aerosols into the stratosphere to reduce the amount of heat from the sun reaching the Earth – is attracting increasing interest. Scientists at Harvard, Cornell, Colorado […]
The global food system is responsible for as much as 40% of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. The investor advocacy group Ceres has tracked whether the 50 largest North American food and agriculture companies have set targets to lower their emissions and whether doing so has actually resulted in lower emissions. The emissions from food and […]
According to the National Retail Federation, spending on Halloween festivities this year by the 72% of Americans who plan to celebrate is expected to total $11.6 billion – or about $104 per person. The annual consumer survey also found that 67% of Americans plan to pass out candy this year, and nearly 50% of Americans […]
The size and especially the weight of batteries is a critical factor for most things that use them. Battery weight is a key limitation for computers and cell phones. It is even more of a limitation for electric cars, ships, or planes. If the battery of a device or vehicle can also function as a […]
As greenhouse gas emissions continue to be dangerously large and the perils of climate change are increasingly apparent, the world is increasingly exploring ways to deliberately intervene in climate systems. A number of these ideas involve introducing substances into the atmosphere, but there are also ways to tinker with the oceans. The oceans naturally absorb […]