A look at our changing environment.
It is pretty clear that the way to drastically reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions is to switch as many vehicles as possible to electric power. As a result, more and more localities are putting in place policies that encourage electrification. While there is no doubt that electrification is the long-term solution to vehicle emissions, a […]
A new analysis, published in the journal Science, reports that the number of birds in the United States and Canada has fallen by 29% since 1970. There are 2.9 billion fewer birds in the two countries now than there were 50 years ago. The analysis is the most comprehensive attempt to date to look at […]
In contrast with most countries in the world, the main political factions in the United States have very different views of climate change. Somehow, one side of the aisle remains skeptical about the changing climate even as temperature records are broken, arctic ice disappears, and powerful storms become increasingly common. But putting aside the increasingly […]
A couple of years ago, we reported on the early development of a device that harvests water from the air that even works in the low humidity environment of a desert. Since then, the researchers from UC Berkeley have continued to improve the device and it is now 10 times better than it was two […]
According to a study recently published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management, scientists are predicting another casualty of climate change: the U.S. maple industry. By the year 2100, the maple syrup season in the United States may be less productive and arrive one month earlier than it has between 1950 and 2017. Maple syrup […]
Beavers are large, semi-aquatic rodents known best for their ability to construct dams, canals, and lodges (their homes). They are among the largest rodents in the world. With powerful jaws and strong teeth, beavers fell trees to use as building materials, often changing their environment in ways few other animals can. But in a good […]
A new study has found that Europe is warming faster than even climate models projected. The number of summer days with extreme heat in Europe has tripled since the 1950s, while the number of days with extreme cold has decreased by factors of two or three depending on the region. According to climate scientists at […]
For a few years we have been talking about the precarious position of the global banana crop, which is almost entirely based upon a single cloned cultivar known as the Cavendish banana. The banana you buy in Rome is identical to the one in Rochester. And therein lies the danger: if a fungal blight can […]
A new method for removing microplastics from the oceans has emerged from, of all things, a science fair project. An Irish 18-year-old named Fionn Ferreira developed his project for the annual Google Science Fair and it won the grand prize of $50,000 in educational funding. The teenager was walking on the beach in his hometown […]
Turning seawater into drinking water is an energy-intensive process and is therefore pretty expensive. Worldwide, one third of people don’t have reliable access to safe drinking water and they are the least able to afford expensive ways to get it. By 2025, half of the world’s population is expected to live in water-stressed areas. At […]
The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on Earth. In fact, it’s warming at a rate of almost twice the global average. And, since what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic, the world is already feeling the effects: rising sea levels, changes in climate and precipitation patterns, increasing severe weather […]
Drastically reducing the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere is an essential goal in the effort to mitigate the effects of climate change. While the ultimate solution is to avoid combustion of fossil fuels by the use of clean alternative energy sources, that transition will take time – possibly more time than […]
Coastal cities in the United States are grappling with the need for extensive infrastructure projects to protect against rising seas and worsening storms. The cost of these projects will be enormous, and it is unclear how to pay to them. Boston has many neighborhoods in low-lying areas, and it is estimated that $2.4 billion will […]
Small-scale biogas systems have collected methane from landfills, sewage plants, and farms for decades. Here in the US, biogas is finally catching up with modern techniques with the advent of third-party operators introducing more sophisticated technology to capture methane and pump it directly into pipelines. Renewable methane or natural gas represents a significant mostly unexploited […]
Green sea turtles are one of the world’s largest species of turtle, with some measuring close to four feet long and weighing up to nearly 300 pounds. Their range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with the largest nesting populations found in Costa Rica and Australia. Green sea turtles get their name […]
By definition, 100-year floods are intense flooding events that historically tend to happen once every 100 years. Put another way, a 100-year flood has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year. According to new research published in the journal Nature Communications, rising global temperatures may turn 100-year floods into annual occurrences in […]
A new study by Columbia University has concluded that lower air pollution levels saved an estimated 5,660 lives in New York State in 2012, compared to 2002 mortality levels. The study looked at New York State levels of the specific type of pollution known as fine particulate matter, referred to as PM2.5. These microscopic particulates […]
A new study by Oregon State University has found that the most productive places on Earth for solar power are farmlands. In fact, if less than 1% of agricultural land was converted to solar panels, it would be sufficient to fulfill global electricity demand. The concept of co-developing the same area of land for both […]
While nearly 70% of the globe is covered by water, only 2.5% of it is freshwater. The rest is saline and ocean-based. And only 1% of our freshwater is easily accessible, with much of it locked away in snowfields and glaciers. Despite freshwater only making up a small fraction of all water on the planet, […]
Limiting global warming will require a massive reduction in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning. Renewable energy sources are playing a growing role in the power grid and electric cars are becoming increasingly popular. Despite all this, carbon-based liquid fuels will continue to dominate our energy use for the foreseeable future. Researchers in Norway and […]