A look at our changing environment.
The average surface temperature for the Earth in 2022 tied with 2015 as the fifth warmest on record. The warming trend for the planet continued with global temperatures 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit above the average baseline for 1951-1980 that NASA uses for its studies. Compared with the late 19th century average used in setting climate goals, […]
We often hear about the importance of native plants in the environment and how invasive species can wreak havoc with ecosystems. But it turns out that human activities can change the characteristics of native species and create unexpected new problems. Common waterhemp is plant native to North America that typically grows near lakes and streams. […]
2022 was a complicated year for global energy. Following its invasion of Ukraine, Russia curtailed natural gas exports to Europe. This led to large increases in coal burning in many countries, but at the same time led to major new investments in renewable energy. Projections are that the world will add as much renewable power […]
Rice straw is produced as a byproduct of rice production. Globally, as much as a billion tons of rice straw is produced each year, three-quarters of it in Asia. Straw incorporation in soil for fertilization is not practical in most places because with multiple crops per year, there is not enough time for the material […]
Starting in December, a series of “atmospheric rivers” brought record storms to California producing as much rain in three weeks in some areas as they normally have in an entire year. The historic levels of rain (and snow in the mountains) have swollen rivers, flooded roads and homes, forced evacuations, knocked out electric power for […]
Lithium-ion batteries have been the power source for electric vehicles since 2008, when the Tesla Roadster was introduced. They took over for nickel-metal hydride batteries that powered most hybrid electric cars such as the Prius. Lithium-ion batteries store much more energy for a battery of a given weight, which leads to greater driving range. But […]
A start-up company in Oman called 44.01 was recently awarded a $1.2 million Earthshot Prize by Prince William of the U.K. The company, whose name corresponds to the molecular weight of carbon dioxide, is working on speeding up natural chemical reactions that take carbon from the air and lock it into solid mineral form. The […]
India is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. An estimated 47,000 plant species and 89,000 animal species can be found in India, with more than 10% of each thought to be on the list of threatened species. India is also one of the 10 most forest-rich countries in the world. Trees cover […]
Wheat is one of the most widely-grown crops in the world and plays a major role in human nutrition. In fact, wheat contributes approximately 20% of the protein and 20% of the calories consumed by humans globally. It is grown on every continent except Antarctica. But wheat is under growing attacks from harmful toxins. According […]
The US Postal Service recently announced that it plans to buy at least 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028. With more than 231,000 total vehicles, the Postal Services operates one of the largest civilian vehicle fleets in the world. Last February, the Postal Service announced a plan to replace up to 165,000 older mail trucks, many […]
Wyoming produces about 40% of our country’s coal and many towns in the state were built because of and make their living from it. With coal’s plummeting share in the nation’s electricity, there is a great deal of anxiety among residents of those towns. As carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to climb, there […]
In December, the Department of Energy announced that scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California had achieved a breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology. Fusion is the process by which the sun generates energy. If we had the means to produce nuclear fusion in a controlled fashion, it would be an almost limitless source of […]
There are a variety of schemes for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Some require advanced and generally not-very-well developed technology. Others, such as planting vast numbers of trees, are nature-based but are daunting with respect to the scale to which they need to take place in order to be truly effective. Researchers at the […]
Cities are awash in microscopic soot and other pollutants from the tailpipes of vehicles. Apart from contributing substantially to the warming of the planet, these emissions have a significant impact on human health. Research at Cornell University has determined that the continued growth of electric cars will lead to cleaner air and reduced human mortality […]
Roughly three-quarters of the world population has access to a safely managed water source. That means that one-in-four people do not have access to safe drinking water. Even in the wealthy United States, persistent drought in the west is creating problems in places like Phoenix, Arizona. Water is plentiful on Earth but more than 99% […]
The UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal in December concluded with a historic deal aimed at stemming the rising tide of extinctions. Nearly 200 countries signed on to the agreement to protect 30% of the Earth’s land and sea by the end of this decade. Part of the agreement also pledges that countries will reduce fertilizer […]
According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency, worldwide growth in renewable power capacity is set to double in the next five years. In fact, by 2027, the world will add as much renewable power as it did over the previous 20 years. Of particular significance is that renewables are going to overtake […]
La Niña is an oceanic phenomenon consisting of cooler than normal sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropic Pacific. It is essentially the opposite of the better-known El Niño. These sea-surface phenomena affect weather across the globe. As one oceanographer put it: when the Pacific speaks, the whole world listens. There is currently a […]
Researchers from Cornell University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that the continual warming in the world over the past 25 years has been reducing the amount of oxygen in many lakes. Data from more than 400 lakes – mostly in the United States – shows that lakes with dissolved oxygen losses strongly outnumber those […]
There is lots of interest in traction. People want to find better ways to move across wet and frozen surfaces safely. This applies to both the shoes on our feet and the tires on our cars. Researchers at the University of Akron along with colleagues at Syracuse University and at Bridgestone, the tire company, have […]