A look at our changing environment.
Hydrogen has great potential as a fuel and an energy carrier for many applications. Burning it or consuming it in fuel cells does not produce carbon emissions. As a result, there has long been the vision for a future hydrogen economy. Whether the hydrogen economy would ever come about given how various other technologies have […]
The Earth’s atmosphere contains enormous amounts of water. Being able to efficiently and economically extract some of it to provide drinking water would be extremely beneficial to the billions of people across the globe who face chronic water shortages. There are existing technologies for atmospheric water harvesting – or AWH. But there are downsides associated […]
Steel is primarily produced using one of two methods: blast furnaces or electric arc furnaces. The first blast furnaces were built in the 14th century. Making steel in a blast furnace starts by melting the raw materials of iron ore, limestone, and coal at very high temperatures. The resultant reactions ultimately lead to two products: […]
The Great Salt Lake in Utah has been described as a puddle of its former self. The lake’s size fluctuates naturally with seasonal and long-term weather patterns, but the lake has been experiencing decline for decades as Utahans take water out of the rivers and streams that once fed the lake. Over recent decades, the […]
How the United States produces its electricity has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Coal used to be the dominant source of power in this country, but natural gas surpassed it in 2016, and coal’s share has been shrinking ever since. Fossil fuel still generates the majority of America’s electricity, but renewable power is […]
As the climate warms, city dwellers tend to suffer from extreme heat more than people in rural areas because of the urban heat island effect. Extensive surfaces of man-made materials like concrete, asphalt, and brick absorb the sun’s energy and lead to temperatures well above those in the surrounding countryside. Cities can take countermeasures that […]
Do you crave that morning cup of coffee? You’re not alone, and not by a long shot. In fact, more than 2.2 billion cups of coffee are consumed globally every day. The existing coffee market is dominated by two species: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora (the latter commonly called robusta). Historically, coffee drinkers have preferred […]
Scientists have discovered a new type of wood that is highly efficient at storing carbon. A comprehensive survey of the microscopic structure of the wood from many species of trees revealed that there is a type of wood that is neither softwood, such as pine and conifers, or hardwood, such as oak, ash, and birch. […]
Weeds are the bane of every gardener’s existence. They pop up, uncontrolled and unwelcome, and must be tediously managed time and time again. But in some cases, weeds are more than just a nuisance. Some are a public health hazard. Meet giant hogweed. Native to Europe’s Caucasus Mountains, giant hogweed belongs to the carrot family. […]
A prolonged and widespread coral bleaching event in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has taken place this year. It is the fifth such event over the past eight years and appears to be one of the worst ever. According to preliminary analysis, 97% of corals in some areas of the northern part of the reef died […]
Air pollution is a serious health threat. It is associated with asthma and can lead to chronic disease, cancer, and premature death. Globally, air pollution kills 7 to 9 million people, and 200,000 Americans die from it each year. There are multiple sources of air pollution including automobiles, power plants, and other industrial activities. Exposure […]
One of the country’s largest co-located solar and battery energy storage projects is now fully operational. The Gemini Solar+Storage project is located in Clark County, Nevada, about 30 minutes outside of Las Vegas. The project’s 1.8 million solar panels can generate up to 690 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to supply about 10% of […]
China has been the biggest source of greenhouse emissions for nearly 20 years. Its emissions surpassed those of the United States in 2006 and its fraction of the world’s emissions is now nearly a third. Therefore, unless China’s emissions stop growing, the world’s emissions won’t either. Recent data from China’s government and by energy analysts […]
There have been numerous temperature records set in recent years. Apart from record high temperatures for many places around the world, there were 13 consecutive monthly temperature records set for the planet since the previous summer. According to NASA data, July 22, 2024, was the hottest day on record. July 21st and 23rd also exceeded […]
According to new data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, solar and wind now make up more than 20% of the total US electrical generating capacity. Adding up all renewable energy sources – which also include biomass, geothermal, and hydropower – renewable energy is now nearly 30% of the total electrical generating capacity in this […]
Deep sea mining is the extraction of minerals from the ocean floor at depths greater than 660 feet and as much as 21,000 feet below the surface. Active or extinct hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor create sulfide deposits which collect metals such as silver, gold, copper, manganese, cobalt, and zinc. This forms polymetallic nodules […]
The domestication of pigs, cows, chickens, and other animals as livestock for their meat, milk, and eggs was historically revolutionary. It boosted food security by giving people a readily-available means of feeding themselves as opposed to more traditional methods such as hunting and fishing. But the industrialization of agriculture has led to horrendous conditions for […]
Recycling plastic is a complicated matter. There are many different types of plastic and knowing which things are made of which type isn’t easy. There are increasingly widespread recycling systems across the U.S., but the actual rates of recycling have been described as “abysmal”. The plastic commonly used in beverage bottles is polyethylene terephthalate, or […]
Forests are known to be a key natural solution to the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. For this reason, there are widespread efforts to plant more trees around the world and to prevent increasing deforestation for development and agriculture. But a new study has highlighted the fact that wildfires in the western […]
In November 2021, 70% of New Yorkers voted to include environmental rights in the Bill of Rights of the New York State Constitution. The amendment recognizes and protects the rights of all New Yorkers to clean water and air and a healthful environment. It places these rights on the same constitutional level as other enshrined […]