A look at our changing environment.
According to a new report from the climate think tank Ember, the rapid growth that has been going on for solar and wind power could allow the global electricity sector to do its part in limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In 2021, solar power grew by 23% worldwide and wind power grew by […]
California, the most populous state, is the second largest electricity user. Only Texas, the second most populous state, uses more energy, in part because it consumes large amounts in refining fossil fuels. Overall, California uses about 8% of the electricity generated in the U.S. Thus, it was a significant milestone when briefly, on April 3, […]
The use of pesticides in global agriculture brings with it many problems including the killing of non-target, beneficial species as well as reversing pest-management gains from the use of conservation agriculture methods. In a newly published study by researchers at Penn State University, the use of plant cover, such as cover crops, was shown to […]
According to a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Finance (the IEEFA), the U.S. most likely hit its peak usage of natural gas to generate electricity in 2020. Growth in wind and solar power are beginning to erode the use of natural gas. At the moment, natural gas prices are unusually high […]
The first quarter of the year was a tough one for the U.S. auto industry. Overall sales of cars and trucks were down 15.7% compared with last year. Automakers have been dealing with shortages of computer chips and other supplies, resulting in slowdowns in production. The one major exception to the trend has been sales […]
The Concordia Research station atop Dome C on the Antarctic Plateau is generally considered to be the coldest place on earth. In mid-March, the normal high temperature for the day is around -56 degrees Fahrenheit. But on March 18, the high for the day was 11.3 degrees, nearly 70 degrees warmer than normal. The World […]
According to the World Health Organization, almost the entire global population – 99% in fact – breathes air that exceeds WHO air quality limits and threatens their health. Air quality is of great concern everywhere. Over 6,000 cities in 117 countries monitor air quality, but the people living in those cities are still breathing unhealthy […]
The world is awash in both waste plastic and in carbon dioxide emissions. Researchers at Rice University have discovered a chemical technique for making waste plastic into an effective carbon dioxide absorbent for industry. Chemists at Rice reported in the journal ACS Nano that heating plastic waste in the presence of potassium acetate produces particles […]
The natural resources people use the most are air and water. It may come as a surprise that in third place is sand. Sand is used to make glass, computer chips, toothpaste, cosmetics, food, wine, paper, paint, plastics, and more. It is estimated that 50 billion tons of sand are used each year. Concrete is […]
The American West is in the throes of a two-decade-long drought. The climate there is getting warmer and drier, which has led to increasing demand for water resources from both humans and ecosystems. According to a new study by the Desert Research Institute and collaborators, the atmosphere across much of the U.S. is also demanding […]
According to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder, wildfires have gotten much larger and much more frequent across the United States since the year 2000. The rise in wildfires in recent years has been attributed to the changing climate and the new research shows that large fires have become more common and […]
Humans generate a remarkable amount of garbage. According to the World Bank, humans produce 4.5 trillion pounds of trash every year, with at least 33% of this garbage not managed in an environmentally-safe manner. By 2050, global garbage generation is expected to reach nearly 7.5 trillion pounds a year. Globally, an average of 1.6 lbs […]
Methane leaking from oil and gas wells is a real problem for the environment because methane is far more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. The EPA has estimated that about 1.4% of the methane produced by wells nationally leaks into the atmosphere. However, environmental experts and energy industry engineers have been concerned that […]
A new study by the University of Vermont in collaboration with researchers from three Latin American countries looked at the effects of birds and bees on coffee crops. They found that coffee beans are bigger and more plentiful when birds and bees team up to protect and pollinate coffee plants. The real-world study manipulated coffee […]
Late in February, the U.S. completed the most successful offshore wind lease auction in history. The auction for rights to develop offshore wind in the New York Bight brought in a record $4.37 billion from the companies bidding for them. The New York Bight is an area of ocean off the coasts of New York […]
The goal of carbon capture and storage technology is to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and safely store it for the indefinite future. There are existing industrial facilities that capture carbon dioxide from concentrated sources – like the emissions from power plants. The technology currently captures and stores only about a tenth of a […]
Researchers are always working to develop faster and more powerful computers. Some of them believe that the future of computing lies with neuromorphic computers, which are systems designed to mimic the neurons and synapses found in the human brain. The human brain has more than 100 billion neurons with more than 1 quadrillion synapses or […]
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is an ecosystem that can be seen from space. It has now suffered its 6th mass coral bleaching event since 1998. Previous events happened in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2016, and 2017. This latest bleaching has occurred even though this is a La Niña year, when more rain and cooler temperatures are […]
Many companies have made sustainability commitments of various types. Environmental organizations have urged big-box and grocery stores to install solar panels on their rooftops and parking lots thereby reducing their energy usage and expanding the country’s supply of renewable energy. These places occupy large areas and therefore are capable of supporting large solar arrays. According […]
Every year, more than 100 million tons of dust blow out of North Africa. Strong seasonal winds lift the dust from the Sahara Desert northward. A few times a year, the winds from the south are strong and persistent enough to drive the dust all the way to Europe. On March 15, a large plume […]