A look at our changing environment.
While there are still some people who remain dubious about the reality of climate change, insurance companies are not among them. And, in fact, insurers are warning that climate change could make coverage for ordinary people unaffordable. Munich Reinsurance, the world’s largest reinsurance firm, blamed global warming for $24 billion in losses from California’s recent […]
More than one million acres of public and private land in California may soon be opened up to oil drilling and hydraulic fracturing, according to a plan recently released by the Trump Administration. The proposal raises environmental concerns, and comes at a time when opposition to oil and gas drilling in the state is growing. […]
Coal has historically been very cheap compared with many other energy sources and the reason is that it is so plentiful. The United States has especially abundant quantities of the stuff – perhaps a quarter of the world’s estimated recoverable reserves. Estimates are that at the rate at which we are currently using coal here, […]
Billions of birds migrate north in the spring and south in the fall. The majority of them fly at night. But as they pass over large cities, the birds can become disoriented by bright artificial light – so-called light pollution, causing them to crash into buildings or windows. Researchers estimate that 600 million birds die […]
The manifestations of climate change are creating increasingly familiar images: floodwaters rising up house windows, charred buildings in the wake of wildfires, and homes and businesses demolished by storm winds. As these sorts of calamities become ever more common, changes to how houses are built are going to be necessary. How can homes become more […]
On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the BP-owned Deepwater Horizon drilling rig released an estimated 210 million of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the oil was recovered, burned, or dispersed at sea, while some washed up onto coastal shorelines. Now, more than nine years later, a long-term study suggests […]
The global aviation industry uses a whole lot of fuel: more than 5 million barrels a day. It is an incredibly energy-intensive industry and almost all of its energy comes from petroleum-based fuels. While other large energy sectors such as electric power, ground transportation and commercial buildings have well-defined pathways to adopting renewable energy sources, […]
According to research from Goldman Sachs, utility-scale solar power capacity is expected to grow by double digits globally over the next two years. The growth will be driven by expanding use of the technology in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and China. Solar power is the world’s fastest growing source of electricity generation […]
The increasing numbers of invasive species around the world are a major driver of biodiversity change and cause billions of dollars in economic damages annually. Climate change is a major factor in the spread of invasive species, but a new study by McGill University suggests that global shipping growth will far outweigh climate change in […]
There are about 38,000 supermarkets in the United States alone and they are responsible for vast quantities of waste in the form of single-use plastic bags, plastic containers that store food products, and food waste as well. Globally, over 80% of poll respondents feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment. Responding to this […]
The 17 rare earth elements have become important parts of much of modern technology. Despite their name, most of these elements are relatively plentiful in the earth’s crust, but because of their geochemical properties they are typically dispersed and not often found concentrated in minerals. As a result, economically exploitable ore deposits are uncommon. There […]
The carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere doesn’t necessarily stay there. As part of the natural carbon cycle, much of it goes into plants, soil and, very significantly, the ocean. In fact, the world’s oceans are a sink for human-generated carbon dioxide without which the extent of global climate change would be far worse. Oceans […]
The main reasons that electric cars haven’t taken over are that they didn’t drive far enough on a charge, it took too long to charge them, and, most of all, they cost too much. In recent years, the problem with driving range has steadily been disappearing as electric cars that can go over two hundred […]
Global sea levels are steadily rising. They are up 8 inches in the past century and now increasing at an average of 1.3 inches per decade. As a result, the incidence of high-tide “sunny day” flooding is on the rise, especially along the U.S. East Coast. Norfolk Virginia experienced fewer than 2 days of high-tide […]
As the contributions to the electrical grid from renewable sources continue to rise, people have expressed concerns about what might happen as sources like wind and solar energy become dominant. Not many years ago, there was a common concern that if wind and solar contributed more than about a quarter of the energy mix, the […]
In January 2018, China enacted its “National Sword” policy which banned the import of most plastics and other materials headed for that country’s recycling processors. Those processors had handled nearly half of the world’s recyclable waste for the past quarter century. China took this step because the deluge of soiled and contaminated materials was overwhelming […]
Solutions to overfishing of certain tuna and shark populations have been hindered by some significant unknowns: where the fishing is happening, and where the fish are. But researchers from Stanford University have recently shed some light on this mystery. According to a paper recently published in the journal Science Advances, the researchers have developed a […]
The US Geological Survey recently published a comprehensive review of geological carbon storage in sedimentary rocks through carbon mineralization. That is the process by which carbon dioxide becomes a solid mineral, such as a form of carbonate. Certain rocks undergo a chemical reaction when exposed to carbon dioxide and turn into different minerals as a […]
East Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth. It makes up two-thirds of the continent, is home to the South Pole, and has vast ice sheets that have been around for tens of millions of years and are nearly three miles thick in places. Temperatures there hover around 67 degrees below zero. In 2010, a […]
Today is Earth Day. On April 22, 1970, millions of Americas took to the streets in peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform. Since that first time, Earth Day has now become a global event each year. Estimates are that as many as a billion people in 192 countries take part in Earth Day events. […]