A look at our changing environment.
In recent years, climate advocates have pushed for the use of more dramatic language to describe ‘climate change.’ The notion was that phrases like ‘climate crisis’ and ‘climate emergency’ better convey the urgency of the planet’s plight, while terms like ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’ are too gentle and vague. However, it turns out that […]
Battery-powered electric vehicles have historically faced the challenges of limited driving range and long charging time. In recent years, both of these limitations have been largely overcome for many if not most drivers. Popular EVs on the market can go 300 miles and more on a charge and today’s fastest charging networks can add 200 […]
There are people who oppose the installation of wind turbines for a variety of reasons. It is true that wind turbines can be dangerous to birds. Estimates are that about 250,000 birds are killed flying into wind turbines each year in the U.S. However, this data needs to be looked at in comparison to bird […]
The industrial sector accounts for nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, which is more than the annual emissions from cars, trucks, and airplanes combined. These emissions primarily come from burning fossil fuels to produce goods from raw materials as well as from the chemical reactions associated with production. Many industrial processes […]
Agrivoltaics is the combination of solar power generation with agriculture. Generally, this has involved growing crops under and around solar panels harvesting both food and electricity. More recently, there has been increasing interest in grazing animals to manage lands used for solar power. Enel North America, a large operator of solar farms and utility-scale battery […]
Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are bodies of water where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean to create brackish water. These brackish ecosystems support many unique plant and animal communities around the world. But ocean water temperature around the world continues to warm. In fact, from 1901 to 2023, […]
The U.S. used to get more of its electricity from burning coal than by any other means. It wasn’t all that long ago; coal produced 51% of our electricity in 2001. But as of 2022, it was less than 20%. In March and April, the U.S. generated more electricity from wind power than from coal. […]
There have already been all sorts of extreme weather this year in many parts of the world and undoubtedly there will be more to talk about in the coming months. But the American Meteorological Society has recently published its State of the Climate report for 2023 and it was a year for the record books. […]
Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole. It is one of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas and is a popular attraction for tourists. Svalbard is famous for rugged, remote terrain of glaciers and frozen tundra sheltering polar bears, Svalbard reindeer, and Arctic foxes. The Northern Lights are visible during winter, […]
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 […]