Global food production is one of the largest contributors to climate change. In fact, one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions result from food production and agriculture. Be that as it may, we still have to eat. But what we choose to eat has a major impact on the environment. According to a new study […]
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Earth Wise offers a look at our changing environment. Eco-friendly business practices, the latest environmental news, and how nature impacts our environment in ways never before considered.
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A surprising drop in renewable power
Renewable power – which includes wind farms, solar farms, and hydroelectric dams – constitutes over 21% of the country’s utility-scale electricity generation, behind only natural gas power plants at 43%. Nuclear power provides nearly 19% of our electricity and coal, which is gradually diminishing, is at 16%. Both solar and wind power capacity have been […]
Shrinking African glaciers
We don’t usually associate Africa with glaciers, but the continent has had glaciers on its highest peaks for the past 10,000 to 15,000 years. Africa’s glaciers are found in three regions: the Rwenzori Mountains along the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Mount Kenya. At the turn of […]
How to make cities cooler
In cities, the air, surface, and soil temperatures are almost always warmer than in rural areas. This is known as the urban heat island effect. Urban heat islands occur when cities replace natural land cover with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings, and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat. Urban planners around the world have […]
Mercury in tuna
Mercury is found throughout the ocean, and there is at least some of it in any fish one might eat. It is an element found naturally in the environment, but it is also a byproduct of manmade pollution. Generally speaking, bigger fish tend to have higher mercury levels than smaller ones, because they are higher […]
The carbon footprint of urban agriculture
Urban agriculture – essentially farming within a city – has become increasingly popular worldwide. It is intended to make cities and urban food systems more sustainable. There are social and nutritional benefits to urban agriculture, but its carbon footprint has not been widely studied. There are high-tech, energy-intensive forms of urban agriculture, such as vertical […]
Greenland is greening
Despite their names, Iceland is very green, and Greenland is very icy. But in Greenland, that is changing. Temperatures in the world’s largest island are rising twice as fast as they are in the rest of the world and, as a result, the icy rocky landscape is turning increasingly green. Satellite records reveal that over […]
Sponging up a river
During the first week of February, an atmospheric river dumped enormous amounts of rain on Southern California. Over the course of four days, Los Angeles received 9 inches of rain. The average annual rainfall in the city is only 14 inches. But Los Angeles was not the site of a flooding disaster because the city […]
Hybrid beef rice
There is growing interest in innovative and more environmentally friendly ways to provide protein in our diets. We’ve heard a great deal about lab-grown or cultured meats and about protein derived from insects. Whether either of these things achieves mainstream acceptance remains to be seen. Scientists at Yonsei University in South Korea have developed a […]
Golf courses gone wild
Golf courses are a significant burden on the environment. The US has 16,000 golf courses which use 1.5 billion gallons of water a day and are treated with 100,000 tons of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium each year. In recent years, the golf industry has taken steps to lighten its environmental toll by using less water, […]
Iceland power
Iceland burns very little fossil fuel to power its economy and heat its homes. About 85% of its energy comes from geothermal power and hydropower. Its unique geology provides it with the highest percentage of renewable energy in the world. The fossil fuel that Iceland does burn is primarily used to power cars and trucks […]
A lake in Death Valley
Death Valley in California is the driest place in North America, averaging only 2 inches of rain each year. Badwater Basin in Death Valley is the lowest point in North America with a depth of 282 feet below sea level. Currently, Badwater Basin is the site of an ephemeral lake called Lake Manley. The lake […]
AI’s Environmental Footprint
Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days. Some say it is the biggest development since the discovery of fire. There is a lot of hype regarding AI, and it will be a while before the hype is sorted out from the reality. But one thing that is certain is that AI is resource-intensive and has a […]
Is the Amazon rainforest nearing a tipping point?
The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, covering more than 2.5 million square miles. More than three million species live in the rainforest, which constitutes approximately 10% of the world’s known biodiversity. The Amazon rainforest’s biodiversity is so rich that scientists are still discovering new species all the time. The Amazon rainforest […]
The East Coast is sinking
Most of the world’s largest cities are located in coastal regions and coastal regions are on the front lines of the climate crisis. Human populations continue to migrate towards low-elevation coastal areas at the same time that sea level rise is accelerating. Coastal communities worldwide are increasingly vulnerable to the dangers of flooding and erosion. […]
Little ice on the Great Lakes
In an average year, the Great Lakes end up about 40% covered in ice. But this is not an average year. 2023 was the warmest year on record and, in fact, the global temperature was more than 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial average for the full year. That hasn’t happened before. As a result of […]
Polar bears and the changing climate
The changing climate poses a major threat to polar bear survival. Polar bears, whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, depend on sea ice for nearly all of their lifecycle functions. Rising global temperatures are causing this sea ice to disappear. With less sea ice, polar bears are forced to stay longer on […]
A wet January
For the first time in a while, the monthly report on the US climate did not feature record-setting heat. The average January temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 1.6 degrees above the average, but that only ranked it in the middle third of the climate record. The diminishing El Niño probably helped. On the other […]
Record energy transition investments
Global investment in the energy transition – that is, the transition away from fossil fuels – increased by 17% in 2023, reaching a new high of $1.8 trillion dollars. That number includes spending on electric vehicles and their associated infrastructure, electrification of the power grid, and various other changes to the energy system. Electrified transport […]
Global groundwater depletion
Groundwater is found underground in aquifers and it bubbles up naturally into springs, streams, and rivers. It’s also often pumped out for use by people. Researchers from UC Santa Barbara have conducted the largest assessment of groundwater levels across the globe, spanning 170,000 wells and nearly 1,700 aquifers across more than 40 countries. The team […]