Air and Water

Climate Change Redistributes Global Water Resources

April 28, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Worldwide, climate change isn’t just raising temperatures, its also altering the distribution of water. So reports an inventive new study that tapped into archival water samples to reveal how sources of precipitation have changed over time.

Biodegradable Bottles

April 21, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Plastics are the ubiquitous workhorse material of the modern economy. Their use has increased 20-fold in the past half century, and production of plastics is expected to double again in the next 20 years.

Coal And Water

April 19, 2016 By WAMC WEB

We recently highlighted how safe drinking water is in short supply. According to research published in the journal Science Advances, at least two thirds of the global population – more than four billion people – live with severe water scarcity for at least one month every year. And 500 million people around the world face water scarcity all year.

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Most people listening to this have seen a saltwater aquarium before, and many of those likely owned one at some point. Maybe you still do. The bright coral and even brighter fish can be found in offices, restaurants, hotels, and homes all over the world.

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Food Insecurity In The Arctic

April 13, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Food shortages have always been a challenge for the Inuit and other aboriginal people in the Arctic, because they depend on subsistence hunting and fishing, which often means living life on the edge.

Are All Invasive Species Bad?

April 8, 2016 By WAMC WEB

The conventional wisdom is that invasive species are bad news and we constantly hear about the dangers of foreign plants and animals moving into new territories.

Carbon Counters

April 7, 2016 By WAMC WEB

The Paris climate agreement last December resulted in commitments by 195 countries to reduce their carbon emissions. The countries around the world made specific pledges to reduce emissions in the form of “intended nationally determined contributions” or INDCs.

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Keeping A Pulse On Our Planet

April 6, 2016 By WAMC WEB

The discovery of acid rain in North America was made possible by environmental data collected at a biological field station nestled in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest is just one of the many biological field stations located around the globe that are keeping a pulse on the health of our planet.

Who Needs Aedes Mosquitoes?

March 29, 2016 By WAMC WEB

There are approximately 3,500 mosquito species in the world. Of those, only a few hundred are known to bite humans. And just two have adapted to breed almost exclusively in urban environments where they are in close proximity to people.

Pulling Water From Air

March 25, 2016 By WAMC WEB

As droughts have become more commonplace, researchers are looking at natural systems for effective ways to capture water from the air. A team from Harvard University has drawn inspiration from three different organisms to develop a better way to promote the condensation and transportation of water droplets.

Global Water Scarcity

March 23, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Water is a simple chemical compound containing two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom connected by covalent bonds. It covers 71% of Earth’s surface and is vital for all forms of life. Despite its abundance, water that is safe for drinking is globally in short supply.

Powering Fuel Cells With Wastewater

March 22, 2016 By WAMC WEB

There are many renewable energy sources to be exploited. Solar and wind power justifiably get the most attention, but they are not the only game in town. There is a growing sustainability movement to capture energy from various kinds of waste, including even the wastewater we flush down the toilet.

River Conservation And Hydropower

March 18, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Rivers concentrate the water and resources of an entire region. They are literally the lifeblood of much of the world’s fish population. They are also the fuel for hydropower, a critical energy source for human civilization.

Consumers And The Environment

March 17, 2016 By WAMC WEB

China passed the U.S. as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases on Earth back in 2007, mostly due to manufacturing. However, the great majority of all the products China produces are exported to the rest of the world. China’s per capita consumption-based environmental footprint is actually small. If you put the responsibility for environmental impacts on the consumer instead of the producer, we are all the culprits.

Green Steam

March 9, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Many of the world’s biggest cities have miles of underground pipes built decades ago that provide district energy. District energy systems use a central plant to produce steam, hot water or chilled water that is then piped underground to individual buildings for space heating, domestic hot water heating and air conditioning. As a result, individual buildings served by a district energy system don’t need their own boilers or furnaces, chillers or air conditioners.

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Dangerous Air

March 3, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Much of the public discourse about pollution is focused on the long-term consequences of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. There are still some who doubt that such consequences are really in the offing or that our actions are responsible in any case.

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Are Mosquitoes Necessary?

March 1, 2016 By WAMC WEB

The Zika virus epidemic is yet another disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Those tiny insects are responsible for spreading many of the world’s worst diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever. According to the World Health Organization, over 400,000 people worldwide died from malaria in 2015.

Pollutants In Fish

February 29, 2016 By WAMC WEB

A new global analysis of seafood has found that fish populations in all the oceans of the world are contaminated with industrial and agricultural pollutants, which are collectively known as persistent organic pollutants or POPs.

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Turning Air Into Fuel

February 26, 2016 By WAMC WEB

There is a global effort underway to combat climate change. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the primary culprit. As a result, there are two things to do about it: reduce the amount of CO2 we are dumping into the atmosphere and try to remove some of what is already there.

Bolivia’s Disappearing Lake

February 25, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Bolivia’s second largest lake has nearly disappeared. Lake Poopó, a saltwater lake located in a shallow depression in the Altiplano Mountains, used to cover an area about the size of Los Angeles. While it’s not the first time the lake has dried out, scientists believe its recovery hangs in the balance due to the combined stress of drought, climate change, and water diversion.