Climate Change

Climate Change And The Global Food System

December 24, 2015 By WAMC WEB

One of the most troubling aspects of global climate change is its potential impact on the production, distribution and quality of food. A report issued at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference focused on identifying climate change impacts on global food security. Food security is the ability of people to obtain and use sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food. Even without the impact of climate change, food security is a challenge because of increasing population, poverty, and changing eating habits.

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Declining Sugar Maples

December 23, 2015 By WAMC WEB

The sugar maple, one of the most economically and ecologically important trees in the eastern United States and Canada, is showing signs of being in decline, according to scientists at SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Harvard Forest.

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Human Carbon

December 17, 2015 By WAMC WEB

There is a powerful correlation between the rise of the human population and the rise of atmospheric CO₂ during the past few decades. Could the carbon dioxide we emit when we breathe be a factor in global warming? According to biogeochemist Bill Schlesinger, the answer is a resounding no. Here’s why.

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Born On Frozen Lakes

December 16, 2015 By WAMC WEB

The National Hockey League seems like an unlikely environmental ally. But a sport born on frozen lakes stands to lose a lot in a warming world. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is committed to keeping “the air clean and the ponds frozen for future generations.”

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Storing Energy As Ice

December 11, 2015 By WAMC WEB

One of the challenges of operating the electricity grid is that there are times when everybody wants more electricity than usual – like during a hot afternoon in August – and the system struggles to keep up with the increased demand.

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Carbon Capture Update

December 9, 2015 By WAMC WEB

The global community is increasingly making commitments to reduce the amount of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. More and more carbon-free renewable energy sources are being used all the time. But despite the tremendous growth in solar and wind power, fossil fuels still provide about 80% of the world’s energy. Coal still provides about 40% of worldwide electricity. Realistically, these numbers can only go down at a relatively gradual pace.

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Climate Opinions

December 4, 2015 By WAMC WEB

An international poll of over 45,000 people in 40 countries looked at opinions about climate change and the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The results are quite interesting.

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Cod And Global Warming

December 3, 2015 By WAMC WEB

Atlantic cod has been the basis of a major fishing industry in the Gulf of Maine for centuries and is a key species in the local ecosystem. Overfishing decimated the population of cod and in 2010, fisheries managers imposed a series of restrictions on harvesting the fish in order to try to help the species to rebound.

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Snowpack Loss

December 2, 2015 By WAMC WEB

A recent study showed that this year the snowpack in California, which is suffering an ongoing drought as well as long-term warming, reached its lowest point in 500 years. Snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada mountains fills reservoirs that provide a third of all of the drinking water for the state of California, as well as water used to fight fires and generate electricity.

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Climate Change And Extreme Weather

December 1, 2015 By WAMC WEB

Global climate change is predicted to manifest itself in many ways over the next 100 years as average temperatures increase around the world. But we do not directly experience climate; we experience weather.

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Responding To Climate Change

November 30, 2015 By WAMC WEB

This week, representatives of 195 nations and the 28 member states of the European Union are meeting in Paris to try to put together the first global agreement to curb carbon dioxide emissions. Among those nations, some are already doing much better than others.

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A Tax On Carbon

November 27, 2015 By WAMC WEB

A while back we talked about the carbon tax in British Columbia and how it resulted in a dramatic reduction in carbon fuel use without any harm to the local economy. Many economists believe that carbon taxes are one of the best ways to promote lower greenhouse gas emissions.

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Pumpkins And Climate Change

November 24, 2015 By WAMC WEB

Climate change, with its rising temperatures and extreme weather, threatens many food production systems, including coffee, chocolate, wine, maple syrup, and seafood, among many others. And now pumpkins – the type many of us will enjoy in pies this week – can be added to that list.
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Plugging Methane Leaks

November 23, 2015 By WAMC WEB

Natural gas, also known as methane, is one of several “greenhouse gases” that trap heat radiation trying to leave the Earth. Molecule-for-molecule, methane warms our planet’s atmosphere about 25X more than carbon dioxide.

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The Missing Sink

November 18, 2015 By WAMC WEB

One of the puzzles of atmospheric chemistry is why carbon dioxide concentrations in our atmosphere aren’t rising even faster. Our activities emit some 37 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. About 45% stays in the atmosphere, 25% is taken up by the oceans. The rest is a bit of a mystery.

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Coffee And Climate Change

November 16, 2015 By WAMC WEB

Climate change is threatening crops all around the world, but maybe none more so than coffee. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “higher temperatures, long droughts punctuated by intense rainfall, more resilient pests and plant diseases—all of which are associated with climate change—have reduced coffee supplies dramatically in recent years.”

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Locked In A Pattern Of Arctic Ice Loss

November 5, 2015 By EarthWise

There is no dry land at the North Pole and under much of the Arctic ice pack. There, the ocean is covered with sea ice. When this ice melts, it does not cause a rise in sea level, the same way ice cubes melting in your water glass don’t cause it to overflow.

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Seabirds In Trouble

November 3, 2015 By EarthWise

Bad news for seabirds. New research out of the University of British Columbia shows that their populations have declined by a staggering 70% since 1950. This finding is troubling on multiple levels, as seabird populations tend to be good indicators of marine ecosystem health.

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Cities Abandoning Fossil Fuels

November 2, 2015 By EarthWise

Around the world, cities are trying to combat climate change by shifting their energy needs away from coal, oil and natural gas. Some, like Reykjavik and Zurich, use no fossil fuels to produce power at all; others are still planning cutbacks.

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Reducing Methane In The Atmosphere

October 20, 2015 By EarthWise

Methane is the main component of natural gas. It is also a potent greenhouse gas, having 25 times the heat trapping ability of carbon dioxide.

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