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The UK is heating up

August 5, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

June and July have both seen multiple days with temperatures in the 90s in London, England. This is almost unheard of, but according to British scientists, record-breaking extreme weather has become the new norm in the UK.

Weather records show that the UK’s climate is different now compared with just a few decades ago. The number of days with temperatures 9 degrees Fahrenheit above the average from 1961-1990 has doubled in the last 10 years. For days 14 degrees above average, the number has tripled, and for 18 degrees above average, it has quadrupled.

Apart from the higher temperatures, rain in the UK has become more intense. The number of months where counties receive at least double their average rainfall has risen by 50% in the past 20 years. Sea level around the UK is rising faster than the global average, worsening the impact of coastal flooding.

An estimated 600 people died as a result of the heatwave that hit England and Wales at the end of June. Scientists calculated that the extreme high temperatures were made 100 times more likely to have occurred as a result of climate warming.

The UK has some of the longest duration meteorological records in the world. Those records show that recent temperatures have far exceeded any in at least 300 years. The last three years were among the UK’s five hottest years on record.

Today’s record-breaking temperatures are likely to be average by 2050 and positively cool by 2100, according to scientists.

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‘Profound concern’ as scientists say extreme heat ‘now the norm’ in UK

Photo, posted February 4, 2018, courtesy of Hannes Flo via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Americans breathe unhealthy air

June 2, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to the American Lung Association’s annual State of the Air report, at least 156 million Americans – 46% of the population – live with unsafe levels of ozone, particulate pollution, or both.

The report analyzed ozone and particulate pollution levels between 2021 and 2023, during which the worst wildfire season on record took place in Canada. The report ranked pollution levels in counties and cities across the country on a grading scale from A to F. At least 156 million people live with air that got the poorest grade of F for at least one of three pollutants. At least 42 million people live in counties that failed all three pollutant standards measured.

While the report attempts to provide a complete picture of air quality around the country, about two-thirds of counties lack air quality monitoring for ozone or particulate pollution.

The wildfires in Canada are responsible for much of the increase in air pollution in the past several years. However, climate projections suggest that the conditions that fueled those fires are likely to become increasingly common.

Air quality standards in the United States have generally been improving since the Clean Air Act was enacted by Congress in 1970. Since that time, levels of key pollutants have dropped by nearly 80%. But millions of Americans are still breathing polluted air, leading to both acute and chronic health conditions.

Plans by the Trump administration to loosen environmental regulations and cut funding for air quality research are likely to only make matters worse.

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Almost Half of Americans Breathe Unhealthy Air, Report Finds

Photo, posted June 8, 2023, courtesy of Anthony Quintano via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

California is the largest emitter of a little-known greenhouse gas

April 30, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

California is a state known for its aggressive climate policies. However, and rather ironically, California is also the nation’s greatest emitter of one little-known greenhouse gas: sulfuryl fluoride.

Sulfuryl fluoride is one of the few treatments to rid buildings of drywood termites, a common regional pest that can be found in wooden structures. Sulfuryl fluoride is also used at shipping ports to destroy pests before they can hitch a ride to another part of the world.

But sulfuryl fluoride is also a greenhouse gas that’s several thousand times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

According to a new study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University, as much as 17% of global emissions of this gas stem from the U.S., and the majority of those emissions can be traced back to just a few counties in Southern California. In fact, the research team found 60-85% of sulfuryl fluoride emissions in the U.S. come from California, primarily Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties.

In the paper, which was recently published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, the researchers attribute approximately 85% of the state’s sulfuryl fluoride emissions to structural fumigation. Structural fumigation is the practice of sealing an infested structure, pumping this gas into it to kill pests, and then releasing the gas into the atmosphere. The other 15% of emissions come from agricultural and commodities fumigation.

Without some form of intervention, the research team warns that sulfuryl fluoride will continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, where it can linger for more than 40 years.

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Researcher sheds light on the main source of a rare but destructive greenhouse gas

California leads U.S. emissions of little-known greenhouse gas

It is very important to save nature in California and we happy that Michael / Armchair Builder via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Food Waste And The Environment | Earth Wise

November 25, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It is tragic that 31% of the world’s food production goes uneaten. About 14% isn’t distributed after it is harvested. Another 17% ends up wasted in retail or by consumers. Worldwide, the amount of food that is wasted is enough to feed more than a billion people while at least 828 million people continue to be affected by hunger. To make matters worse, food waste accounts for 8 to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is at least double that of aviation. Food waste, rotting away in landfills, produces methane gas, a major source of global warming.

Around the world, there are efforts being launched to try to improve the situation. California now has a law that requires grocery stores to donate edible food that would otherwise be disposed of or they face fines. The state’s cities and counties are required to reduce the amount of organic waste going into landfills by 75% by 2025 and compost it instead.

In London, grocers no longer put date labels on fruits and vegetables because the labels were leading people to trash perfectly good food. France now requires supermarkets and large caterers to donate food that is still safe to eat.

South Korea has little space for landfills. So, the country has been campaigning against throwing away food for 20 years. Nearly all organic waste in the country is turned into animal feed, compost, or biogas. Koreans even have to pay for throwing out food waste. There are now trash bins equipped with electronic sensors that weigh food waste.

All of these things can help. There is no single magic bullet for reducing food waste, but it is essential to do for so many reasons.

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Inside the Global Effort to Keep Perfectly Good Food Out of the Dump

Photo, posted November 30, 2020, courtesy of Marco Verch via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Hundred-Year Floods Becoming One-Year Floods

September 26, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

By definition, 100-year floods are intense flooding events that historically tend to happen once every 100 years. Put another way, a 100-year flood has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year.

According to new research published in the journal Nature Communications, rising global temperatures may turn 100-year floods into annual occurrences in parts of the United States. The increase in severe coastal flooding events by the end of this century will be a result of rising sea levels and stronger, more frequent tropical storms and hurricanes.

The study, led by researchers at Princeton University and MIT, examined flood risk for 171 counties along the US East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Their analysis concluded that 100-year floods will become annual events in New England. In the US Southeast and Gulf of Mexico, counties could experience such floods as often as every year up to as seldom as every 30 years.

Previously, most analysis of coastal flooding has looked only at the impact of sea level rise on flood risk. This new research combined the risk of rising seas with projected changes in coastal storms over the course of this century. Data from the Gulf of Mexico revealed that the effect of stronger storms is comparable with or even more significant than the effect of sea level change for 40% of the counties studied. So, neglecting the effects of storm climatology change is likely to significantly underestimate the impact of climate change in many places.

The hope is that more comprehensive flood risk data can be used to create more effective climate resiliency strategies all the way down to the county level.

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100-Year Floods Could Soon Happen Annually in Parts of U.S., Study Finds

Photo, posted August 31, 2017, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Quiet Clean Energy Revolution

March 5, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

While the Trump administration seeks to prop up and promote use of fossil fuels, the country continues to move in the opposite direction. Last year was actually a pretty positive year for clean energy in the U.S.

In terms of public opinion, 70% of Americans surveyed believe the country should produce 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sources and more than half of survey respondents think renewables are a good idea even if they raise energy bills.

Companies in the U.S. purchased a record 6.43 gigawatts of renewable power, enough to power 1.5 million homes. The number of corporations entering into renewable energy deals doubled last year.

More than 300 U.S. cities, towns or counties have made commitments to climate action and, as of November, 99 cities have committed to 100% renewable energy, doubling the total from a year ago.

A number of gubernatorial candidates running on ambitious renewable energy platforms were elected in November including those in Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico, Maine and Nevada.

Utilities are responding to the growing demand for clean energy. Consumers Energy in Michigan plans to cut carbon emissions by 80% and stop using coal. Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy will become the first U.S. utility to source 100% of its electricity from renewable sources next year. Xcel Energy, one of the biggest utilities in the country, has committed to be 80% carbon-free by 2030 and go completely carbon-free by 2050.

The fossil fuel industry with its supporters in high places is still kicking and screaming, but there is no doubt that the U.S. energy system is changing, and the quiet clean energy revolution will only pick up more steam in 2019.

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The US Underwent a Quiet Clean Energy Revolution Last Year

Photo, posted August 15, 2009, courtesy of Ken via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.