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An uninsurable future

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The U.S. home insurance industry is in turmoil.  For years it has underestimated the risks posed by climate change intensified storms, wildfires, and other natural disasters.  The increased costs associated with rising sea levels, powerful hurricanes, drenching rainstorms, massive wildfires, and more have pushed insurers to the limit.

According to the director of the Climate Risk Initiative at the Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment at UC Berkeley, the world is marching toward an uninsurable future.  Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell predicts that in 10 or 15 years, there will be regions of the country where you can’t get a mortgage because home insurance is unavailable.

Dozens of insurance companies have collapsed or have been declared insolvent in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and California.  In the period 2018-2023, insurers canceled nearly 2 million homeowner’s policies in response to rising climate risks.   Premiums have skyrocketed in many places, making them unaffordable for many homeowners.

More than 30 states have created Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plans, which are state-managed programs that provide a last resort homeowners insurance option.  In these plans risks are distributed among multiple participating insurers. 

Some analysts believe that the federal government may have to step in to prop up the precarious home insurance market, much as it did in 1968 when the National Flood Insurance Program was created.  Now that the Trump administration is aggressively rolling back climate initiatives and encouraging more fossil fuel use, we are all going to have to foot the bill.

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How Climate Risks Are Putting Home Insurance Out of Reach

Photo, posted May 13, 2023, courtesy of Kevin Dooley via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Clean energy and jobs

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America’s clean energy industry is unquestionably under attack by the Trump administration.  The administration is blocking renewable energy projects on federal lands, slashing clean tech tax credits, and putting in place new regulatory hurdles for solar and wind power and electric vehicles.  During the first half of the year, businesses cancelled $22 billion worth of clean energy projects, which would have created more than 16,000 jobs, ironically mostly in Republican areas.  Federal clean energy tax credits have generated billions of dollars in economic value annually, providing a strong return on investment for every federal dollar spent.

Last year, clean energy jobs grew three times faster than the rest of the economy.  The U.S. added nearly 100,000 jobs in solar, wind, batteries, energy efficiency, grid upgrades, biofuels, and electric cars.  In total, more than 3.5 million Americans hold jobs related to clean energy. 

Clean energy investments create substantial economic growth.  The clean energy transition creates opportunities in manufacturing, engineering, installation, and maintenance.  These new jobs far outweigh job losses in the fossil fuel sector.  Investments in clean energy had been projected to create massive numbers of new jobs and significantly boost the U.S. GDP by 2030, often providing new opportunities for rural communities.

Overall, clean energy has been one of the hottest and most promising job sectors in the country.  Now that clean energy job growth is at serious risk, so is the health of the overall economy.

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More Americans Working in Clean Energy Than as Servers or Cashiers

Photo, posted July 28, 2025, courtesy of Bronx Community College via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Insect declines in remote regions

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Insects play a crucial role in sustaining life on Earth.  They pollinate plants, recycle nutrients, and form the foundation of food webs in both terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Without insects, the rich biodiversity that supports our planet would not exist.

However, global studies show a widespread decline in both insect abundance and diversity. According to a new study by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, insect populations are also shrinking in relatively undisturbed landscapes. 

The research team quantified the abundance of flying insects during 15 seasons between 2004 and 2024 in a subalpine meadow in Colorado, an area with decades of weather data and very little direct human activity. The results revealed an average annual decline of 6.6% in insect abundance, amounting to a 72% drop over the 20-year period. The study also linked these losses to rising summer temperatures.

Most previous studies of insect loss have focused on areas heavily influenced by agriculture or urbanization. This new research fills an important gap by showing that steep declines can occur even in pristine areas where human disturbance is minimal, suggesting that the changing climate may be a key driver. 

Mountain regions, which are home to many unique and locally-adapted species, are especially vulnerable. If these declines continue, the rich biodiversity found in high-altitude habitats could be in jeopardy.

The findings highlight the urgent need for broader and longer-term monitoring of insect populations and reinforce the importance of addressing climate change.  Even remote regions are not out of its reach.   

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Long-term decline in montane insects under warming summers

Insects are disappearing from the last places we thought were safe

Photo, posted July 16, 2019, courtesy of Tom Koerner / USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fossil fuel producing nations ignoring climate goals

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The Paris Climate Agreement has the primary goal of limiting global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius and preferably 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.  Meeting this goal involves reaching global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of the century.  Doing so requires the substantial adoption of renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuels.

The case for switching away from fossil fuels has never been stronger as the effects of the warming climate have become increasingly evident, the economics of renewable energy have become more and more favorable, and popular support for the changeover has continued to grow.  Despite all this, the world’s largest fossil fuel producers have expanded their planned output for the future, thereby pushing the world towards an ever-warmer climate.

According to the latest Production Gap Report produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute, governments now expect to produce more than twice as much coal, oil, and gas in 2030 as would be consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.  The increase is driven by a slower projected phaseout of coal and a higher outlook for gas production by some of the top producers, including China and the United States.

The United States is the most dramatic case of a country recommitting to fossil fuels.  This year, Congress has enacted billions of dollars in new subsidies to oil and gas companies and the Trump administration has forced retiring coal plants to continue operating, expanded mining and drilling access on public lands, and delayed deadlines for drillers to comply with limits on methane pollution.  Meanwhile, it has set new roadblocks for building wind and solar energy projects.

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Top Fossil Fuel Producing Nations Plan to Blow Past Climate Targets

Photo, posted May 15, 2020, courtesy of James Watt via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Trouble for clownfishes

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Clownfishes or anemonefishes are colorful saltwater fishes that mainly inhabit coral reefs in the warm and tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific.  Clownfishes have a symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship with sea anemones, which they rely on for shelter and protection from predators. In turn, clownfishes will protect the anemone from anemone-eating fish, as well as clean and fan them.  The popular film Finding Nemo is about a clownfish who lives in a secluded sea anemone.

The Red Sea, circled by Middle Eastern deserts, is home to marine life that is accustomed to very warm water – often 85 to 90 degrees during the summer.  However, in the past three years marine heat waves have made the Red Sea even hotter.  The rising sea temperatures have caused a breakdown in the symbiotic relationship between clownfish and anemones.

Anemones have a symbiotic relationship of their own with the same microscopic algae that pair with coral.   Just as is the case with coral, anemones expel the algae from their tissues during periods of high heat, causing them to bleach.  Prolonged bleaching can result in the death of the anemone and, in turn, exposes the clownfish to danger.

Researchers from Boston University monitoring three Red Sea reefs over a three-year period found that the marine heatwave in 2023 resulted in the death of 94 to 100% of the clownfish and 66-94% of the anemones.  Rising ocean temperatures can be devastating for many sea creatures.

Anemones are not as well-studied as coral, so it is not clear whether their populations can recover, particularly once the clownfish are gone, making them much more vulnerable to their own predators.

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Clownfish and Anemones Are Disappearing Because of Climate Change

Photo, posted March 9, 2016, courtesy of John Voo via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Heatwaves and major carbon emitters

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A new study by ETH Zurich, one of the world’s leading universities in science and engineering, demonstrates that human-induced climate change greatly increased the likelihood and intensity of over 200 global heatwaves between 2000 and 2023.  Emissions associated with each of the 180 largest producers of fossil fuels and cement contributed substantially to these events.  Emissions from these so-called carbon majors accounted for 60% of humanity’s total cumulative CO2 emissions from 1850 to 2023.

The research looked at 213 heatwaves that occurred on all seven of Earth’s continents between 2000 and 2023.  The study calculated how climate change affected the intensity and likelihood of each heatwave.

According to the study, global warming made heatwaves 20 times more likely between 2000 and 2009, and as much as 200 times more likely between 2010 and 2019, compared with the period between 1850 and 1900.

Estimates are that the 180 carbon majors are responsible for about half of the change in global mean surface temperature over time.  Furthermore, 14 of these 180 entities made the same contribution to climate change as the remaining 166 organizations combined.

While every one of us – individuals, countries, or companies – contributes to climate change, the carbon majors have especially significant responsibility.

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Rising heat waves tied to fossil fuel and cement production

Photo, posted May 1, 2019, courtesy of Martin Snicer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The last days of a giant iceberg

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A colossal iceberg known as A-23A broke off from the Filchner Iceshelf in Antarctica in 1986.  At that time, it was 1,418 square miles in area, slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island, or roughly twice the size of greater London.  It weighed about a trillion tons.  It was the largest iceberg ever observed.

After breaking off from the iceshelf, it lodged on the seafloor of the southern Weddell Sea for decades.  It finally broke free in the early 2020s and began drifting northward.  Last year, it got caught up in a rotating ocean vortex in the Drake Passage, and then became lodged on a shallow coastal shelf south of South Georgia Island.  More recently, satellite imagery has shown A-23A to be on the move again.

Like other large icebergs that have found their way into the so-called “iceberg alley”, it is gradually succumbing to the effects of warmer air and water.  Two large fragments of A-23A have already calved from it.  These are huge in their own right:  A-23G and A-23I are each over 125 square miles in area.  The remaining main body of A-23A is still 580 square miles in area, making it the second largest freely floating iceberg in the world as of September.  It had already lost much of its area since it began drifting north.

As it continues to drift northward, A-23A will continue to break apart.  Many smaller pieces are littering the sea in its vicinity, but even these are large enough to threaten ships.  The 40-year saga of iceberg A-23A is coming to an end.

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A Giant Iceberg’s Final Drift

Photo courtesy of the Earth Observatory at NASA.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Celebrity chefs and forever chemicals

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Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances – better known as PFAS – are a type of human-made chemicals that are found in a wide range of consumer and industrial products.  They don’t break down in the environment or in the human body, so they are often called forever chemicals.  They can contaminate drinking water sources and can get into the food supply.  PFAS chemicals have been linked to low birth weight, birth defects and developmental delays in infants, and an increased risk of some prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers.  PFAS can be found in the blood of almost every person in the United States.

PFAS chemicals are used in some food packaging, dental floss, and nonstick cookware.  Some states have taken action against the use of the chemicals.  Minnesota has a law that prohibits PFAS in cookware and 10 other types of products.  Several other states including New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, and Maine have passed laws banning specific uses of PFAS.

California has passed a bill that would phase out the use of PFAS for a range of products including nonstick cookware and celebrity chefs are joining forces to defend the use of the chemicals in pots and pans.  These include Rachael Ray, Marcus Samuelsson, and David Chang.  All of them endorse cookware products.

The chefs say that nonstick cookware using PFAS coatings are safe when used responsibly and that eliminating the use of the coatings would be a serious loss to restaurants and home cooks.  Opponents say that PFAS can end up in food when nonstick cookware overheats, is scratched or otherwise degrades.  In any case, manufacturing products containing PFAS causes significant pollution.

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California Wants to Ban ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Pans. These Chefs Say Don’t Do It.

Photo, posted January 31, 2018, courtesy of Quiet Hut via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The human impact on oceans

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Vast and powerful, the oceans have sustained human life around the world for millennia. They provide food, natural resources, and livelihoods, supporting countless communities and economies. But despite their size and resilience, the oceans are under increasing pressure from climate change and human activity, pushing them toward a dangerous threshold.

According to a new study led by researchers from UC Santa Barbara, the cumulative human impact on the oceans is forecasted to double by 2050, which is just 25 years from now.  These impacts include ocean warming, fisheries losses, sea level rise, acidification, and pollution.

The research team, which includes collaborators from Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, found that the tropics and poles will experience the fastest rate of change.  And coastal regions, where most human activity takes place, will bear the heaviest consequences of those changes. 

The research team calls the findings sobering – not only because the impacts are increasing, but because they’re increasing so quickly. 

The study, which was recently published in the journal Science, shows that ocean warming from climate change and reductions in marine biomass from overfishing are expected to be the two largest contributors to future ocean impacts.  If ecosystems cannot cope with these pressures, human societies will also feel the consequences.

But the research team stresses that it’s not too late. Stronger climate policies, better fisheries management, and protections for vulnerable habitats like salt marshes and mangroves could help slow or even reduce human impacts.

The research serves as both a warning, and a chance to act before it’s too late.

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Human impact on the ocean will double by 2050, UCSB scientists warn

Photo, posted July 11, 2018, courtesy of Ed Dunens via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

AI and the appetite for natural gas

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A recent survey of the plans of U.S. electricity utilities for meeting projected future demand indicates that they are looking to build twice as much natural gas capacity as they had anticipated just 18 months earlier.  The reason?  Data centers.  These warehouses full of computers that form the backbone of the internet are multiplying rapidly as companies are adding power-hungry servers for artificial intelligence. 

Data centers used less than 2% of U.S. electricity prior to 2018.  They consumed 4.4% in 2023.  By 2028, they are projected to use anywhere between 6.7 and 12%.  While overall electricity demand had been relatively flat for the past 20 years, now the power grid is scrambling to keep up.

The long-term plans of utilities have been favoring renewables for a while.  Previous industry-wide projections had 258 gigawatts of new wind and solar versus 102 gigawatts of new natural gas plants through 2035.  These plans showed that wind and solar could overtake natural gas as the country’s largest source of electricity by that year.  But newer plans adding additional generating capacity have mostly added new gas and very little renewables.

Utilities are leaning heavily on natural gas in part due to the inertia of regulatory actions that define the rate-setting process.  The grid is simply not set up to adapt to new technology and to deal with the unprecedented changes that data centers bring about.

Ultimately, the continuing reliance on natural gas will be an unfortunate burden on the consumer and on the environment.

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Riding the High From Data Centers, the Grid Cannot Kick Its Gas Habit

Photo, posted January 23, 2023, courtesy of Aileen Devlin / Jefferson Lab via Flickr.

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The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt

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Sargassum is a free-floating brown seaweed that can drift together in vast mats, sometimes stretching for miles across the ocean’s surface. For centuries, these blooms have been a natural part of the Atlantic, creating food and shelter for many marine creatures.  Sargassum was once thought to be confined mainly to the Sargasso Sea in the western Atlantic, but scientists now know it grows rapidly and spreads widely, driven both by natural forces and by nutrients from human activities.

Scientists at Florida Atlantic University have reviewed 40 years of data on sargassum seaweed. Their study, which was recently published in the journal Harmful Algae, points to the rise of what is now called the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt – a massive seaweed bloom stretching from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico. First spotted in 2011, it has since appeared every year except in 2013.  This past May, the bloom reached a record 37.5 million tons, a number that does not include the 7.3 million tons in the Sargasso Sea.

Sargassum thrives in nutrient-rich waters.  Under ideal conditions, controlled studies found sargassum can double its biomass in just eleven days!  According to the scientists, nutrient pollution from agriculture and wastewater has fueled these record blooms.

In the ocean, sargassum provides habitat for fish, turtles, and other marine life.  But along the coast, it piles up in smelly heaps, clogs waterways, disrupts tourism, and can even threaten power plants.

Understanding why sargassum is spreading so rapidly is key to tackling a problem that now spans an entire ocean.

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A monster seaweed bloom is taking over the Atlantic

Photo, posted December 24, 2014, courtesy of Roban Kramer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Invasive plants and the tropics

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A new study by Danish researchers examines how invasive plant species are reshaping ecosystems and people’s relationship with nature in the tropics.  The researchers found roughly 10,000 alien plant species in the greater tropics – which includes both the tropic and sub-tropic parts of the world.  Islands are especially invasion hotspots, and some have more alien plants than native ones.

The term ‘alien plants’ is used because not all non-native plants are a problem.  Some have been imported for their usefulness and value and most don’t escape and become invasive with undesirable consequences.

An example of a problem invasive plant in the tropics is lantana, a familiar perennial in American gardens. Wild lantana species are highly invasive, outcompeting and displacing native plants in India, Australia, and Hawaii.  It is a huge problem.

Invasive plants in the tropics are especially problematic because the tropics are often the home of very poor people who are highly dependent on ecosystems.  The plants not only weaken the ecosystems, but they can also create wildlife conflicts.

The tropics have historically been changed by people for thousands of years, but modern life has accelerated the process resulting in species being exchanged all the time.  Climate change is leading to widespread ecosystem degradation and, sometimes, collapse, making them more vulnerable to invasive species.

While many alien species require focused management, others lead to more stable new ecosystems around the world.  Alien plants can be, and are often seen only as a threat, but the reality in a changing world is more complex.  There are no simple answers.

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Invasive plants are rapidly changing the tropics

Photo, posted December 17, 2016, courtesy of Martín Vicente via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Wave energy in the U.S.

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A company called Eco Wave Power has launched the first U.S. wave energy project in the Port of Los Angeles.  The system captures the motion of ocean waves to generate renewable electricity.

The Eco Wave Power system harnesses hydraulic energy with floaters installed near the shore on existing structures like breakwaters, piers, and jetties.   The floaters bob up and down with wave movement, which creates pressure that drives a hydraulic motor and a generator.  Only the system’s floaters are actually in the water, and they aren’t connected to any electrical lines.  These hydraulic cylinders then send pressurized fluid to a land-based energy conversion unit.  Thus, there are no underwater transmission lines as is the case for offshore wind generation. 

The hydraulic motor and generator are housed inside a standard shipping container.  The electricity generated by the system is then connected to the grid.  Breakwaters and piers are often owned by ports, and ports are large consumers of electricity, which means that there is likely to be an electric substation nearby.

This demonstration project has several goals.  Foremost, it is a showcase for Eco Wave Power’s patented onshore wave energy technology in U.S. marine conditions.  It will serve as an educational hub for potential industry partners, regulators, and potential customers.  It will also support environmental monitoring and other regulatory requirements that can inform local stakeholders and authorities that will be involved in any future deployments.

Wave energy has great potential.  The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that wave energy has the potential to provide electricity for 130 million homes.

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Eco Wave Power launches its first U.S. wave energy project

Photo, posted October 17, 2022, courtesy of Andrew Meldrum via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Biosphere integrity

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Civilization has an enormous need to utilize the biosphere, that is, the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and bodies of water of the earth occupied by living organisms.  The biosphere supplies us with food, raw materials, and increasingly, climate protection.

A study by two European universities looked at functional biosphere integrity, which is essentially the plant world’s ability to regulate the state of the Earth system.  Functional biosphere integrity faces massive human interference from consumption of resources, biodiversity loss, and climate change.

Highly detailed analysis modeled water, carbon, and nitrogen flows at a fine resolution over the entire planet and provided a detailed inventory year-by-year since the year 1600.  Each area is then assigned a status based on its tolerance limits of ecosystem change.  An area can either be a Safe Operating Space, a Zone of Increasing Risk, or a High-Risk Zone.

As the Industrial Revolution took hold, the proportion of global land area where ecosystem changes went beyond the locally defined safe zone, increased.  The current analysis shows that 60% of global land areas are now out of the safe operating space and 38% are facing high risk.

Human demand for biomass continues to grow.  The Earth system is increasingly stressed as humanity channels it into its own uses through harvested crops, residues, and timber.  At the same time, photosynthesis activity is reduced by land cultivation and sealing off land with construction.  We are not good for the biosphere.

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60 percent of the world’s land area is in a precarious state

Photo, posted September 14, 2024, courtesy of Jan Helebrant via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Reindeer grazing and forest carbon

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Northern forests store a third of the world’s carbon, acting as sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide.  Forest carbon exchange is the process whereby forests sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via photosynthesis, storing it in their wood, leaves, and roots, and releasing some carbon through decomposition and respiration.  This natural cycle in forests is a critical part of the global carbon cycle and is a key factor in the mitigation of climate change.

The carbon cycle in northern forests is affected by the depth of winter snow and its duration.  It turns out that other elements of the forest ecosystem play an important role as well.  Researchers at the University of Oulu in Finland measured the impact of reindeer grazing and snow depth in Finland’s coniferous forests over a five-year period. 

There are areas in northern Finland’s forests where reindeer grazing has been excluded for decades.  In these areas, shallow snow increased carbon release.  In the same locations, deeper snow decreased carbon release.  On the other hand, in areas where reindeer grazed, carbon release remained stable regardless of changes in snow cover. 

The researchers theorize that the substantially recovered lichen cover in the ungrazed areas influences soil temperature and moisture conditions.  When combined with changing snow conditions, these factors may affect soil decomposers and, therefore, the amount of carbon released. 

The essential conclusion of this work is that multiple elements of an ecosystem, such as reindeer grazing, can buffer ecosystem functions, such as carbon exchange.    In this case, reindeer play an important role in sustaining the biodiversity of northern ecosystems. 

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Reindeer grazing can mitigate the impacts of winter climate change on forest carbon release

Photo, posted December 17, 2015, courtesy of Eco Dalla Luna via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Wildfires and jobs

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In January 2025, a series of destructive wildfires in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and San Diego County killed as many as 440 people, forced more than 200,000 to evacuate their homes, destroyed more than 18,000 homes and structures, and burned over 57,000 acres of land.  A study by the nonpartisan California Policy Lab found that the fires also had a significant impact on employment in the area.

According to the report, unemployment claims increased between 12% and 17% due to the January fires.  An estimated 6,300-8,700 employees in Los Angeles filed for regular unemployment insurance because of the wildfires.

Unemployment claims surged not only in the actual fire zones but also among people living far from the fires who commuted to work in the fire areas.  There were large increases in claims from workers in low-wage industries like accommodation and food services, and workers with low levels of education, especially in neighborhoods where many residents commute to fire-affected areas.

An additional 5,000 workers filed for the federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance program, including gig workers, independent contractors, and the self-employed – people who are usually excluded from regular unemployment insurance. This brought the total number of workers who filed due to the fires to between 11,300 and 13,700. 

The study highlighted the critical role that unemployment insurance benefits can play after natural disasters.  The fires were a disaster for everyone.

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More than 11,000 workers filed for unemployment assistance programs because of Los Angeles wildfires, new report shows

Photo, posted January 8, 2025, courtesy of Cory Doctorow via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The U.N. meets about geoengineering

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Geoengineering refers to a wide range of mechanical or chemical methods aimed at deliberately changing the global climate system.  It includes a number of unproven concepts, one of which is intentionally polluting the upper atmosphere with thousands of tons of artificial particles such as chemical sprays or mineral dust.  This is referred to as solar radiation management or SRM.  The idea is to dim sunlight, thereby slowing the rise of global temperatures by deflecting solar energy away from the Earth’s surface before it can be trapped as heat by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The United Nations Environmental Program held workshops in May and September to address the issue of such strategies.  This official position of the UN is that strategies such as SRM are not a climate solution given that they do not actually address the underlying causes of climate change.  Recent research has shown that SRM efforts could potentially shift rainfall patterns, intensify heat waves or cold snaps, lead to overall drying, and have other unpredictable consequences.

Many participants expressed concern that the discussion focused too much on engineering aspects and not on the potential risks of such efforts.  The prevailing opinion among scientists is that SRM deployment is too dangerous and ungovernable and therefore should not be pursued.

Current geopolitical trends make the possibility of geoengineering efforts by authoritarian states disturbingly likely.  While there are international guidelines on geoengineering activities, the potential threat of unilateral efforts by rogue nations is growing.

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UN Sessions on Solar Geoengineering Trigger Unease

Photo, posted May 12, 2016, courtesy of Susanne Nilsson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The pandemic was good for Hanauma Bay

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Hanauma Bay is a marine sanctuary near Honolulu that is a popular snorkeling spot and is home to vibrant marine life and well-preserved corals. Its popularity grew in the 1970’s and 1980’s and its visitor attendance peaked at an estimated 10,000 people a day. A new management plan in 1990 reduced visitation, improved facilities, established an education program, and banned the feeding of fish. In 2019, average daily attendance was still about 3,000 people – about a million a year – and the impact on the reef ecosystem was considerable.

In 2020, because of the Covid pandemic, the preserve was completely closed to the public for seven months.  This provided a unique natural experiment to study the effect of removing human interference from a natural ecosystem. 

Researchers from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology found that the reef in Hanauma Bay quickly returned to having better water quality, more monk seal sightings, greater fish abundance, and significant changes in fish behavior.  The fact that the ecosystem responded quickly indicated that everyday human presence can have a real and measurable effect on reef health.

The research serves as a valuable case study for marine managers around the world.  Putting limits on the number of visitors to reefs – especially those that are currently unregulated – could help restore lost ecological function and reduce human-induced pressure while still maintaining access.  Tourism to reefs generates billions of dollars annually, so there needs to be ways to protect reefs without making them entirely off limits. 

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When crowds left, reefs came alive at Hanauma Bay

Photo, posted December 13, 2011, courtesy of Dalton Reed via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Carbon capture with plastic waste

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Polyethylene Terephthalate (otherwise known as PET plastic) is a clear, strong, lightweight plastic used for food and beverage containers, textiles, and many other things.  It is one of the most pervasive forms of plastic piling up in the world’s oceans, in landfills, and elsewhere.  Getting rid of it is a real challenge.

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark have found a way to make use of waste PET plastic to address the pervasive problem of carbon dioxide emissions.  There are a variety of methods in use for capturing the carbon dioxide in the exhaust from industrial facilities.  They make use of various chemicals and sorbent materials that soak up the CO2 from the gas stream.  Some are expensive, or unstable at higher temperatures, or require hard-to-get ingredients.

The Copenhagen researchers have developed a way to break down PET plastic by adding a chemical called ethylenediamine.  The result is a new material they call BAETA, which is very effective in pulling carbon dioxide out of the air and binding it.

BAETA is a powdery substance that can be pelletized.  In an industrial plant, exhaust would be transmitted through BAETA-containing units, which would cleanse it of CO2.  The BAETA eventually gets saturated and then would be heated up in a chamber where the carbon dioxide would be collected and either stored underground or used for various purposes.

This cutting-edge invention is an example where one man’s trash could become another man’s treasure.  It just might be a way to get rid of lots of waste plastic and carbon dioxide at the same time.

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Scientists transform plastic waste into efficient CO2 capture materials

Photo, posted June 8, 2021, courtesy of Ivan Radic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Global solar power on the rise

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The current administration has essentially declared war on renewable energy.  President Trump stated recently that his administration will not approve solar or wind power projects.  Renewable companies are unlikely to receive permits that were once a normal course of business. Now, the United States is likely to struggle to meet its growing demand for electricity while the world moves ahead with solar power.

Solar power is the fastest-growing source of electricity worldwide.  Installations are up 64% in the first half of this year.  During that period, countries installed 380 gigawatts of solar power, compared with 232 gigawatts in 2024.

China is the main source of the growth.  It installed more than twice as much solar in the first half of the year as it did in the first half of 2024.  Under tremendous administration pressure, the U.S. saw solar installations rise by just 4% year over year.

China’s exporting of low-cost solar panels is driving growth of solar elsewhere, including India and much of Africa. 

China is at a crossroads with energy technology.  For the first time, solar power is not just supplementing coal power, but replacing it.  As a result, Chinese policymakers need to choose between propping up coal – which is an important industry in many cities – and doubling down on renewables, which are a major driver of the country’s economic growth.

The U.S. is currently headed in the direction of trying to prop up the fossil fuel industry and gut the renewable energy industry, with little or no regard for either the economic or environmental consequences.

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Global Solar Installations Up 64 Percent So Far This Year

Photo, posted April 6, 2025, courtesy of Pencils for Kids via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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