United States

Climate Change And Hurricanes

October 4, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

No single weather event can be attributed to climate change. Storms, floods and droughts have always happened and some of them have always been severe. However, two centuries of people burning fossil fuels has altered temperatures just enough that some of the storms we have seen in recent times have been much worse than they otherwise would have been.

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The Tiny Country That Feeds The World

October 3, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Netherlands is a small, densely populated country with more than 1,300 inhabitants per square mile. It lacks almost every resource one associates with large-scale agriculture. Nevertheless, it is the number two exporter of food in the world, second only to the United States, which is almost 300 times bigger. The Dutch lead the world in exporting tomatoes, potatoes and onions and produce many other crops as well.

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Ozone Treaty And Greenhouse Gas Emissions

September 20, 2017 By EarthWise 1 Comment

The Montreal Protocol, the international treaty adopted to restore the earth’s protective ozone layer almost thirty years ago, turns out to also have had a major impact on climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions.

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Ditching Gas And Diesel Cars

September 14, 2017 By EarthWise

Electric cars represent only a tiny fraction of the overall auto market. The numbers are growing, most certainly, but they are still quite small in most places. The recent start of production of the Tesla Model 3 has attracted quite a bit of attention to electric cars, but in many countries, there is much more to the story than just media buzz about a new car.

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A Floating Wind Farm

September 5, 2017 By EarthWise

Offshore wind farms are becoming increasingly important around the world. Europe has thousands of wind turbines off its coasts generating more and more of its power. The first offshore wind farm in the U.S. opened for business last year and more are on the way.

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The Great American Eclipse

August 18, 2017 By EarthWise

On Monday, August 21, there will be a total solar eclipse visible in a band across the entire contiguous United States. The last time that happened was in June of 1918. In fact, the last time a total solar eclipse was visible anywhere at all in the continental U.S. was in 1979. So, this is a big deal for American eclipse watchers and millions of us will be heading for some part of the 65-mile-wide band of totality that wends its way from Oregon to South Carolina.

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France And Climate Change

August 15, 2017 By EarthWise

On the heels of the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, France has rolled out ambitious plans to reduce its carbon footprint even further.

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New Milestones For Renewable Energy

August 7, 2017 By EarthWise

There is no question that solar power has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years, but whenever one really looked at the numbers, it seemed to still be only a tiny fraction of the country’s power generation – until quite recently, less than one percent.

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Air Pollution And Solar Power

July 28, 2017 By EarthWise

We are well-aware of the negative effects of air pollution on human health and on the environment, but a recent study at Duke University has revealed that global solar energy production is taking a major hit due to air pollution and dust.

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Offshore Wind Progress

July 14, 2017 By EarthWise

Last December, the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States started operation off the coast of Rhode Island. The Fisherman’s Energy Atlantic City Windfarm off the coast of New Jersey is under construction. With the lengthy logjam finally broken, there is increasing activity in the emerging U.S. offshore wind sector.

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Migrating Trees

July 11, 2017 By EarthWise

The changing climate is having a marked effect on forests in this country. In particular, trees along the U.S. eastern seaboard are changing their range as they slowly seek to escape rising temperatures.

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Dams And The Environment

July 6, 2017 By EarthWise

There are an estimated 84,000 dams in the United States which impound 600,000 miles of river, or about 17% of the rivers in the country. Within the next 15 years, more than 90% of the world’s rivers will be fragmented by at least one dam.

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China And India Climate Progress

June 30, 2017 By EarthWise

China and India have 36% of the world’s population and produce about 35% of global CO2 emissions, ranking first and third respectively in that category. The United States, with a little over 4% of the world’s population, produces about 16% of global CO2 emissions, good for second place.

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Surging Wind Power In The U.S.

June 16, 2017 By EarthWise

So far, it has been a big year for the U.S. wind industry, which experienced its fastest first-quarter growth since 2009. In total, about 2,000 megawatts of new capacity was installed, enough to power about 500,000 homes. With this addition, wind now produces 5 1/2% of the country’s electricity.

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Utility-Scale Solar Power

May 11, 2017 By EarthWise

Solar panels on the roofs of houses have become a familiar sight in recent years, but utility-scale solar – installations of 10 megawatts and greater – are really booming these days. Throughout the United States, more than 10.5 gigawatts of utility-scale solar were added to the electric grid in 2016 – enough to power more than 2 million homes – and at least 8 gigawatts more are scheduled to come online this year.

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Americans And Beef

May 5, 2017 By EarthWise

There’s ample evidence over the past decade or so that Americans are gradually changing their diets, driven by health concerns among other factors. But there’s one change that really stands out. According to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans have sliced their beef consumption by 19% between 2005 and 2014.

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India’s Air Pollution

May 3, 2017 By EarthWise

Poor air quality is a major problem worldwide. Exposure to air pollution is linked to the premature deaths of an estimated 6.5 million people every year. This makes air pollution the fourth largest threat to human health, trailing only high blood pressure, dietary risks, and smoking.

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Tracking Climate Opinions

May 1, 2017 By EarthWise

Public opinion about global warming is an important influence on decision making about policies to combat global warming and to be prepared for its consequences. An extensive polling effort by Yale University has produced an estimate of public opinions down to state, congressional district, and county levels.

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American Cities Fighting Climate Change

April 24, 2017 By EarthWise

The federal government now appears to be headed down the path of not honoring America’s commitments to tackle global warming, but many of the country’s cities and states as well as its corporations have no intention of breaking our promises to the world.

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Food Waste Into Tires

April 21, 2017 By EarthWise

Researchers at Ohio State University have developed a way to use food waste to partially replace the petroleum-based filler that has been used in manufacturing tires for more than a century.

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