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‘Noah’s Ark’ Takes On Water

June 23, 2017 By EarthWise

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built into a hillside in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard far above the Arctic Circle, is often described as humanity’s last hope against extinction after some global crisis. While there are more than 1,700 gene banks around the world that keep collections of seeds, all of them are vulnerable to war, natural disasters, equipment malfunctions, and other problems. Except the Svalbard vault – or so we thought. It has been dubbed the “Noah’s Ark” of seeds and a last chance for the world to regenerate if the worst should come to pass. It’s mission is to keep the world’s seeds safe.

Northeast Temperatures

February 8, 2017 By EarthWise

A year ago, nearly 200 countries signed an agreement, known as the Paris Accord, to fight climate change by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. They each promised to reduce their carbon output as soon as possible, and to do their best to keep global warming well below 2-degrees Celsius (or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Record Low Sea Ice

January 13, 2017 By EarthWise

This time of the year, sea ice in the Arctic is on the rise as winter sets in. A combination of unusually high air temperatures and a warmer than normal ocean led to a record low for Arctic sea ice extent in November. In the Southern Hemisphere, Antarctic sea ice extent also hit a record low for the month.

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Extreme Cold And Climate Change

December 26, 2016 By EarthWise

Global climate change is typically referred to as global warming and that name implies that things are getting warmer all the time. Well, the planet as a whole is, as measured by the planet-wide mean temperature, which continues to rise over time.

Some Good News For Monarchs

April 20, 2016 By Nationally Produced Shows

Spring is the time of the great monarch migration when the butterflies leave their wintering grounds in Mexico and head north to Canada. As we have been saying for quite some time, fewer and fewer butterflies have been making the trek each year. Twenty years ago, a billion monarchs swarmed the winter site in Mexico. In 2013, the number was down to 33 million.

Feast Before The Famine

December 7, 2015 By Nationally Produced Shows

New York’s Hudson Valley is experiencing a “mast year.” Mast refers to the seeds of woody plants that are eaten by wildlife. “Soft mast” has seeds surrounded by fleshy pulp, and includes berries and fruits. “Hard mast” has seeds protected by an outer coat, such as acorns and hickory nuts.

Snowpack Loss

December 2, 2015 By Nationally Produced Shows

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 Nationally Produced Shows

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.

winter

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.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio