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Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

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2:00

Heatwaves and major carbon emitters

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/24

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. […]

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2:00

The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/17

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 […]

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Wildfires and jobs

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/10

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 […]

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Global solar power on the rise

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/06

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 […]

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Return of the frogs

Earth Wise ·

2025/09/22

The mountain yellow-legged frog is a species that lives in the mountains of Southern California. It is listed as an endangered species for protection by the federal government. Surveys 20 years ago determined that the frog’s population was declining and on a trajectory toward extinction. The frogs are severely impacted by water pollution and are […]

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Seaweed and concrete

Earth Wise ·

2025/08/29

Modern civilization is pretty much made of concrete. People use more concrete than any other substance apart from water. But concrete is made from cement, and cement is the source of 10% of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Researchers at the University of Washington and Microsoft have developed a new kind of concrete made by […]

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Trouble for psychedelic toads

Earth Wise ·

2025/08/22

Back in the 1960s, it was discovered that secretions from toads native to the Sonoran Desert have psychedelic properties. The information did not have much impact for over 40 years but about ten years ago, the story started having widespread exposure in U.S. media outlets and there was increasing publicity for the fact that the […]

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The demise of American offshore wind

Earth Wise ·

2025/08/18

Europe has 37 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity. China is catching up rapidly. Across the globe, offshore wind is an increasingly important source of clean, renewable power. The United States had previously set ambitious goals to join the international effort. But in the aftermath of the 2024 election, offshore wind in the US is basically […]

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Climate change and hunger

Earth Wise ·

2025/07/14

Worldwide, people are producing more food than ever, but most of that production is concentrated into only a handful of places. For example, fully one third of the world’s wheat and barley exports come from Ukraine and Russia. Across the globe, several major crop-growing regions, including some in the United States, are heading towards sharp […]

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Sun powered carbon capture

Earth Wise ·

2025/06/30

As the world struggles to implement technologies and find the political will to reduce carbon emissions, there are also ongoing efforts to find ways to capture carbon from emitting sources and from the atmosphere itself. After capturing carbon dioxide, there is then the need to safely store it or make use of it. Current methods […]

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Tracking emissions by satellite

Earth Wise ·

2025/06/20

Carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides are two of the most problematic human-generated air pollutants that negatively impact air quality, the climate, and human health. Satellites are an important tool for monitoring emissions of these pollutants, but they have limitations. For the most part, satellites have limited spatial resolution, meaning that they can’t reliably narrow down […]

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Building better blackberries

Earth Wise ·

2025/06/06

The Human Genome Project is one of the greatest scientific feats in history. It was launched in 1990 and completed in 2003. The international group of researchers wanted to comprehensively study all of the DNA – the genome – from a select set of organisms, foremost of which being that of human beings. The results […]

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An eco-friendly detergent

Earth Wise ·

2025/05/08

Household products such as laundry detergents and dishwasher tablets are an indispensable part of everyday life, but such products contain all sorts of chemicals that have undesirable properties. Many are difficult to break down when they enter the environment, and some add nutrients that trigger environmentally harmful algal blooms. The ingredient lists for even what […]

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Electric trains are healthier

Earth Wise ·

2025/05/07

The majority of commuter trains in the U.S. are powered by diesel fuel. This is despite the fact that electric trains are quieter, more reliable, and produce fewer greenhouse gases than diesel locomotives. A new study has found that electric trains are healthier for passengers as well. Caltrain carries millions of passengers a year along […]

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Extreme heat and dairy production

Earth Wise ·

2025/05/06

Climate change is causing more frequent and intense heat waves in the United States. Studies show that not only are heat waves now occurring more often, but that the average heat wave season is nearly 50 days longer now than it was in the 1960s. The overall rise in temperatures, linked to climate change, has […]

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Scrubbers to clean up shipping

Earth Wise ·

2025/05/01

Cargo ships are significant sources of global air pollution because of their fuel oil. Most ships burn heavy fuel oil that is loaded with sulfur, so when it is burned it produces noxious gases and fine particles that can harm human health and the environment. The International Maritime Organization enacted a mandatory cap of 0.5% […]

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Renewables dominate new global power

Earth Wise ·

2025/04/24

The current administration in the United States is adversarial towards renewable energy and highly supportive of the use of fossil fuels. Unquestionably, this will create rough waters for the clean energy industry and, unfortunately, will throw a monkey wrench into the world’s efforts to mitigate climate change. But it cannot stop what has become a […]

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Removing microplastics from water

Earth Wise ·

2025/04/23

Microplastics come from the breakdown of larger plastics in the environment as well as from direct use in various products such as certain cosmetics. They are found everywhere, from oceans and mountain peaks to the air and water, and alarmingly, in our bodies. They are ingested by all sorts of organisms, from tiny plankton to […]

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2:00

Almost a dire wolf

Earth Wise ·

2025/04/22

Researchers around the world are working on what some call the ‘de-extinction’ of iconic animals of the past such as the wooly mammoth, the dodo, and the Tasmanian tiger. The idea is to decipher the genome from DNA of preserved specimens and, using the tools of modern genetic engineering and cloning technology, alter the DNA […]

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Bananas and climate change

Earth Wise ·

2025/04/17

Bananas are one of the most widely produced fruits globally, with more than 100 million tons grown every year. They are a key export crop worth approximately $11 billion annually. Bananas are also a staple food in many tropical countries, playing a vital role in both the economies of these nations and in global food […]

en-US

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Earth Wise

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