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Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

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Wildfires and carbon storage

Earth Wise ·

2024/08/14

Forests are known to be a key natural solution to the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. For this reason, there are widespread efforts to plant more trees around the world and to prevent increasing deforestation for development and agriculture. But a new study has highlighted the fact that wildfires in the western […]

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Enforcing the Green Amendment

Earth Wise ·

2024/08/13

In November 2021, 70% of New Yorkers voted to include environmental rights in the Bill of Rights of the New York State Constitution. The amendment recognizes and protects the rights of all New Yorkers to clean water and air and a healthful environment. It places these rights on the same constitutional level as other enshrined […]

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Strawberries and climate change

Earth Wise ·

2024/08/12

The demand for strawberries continues to climb around the world. According to data from World Population Review, China remains the global leader in strawberry production, a spot it’s held since 1994. Last year, China produced 3.3 million tons of strawberries, followed by the United States at 1.05 million tons, Egypt at 597,000 tons, and Mexico […]

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Threats to the Amazon Rainforest

Earth Wise ·

2024/08/01

Brazil has made great progress in reducing deforestation in its Amazon Rainforest. In 2023, the rate of deforestation in Brazil dropped by 50% over the previous year. This was the result of the efforts by conservation-minded President Luiz da Silva, who replaced Jair Bolsonaro, a big proponent of deforestation. Da Silva’s government has cracked down […]

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The carbon cost of wind farms

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/31

Opponents of electric vehicles and renewable energy often try to make arguments to the effect that the carbon footprint associated with producing electric cars, solar panels, and wind turbines negates their advantages over legacy technologies that involve burning fossil fuels. These arguments have been soundly refuted for the case of electric vehicles but there have […]

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Fertilizers from wastewater sludge

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/30

Sewage sludge is the mud-like residue that is produced as a byproduct during wastewater treatment. In the U.S., sewage sludge is referred to as biosolids after it’s been treated. The term is meant to distinguish the higher quality, treated sludge from raw sludge and from sludge that contains large quantities of environmental pollutants. However, according […]

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Nearly everyone wants climate action

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/29

A global survey of 75,000 people revealed that 80% of participants want their governments’ climate action commitments to be stronger. The poll, conducted by the United Nations Development Program, GeoPoll, and Oxford University, asked 15 questions in telephone calls to residents of 77 countries representing 87% of the global population. According to the survey, 89% […]

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Greenhouses and the environment

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/25

The use of greenhouses around the world has been growing dramatically. A new satellite mapping exercise estimated the total land area covered with permanent greenhouses at 3.2 million acres, which is an area the size of Connecticut. More than half of this is in China, where the growth of greenhouses has been driven by the […]

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Barley plastic

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/24

The durability, malleability, and low cost of plastics have made them ubiquitous. Plastics are everywhere: in packaging, clothing, and an endless variety of products. As a result, they are everywhere in the environment and they tend to stay there, contaminating land and sea. They are tough to recycle, and their production emits more carbon dioxide […]

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Species range and climate change

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/23

The geographic range of a particular plant or animal species is the area in which it can be found during its lifetime. The range of most species is limited by climatic factors, including temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, humidity, and wind. Any changes in the magnitude or variability of these factors will impact the species living […]

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Another ban on neonics

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/22

There have been ominous declines in many insect populations. Chief among them have been declines in pollinators, which have severe consequences for our food supply. There are multiple possible causes of these declines and undoubtedly several have been involved simultaneously. A new study on butterfly populations in the Midwest indicates that agricultural insecticides exerted the […]

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The slippery slopes of the ski industry

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/18

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, snowfall is declining globally as temperatures warm because of human-caused climate change. Less snow threatens to reinforce global warming, and to disrupt food, water, and livelihoods for billions of people. According to new modeling by researchers from Protect Our Winters Australia and The Australian National University, the […]

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Research on solar geoengineering

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/12

Ideas for potential technologies that could artificially cool the planet as a countermeasure against global warming have been considered radical and dangerous for a long time. But as climate change continues to become increasingly apparent, ideas like solar geoengineering are gaining increasing attention. Most environmental organizations are at best skeptical about such ideas and oppose […]

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Elephants have names

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/11

Elephants are considered to be very smart creatures. They have the largest brain of any land animal and have three times as many neurons as humans. Of course, a lot of that brain hardware is needed to control those big elephant bodies, but elephants have also demonstrated impressive mental capabilities on many occasions. A new […]

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Species and climate change

Earth Wise ·

2024/07/04

Temperature extremes on Earth currently range from a low of -129°F to a high of 134°F. But these climatic limits have changed throughout history. In fact, during the last interglacial period 130,000 years ago, temperatures were warmer, resembling what we are projected to experience at the end of this century. Species that evolved during such […]

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Declining pollinator populations

Earth Wise ·

2024/06/28

Scientists have been sounding the alarm on the global struggle of pollinators for decades. Many recent studies have highlighted alarming declines in pollinator populations, sparking concern about the potential negative impacts on ecosystems and agriculture. Habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change are some of the factors linked to the population declines. But most pollinator […]

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Car tires in your salad

Earth Wise ·

2024/06/26

There seems to be no end to the types of pollution we have introduced into the environment. One that has only recently started to gain attention is pollution caused by vehicle tires. Through normal wear and tear, as vehicles drive along roadways, their tires cast off countless bits of rubber. These particles can linger in […]

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Record carbon dioxide levels

Earth Wise ·

2024/06/25

Despite the increasing concern about the warming climate, the period between March of last year and March of this year has set a new record for the largest 12-month gain in atmospheric CO2 concentration ever observed. The new level, measured at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory was nearly 5 parts per million higher than last year’s […]

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Glaciers in Venezuela

Earth Wise ·

2024/06/24

There are nearly 200,000 glaciers in the world. About 91% of them are in Antarctica and 8% in Greenland. The rest are scattered across nearly 50 countries. The non-polar country with the most glaciers is actually Pakistan, which has over 7,200 of them. But as the world continues to warm, glaciers are shrinking back, and […]

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Recycling cement

Earth Wise ·

2024/06/21

Concrete is the second-most-used material on the planet. Only water is used more. Producing concrete is responsible for 7.5% of human-produced carbon dioxide emissions. So, finding a cost-effective way to reduce these emissions is a major challenge in the face of ever-growing global demand for concrete. Researchers at Cambridge University have found that used cement […]

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Earth Wise

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