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Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

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2:00

An uninsurable future

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/31

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 […]

en-US

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Trouble for clownfishes

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/27

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 […]

en-US

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The last days of a giant iceberg

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/23

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. […]

en-US

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Invasive plants and the tropics

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/16

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 […]

en-US

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The pandemic was good for Hanauma Bay

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/08

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 […]

en-US

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Carbon capture with plastic waste

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/07

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 […]

en-US

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Superfood for honeybees

Earth Wise ·

2025/10/03

Honeybee populations have been declining for a combination of interacting factors. There is the parasitic Varroa mite that spreads disease; there is widespread exposure to pesticides; there is diminishing natural forage and nesting habitats as land is developed; and there is climate change. Researchers at Oxford University looked at the impact of climate change and […]

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Lead pipes in Chicago

Earth Wise ·

2025/09/29

Lead pipes were once widely used in plumbing because of the metal’s low melting point and durability. However, lead exposure can cause developmental problems, cardiovascular issues, and organ damage. The federal government banned new lead pipes in 1986, but millions of lead service lines remain in service to this day. Chicago has the highest number […]

en-US

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More floating solar

Earth Wise ·

2025/09/25

Floating solar power is starting to gain some traction in the United States. Installing solar panels on rafts so that they float on water instead of sitting on land allows them to not take up land that can be used for other purposes. There are other benefits as well. The world’s largest floating solar farm […]

en-US

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Super drivers and electric cars

Earth Wise ·

2025/09/12

The average American driver travels about 13,400 miles a year. The top 10% of drivers average about 40,200 miles a year and account for 35% of the nation’s gasoline use from private light-duty vehicles, meaning cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, vans, and minivans. Those 21 million Americans alone burn more gasoline than is burned each year […]

en-US

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What happened to the sea stars

Earth Wise ·

2025/09/11

Billions of sea stars off the Pacific coast of North America from Mexico to Alaska have died from a wasting disease since 2013. This die-off is considered to be the largest ever marine epidemic. Over 90% of the population of sunflower sea stars has succumbed to the disease. The result has been an explosion in […]

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A hidden global water crisis

Earth Wise ·

2025/09/10

A major crisis is unfolding beneath our feet: Earth’s continents are losing freshwater at unprecedented rates. Recent satellite data has uncovered a hidden global water crisis, suggesting the problem is more urgent than previously thought. The study, which was led by researchers from Arizona State University, found that since 2002, climate change, unsustainable groundwater use, […]

en-US

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Energy droughts

Earth Wise ·

2025/09/09

With new ways of doing things, there are always new problems. Our energy systems are increasingly dependent upon solar and wind power. These energy sources are free to take and aren’t going to run out, but they also depend on natural processes that are out of our control. In particular, the sun doesn’t always shine, […]

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Paris and climate change

Earth Wise ·

2025/09/08

Paris is associated with climate change by virtue of the 2015 international agreement seeking to limit the amount of warming taking place on the planet. But Paris is well aware that the world is not making much progress in meeting the goals of that agreement and the French capital is already suffering from the impact […]

en-US

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Harmful algal blooms and climate change

Earth Wise ·

2025/09/05

An algal bloom is a rapid increase in the density of algae in an aquatic system. Harmful algal blooms occur when bodies of water get overloaded with nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from agriculture and other human activities. These excess nutrients can facilitate the out-of-control growth of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. Some species of […]

en-US

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Abandoned farmland and the environment

Earth Wise ·

2025/09/04

Abandoned farmland has been increasing dramatically in recent decades. Estimates are that a billion acres – an area half the size of Australia – have been relinquished from cultivation globally. While more and more of the tropics have been cultivated in recent times, the global amount of land used for agriculture has been in decline […]

en-US

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Facemask pollution

Earth Wise ·

2025/08/28

During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the global usage of disposable facemasks reached a staggering 129 billion per month. Most of these masks are manufactured from petroleum-based non-renewable plastics like polypropylene and the disposal of these masks results in serious pollution problems. These include the loss of ecological integrity from buried waste in landfills, […]

en-US

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Disappearing wetlands

Earth Wise ·

2025/08/21

More than 170 countries gathered recently to discuss how to save wetlands, which are critical ecosystems. However, the U.S. was a no-show for most of the summit and Russia said it will withdraw from the wetlands treaty. Wetlands are a crucial element of all life on Earth, supplying fresh water, oxygen, habitat, and food. The […]

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AI and energy

Earth Wise ·

2025/08/20

MIT recently hosted a symposium on the subject of artificial intelligence being both a problem and a solution for the clean energy transition. AI-powered computing centers are expanding rapidly, creating an unprecedented surge in electricity demand. Electricity demand in the US had been relatively flat for decades but now these computing centers consume about 4% […]

en-US

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The benefits of agroecology

Earth Wise ·

2025/08/19

Agroecology focuses on sustainably managing agricultural systems by applying ecological principles. The goal is to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans, and the environment. A four-year study by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology found that incorporating nature-friendly practices within farming increases biodiversity, pollination by bees, natural pest control, and the numbers of […]

en-US

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