Earth Wise

The world’s oceans contain five gyres, which are large systems of circular currents created by global wind patterns and the Earth’s rotation.   Gyres act like gigantic whirlpools.  Anything that floats into one of them eventually ends up in the center.   Ever since floating plastic waste started entering the ocean, it has poured into these gyres […]

A recent report from several environmental organizations shows that plastic recycling rates in the U.S. have actually declined in the last several years from about 8.7% of discarded plastic to less than 6%.   Meanwhile, since 1980, per capita plastic waste generation has increased 263%, totaling 218 pounds of plastic waste per person as of 2018. […]

Rising seas are increasing saltwater intrusion on land and rising temperatures are causing greater evaporation.   The result is mounting levels of salt in waters and in soils. Rising sea levels cause salty ocean water to push further into river deltas.  There is already a surge in saltiness across all inhabited continents.   Seawater works its way […]

Whale sharks are the largest fish in the world.  While they measure up to 60 feet long and weigh up to 15 tons – larger and heavier than a school bus – whale sharks are actually harmless.  They are a graceful, slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark.  They are found in marine environments around the world and […]

According to estimates, by 2040 there will likely be nearly 90 million tons of plastic pollution entering the environment each year.  Particles of plastic have been found in virtually all parts of our planet including the land, the water, and even the air.  Tiny plastic particles have been found in the Arctic, the Antarctic, and […]

The largest floating solar array in Europe, 12,000 panels sitting on top of the Alqueva Reservoir in Portugal – will come online in July.  Installing floating solar arrays, which are sometimes called “floatovoltaics”, produce renewable energy while shielding significant expanses of water from the sun’s heat.  These dual benefits have led to floatovoltaic projects in […]

The vaquita porpoise, the world’s smallest marine mammal, is on the brink of extinction.  Scientists estimate that just 10 or fewer vaquitas are left despite international conservation efforts. Found only in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California, the vaquita is the most endangered marine mammal on the planet.  According to the International Committee for the Recovery […]

Microbiologists at Radboud University in the Netherlands have demonstrated in the laboratory that methane-consuming bacteria can generate electrical power.  Their study was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology. The bacteria studied is called Candidatus Methanoperedens and in the natural environment it consumes methane in water sources that are contaminated with nitrogen including places […]

We recently talked about California producing 97% of its electricity from renewables on one sunny afternoon in April.  On May 8th, the state produced enough renewable electricity to meet 103% of consumer demand.  These sorts of records are likely to be increasingly commonplace in the spring when the weather is still fairly mild. But even […]

Researchers at Chalmers University in Sweden have developed an entirely new way of capturing and storing energy from sunlight.  The system is called the Molecular Thermal Energy Storage System or MOST.  It is based on a specially designed molecule that changes shape when it is exposed to sunshine. The molecule is composed of carbon, hydrogen, […]