Earth Wise

There are more and more electric cars on the market as auto manufacturers move toward fleet-wide electrification.  In the United States, pickup trucks are massively popular.  The top three selling vehicles in the country are all trucks, led by the Ford F-Series.  Thus, it is no surprise that automakers are now turning their attention to […]

Long-term exposure to lead can cause serious health problems, especially in children.  Children are particularly vulnerable because their early years are characterized by rapid growth and brain development. Lead is a powerful neurotoxin that can cause damage even at low levels of exposure.  Lead poisoning can be acute, and can cause all sorts of health […]

The American Southwest has suffered from drought conditions since the year 2000.  The drought has reduced water supplies, devastated farmers and ranchers, and it has helped to fuel numerous wildfires across the region.  It has generally been considered to be worst in 500 years. According to a recent analysis, the drought has become so severe […]

Researchers at Oxford University have developed a new adaptable smart window technology that has the potential of reducing the energy usage of the average home by a third. The technology uses a spectrally tunable low-emissivity coating that can control the amount of heat that comes into a room without affecting the quality of the light […]

A new study by researchers at the University of Washington looked at the impact of regenerative farming practices on the nutritional content of the food that is grown.  Regenerative agriculture involves farming practices that not only “do not harm” to the land but actually improve it by regenerating and revitalizing the soil.  The practices focus […]

The Renewable Fuel Standard legislation, first passed in 2005 and updated in 2007, requires billions of gallons of renewable fuel to be added to the country’s transportation fuel supplies.  It created the world’s largest biofuels program. The standard was hailed as a major victory for the climate as well as a way to reduce our […]

The primary indicator of global climate change is the Global Mean Surface Temperature of the Earth and the world’s nations are trying to keep its increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius over the pre-industrial level.   That rise in temperature is called the Global Surface Temperature Anomaly and it actually reached an all-time high in 2016 at […]

The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, covering more than 2.5 million square miles.  It’s home to 10% of all known species in the world.  The Amazon rainforest’s biodiversity is so rich that scientists are still discovering new plant and animal species today.   The Amazon rainforest absorbs huge amounts of carbon dioxide […]

During the fourth quarter of 2021, overall auto sales in the US fell by 21.3% compared to the same quarter of 2020.  At the same time, sales of electric cars grew by 73%.  Is this the beginning of the end for the Gasoline Era, or was it a just an anomaly during the COVID pandemic? […]

There is a growing number of large offshore wind projects in the pipeline in the Northeast.  The large Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts began construction in November.  Contracts for the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects in New York were finalized in January. The first offshore wind project to begin construction in […]