Earth Wise

According to a new study led by Yale University, more hurricanes are likely to hit Connecticut and the northeastern U.S. as global warming continues to increase temperatures in the region. Hurricane Henri made landfall in August as a tropical storm on the Connecticut/Rhode Island border.  In September 2020, subtropical storm Alpha made landfall in Portugal, […]

According to a new study led by researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada, climate change will limit where the Winter Olympics can be held as winter changes across the Northern Hemisphere.  The international research team found that by the end of the century only one of the 21 cities that have previously hosted […]

While Congress continues to face partisan gridlock on climate issues, many states have moved forward with climate action. In 2021, five states – Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, North Carolina, and Rhode Island – passed laws requiring a shift to 100% carbon-free electricity or net-zero emissions.  Washington State passed a law that helps to implement its strong […]

There are some people who worry that an electric grid heavily dependent upon intermittent sources like solar and wind power may be more susceptible to blackouts.  According to a new study by Stanford University, these fears are misplaced. The study, published in the journal Renewable Energy, found that an energy system running on wind, water, […]

According to a new study, microbes in oceans and soils around the world are evolving to eat plastic.  The study by Chalmers University in Sweden was published recently in the journal Microbial Ecology. The study is the first large-scale assessment of the plastic-degrading potential of bacteria.  There are 95 microbial enzymes already known to degrade […]

The installed solar capacity in the European Union grew by 34% in 2021.  This means that Europe is on pace to quadruple its solar energy generation by 2030. During 2021, the 27 countries of the European Union installed 25.9 gigawatts of new solar capacity, compared with 19.3 gigawatts in 2020.  This was the biggest year […]

The great mountain ranges of central Asia, including the Himalayas, contain the third-largest deposit of ice and snow in the world, trailing only Antarctica and the Arctic.  The Himalayan range contains about 15,000 glaciers, and is part of a region widely referred to as the Third Pole due to its extraordinary reserves of freshwater. But […]

Cavendish bananas account for about half of global banana production and the vast majority of bananas entering international trade.  The plant is unable to reproduce sexually and instead is propagated via identical clones.  So, the genetic diversity of the Cavendish banana is exceedingly low.  In 2008, Cavendish cultivars in Sumatra and Malaysia started to be […]

It is well known that green spaces can improve the quality of life and create a better climate in cities.  City trees and vegetation can help reduce urban heat island effects by shading buildings and roads, deflecting radiation from the sun, and releasing moisture into the atmosphere.  City trees and green spaces have also been […]

In early December, a series of tornadoes struck multiple states, killing nearly 100 people and producing widespread damage in whole communities.  These storms were at least the 19th weather or climate disaster that caused more than $1 billion in damage during 2021.  The year suffered from droughts, wildfires, severe cold snaps, hurricanes, and other severe […]