Earth Wise

There is increasing concern that reducing carbon emissions alone will not be sufficient to stabilize the climate and that technologies that actively remove carbon dioxide from the air will be needed.  There has been a fair amount of analysis of the efficacy of storing carbon in agricultural soil and in forests, but there has not […]

December saw some wild weather in Alaska.  A combination of record high temperatures and torrential rainstorms resulted in the coining of the term “Icemageddon” to describe what was going on with the weather. Kodiak Island in southern Alaska saw a high temperature of 67 degrees on December 26, which was warmer than it was in […]

The Netherlands is a country that is largely built on reclaimed land and a third of it remains below sea level.  The Dutch have long experience with dealing with rising waters.  The city of Amsterdam has almost 3,000 houseboats in its canals. As sea levels continue to rise across the globe, it is no surprise […]

Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory have developed an all-season smart roof coating that can keep homes warm during the winter and cool during the summer, and the coating does not consume any gas or electricity. Existing cool roof systems consist of reflective coatings, membranes, shingles, or tile that lower house temperatures by reflecting sunlight […]

The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is the widest glacier in the world. It is about 80 miles across and in places extends to a depth of about 2,600 to 3,900 feet.  The glacier is roughly the size of Florida, and it currently contributes 4% of annual global sea level rise as it continues to retreat […]

As of January 1, the state of New York now prohibits any person engaged in the business of selling or distributing prepared food or beverages from selling, offering for sale, or distributing disposable food service containers that contain expanded polystyrene foam in the state.  In addition, no manufacturer will be allowed to sell, offer for […]

The price of the batteries that power electric cars has fallen by about 90% since 2010.  This continuing trend will eventually make EVs less expensive than gas cars. For many years, researchers have estimated that when battery packs reach the price of $100 per kilowatt-hour of energy storage, electric cars will cost about the same […]

In recent years, there have been countless stories about the effects of the changing climate.  Many of those stories have been about the dwindling sea ice in the Arctic and many others have been about the worsening wildfires in the western United States.   According to a recent study published by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, […]

Climate change poses a major threat to polar bear survival.  The polar bear, whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, depends on sea ice for nearly all of its lifecycle functions.  And rising temperatures are causing this sea ice to disappear. Climate change-driven sea ice loss is the primary threat to the future […]

Wearable electronic devices are a big market but there are limitations created by the properties of the batteries that operate them.  The ideal battery for wearable electronics would be soft and comfortable, stretchable, and washable.  Researchers at the University of British Columbia have recently developed just such a battery.  The work has been described in […]