Much of the discussion about the benefits of electric vehicles centers about the climate impact of not burning fossil fuels as well as about reduced operating costs.  A new study by the University of Toronto looked at the health benefits of large-scale adoption of electric vehicles. The Toronto researchers used computer simulations to show that […]

Lithium is the critical raw material in the batteries that power electric cars as well as cell phones, computers, and other gadgets.  The stuff has been nicknamed “white gold” for good reason.  Chile and Australia are the world’s largest producers of the metal, which is mostly extracted from brine in evaporation ponds.  The majority of […]

The global shipping industry is responsible for 90 percent of world trade.  The ships crossing the world’s oceans emit nearly 3% of the global greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity that are contributing to climate change.  Among the effects of climate change are sea level rise, which is threatening the very existence of small […]

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, more commonly known as PFAS, are a family of human-made chemicals that have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries since the 1940s.  They provide water-resistance, oil-resistance, dirt-resistance, and corrosion-resistance to a wide range of products, including food wrappers and packaging, clothing, dental floss, nonstick cookware, textiles, and electronics. […]

Krafla is one of the most explosive volcanoes in Iceland, which is home to many active volcanoes, including one recently in the news near Reykjavik that hadn’t erupted for 800 years .  Krafla is the site of the Krafla Magma Testbed, which may end up being for geoscientists what the Large Hadron Collider has been […]

Researchers predict that climate change will negatively impact the yield and nutritional quality of most staple food crops, including rice, corn, and soybeans, due to factors like extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and altered precipitation patterns, potentially leading to reduced food security globally.    As a result, many experts contend that alternative food sources – like […]

One of the largest solar projects in the US has recently come online in Texas.  Three solar farms built side-by-side in Buckholts, Texas by SB Energy can provide 875 megawatts of electricity, nearly the size of a typical nuclear power plant.  The project will supply the largest solar energy purchase ever made by Google and […]

Wildlife trafficking is the world’s fourth largest form of organized crime, behind only drug trafficking, counterfeiting, and human trafficking.  When we hear about wildlife trafficking, we think of elephant ivory, rhino horns, tiger parts, and the like.  But so-called forest crimes, which includes poaching protected trees and illegal logging added up to somewhere between $30 […]

People’s views and level of concern about climate change tend to vary according to age, political affiliation, and other demographic categories.  But one clear trend is that young people are overwhelmingly concerned about climate change.  Given that they will ultimately suffer from its effects far more than older generations, this is not really surprising. A […]

The US is the world’s largest user of nuclear power.  Its 94 reactors supply nearly 19% of the country’s electricity. But the number of U.S. reactors has steadily fallen over the past 30 years and new nuclear power plants are a real rarity.  The reasons are a combination of perceived dangers following several nuclear accidents […]