Earth Wise

Texas has been a leader in wind energy for a number of years.  In 2020, wind made up 23% of the state’s generating capacity and provided 20% of in-state generation.  But although wind capacity in Texas has grown rapidly in recent years, solar power is expected to make up the largest share of the state’s […]

The extensive shutdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in reduced activity across many sectors of the global economy.  As a result, global pollution and greenhouse gas emissions also saw lower levels.  As the COVID crisis lessens, an economic recovery is growing and as that occurs, emissions are on the rise. The International Energy Agency […]

The Biden administration has given final approval to a project it hopes will usher in a new era of wind energy in the United States.  The greenlight was announced by the Department of the Interior on May 11. The Vineyard Wind project intends to install up to 84 huge wind turbines about 12 nautical miles […]

Scientists have concluded that the changing climate is primarily the result of increased human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.  Some of the effects of global climate change include melting glaciers, warming oceans, intensifying storms, and rising seas. Another consequence of global climate change is natural disasters like floods and wildfires.  Climate change is increasing the frequency and […]

The glut of plastics is one of the world’s most challenging environmental problems.  The average American generates over 200 pounds of plastic waste each year and most of that ends up in landfills.  Researchers around the globe continue to work on potential solutions to the plastic waste problem. Two years ago, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley […]

The Republic of Maldives is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka and India and about 400 miles from the Asian mainland.  It is one of the world’s most geographically dispersed sovereign states, the smallest Asian country by land area, and, with a little over 500,000 inhabitants, the second least populous country […]

Water security is a serious global problem.  Nearly 1.5 billion people – including almost half a billion children – live in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability.  Less than 3% of the world’s water is fresh and demand for it is rising with increasing population growth, urbanization, and growing water needs from a […]

Almost everything we do ultimately results in greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere and therefore has an impact on the climate.  But some activities have much more impact than others.  The aviation industry is responsible for about 5% of global warming. This doesn’t seem like that large a contribution, but only a very small percentage of […]

Water is a fundamental need for every human being on the planet.  Each person requires more than five gallons of clean and safe water a day for drinking, cooking, and keeping clean. Groundwater wells remain one of the primary sources of drinking water.  In fact, more than half of the world’s population gets its drinking […]

The dangers of overexposure to UV solar radiation have led to the extensive production and use of sunscreen products.  It is generally understood that many of the chemical compounds used in sunscreen products have toxic effects on marine organisms, but research in this area is relatively limited. There are estimates that as many as 82,000 […]