Earth Wise

Climate change is a serious threat to species whose sex is determined by temperature.  Among these are sea turtles.  Whether marine turtles are born male or female turns out to depend on the temperature of their nest during incubation. Sea turtle nests need to be around 84.6 degrees Fahrenheit on average to produce a 50:50 […]

Superstorm Sandy was the deadliest hurricane of 2012 and one of the most destructive hurricanes ever to hit the United States.  According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Superstorm Sandy caused an estimated $74.1 billion dollars in damages.  That figure made it the fourth-costliest storm in U.S. history, trailing only Hurricane Katrina in 2005 […]

In 2019, New York generated more electricity from renewable sources than all but three other states.  The 39.4 million MWh of renewable electricity generated in New York was the largest of any state east of the Mississippi.  New York has been a leader in renewable power long before it became a topic of great interest […]

A new study published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology has found that the total mass of electronic waste generated by Americans has been declining since 2015.  Given that electronic devices are playing an ever-growing role in our lives, this finding seems rather surprising.  It also seems like pretty good news, but the underlying facts […]

For decades, there have been mysterious deaths of Coho salmon.  The salmon return from the Pacific Ocean each year to spawn along the West Coast.   They can be found from Alaska all the way down into California.  After heavy rain events each fall, fish have been turning up dead in huge numbers before they spawn.  […]

Coral reefs around the world have been suffering from warming seas and increasing acidification, both a result of human activity.  In the Caribbean, a new threat has emerged in the form of invasive algae. New research published in Scientific Reports explains how an aggressive, crust-like alga is overgrowing shallow reefs and taking the place of […]

The blades of modern wind turbines can be longer than the wing of a Boeing 747. Their useful lifetime is perhaps 20 years and after that, they can’t just be hauled away.  They end up being cut up with special industrial saws to create pieces small enough to be strapped to a tractor-trailer.  Then, they […]

Self-driving cars require a variety of sensor systems in order for the cars to safely navigate roads and deal with the wide range of objects and conditions that they encounter.  Two competing technologies that cars use to identify and locate objects on the scene are radar and LiDAR.  Radar uses transmitted radio waves to locate […]

Plastics have been described as the “ubiquitous workhorse material of the modern economy.”  But their versatility, pliability, and durability comes at a heavy price to the environment.  Plastic pollution is quite literally everywhere.  Plastic debris and microplastic particles can be found in every corner of the globe, including the Arctic and Antarctic.  The scourge of […]

Greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. in 2020 are on track to be at their lowest level in nearly 30 years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  U.S. emissions haven’t been this low since 1983, when the economy was not even 40% of its current size. According to a new study by the research […]