Earth Wise

By Randy Simon

From green business and new environmental legislation to how nature impacts our environment in ways never before considered, Earth Wise offers a look at our changing environment.... more

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How many episodes does Earth Wise have?

The podcast currently has 2,516 episodes available.

Earth Wise episodes:

October 07, 2019 Removing Microplastics with Magnetism
A new method for removing microplastics from the oceans has emerged from, of all things, a science fair project. An Irish 18-year-old named Fionn Ferreira developed his project for the annual Google Science Fair and it won the grand prize of $50,000 in educational funding.
The teenager was walking on the beach in his hometown and ran across a
stone with oil and plastic stuck to it and became focused on the problem of
microplastics increasingly entering the environment.
His idea was to make use of ferrofluids, which are nontoxic magnetic
fluids made of oil and magnetite, which is an iron-based mineral. In the presence of water, the ferrofluids
attract microplastics because both have similar properties.
Ferreira added oil and magnetite to water and mixed in a solution of microplastic particles. When the microplastics latched onto the ferrofluids, he dipped a magnet into the solution several times and the magnet removed both substances, leaving clear water. After almost 1000 tests, he demonstrated the method to be 88% effective in removing a variety of microplastics from water; a result even better than his original hypothesis of an 85% removal rate.
Ferreira is planning to further his education at a prestigious
chemistry institute in the Netherlands starting in the fall.
According to a recent study, Americans eat, drink and breathe between
74,000 and 121,000 microplastic particles each year and, if they drink bottle
water only instead of tap water, an additional 90,000 particles. So, a science fair project that might provide
a way to get rid of most these things is definitely prize-worthy.
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This Irish teenager may have a solution for a plastic-free ocean
Photo, posted April 25, 2016, courtesy of Boe Eide via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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2min
October 04, 2019 Solar-Powered Desalination
Turning seawater into drinking water is an energy-intensive process and is therefore pretty expensive. Worldwide, one third of people don’t have reliable access to safe drinking water and they are the least able to afford expensive ways to get it. By 2025, half of the world’s population is expected to live in water-stressed areas.
At a newly-constructed facility in Kenya, a nonprofit company called
GivePower has built a desalination system that runs on solar power. The system started operating in the coastal
area of Kiunga in July 2018 and can create nearly 20,000 gallons of fresh
drinking water each day – enough for 25,000 people.
GivePower started in 2013 as a nonprofit branch of SolarCity, the
solar-panel company that ultimately merged with Tesla in 2016. However, GivePower spun off as a separate
enterprise shortly before that.
GivePower mostly focuses on building solar-energy systems to provide electricity across the developing world.
Desalination technology is not new, but it is notoriously energy-intensive because it requires high-power pumps. The GivePower system is integrated with a solar microgrid that makes use of Tesla batteries to store energy for when the sun is not shining.
Local residents pay about a quarter of one cent for every quart of
water from the system. The Kiunga
community has faced ongoing drought and before the GivePower system was
installed, was forced to drink from salt water wells, which present serious
health risks.
The GivePower system cost $500,000 to build and is expected to
generate $100,000 a year, to be eventually used to fund similar facilities in
other places.
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A solar-powered system can turn salt water into fresh drinking water for 25,000 people per day. It could help address the world’s looming water crisis.
Photo courtesy of GivePower.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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2min
October 03, 2019 The ‘Biggest Ever’ Arctic Expedition
The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on Earth. In fact, it’s warming at a rate of almost twice the global average. And, since what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic, the world is already feeling the effects: rising sea levels, changes in climate and precipitation patterns, increasing severe weather events, and so on.
As a result, researchers from more than a dozen countries have
launched the biggest and most complex expedition ever attempted in the
Arctic. They plan to freeze Germany’s
largest research vessel, the Polarstern, into Arctic sea ice, where it will
remain trapped for twelve months. The
ship will drift with the sea ice as the sea ice drifts. The vessel will serve as a research
laboratory, hosting a rotating crew of 300 scientists. The ice, the ocean, the atmosphere, and even
the wildlife will all be sampled. This
year-long journey will give researchers their closest look at how the polar
climate and its fragile ecosystems are changing.
Led by the Alfred Wegener
Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, the
Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate project
(or MOSAiC) is expected to cost about $150 million.
One major goal of MOSAiC is to improve strikingly uncertain climate projections for the Arctic. Climate models disagree on how much more the Arctic will warm as the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere rises and sea ice shrinks. Some project a 5ºC rise by 2100 relative to the 1986-2005 average. Others predict a 10ºC increase.
Understanding the complex
processes occurring in the Arctic is essential for projecting the future impacts
of climate change.
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Climate scientists prepare for largest ever Arctic expedition
Climate change: Polarstern leaves for ‘biggest ever’ Arctic expedition
Image courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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2min
October 02, 2019 New Membranes For Carbon Capture
Drastically reducing the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere is an essential goal in the effort to mitigate the effects of climate change. While the ultimate solution is to avoid combustion of fossil fuels by the use of clean alternative energy sources, that transition will take time – possibly more time than we have. As a result, there is a great deal of effort underway to develop techniques for capturing the carbon emitted by fossil fuel combustion and either recycling it or storing it.
There are multiple ways to capture carbon emissions, but the ultimate goal is to find a technique that is both inexpensive and scalable. One promising technique involves the use of high-performance membranes, which are filters that can specifically pick out CO2 from a mix of gases, such as those coming out of a factory smokestack.
Scientists at a Swiss laboratory have now developed a new class of
high-performance membranes that exceeds the targeted performance for carbon
capture by a significant margin. The
membranes are based on single-layer graphene with a selective layer thinner
than 20 nanometers – only about 40 atoms thick. The membranes are highly
tunable in terms of chemistry, meaning that they can be designed to capture
specific molecules.
The membranes are highly permeable – meaning that they don’t impede gas flow too much – but highly selective. The CO2/N2 separation factor is 22.5, which means that 22.5 times more nitrogen can get through the membrane than carbon dioxide.
The work is just at the laboratory stage at this point, but it is a
very promising step towards developing a practical scheme for keeping carbon
dioxide from escaping from power-plant and factory smokestacks.
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Next-gen membranes for carbon capture
Photo, posted December 28, 2010, courtesy of Emilian Robert Vicol via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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2min
October 01, 2019 The Cost Of Rising Seas
Coastal cities in the United States are grappling with the need for extensive infrastructure projects to protect against rising seas and worsening storms. The cost of these projects will be enormous, and it is unclear how to pay to them.
Boston has many neighborhoods in low-lying areas, and it is estimated
that $2.4 billion will be needed to protect the city from flooding. The city abandoned plans to build a harbor
barrier that would have cost $6 to $12 billion because it was economically
unfeasible.
Charleston, South Caroline needs $2 billion to reduce flooding that occurs regularly during high tides. The Houston, Texas area needs $30 billion to provide protection against a 100-year flood. Hurricane Harvey caused $125 billion in damages in Texas in 2017. New York City is considering a $10 billion storm surge barrier and floodgates to shield parts of the city from rising waters.
Florida faces the greatest exposure to flooding with an estimated $76
billion in costs to address some of its problems.
At the federal level, multiple agencies represent potential funding sources, but none offer the kind of money required to address the need. This places a heavy burden on state and local governments. Various states have passed legislation related to shoreline resiliency and flood abatement, but relatively little funding has been approved. Some bond measures have passed, but the totals are small compared with what is needed.
Educating people about the costs of not doing anything or not doing
enough soon enough is essential. As
Hurricane Katrina demonstrated, not spending a large amount of money on
resilience can result in having to spend a colossal amount of money on
recovery.
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Who Will Pay for the Huge Costs of Holding Back Rising Seas?
Photo, posted December 26, 2013, courtesy of Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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2min
September 30, 2019 Renewable Natural Gas
Small-scale biogas systems have collected methane from landfills, sewage plants, and farms for decades. Here in the US, biogas is finally catching up with modern techniques with the advent of third-party operators introducing more sophisticated technology to capture methane and pump it directly into pipelines.
Renewable methane or natural gas represents a significant mostly
unexploited source of energy. Examples
include the vast amounts methane generated by manure from some of the 2,300 hog
farms in eastern North Carolina, biodigesters that can turn clusters of large
California dairy farms into energy hubs, as well as diverting food waste from
landfills and transforming it into vehicle and heating fuels.
According to a 2014 EPA study, the U.S. could support at least 13,000
biogas facilities, fed by manure, landfill gas, and biosolids from sewage
treatment plants. Those facilities could
produce over 650 billion cubic feet of biogas per year – enough renewable
energy to power 3 million homes.
A study by the World Resources Institute estimated that the 50 million
tons of organic waste sent to landfills or incinerated every year in the U.S.
has the energy content of 6 billion gallons of diesel fuel, amounting to 15% of
all diesel consumed by heavy-duty trucks and buses.
Utilizing all that biogas could help lower greenhouse gas emissions from some of the most difficult sectors to decarbonize – transportation, industry, and heating buildings. In addition, ramped up renewable gas could keep organic waste out of landfills and prevent manure runoff into rivers and water supplies.
Renewable natural gas could be the next big thing in green energy.
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Web Links
Could Renewable Natural Gas Be the Next Big Thing in Green Energy?
Photo, posted June 19, 2013, courtesy of Alan Levine via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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2min
September 27, 2019 Mistaking Plastic For Food
Green sea turtles are one of the world’s largest species of turtle, with some measuring close to four feet long and weighing up to nearly 300 pounds. Their range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with the largest nesting populations found in Costa Rica and Australia.
Green sea turtles get their name
from the green layer of fat under their shell, as opposed to their shell
itself, which can be brown, green, yellow, and/or black. Scientists believe the green coloring of their
fat is a result of their diet. Unlike
most other sea turtles, green sea turtles eat marine plants such as seaweed and
seagrass.
But new research suggests that green sea turtles are also more likely to swallow plastic because it resembles their natural diet. The scientists from the University of Exeter and the Society for the Protection of Turtles who examined green sea turtles that washed up on beaches in Cyprus found they favored narrow lengths of plastic in natural colors (like green and black) as opposed to debris of other shapes and colors.
Researchers were able to examine the full gastrointestinal tract of 19
green sea turtles. They found pieces of
plastic inside every one of them, with the number of pieces ranging from three
to 183. Smaller turtles tended to
contain more plastic, possibly because they are less experienced or because
diet choices change with age and size.
Previous research has suggested that leatherback sea turtles also eat
plastic that resembles their food: jellyfish.
Researchers hope these findings will help motivate us to continue to
work on reducing our overall plastic consumption and pollution.
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Web Links
Green turtles eat plastic that looks like their food
Photo, posted September, 2007, courtesy of Brock Roseberry via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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2min
September 26, 2019 Hundred-Year Floods Becoming One-Year Floods
By definition, 100-year floods are intense flooding events that historically tend to happen once every 100 years. Put another way, a 100-year flood has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year.
According to new research published in the journal Nature
Communications, rising global temperatures may turn 100-year floods into
annual occurrences in parts of the United States. The increase in severe coastal flooding
events by the end of this century will be a result of rising sea levels and
stronger, more frequent tropical storms and hurricanes.
The study, led by researchers at Princeton University and MIT,
examined flood risk for 171 counties along the US East Coast and the Gulf of
Mexico. Their analysis concluded that
100-year floods will become annual events in New England. In the US Southeast and Gulf of Mexico,
counties could experience such floods as often as every year up to as seldom as
every 30 years.
Previously, most analysis of coastal flooding has looked only at the
impact of sea level rise on flood risk.
This new research combined the risk of rising seas with projected
changes in coastal storms over the course of this century. Data from the Gulf of Mexico revealed that
the effect of stronger storms is comparable with or even more significant than
the effect of sea level change for 40% of the counties studied. So, neglecting the effects of storm
climatology change is likely to significantly underestimate the impact of
climate change in many places.
The hope is that more comprehensive flood risk data can be used to
create more effective climate resiliency strategies all the way down to the
county level.
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Web Links
100-Year Floods Could Soon Happen Annually in Parts of U.S., Study Finds
Photo, posted August 31, 2017, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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2min
September 25, 2019 Cleaner Air Saves Lives
A new study by Columbia University has concluded that lower air pollution levels saved an estimated 5,660 lives in New York State in 2012, compared to 2002 mortality levels.
The study looked at New York State levels of the specific type of
pollution known as fine particulate matter, referred to as PM2.5. These microscopic particulates are a mixture
of solid particles and liquid droplets that either come from burning fuel or
are formed in the atmosphere as a result of complex reactions of chemicals such
as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from power plants, industries, and
automobiles.
Long-term exposure to PM2.5 can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular
problems.
The study looked at extensive amounts of data to analyze trends in PM2.5 levels across New York State. The data showed that PM2.5 levels dropped by 28 to 37% between 2002 and 2012. This was a result of continued progress in cleaner vehicles, the reduction of high sulfur-dioxide emitting coal-burning power plants, and other air pollution reduction programs. They calculated that this amount of reduction in PM2.5 reduced the air pollution mortality burden for New York State residents by 67% – from 8,410 premature deaths in 2002 to 2,750 deaths in 2012.
The study provides evidence that emission controls on air pollutants –
which were initiated by the Clean Air Act of 1970 and later expanded in 1990 –
have improved public health across New York State. According to the researchers, the study is a
key step to documenting the health benefits from cleaner air.
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Web Links
Air Pollution Cuts Are Saving Lives in New York State
Photo, posted October 13, 2018, courtesy of Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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2min
September 24, 2019 Agrivoltaics
A new study by Oregon State University has found that the most productive places on Earth for solar power are farmlands. In fact, if less than 1% of agricultural land was converted to solar panels, it would be sufficient to fulfill global electricity demand.
The concept of co-developing the same area of
land for both solar photovoltaic power and conventional agriculture is known as
agrivoltaics.
The synergy between agriculture and solar power
is not surprising. People have been
growing crops around the planet for at least 8,000 years and, long ago, farmers
found the best places to grow them which turn out to also the best places to
harvest solar energy. The needs for
solar panels are pretty similar to those of food crops. The efficiency of the panels decreases if
they get too hot. Barren land is hotter
than cropland, so the productivity of solar panels is less in such places.
The Oregon State Study analyzed power production
data collected by Tesla, which had installed five large grid-tied,
ground-mounted solar electric arrays owned by Oregon State. The researchers monitored air temperature,
relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, soil moisture, and incoming
solar energy. With the data, they
developed a model for the best conditions for solar panel productivity and they
coincide with excellent conditions for agriculture. Solar panels are kind of like people with
regard to the weather: they are happier
when it is cool and breezy and dry.
Previously-published research shows that solar
panels actually increase crop yields on pasture or agricultural fields.
These new results have implications for the
current practice of constructing large solar arrays in deserts. Agricultural lands may be a much better
option for both solar production and crop production.
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Web Links
Installing solar panels on agricultural lands maximizes their efficiency, new study shows
Photo, posted April 20, 2011, courtesy of U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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2min

FAQs about Earth Wise:

How many episodes does Earth Wise have?

The podcast currently has 2,516 episodes available.