Despite efforts by the new administration to increase support for fossil fuels, there is increasing momentum towards a clean-energy future.  State and local efforts are driving the country to a 21st-century energy infrastructure, with or without the federal government. California, New York, and Hawaii are all pushing ahead with aggressive clean technology policies.  Now Massachusetts […]

One of the arguments some people make when discussing human causes of climate change is that people can’t cause such massive changes.  However, there is a long historical record of human-driven ecological and climatic change in Europe, North America and New Zealand, among other places. The Sahara Desert region was a lush, green landscape 10,000 […]

The federal government now appears to be headed down the path of not honoring America’s commitments to tackle global warming, but many of the country’s cities and states as well as its corporations have no intention of breaking our promises to the world. Many of the largest cities in the U.S. have aggressive programs in […]

Researchers at Ohio State University have developed a way to use food waste to partially replace the petroleum-based filler that has been used in manufacturing tires for more than a century. About a third of a typical automobile tire is carbon black, which is the stuff that makes tires black in color.  It makes the […]

This Saturday is Earth Day and it’s also the occasion for the March for Science taking place in Washington, DC and in many other cities around the world.  The purpose is to express support for scientific research and evidence-based policies in a tumultuous political environment. Here in the U.S., climate change advocacy has become a […]

A newly released report by the United Nations takes a strong stance against the use of industrial agrochemicals, saying that they are not necessary for feeding the world.  The continued use of pesticides at the rate the world currently does in fact can have very detrimental consequences. The report observes that increased food production has […]

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, more than one billion international tourists travel the world each year.  Tourism has become a powerful and transformative force for many millions of people.  But all this travel is not as positive for the planet.  To that end, the luxury travel network Virtuoso assembled a short, simple […]

DNA analysis has become commonplace and inexpensive.  Millions of people have their DNA tested to learn about their origins and family connections.  And the technology has spread to biological research in the form of Environmental DNA or eDNA, which is such a powerful tool that it is transforming the field of wildlife biology. A quick […]

According to a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey, millions of people living in Oklahoma and parts of Kansas face significant potential for damaging earthquakes this year as a result of human activity.  The only other part of the continental United States facing a similar danger is California, which has natural faults lines slicing […]

According to a new study by the non-profit group Carbon Brief, carbon dioxide emissions in the United Kingdom are at their lowest levels since the 1920s.  Four factors are responsible:  a record drop in coal use, the rapid growth of renewable energy, the expansion of energy efficiency programs, and the increased use of natural gas […]