Earth Wise

From melting Arctic ice to dying coral reefs to rising sea levels, there was no shortage of grim environmental news in 2016.  But the news wasn’t all bad.  There were several bright spots for the environment last year as well. First, global carbon emissions appear to have stopped increasing.   The data suggests that emissions have […]

Over the years, tomatoes have been selectively bred for qualities such as size and firmness for shipping purposes and appearance, but selection for flavor has generally been overlooked.  Many of us find that the tomatoes we buy in the grocery store just don’t taste like they used to.  In fact, often they don’t taste like […]

A recent report from the Energy Information Administration notes that for the first time in 40 years, carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation are less than those from transportation.   The reason is that power plants nationwide are abandoning the use of coal and turning to cleaner burning natural gas, as well as newer sources such […]

The Board of Trustees of the Long Island Power Authority has voted to approve the nation’s largest offshore wind farm, which is also the first offshore wind farm in New York.  The South Fork Wind Farm, located 30 miles southeast of Montauk, New York, will be a 90 megawatt facility that will provide enough electricity […]

A rapidly-growing crack in the fourth-largest ice shelf in Antarctica has scientists watching for it to break off entirely.  By early February, the crack in the Larsen C ice shelf was more than 100 miles long and some parts of it were 2 miles wide.   In the two-month period between December and February, the crack […]

Climate change is posing a major threat to the future of coral reefs.  According to a recent United Nations-backed study, if swift action is not taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions, annual coral bleaching events will affect nearly all of the world’s coral reefs.  And coral bleaching can result in serious coral mortality – as […]

Last year was a big year for progress in the U.S. power sector.  Renewable energy provided nearly 17% of the country’s electricity, up from 13.7% in 2015.  The first offshore wind farm in the U.S. opened off the coast of Rhode Island.  And most significantly, carbon emissions from the power sector continued to decline and […]

The fruit and vegetables in most grocery stores these days come with little stickers on them with a numerical code identifying the produce for the cashier at the checkout counter.  They are quite helpful for the cashier but a real irritation for the customer.  Half the time it is difficult to get the labels off […]

We have heard the term “clean coal” for years, mostly from politicians and in coal company advertising.  The concept sounds good:  burn coal but don’t produce carbon dioxide emissions.  While there have been various small-scale tests of technologies to accomplish this, it has not actually been a viable option for the power industry. In January, […]

Americans toss out an almost unbelievable $161 billion worth of food every year.  There are numerous efforts underway to address this problem, but they are mostly at the local level or in the business sector.   To date, we have no national- or international-level policies that tackle the issue.  In this regard, Europe is way ahead […]