Earth Wise

Sometime early in May, the United States installed its one millionth solar energy system.  Achieving this milestone took the solar industry about 40 years to accomplish.  Because of the phenomenal growth of solar power in this country, industry experts predict that it will only take two more years to reach the second million and there […]

Everybody loves national parks. They offer scenic wonders, opportunities to commune with nature, and a chance to get away from the pervasive commercialization that fills our lives.  But that may soon change. This is the centennial year for the parks and, simply put, they need money for a wide range of maintenance programs that have […]

Acid rain is rain containing high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids.  The main culprit for it is the burning of fossil fuels, particularly coal-burning power plants.  The most serious effect of acid rain is the creation of toxicity in lakes, wetlands and other aquatic environments, doing great harm to a wide range of aquatic […]

There are 35 megacities in the world – metropolitan areas with more than 10 million people.  Fifteen of them have populations above 20 million.   And many of these teeming metropolises have to contend with some of the worst air pollution on the planet. India’s megacities are really suffering from choking air pollution.  While Beijing’s smog […]

The North American Bird Conservation Initiative recently released its annual “State of the Birds’ report, which is a comprehensive analysis of North American birds.  And as with many other things these days, we’re not doing well. According to the report, more than one-third of 1,154 North American bird species – 37% to be exact – […]

Energy storage is hot topic because more and more electricity is being generated from renewable sources like solar power and wind power that can’t operate all the time because the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow.  So we need ways to store surplus energy when it is produced and be able […]

Five years ago, the Obama Administration announced that the Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE standard for the year 2025 would be 54.5 miles-per-gallon.   They estimated that improving the average fuel economy of cars and light-duty trucks to this level would save car owners $1.7 trillion at the pump and eliminate more than 6 billion metric […]

In a recent article in Science entitled “Waste not, want not, emit less,” Danish researchers looked at the problem of food waste in both developed and developing countries.  Overall, about a third of the world’s food is lost or wasted, but the reasons for this vary in different parts of the world. In developing countries, […]

The price for installing solar panels continues to get lower and lower as volumes increase and technology improves.  There are also more ways than ever to get solar installed with leases and other creative financial arrangements. But a question that remains is just how much of our energy can we generate from our rooftops?  By […]

By the year 2030, two-thirds of humanity will live in cities— but we are not alone. Cities are filled with food and natural predators are scarce, so many creatures have moved in with us. Urban animals adapt their lifestyles to suit ours.  They learn to live in smaller spaces, they become active at night, when […]