Almost all the countries around the world have pledged to take action to reduce planet-warming emissions by expanding the use of renewable energy sources and phasing out fossil fuels.  But very few countries seem to be taking the fossil fuel phase-out seriously. Almost all the top 20 fossil-fuel producing countries plan to produce more oil, […]

New York has set a target of installing 9 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2035.  The first offshore wind farm in the state – South Fork Wind – was approved by the Long Island Power Authority in 2017.  Construction began in 2022. South Fork Wind Farm is a 132 MW project sited 35 miles […]

Since the 1990s, populations of coho salmon in streams and urban creeks up and down the West Coast have been dying in large numbers.  Scientists at the University of Washington began studying the mysterious deaths and it took years to figure out what was going on.  They analyzed water samples from urban creeks and found […]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has global climate records dating back 174 years.  As the planet continues to heat up, both September and October set new records as the warmest of those months in history. September was the fourth month in a row of record-warm global temperatures.  Not only was it the warmest September […]

Researchers at University of California Riverside have been studying how to enable plants to sense and react to a chemical in the environment without damaging their ability to function in all other respects.  Why do this?  The idea is to be able to use plants as environmental sensors that can detect the presence of harmful […]

A spore-producing bacterium is the source of various crystal toxins (known as Cry proteins) that are widely used in modern agriculture to combat insect pests – generally caterpillars and other larvae – that attack important crops.  Pest control in corn, soybean, and cotton use these insecticidal proteins for protection against major insect pests.  The pesticides […]

When ocean waters get too warm, corals – which are actually tiny animals – eject the colorful algae that inhabit their tissues.  The symbiotic relationship between coral polyps and algae is essential to coral survival   When the algae is ejected, previously colorful coral turns white, and the coral can ultimately die.  If waters cool off, […]

The numbers of elephants, rhinos, and other animals in Uganda’s nature preserves is steadily improving, reversing the trend of steady declines previously caused by poachers, wildlife traffickers, and conflict. Between the 1960s and 1980s, political conflict and lawlessness in Uganda led to massive declines in some species as poaching, trafficking, and encroachment ran rampant. Uganda’s […]

PFAS – per- and polyfluoralkyl substances – are a group of organic compounds that have been extensively used to provide water-, oil-, and dirt-resistance to a wide range of products ranging from non-stick pans, clothing, and packaging to paint, car polish, and fire-suppressant foam.  Exposure to specific PFAS compounds is associated with multiple adverse health […]

The food industry generates enormous amounts of waste and by-products.  Each year, 40 million tons of chicken feathers are incinerated, causing adverse environmental effects.  Not only does it release large amounts of carbon dioxide but also produces toxic gases such as sulfur dioxide. Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore […]