Earth Wise
A look at our changing environment.
Episodes
August 1, 2025 • 2 mins
It is unfortunately well-known that microplastics are pretty much everywhere on Earth. They are also increasingly found in living things like birds and dolphins as well as in human brains and placentas. The oceans are polluted with plastic, and for the first time, there is now an estimate for the volume of nanoplastics – which […]
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July 31, 2025 • 2 mins
In June, solar power was the largest source of electricity in the European Union for the first time. Solar supplied a record 22% of the power for the 27-country bloc. At least 13 of the countries produced new monthly highs for solar power in June. The Netherlands got more than 40% of its electricity from […]
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July 30, 2025 • 2 mins
Tree plantings have become a go-to climate solution for governments and conservation groups due to the carbon-storing potential of trees. While planting new trees on open farmland would help capture additional carbon, a new study led by scientists from Yale School of the Environment suggests a powerful alternative: forest-based agroforestry. Instead of clearing land for […]
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July 29, 2025 • 2 mins
This summer has already seen unprecedented heat in many places. It started with a record-breaking heat dome in June in the United States. Alaska had its first-ever heat advisory that month. Europe has seen triple-digit temperatures in cities like Paris, Madrid, and Rome and even in places like Austria, Sarjevo, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Serbia. On […]
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July 28, 2025 • 2 mins
Cement pretty much holds the modern world together. The amount of cement required to create our infrastructure is almost incomprehensible. By weight, humanity consumes more cement than food, about 3 pounds per person per day. The cement industry produces around eight percent of global CO2 emissions, which is more than the aviation industry. So, if […]
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July 25, 2025 • 2 mins
Tens of thousands of raccoons live in Kassel, a city of 200,000 people in central Germany known for its art scene. Overall, there are an estimated 1.5 million raccoons in Germany. The omnivorous mammals are native to North America, but they were brought to Germany in the 1930s for fur farming. Fur farming ultimately ceased […]
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July 24, 2025 • 2 mins
An estimated 30 million tons of wood waste from construction and demolition in the U.S. ends up in landfills each year. A growing number of cities have launched initiatives to reuse the wood instead. It is a strategy to reduce carbon emissions, cut waste, and shift towards a circular economy. For a long time, salvaged […]
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July 23, 2025 • 2 mins
Poultry farms are a significant source of air and water pollution. In the US, they are the largest source of ammonia emissions, followed by dairy and non-dairy cattle farms. Poultry farms emit over two million tons of ammonia per year. Ammonia is not directly produced or excreted by the birds but is a common by-product […]
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July 22, 2025 • 2 mins
Increasing reliance on digital technologies in general and artificial intelligence in particular are dramatically increasing the energy consumption of data centers. Data centers consume far more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings. By the year 2030, data center energy consumption in the US is projected to reach 9% of the country’s electricity generation. […]
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July 21, 2025 • 2 mins
Sea surface temperatures broke records in 2024 and a quarter of the world’s oceans are experiencing temperatures that qualify as a marine heatwave. A marine heatwave is a prolonged period during which ocean temperatures are significantly warmer than average for that specific location and time of year. Unusual heatwaves have occurred in all the major […]
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July 18, 2025 • 2 mins
Getting people to recycle isn’t always easy. The bottled beverages we buy at the supermarket often require a small deposit that we can get back by recycling the bottle, but often, we just don’t. Researchers from the University of British Columbia tested the idea of giving people returning bottles a small chance of winning a […]
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July 17, 2025 • 2 mins
Ultra-pure water is essential for multiple industries, for example semiconductors, batteries, and pharmaceuticals, as well as food and beverage companies. Such water is produced by various processes including desalination plants that use reverse osmosis. The byproduct of the processing is industrial brine: salty wastewater. The brine produced by desalination is generally dumped into the ocean […]
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July 16, 2025 • 2 mins
Planting lots of trees is one of many strategies being pursued to combat climate change. Forests absorb carbon dioxide, provide shade, and help regulate temperatures. They also support biodiversity and improve air and water quality. According to a new study by researchers from the University of California – Riverside, restoring forests to their pre-industrial extent […]
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July 15, 2025 • 2 mins
The idea of using hydrogen as a fuel or an energy source has been around for a long time. Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe, but most of it is locked up in various chemical compounds, such as water. Hydrogen is a clean fuel; burning it or using it to generate electricity […]
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July 14, 2025 • 2 mins
Worldwide, people are producing more food than ever, but most of that production is concentrated into only a handful of places. For example, fully one third of the world’s wheat and barley exports come from Ukraine and Russia. Across the globe, several major crop-growing regions, including some in the United States, are heading towards sharp […]
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July 11, 2025 • 2 mins
The majority of us spend about 80% of our time indoors. The quality of the air that we breathe depends on the age and type of building we occupy along with any sources of indoor pollution that may exist and, ultimately, the quality of the air outdoors. The HVAC used to heat, ventilate, and cool […]
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July 10, 2025 • 2 mins
More than 30% of the world’s food is lost after it has been harvested. That’s enough to feed more than a billion people. Much of that loss is fruits and vegetables that go bad before they can be eaten. Refrigeration is the most common way to preserve foods, but the energy and infrastructure required is […]
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July 9, 2025 • 2 mins
Nuclear power has been around since the 1950s, but it has fallen out of favor in recent decades, in part due to a couple of traumatic disasters at nuclear power plants. In fact, only two new nuclear power plants have been built in the US in the past 30 years, and they took a very […]
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July 8, 2025 • 2 mins
As global temperatures continue to rise and ecosystems shift, animals are left with limited options. They must either adjust to the changing conditions in their habitats or relocate to cooler environments. For many species, neither choice is easy – or sometimes even possible. Ecologists had long assumed birds were among the most adaptable species in […]
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July 7, 2025 • 2 mins
Sea Urchins are real troublemakers. On the West Coast, the sea urchin population exploded when the sunflower sea stars that eat them were decimated by a wasting disease. Urchins devour kelp and they ate up 96% of the region’s kelp forests. Kelp forests serve as shelter and food for a vast array of marine life […]
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