About 1% of the world’s population is dependent on desalinated water to meet daily needs, but water scarcity is a growing problem that experts believe will affect 14% of the world’s population within the next five years. Desalination takes much more energy than, for example, transporting fresh water over large distances.&#160; In general, desalination costs [&#8230;]

Earth Wise

Solar-Powered Desalination | Earth Wise

One-third of all food produced is wasted, which turns out to be a major contributor to carbon emissions.&#160; Most of the carbon emissions associated with food waste are related to the production of the food.&#160; Reducing waste would trickle through the supply chain over time and ultimately less food would be produced. A study at [&#8230;]

Food Waste And Access To Groceries | Earth Wise

Rising sea levels and the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are leaving observable effects on beaches, cliffs, and coastal infrastructures all around the world.&#160; But a new study suggests that the impact of climate change on coastal plant communities needs more attention.&#160; According to research recently published in the journal Annals of [&#8230;]

Coastal Plants And Climate Change | Earth Wise

Climate change has been shrinking Arctic sea ice and this is causing changes in the behavior of polar bears.&#160;&#160; The Southern Beaufort Sea, located where the northern edges of Alaska and Canada meet, is home to one of the 19 population groups of polar bears.&#160; Historically, the polar bears in this region remained on sea [&#8230;]

An Ecological Trap For Polar Bears | Earth Wise

Plants have been harnessing the sun’s energy for hundreds of millions of years.&#160;Algae and photosynthetic bacteria have been doing the same for even longer, all with remarkable efficiency and resiliency.&#160; People have used the energy of the sun in one way or another for millennia, but only recently have we gotten sophisticated about it by [&#8230;]

Figuring Out Photosynthesis | Earth Wise

During this year’s Super Bowl, at least three car companies – GM, Porsche, and Audi – ran commercials for plug-in cars.&#160; This is a sign that automakers are ramping up their efforts to persuade the public that electric cars really are the future. The auto industry is investing billions of dollars to develop electric vehicles, [&#8230;]

Hyping Electric Cars | Earth Wise

The environmental consequences of burning fossil fuels&#160;are a dominant topic.&#160; The increasing changes in the climate&#160;have far-reaching effects&#160;across the globe and are&#160;a growing geopolitical crisis.&#160; But the climate effects of&#160;fossil fuel emissions are by no means the only problem&#160;they cause.&#160;&#160; A new report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clear Air has, for [&#8230;]

The Cost Of Air Pollution | Earth Wise

Fireflies or lightning bugs are soft-bellied beetles known widely for their use of bioluminescence &#8211; the biochemical emission of light &#8211; to communicate and to attract mates.&#160; There are more than 2,000 species of these beetles globally.&#160; They can be found in temperate and tropical climates, like marshes or wet, wooded areas, all throughout the [&#8230;]

Tough Times For Fireflies | Earth Wise

Antimicrobial resistance&#160;is a serious and growing problem for&#160;public health.&#160; Over time, more and more&#160;types of bacteria have become&#160;resistant to known antibiotics&#160;making it very difficult to&#160;treat&#160;various kinds of&#160;infections.&#160; A new group of antibiotics with a unique approach to attacking bacteria has been discovered&#160;at McMaster&#160;University in Canada,&#160;representing&#160;a promising&#160;new&#160;clinical&#160;approach&#160;in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.&#160; The newly found&#160;corbomycin&#160;and the [&#8230;]

A New Kind Of Antibiotic | Earth Wise

Recent climate models from multiple organizations project that the amount of warming that doubling atmospheric carbon dioxide would cause would be much more than previously estimated.&#160; And one of the significant changes to the models relates to the role of clouds. Clouds have long been a major uncertainty in climate calculations.&#160; Clouds can shade the [&#8230;]

Clouds And Global Warming | Earth Wise

Under a new initiative, builders in New Jersey will have to take climate change into account in order to win government approval for projects.&#160; New Jersey is the first state in the United States to enact such a requirement, which will leverage land-use rules to control what and where developers can build, and limit the [&#8230;]

A First In The Climate Change Fight | Earth Wise

It is still early in the year, but extreme weather events are already piling up.&#160; January was the warmest month on record globally and there have been many records shattered in Europe and Asia.&#160; A number of places in Eastern Europe, including parts of Russia, have seen temperatures 12 to 13 degrees above average. While [&#8230;]

A Record Antarctic Temperature | Earth Wise

Printed circuit boards are key elements of modern electronic devices that support and connect all of their electronic components.&#160; On average, they are composed of 30% metallic and 70% nonmetallic substances. Once the circuit boards have served their purpose, they are often burned or buried in landfills, and can pollute the air, soil, and water.&#160; [&#8230;]

Safer Disposal Of Printed Circuit Boards | Earth Wise

Biodiversity is declining rapidly throughout the world and people are mostly the reason.&#160; Species are disappearing because of changes in land and sea use, the direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species resulting from globalization.&#160; The challenges of conserving the world’s species are many and difficult.&#160; Among these challenges are determining [&#8230;]

What Is An Endangered Species? | Earth Wise

International shipping is a large and growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.&#160; Maritime transport produces about a billion tons of CO2 annually, accounting for about 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.&#160; The environmental impact of shipping includes air pollution, water pollution, and even acoustic pollution.&#160; In many coastal areas, ships are responsible for more than [&#8230;]

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