NEWS
Recent activities
Natural Resources
A Growing Awareness of the Sentience of Horses
At least since 2,000 B.C., humankind and horses have traveled, worked, fought, and raced together. Modern research into animal behavior is now finding that these animalsāfrom giant draft horses to dainty poniesāare emotionally complex and highly intelligent.
Data
New Analysis Projects Greater Global Plastic Pollution
In 2020, the Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ published Breaking the Plastic Wave, a pioneering report that detailed how global plastic pollution was projected to nearly triple by 2040 unless bold action was taken to significantly curb pollution.
Data
Economic Growth and Carbon Emissions No Longer in Lockstep
A decade after the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, new analysis from the UKās Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) reveals a striking shift: Economic expansion no longer guarantees carbon emissions growth, thanks to countriesā carbon emission mitigation efforts.
Data
Scientists Predict Peak Glacier Loss
Glaciersāicons of the Earthās climate crisisāare not just shrinking in volume; scientists have now forecast when the rate of glacier disappearances will reach its zenith in this century. In a groundbreaking Nature study, glaciologists have shifted focus from traditional mass-loss metrics to the number of individual glaciers vanishing each year under different climate warming scenarios.
Data
Western US Forests Need More Managed Fires
For much of the last century, wildfire policy in the western United States has focused on limiting or suppressing burned areas while declining to thin or control forest overgrowth and old, dry wood.
Data
Study Explores Attitudes of Sustainable Shoppers
A new national study released by Ceres in partnership with Northwind Climate explores how US adults think about the environment when they shop for goods and what drivesāor preventsāthem from acting on those intentions.
Data
Counting the Ways Valentineās Day is Not āGreenā
Maybe itās time to show nature a little more love on Valentineās Day. With increased scrutiny of the environmental footprint of human activities, there are many ways in which the traditional ways of celebrating the holiday of love do not benefit the environment.
News
Turning Plastic Waste into Carbon-Capture Material
A team of chemists at the University of Copenhagen has developed a promising new method to transform common PET plastic waste into a carbon-capture material with potential uses in industrial emissions control, offering a rare dual solution to plastic pollution and climate change.
News
Using Coal Ash and Carbon Dioxide to Make Cement
A University of WisconsināMadison spinoff is advancing a technology that turns two major industrial pollutantsācarbon dioxide and coal ashāinto a building material that can replace a key component of conventional cement and cut greenhouse-gas emissions associated with concrete production.
News
Thriving Animal Communities Found under 6 Miles of Ocean
A series of recent deep-ocean expeditions have uncovered astonishing animal communities thriving at extreme depthsāin places long thought too hostile for complex life. These findings, drawn from multiple trench systems in the Pacific Ocean, are expanding scientistsā understanding of how life adapts to crushing pressure, perpetual darkness, and scarce food resources.
Natural Resources
Fish Farming in the Desert
Picturing a desert typically conjures up images of sand dunes, rocks, blazing sun, and maybe some palm trees or cactus. But one image that probably doesnāt come to mind is flourishing marine life.
Education
Natureās Renewal Power for Urban Youth
In many cities, childhood unfolds amid concrete, traffic, and persistent dirt and noise, conditions that shape the emotional and physical well-being of young people growing up in dense, underprivileged urban environments.
Forward Thinkers
Architecture That Follows the Heart
Anna Heringer, architect, author, teacher, and winner of multiple awards, has discovered a secret to beautiful and sustainable building: Form follows love.
Ecosystems
Alligators: Proceed with Caution (and Appreciation)
As an apex predator that can harm human beings and domestic animals, the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is feared in many parts of the nation. However, āthe reasons to fear alligators are unfounded, as they are not aggressive beasts, although as large predators they should be respected,ā said Frank Mazzotti, professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Floridaās Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center.
Human Health
Happy Farm: Healing Fields and Farmers
Mick McEvoy, manager of the Upper Hamlet Happy Farm in Plum Village in France, is telling The Earth & I about the connection between mindfulness and farming when he uses this somewhat enigmatic expression. It was coined by the Buddhist monk who helped establish Plum Village, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Natural Disasters
While Floodwaters Recede, Child Trauma Does Not
Floodwaters are in the headlines. Mud is in the photographs. Death toll numbers force a nation to look up. But for children, the disasters continue long after the rain stops. Solutions include prioritizing school repairs and reopenings after a natural disaster, and adding school curricula and activities on how to strengthen Indonesiaās islands against future calamities.
Ecosystems
Mountains as Moral Landscapes
At 7 a.m., as the sun rises over Seoul, the nearby granite slopes of Bukhansan are already alive. Elderly hikers in neon visors tap their trekking poles like drumbeats, exhaling clouds of mist into the crisp, pine-scented air.
Climate
Road Salt: Kind to Drivers but Not the Planet
Road salt has long been treated as an unavoidable cost of winter safety, but the tax it quietly imposes on ecosystems and infrastructure is far larger than its price per ton suggests.
Human Health
Sober-Curious, Climate-Conscious
Recent Gallup polling shows that alcohol consumption in the United States has dropped to its lowest level in nearly 90 years, with drinkers reporting they are drinking lessāand less frequently. A record low of 54% of adults are now drinking in the US, down from 67% just a few years ago. Younger adults, aged 18ā35, are driving this decline, as they increasingly prioritize their health.
Economics & Policy
How 'Silent Spring' Launched a Movement
Rachel Carsonās 1962 blockbuster book Silent Spring broke the logjam of environmental complacency in America and around the world over the freewheeling use of pesticides.
