Earth Wise

Randy Simon

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From green business and new environmental legislation to how nature impacts our environment in ways never before considered, Earth Wise offers a look at our changing environment.

vor 15 Std.

The Colorado River crisis

The Colorado River is experiencing a crisis. Its flow has reduced by an average of 20% compared to the 20th-century average. Its system reservoirs are critically low and water storage across its major lakes is at about 35% of capacity. The Colorado supplies water and irrigation to about 40 million people across seven U.S. states and northern Mexico.

2 Min.
vor 3 Tagen

Battery storage is booming

Solar power has been experiencing a massive boom for fifteen years, with an annual growth rate of 28% over the last decade. More recently, grid storage batteries have established a boom of their own. These battery banks, which can store the energy produced by solar and other sources, are expanding rapidly.

2 Min.
vor 4 Tagen

Taxing electric cars

Congress is considering a bill that would establish an annual fee to be paid by owners of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid cars. The purpose is to have owners of these vehicles pay their fair share of the cost to repair roads.

2 Min.
vor 5 Tagen

Geologic hydrogen

Hydrogen has long been envisioned as the ideal clean energy source for society. Used as a fuel, it releases only water as it is burned. Thus, it could be a direct replacement for fossil fuels in applications where it is difficult to find viable clean alternatives. In fuel cells, hydrogen can be used to generate electricity. But hydrogen faces a major problem: where to obtain it.

2 Min.
vor 6 Tagen

A European heatwave

The late May heatwave in Europe has broken records in more than half a dozen countries. For example, in Oxford, England, where a continuously operating weather station has been keeping records since 1815, a new May record was set on the 26th at nearly 93 degrees Fahrenheit. London reached 95 degrees; the highest temperature ever registered this early in the year.

2 Min.
22. Juni

Another renewables milestone

On the global scale, renewable energy continues to grow by leaps and bounds. This past April saw an important milestone: for the first time ever, wind and solar power produced more electricity than natural gas did for a whole month.

2 Min.
19. Juni

Giant solar projects

The largest electric power plant in the world is the Three Gorges Dam in China, that has a capacity of 22.5 gigawatts. The largest in the US is also a hydroelectric plant: the Grand Coulee Dam that has a capacity of nearly 7 gigawatts. But solar panels keep getting cheaper and developers keep getting better at installing them. As a result, there are bigger and bigger solar projects that are taking over the lead in giant power plants.

2 Min.
18. Juni

A key Atlantic Ocean current is slowing

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (the AMOC) is a massive system of ocean currents that is essentially a global conveyor belt. It transports warm water from the surface in the tropics to the North Atlantic, where it cools and becomes denser, sinks down, and travels south. This circulating system is an essential element in regulating the Earth’s climate, particularly for keeping temperatures in Europe mild.

2 Min.

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From green business and new environmental legislation to how nature impacts our environment in ways never before considered, Earth Wise offers a look at our changing environment.