20 episodes
Earth Wise Earth Wise
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- Education
A look at our changing environment.
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Offshore wind and the wake effect
Electricity demand in the U.S. continues to grow and, in the summer, homes and businesses crank up their air conditioning which drives demand even further. Many East Coast cities are banking on offshore wind projects that are underway in the Atlantic Ocean to help meet that growing demand. The first offshore turbines are now producing […]
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Balloon release laws
The Florida state legislature has recently passed a law that bans the intentional release of helium balloons outdoors. It is a rare example of a bipartisan piece of legislation. Florida is joining six other states that have already enacted balloon restricting laws. Balloons released into the sky don’t just disappear into the ether. They often […]
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A setback for New York offshore wind
Three major offshore wind projects in New York have been cancelled because of the unavailability of technology critical to the projects. The projects were part of NYSERDA‘s third offshore wind solicitation and were provisionally awarded last October. The projects, which totaled more than 4 GW of clean energy, were supposed to begin commercial operation in […]
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Marine carbon dioxide removal
About 30% of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity is absorbed by the oceans. As a result, they are getting warmer and more acidic, and the currents that help shape global weather are shifting. To try to reduce global warming, people want to be able to store even more carbon dioxide in the oceans […]
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Global coral bleaching
The world’s coral reefs are in the midst of a global bleaching event being driven by extraordinarily high ocean temperatures. This is the fourth such global event on record and is predicted to be the largest one ever. Coral bleaching occurs when corals are stressed by heat and eject the symbiotic algae within them that […]
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Oases and desertification
Oases are important sources of water for people, plants, and animals in the world’s desert areas. In fact, oases sustain 10% of the world’s population despite taking up only about 1.5% of land area. They form when groundwater flows and settles into low-lying areas or when surface meltwater flows down from nearby mountains and pools. […]