The 2017 hurricane season showed that Caribbean nations urgently need more resilient power grids. But the effects of climate change – including more severe storms – complicate the shift to renewables.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Caribbean
Analysis and Comment
Experts expect the wind business to remain brisk in the US and abroad, on land and offshore.
A recent survey of electric utility leaders finds that Trump administration efforts to promote coal energy and roll back air pollution regulations have had little impact on their long-range plans.
Earth's ozone layer shields us from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Nations have been working to reduce ozone-depleting chemicals since the 1980s, but recent studies show that there is still work to do.
Recent research shows that US rivers are becoming saltier and more alkaline. Salt pollution threatens drinking water supplies and freshwater ecosystems, but there is no broad system for regulating it.
It's time to admit the age of pristine nature is over. In its place is humanity and planet-shaping technologies, from gene editing to climate engineering. Earth Day in a Synthetic Age.
The maritime pollution that drifts to dry land, causes an estimated 400,000 premature deaths and 14 million cases of childhood asthma each year.
A Supreme Court case deals with the narrow issue of tribal salmon fishing rights in the Northwest, but raises fundamental questions about justice for American Indians.
Affluent consumers may have more access to information about food than lower-income earners, but they are just as vulnerable to misinformation and pseudoscience.
On the eve of the March for Science, a marine biologist explains why she's returning from abroad to speak out for science in the Trump era.
It's easier to see how customers benefit from increased grid security than it is to justify making them pay for it.
The March for Science on April 14 and Earth Day on April 22 are likely to generate big crowds demonstrating against Trump administration policies. Here are some issues they'll be marching about.
As fusion becomes more technically viable, it's time to assess whether it's worth the money because breakthroughs in the lab don’t guarantee success in the marketplace.
With coral reefs in crisis around the world, many organizations are working to restore them by growing and transplanting healthy corals. A new study spotlights techniques that help restored reefs thrive.
Why can't meteorologists call the weather correctly every time? Blame the battle of the weather models.
From Brooklyn to Los Angeles, thousands of Americans are raising chickens in their backyards. But without stricter regulation, urban poultry farming is risky for both humans and birds.
There are more satellites than ever before, orbiting Earth and collecting data that's crucial for scientists. Why do some nations choose not to share that data openly?
On April 5, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps, a massive relief program that paid young men to plant trees and build parks across the nation. It was money well spent.
The last Carolina parakeet died in a zoo a century ago. A scientist tries to unravel some of this bird's lasting mysteries.
After disasters, communities often push to rebuild as quickly as possible. A public health expert says they should aim higher and fix problems that exist pre-storm.
Saving power to use later lets consumers, businesses and utilities generate energy when it's cheap and deliver it when they need it most. There's not much of it today, but the industry is growing fast.
Despite scientists' initial concerns, federal climate change data sets are still available. But other documents and web pages have changed over the last year.
Gentrification is not the only path for improving urban neighborhoods. A cleanup in Brooklyn and Queens offers another, more inclusive model that scholars have dubbed 'just green enough.'
Many socks, towels and other textiles are treated with silver nanoparticles to kill germs and odors. When the silver washes out, it can pollute waterways. Two chemists propose a way to collect it from wastewater.
Governments and private companies have been seeding clouds to create snow for decades, without proof that it actually works. A recent study peered into clouds in search of answers.
Even in cities with good public transportation, some areas can be 'transit deserts,' where demand exceeds supply. Living in these zones makes it hard to access good jobs, health care and other services.
Not all earthquakes are made equal. A new study on the 2017 quake that killed 300 in Mexico City finds that both its location and cause were unusual — but seismologists say another strike is possible.
Many critics say that fish farms mainly sell their output to wealthy countries and don't provide much benefit to poor people in producing countries. Three aquaculture experts show why this view is wrong.
Sea snakes spend their lives in the water, giving birth to live young at sea, so why are they only found in some of the world's oceans? The answer lies in a combination of climate and geography.
An ambitious plan to cut the flow of nutrients into the Chesapeake Bay has produced historic regrowth of underwater seagrasses. These results offer hope for other polluted water bodies.
During the Cold War, the US built nuclear weapons at a network of secretive sites across the nation. Some are still heavily polluted and threaten public health today.
Thousands of dirt roads crisscross the Brazilian Amazon, serving ranchers, loggers and miners. The area's fragile waterways — and the spectacular fish that live in them — pay a high price.
The Trump administration's push for 'energy dominance' could spur a new wave of domestic uranium production. A scholar describes the damage done in past uranium booms and the visible scars that remain.
Venus flytrap plants have 'traps' that snap shut on insect prey. But they also rely on insects for pollination. New research suggests how the plant avoids eating its allies.
Most Americans don't want incinerators in their neighborhoods, so waste management companies are burning trash in other facilities such as cement kilns. Is this a sustainable way to deal with garbage?
Despite all their anti-tax sentiments, Republicans from Hoover to Trump have embraced this levy on sales at the pump.
Much like the printing press upset the social order centuries ago, the explosion of information online is challenging the role of scientists in society.
Where do plague bacteria go between outbreaks? New research demonstrates that they can survive and replicate inside amoebae that are widely present in soil and water worldwide.
A recent study found the largest cluster of advanced black lung disease ever recorded among coal miners in central Appalachia. Two doctors who treat black lung patients explain how miners contract it.
Nuclear power provides 60 percent of US carbon-free electricity generation, but existing plants are aging and only one is under construction. Should government intervene to keep nuclear energy in the mix?
The Agriculture Department provides nearly $6 billion annually for land, water and wildlife conservation on farms. President Trump's 2019 budget drastically reduces funds for these programs.
An analysis of air pollutants from Texas shows how significant – and largely underregulated – the category of 'excess' emissions is across the US.
Natural gas is widely viewed as a clean fuel, but methane, its main component, is a powerful greenhouse gas. Two experts propose a plan for detecting and cutting methane leaks across North America.
No new oil drilling has been approved since 1984 off the California coast, where a major spill in 1969 helped launch the environmental movement. Sixty-nine percent of Californians oppose offshore drilling today.
As Earth's climate warms, mangroves are expanding north and south from tropical zones. Mangroves reinforce shorelines and store huge quantities of carbon, so protecting them is an effective climate strategy.
Many Puerto Ricans are happy to see their broke power utility sold off to whoever can get the lights turned back on. But privatizing the island's energy grid may bring more problems than relief.
A climate scientist explains how New Hampshire managed to overcome the political divide to make real progress on climate change.
Energy storage, such as big batteries, on the power grid is generally seen as 'green' technology but the reality is more complicated, an analysis finds.
The Mariana snailfish lives nearly 27,000 feet underwater, but has features that help it adapt to intense water pressure and cold. Physiological limits may prevent fish from surviving in deeper water.
New research shows that computers, streaming video and other digital technologies are helping Americans spend more time at home and less out shopping and commuting, yielding measurable energy savings.
Raising the cost of solar panels coming to the US could rekindle interest in a simple but potentially significant technology: solar reflectors.
Big data open-access publishing and other advances offer ecologists the ability to forecast events like pest outbreaks over days and seasons rather than decades. But scholars need to seize this opportunity.
California produces 90 percent of the US strawberry crop, but growers face curbs on toxic chemicals that have helped their industry expand. Can a system centered on mass production become more sustainable?
A watershed scientist explains why post-wildfire landscapes are so susceptible to landslides – and why those risks are poised to rise.
While the Montecito, California mudslides took 20 lives, landslides kill far more people in developing countries. Tighter construction standards and early warning systems could help reduce their toll.
Congress is drafting the 2018 farm bill, which will guide agriculture, nutrition, trade and rural development policy. A former agriculture secretary explains how this bill reaches far beyond farms.
Its plan to stop lending money for oil and gas projects embraces the spirit of the Paris agreement at a time when the U.S. is going in a different direction.
Winemakers call the ecological factors that define their product terroir. By redefining that idea to include history and social ties, New England craft brewers have grown an industry with local roots.
Congress is moving to cut back the Endangered Species Act and give more power to states. But a recent study shows that state laws are weaker and states have few resources to protect species at risk.
A scientist who served on a national commission to review the 2010 BP oil spill explains why Trump administration efforts to loosen offshore drilling regulation pose major risks for minor payoffs.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has rejected a Trump administration proposal to reward coal and nuclear power plants for storing fuel on-site, as a way to make the power system more reliable.
A recent study shows plankton that have adapted to road salt have disrupted circadian rhythms. This finding suggests that environmental pollutants could also affect human circadian clocks.
Scientists have engineered sugarcane to increase its oil content and are developing renewable jet aircraft fuel from the oil. The engineered sugarcane could become a valuable energy crop.
The Trump administration is considering requests from hunters to import wildlife trophies (body parts) on a case-by-case basis. Does this approach promote conservation or threaten endangered species?
Trump administration rollbacks dominated news about the environment in 2017 – but beyond Washington D.C., many researchers are developing innovative visions for a greener future.
At many popular destinations, residents are protesting against crowding, rowdy visitors and low wages. With some research, travelers can use their visits to enrich host areas instead of harming them.
How do mercury emissions from industrialized countries reach the remote Arctic? Recent research shows that plants on the tundra absorb mercury vapor through their leaves, then pass it into soil.
The global mushroom industry is worth $35 billion yearly and growing. But mushrooms and other fungi play important ecological roles that scientists are still learning about – and some may be endangered.
Research and News
Fish are a key food source for millions of people worldwide. But a recent study finds long-term warming over the next 200 years could starve tiny plankton, with impacts that would ripple up food chains.
Fuel economy standards
Air pollution could be the next battleground between California and the Trump administration, which is reviewing the Golden State's special legal authority to regulate tailpipe emissions.
Sustainable cities
Dozens of US cities have launched bike-share programs in the past decade. There have been bumps – critics want wider access, and cities want bikes stored out of the way – but bike sharing is on a roll.
They don't all support the same strategies for coping with it, but US mayors increasingly see climate change as a pressing urban challenge.
New York soon may charge a fee to drive into central Manhattan as a way of reducing traffic and raising funds for public transit. An urban scholar says this step is overdue in the United States.
Policy
The Interior Department is narrowing protection for migratory birds to cover only deliberate harm such as hunting, but not threats like development or pollution that kill millions of birds yearly.
New research shows the size of man-made earthquakes is linked to how deep industry wastewater is injected into the ground.
Nuclear power provides 60 percent of US carbon-free electricity generation, but existing plants are aging and only one is under construction. Should government intervene to keep nuclear energy in the mix?
Slapping duties on imported panels is unwise.
Public lands
Trump wants to scale back national monuments on federal lands in the name of boosting the economy. But this would undo decades of investments to manage our cultural and ecological resources.
If US Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana is confirmed as interior secretary, he will face difficult choices about balancing extractive activities like energy production with conservation on public lands.
A geography professor reports from the front lines of the Malheur occupation. Despite strong local opposition to occupiers, he foresees more conflicts to come.
President Trump has ordered a review of national monuments protected by his predecessors, and may try to abolish or shrink some. But four legal experts say that only Congress has that authority.
Research and Expert Database
Editors’ Picks
An academic suing the EPA over its decision to bar certain scientists from serving on advisory boards says the EPA needs to address legitimate criticisms to rebuild after Pruitt.
According to current forecasts, California has a 93 percent chance of an earthquake with magnitude 7 or greater occurring by 2045. Early warning systems, now in development, could limit casualties and damage.
Conventional wisdom says we need industrial agriculture to feed the world. Not so, says geologist David Montgomery: Practices that focus on creating healthy soil can transform agriculture.
A new study shows that polar bears require more food than previously thought. The scientists used collars that tracked bears' movements and metabolic rates.
Alaska and oil proponents are cheering a move to open up an ecologically sensitive part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling -- a position environment supporters can't abide.
By 2050, climate change impacts such as storms and drought could displace up to 300 million people worldwide. Nations should recognize 'climate migrants' and make plans for aiding and resettling them.
Climate change is raising global sea levels. Now research shows that 'hot spots' where seas rise another 4 to 5 inches in five years can occur along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, further magnifying floods.
China, which recycles much of the world's waste material, is slashing its scrap imports. This move could force the United States and Europe to boost recycling instead of shipping trash overseas.
Puerto Rico's Cayo Santiago Research Station has been a world-famous site for primate studies since 1938. Now scientists are working to save its staff and rhesus monkey colony after Hurricane Maria.
An atmospheric scientist who studies the Arctic explains why – because of global warming – the U.S. may be in for longer cold spells in the winter.
A California fire expert explains why municipalities need to reassess urban fire risk and take steps to learn how to coexist with fire.
According to the UN, world hunger is rising for the first time in 15 years. The answer is not only growing more food, but also buffering small-scale farmers against climate change and armed conflicts.
President Trump signed an executive order to roll back the 2015 Clean Water Rule. Two water experts explain why the rule alarms farmers and ranchers concerned about over-regulation.
A new study confirms what many already know: Exxon for years sowed uncertainty and doubt about climate change in the public. Should scientists reject certain funding sources?
Many countries around the world are vulnerable to wildfires, but a fire engineer warns that most are not spending enough on research into how fires spread and ways to reduce risks.
Most Read past week
- Wealthy Americans know less than they think they do about food and nutrition
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- What Earth Day means when humans possess planet-shaping powers
- The urgency of curbing pollution from ships, explained
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