Environment
- Computing
Greening your digital life
The less electricity you use while playing video games or using your devices, the less impact you’ll have on climate change.
- Climate
COVID-19 cut pollution in 2020, warming the atmosphere
Pandemic-related lockdowns briefly warmed the planet. The reason: The cleaner air carried fewer planet-cooling aerosols.
- Climate
Scientists Say: Weather
The state of the atmosphere in a specific place and time is weather. Over a long time, the weather conditions in an area will reveal its climate.
- Ecosystems
What you can do to improve soils
Soils are the life-sustaining structures under our feet. Here are some tips for keeping soils healthy. First rule of thumb: Give more than you take.
- Earth
Explainer: What are aerosols?
We may not see them, but tiny particles and droplets cloud the air, affecting its properties. Some may be pollutants, others all-natural products.
- Climate
Can wildfires cool the climate?
Severe wildfires are becoming more common. Science is showing that the tiny particles they release into the air can alter Earth’s temperature — sometimes cooling it.
- Climate
Analyze This: 2020 ties with 2016 for hottest year on record
Last year capped the warmest decade on record. It coincided with a growing increase of warming greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere.
- Environment
Unmasking the pandemic’s pollution problem
Discarding all the materials people use to protect themselves from COVID-19 has created a growing environmental problem.
- Animals
Camels have been dying after mistaking plastic for food
Plastic waste has been building up in the guts of some camels. It may now be killing off one percent of them in the United Arab Emirates each year.
- Earth
Analyze this: Microplastics are showing up in Mount Everest’s snow
Microplastics have made their way to the snow on Earth’s tallest peak. Most of the plastic likely comes from climbers’ equipment and clothes.
- Animals
Utah mink is first known case of the coronavirus in a wild animal
A wild mink appears to have picked up the novel coronavirus from farmed animals. Such spread in the wild does not appear common.
- Environment
Why today’s ‘fast fashions’ can be bad for the planet
The constant buy-wear-toss cycle of fast fashion isn’t sustainable. It hurts the environment and takes a toll on our wallets, too.
