A new UCLA study reveals that arctic sea ice may become ice free for part of every year between the years 2044 and 2067. Human caused climate change has been steadily warming the arctic for decades. The study was conducted by UCLA Climate Scientists.
Read MoreResearchers at UC Santa Barbara have been studying Squid Camouflage. A new study has demonstrated the ability to understand the mechanism by which squid, and other camouflage sea species, control reflective pigments to change their appearance and visibility. Reflectin, the protein which controls reflective pigments, has long been a mystery for scientists
Read MoreAt the Fast Company Innovation Festival, Kanye West unveiled a new Yeezy shoe prototype made with algae. According to Design Boom, the shoe is made with a combination of petroleum-based ethylene-vinyl acetate and foam produced using algae. This clog is the first release in the company move towards sustainability. West was quoted in saying “We’re going to be farming and going to seed to sole.”
Read MoreResearchers at the University of Cambridge have created an Artificial Leaf that can be used to develop a liquid fuel alternative for Syngas. Syngas is a widely used gas currently produced with fossil fuels. The carbon neutral device is powered by simply sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water. The device can also be used in a variety of temperatures and levels of sunlight.
Read MoreThe system uses seawater and solar power to achieve the energy needed to desalinate the water, regulate the temperature of the facility and grow the crops. The farm uses a 115m solar tower with 23,000 mirrors pointed at it. A thermal desalination plant separates salt from the seawater used to irrigate, with no wasted water. In addition, the facility captures rain water for use in irrigation.
Read MoreEarlier this month, a study was published from researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia revealing a new battery for electric cars that could last for up to 1 million miles, more than twice the amount that Tesla’s currently expect to get. The researchers, in an exclusive agreement with Tesla, conducted their tests over three years with an end-result that creates a new benchmark for research and development for modern batteries.
Read MoreResearchers at UCLA have invented a new device that makes electricity at night by using the thermoelectric effect. Thermoelectricity is not a new concept, but this team of researchers have come up with an idea that could be immensely beneficial to the 1 billion people who currently do not have access to electricity, while also being a viable option in the renewable energy market.
Read MoreA coalition of around 10,000 farmers and ranchers announced they will be supporting a Green New Deal. According to Regeneration International, the coalition is a bipartisan national coalition of rural and urban farmers and ranchers. Agriculture practices could play a key role in the climate change fight. Currently the industry accounts for 9% of U.S greenhouse gas emissions, but could potentially reverse this into a carbon sink if green techniques were applied broadly throughout the industry.
Read MoreThe solar industry continues to grow at a rapid pace. An important aspect of renewables, and the piece of the puzzle which makes them viable, is storage. The world is going to need more lithium batteries of all shapes and size, and fast. The demand for lithium is projected to grow five-fold by 2025.
Read MorePeople have been cultivating food in their own gardens and land for a very long time. Urban farming is seeing growth as climate concerns grow and cities around the world seek to be more sustainable. Urban farming can be more sustainable than traditional farms in many ways while also making cities more resilient and self-sufficient. A new age of farming is on the horizon in the United States.
Read MoreThe Company EarthSense develops autonomous robots that can navigate through vast crop fields identifying problems such as weeds, and plant biomass with LIDAR Sensors. The robots use Machine Learning to improve their capabilities over time. EarthSense, located in Champaign, Il, has been gaining a lot of publicity after the release of their robot in 2018. The 2019 model has improved Hardware, Software, and analytics based on the early adopter’s user experience.
Read MoreRecently, the Trump administration announced that there would be changes to the way the endangered species act is applied. These changes will weaken the conservation enforcement in the United States, making it more difficult to protect wildlife from Climate Change. The new changes make it easier to remove species from the list, weaken protections for threatened species, and using financial incentives when evaluating whether a species is fiscally worth protection.
Read MoreFarmers are working on rebuilding the nation’s soil. Midwest farmers have had a long term love-hate relationship with soil from the 1800’s when agriculture first began to the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s. Soil had consistently degraded until the 1980’s when farmers began working toward better practices to ensure the longevity of their land. Half of all topsoil and soil organic matter has disappeared since the 1800’s.
Read MoreWhile it is widely accepted that trees are important for the climate, what isn’t talked about as much is the ability to sequester a large amount of carbon via grasslands. Planting native grass is relatively easy, requires little to no upkeep and provides a range of benefits that can be quantified almost immediately.
Read MoreThe Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of various marine debris in the North Pacific ocean, between Hawaii and mainland United States. This patch carries debris from the western united states and parts of Asia. The Northern Pacific Subtropical Gyre is where the waste ends up after years of travel through the pacific. At the center of the Gyre, the water is relatively calm, slowly collecting pieces of trash together in an area that is 7.7 Million square miles.
Read More. The Circular Model is based on the principles of Make, Use, Return. This economy is based on the model of earth’s natural cycles of regrowth. In the natural world, all resources are used and nothing goes to waste. The Sun grows plants which provide nutrients to living creatures who give that nutrients to other creatures who eventually die, creating nutrients for the next generation. Nothing is lost.
Read MoreThe Green New Deal, sponsored by AOC and others democrats, is a bold new plan to rethink the U.S. economy to focus more on sustainability rather than exploitation of the earth’s resources. As climate change begins to affect Americans from massive wildfires to larger and more frequent storms, the idea of changing our economy to be more environmentally friendly is gaining popularity. There are varying views on what the bill actually includes, so it is worth reading for yourself.
Read MoreIn 2017, Congress enacted the NASA Transition Authorization Act, mapping out the future of NASA. The bill focuses on human space travel and requests the government agency to land a human mission to Mars by 2033. The act also pushes for private enterprise to have more involvement in space travel. Making it to the fourth planet from the Sun is one of the space agency’s largest pushes, outlined in the legislation signed by the president.
Read MoreNASA has great content available on their website 24 hours a day. Programs range from educational videos to CSPAN - like live coverage of the everyday happenings on the International Space Station.
Read MoreThis interactive map shows how climate change will affect many coastal communities around the world.
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