Category: Environment

How, Exactly, Could Deep-Sea Mining Benefit All of Humanity?

12/24/2024 - By Elham Shabahat. A tiny working group within the International Seabed Authority is wrestling with a daunting question. When Arvid Pardo, a Maltese diplomat, took the floor at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 1967 and began speaking at length on international law, the room was sparsely populated. Pardo… SEE MORE

Building the Next Generation of Commercial Fishermen

12/23/2024 - By Carli Stewart. From Alaska's icy waters to the Gulf of Mexico's warm tides, commercial fishing is critical to the economy and to support coastal communities. With a graying fleet and evolving challenges, the industry’s leaders are stepping up to mentor, train, and inspire the next generation. The Workforce Development… SEE MORE

The Destructive Legacy of Failed Aquaculture

12/21/2024 - By Larry Pynn. Removing abandoned infrastructure is challenging, time-consuming, and costly. Aquaculture is big business in Canada. In 2023, open-net-pen salmon farming in British Columbia alone produced 50,000 tonnes of fish worth just over US $350-million. But on June 30, 2029, the federal government’s long-looming ban on open-net-pen salmon farming… SEE MORE

Negotiators are Urged to Get Down to Business as Climate talks in Baku Enter Second Week

11/27/2024 - By Sibi Arasu, Melina Walling and Seth Borenstein. United Nations climate talks resumed Monday with negotiators urged to make progress on a stalled-out deal that could see developing countries get more money to spend on clean energy and adapting to climate-charged weather extremes. U.N. Climate Change executive secretary Simon Stiell called for… SEE MORE

How to Produce Hydrogen Gas as Cleanly as Possible

11/26/2024 - By Brian Owens. Green hydrogen? More like electrification with extra steps. As humanity works to slash greenhouse gas emissions and stem the pace of planetary warming, scientists, governments, and industry leaders are looking for low-carbon alternatives to fuel the future. Alongside renewables such as solar and wind energy, hydrogen gas… SEE MORE

For an Ecosystem in Crisis, Recovery Can Take Ages

11/23/2024 - By Moira Donovan. A massive environmental calamity rocked the ancient Mediterranean. It took millions of years for the ecosystem to recover. In the late Miocene epoch, roughly 5.9 million years ago, calamity befell the Mediterranean Sea. In a period of roughly 600,000 years, tectonic uplift sealed the gateway between Europe… SEE MORE

Is Deforestation Supercharging Cyclones?

11/22/2024 - By Erica Gies. The airborne water cycle, destabilized by industrial logging and other land use, may be a hidden force behind growing superstorms. Hurricane Helene devastated the southeastern United States at the end of September 2024, dumping unprecedented levels of rain. Then, just two weeks later, Hurricane Milton rapidly revved… SEE MORE

Listening In on the Mysterious Marbled Murrelet

11/21/2024 - By Moira Donovan. Applying machine learning to forest soundscapes helps researchers pinpoint rare and threatened birds. The marbled murrelet is an elusive creature. At sea, the stubby seabird dives at the first sign of predators. On land, it lays its eggs high in the mossy branches of the Pacific Northwest’s old-growth forests—a… SEE MORE

Environmental Protection, with a Side of Small Business

11/20/2024 - By Brian Owens. Conservation takes cash, and philanthropic funding is notoriously fickle. To secure the future of its environmental efforts, this Dominican nonprofit is trying something new: making booze. When Hurricane Maria swept through the Caribbean in 2017, tiny Dominica was hit particularly hard—howling winds and torrential rain damaged or… SEE MORE

Wetlands provide a buffer from wave energy for shorelines and communities behind them. But sea level rise, storms, and other challenges are causing wetlands to erode. We’re working to restore these important habitats. Photo: Chesapeake Bay Program/Will Parson.

Protecting and Restoring Habitat in Virginia’s Middle Peninsula

11/19/2024 - By fisheries.noaa.gov. Healthy wetlands and oyster reefs support fish, wildlife, and communities. Virginia’s Middle Peninsula is a beautiful part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed—both on and off the water. But it faces challenges due to climate change, a lack of capacity to restore habitat, and rural coastal economic hardship. While the Middle… SEE MORE