In a major breakthrough, instruments known as continuous plankton recorders (CPRs) — used to survey plankton population since 1931 — have accidentally recorded the history of plastic in oceans. CPRs are torpedo-like devices that have been in use since 1931 to survey plankton populations. In recent years CPRs have been constantly tormented by large fishing […]

We debate the obstacles and solutions to climate change and speak with Bangladeshi photojournalist Shahidul Alam. In this week’s UpFront, we debate on the best strategy against climate change and highlight the role capitalism has played in the crisis. In the Reality Check, we shed light on the United States’s military operations in Africa. In […]

The degree to which climate change threatens the ecosystems of the Earth and societies around the world has been an ongoing subject of debate – and sometimes protest. As Earth Day nears, we take stock of U.S. public opinion about climate change, based on recent Pew Research Center surveys. For more on how people globally […]

A new bill proposed in California could make a hotel room staple disappear. Co-authored by Ash Kalra of San Jose, Assembly Bill 1162 could ban single-use mini bottles of shampoo, conditioner and lotion found in many hotels. They could be replaced with bulk dispensers, KCBS reported. The bill, if passed, would try to cut down on […]

While the diesel landscape is in flux, the U.S.’s abundance of propane means price stability for autogas. When you grocery shop, you plainly see the price of items. And you feel certain those prices won’t change before you get to the register. What if that wasn’t the case? What if you went to the store […]

In 2011, after an earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima-Daiichi power plant, Gregory Jaczko, then the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, had to worry about two things: whether radioactive fallout would harm the U.S. and whether a similar accident could befall an American plant. The answer to the first question […]

Handwritten journals from 50s show how plastic problem has grown to global emergency A trove of data showing when the Atlantic began choking with plastic has been uncovered in the handwritten logbooks of a little-known but doggedly persistent plankton study dating back to the middle of the last century. From fishing twine found in the […]

New government report shows just how bad things have gotten in recent years. When I first moved to New Zealand 2.5 years ago, I was struck by a few things. For one, the wider public seem to know – and care – a lot about the environment. The people I met could tell me the […]

A new study by researchers from NASA has verified the accuracy of recent global warming figures. The team used measurements of the ‘skin’ temperature of the Earth taken by a satellite-based infrared measurement system called AIRS (Atmospheric Infra-Red Sounder) from 2003 to 2017. They compared these with station-based analyses of surface air temperature anomalies — […]

Drone imagery of coral patches along the coast of Maunalua Bay, Oʻahu, where researchers in the Marko Lab use coral DNA from filtered seawater to assess coral cover on local reefs. Photo courtesy of Patrick K. Nichols. Scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Biology have developed a technique for measuring the […]