Why the Discovery of an Active Volcano on Venus Matters
Venus had a lot going for it. Roughly the same diameter and density as Earth, it orbits in the solar system’s habitable zone—just the right distance from the sun for liquid water to exist. But the planet’s biological prospects were long ago wrecked by a runaway greenhouse effect that left it with an atmosphere that is 95% carbon dioxide, and 90 times the pressure of...
A Controversial Technology Is Creating an Unprecedented Rift Among Climate Scientists
Geoengineering our atmosphere to cool the planet has long been a taboo subject. But as the earth keeps heating up, that may now be changing.
WEDNESDAY 15. MARCH 2023
The U.S. Has a New Favorite Dog Breed—and It’s Controversial
A new dog breed has waddled its way into Americans’ hearts. While Labrador retrievers were the most popular purebred dog for a record 31 years, French bulldogs—or “frenchies” as they’re called by enthusiasts—took the top spot in 2022 for the first time, the American Kennel Club announced on March 15.
But the selection doesn’t come without some...
TUESDAY 14. MARCH 2023
EPA To Crack Down on Toxic PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed limiting the amount of harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water to the lowest level that tests can detect, a long-awaited protection the agency said will save thousands of lives and prevent serious illnesses, including cancer.
The plan marks the first time the EPA has proposed regulating a toxic group of compounds that are...
Conflicts of Interest Could Undermine the Cleanup Efforts in East Palestine
Many residents of East Palestine, Ohio, are suspicious of the environmental contractor Norfolk Southern has brought in to measure chemical exposures following last month’s massive train derailment, toxic spill, and chemical burn off. Over the last decade, the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health (CTEH) has become the go-to contractor for corporations looking to follow up on...
MONDAY 13. MARCH 2023
Scientists Sound the Alarm Over a Growing Trash Problem in Space
Sixty-six years ago, there was just a single human-built object in Earth orbit. It was Sputnik, the Soviet Union’s—and the world’s—first satellite, launched on Oct. 4, 1957. Now take a moment and try to guess how many objects—including active satellites, defunct satellites, and bits of debris from all of that space traffic—are currently circling the planet....
FRIDAY 10. MARCH 2023
Scientists Just Discovered an Asteroid Heading Our Way. Here’s What to Know
Chances are, you haven’t yet made your plans for Valentine’s day 2046. But just in case you’re thinking about it, you may want to make sure you spend the day indoors. That, at least, is the take home message from NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which earlier this week sounded the alarm via Twitter that in just under 23 years, a newly discovered asteroid...
TUESDAY 7. MARCH 2023
Our Relationship With Time Is Changing—Maybe for the Better
The pandemic created a window for many to re-evaluate their attitudes toward time itself. Now we’ll find out if what we learned will stick.
Less Than 1% of Earth Has Safe Levels of Air Pollution, Study Finds
It’s no secret that air pollution is a serious problem facing the world today. Just how serious? A new study on global daily levels of air pollution shows that hardly anywhere on Earth is safe from unhealthy air.
About 99.82% of the global land area is exposed to levels of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) — tiny particles in the air that scientists have linked to lung cancer and heart...
MONDAY 6. MARCH 2023
Current Food Consumption Habits May Add Nearly 1 Degree of Warming by 2100
Greenhouse gas emissions from the way humans consume food could add nearly 1 degree of warming to the Earth’s climate by 2100, according to a new study.
Continuing the dietary patterns of today will push the planet past the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) limit of warming sought under the Paris climate agreement to avoid the worst effects of climate change, according to the...
FRIDAY 3. MARCH 2023
Alex Murduagh and the Evolutionary Reason We’re Drawn to Violent Crime
If you haven’t heard the name Alex Murdaugh over the course of the past few months, you may just not have been paying attention. The disgraced South Carolina attorney was convicted yesterday of the murder of his wife and son, following a six-week trial that was must-watch TV for much of the nation. Cable news carried Murdaugh’s testimony live and uninterrupted as it unfolded. In its...
THURSDAY 2. MARCH 2023
Now We Need to Worry About Harmful ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Our Toilet Paper Too
In case you’re counting, the average American will go through 26 kg (57 lbs) of toilet paper in a single year. Multiply that by the 332 million people in the U.S. and you get more than 19 billion pounds of waste paper being flushed away annually. All by itself that represents a massive disposal and sanitation challenge.
But now, according to a paper just published in Environmental Science...
Understanding The Link Between Climate Change and Colder Storms is Like Riding a Bike
When most people think about the jet stream, if they think about it at all, it’s usually in the context of the high-altitude, fast moving wind currents of the northern hemisphere that enable speedy west-to-east long-haul flights. But the polar jet stream also plays a major role in our daily lives: the weaker it gets, the wackier our weather is, from the Texan deep freeze of 2021 to the...
WEDNESDAY 1. MARCH 2023
There’s a Bit of Truth To Some Climate Conspiracy Theories. But That Doesn’t Make Them Right
Having systematically colonized the ranks of government, academia, and media—including malleable-minded climate writers like yours truly—the dark legions of the World Economic Forum (WEF) have reportedly gotten around to their real work: employing their techno-fascist designs on traffic patterns in Oxford, U.K.
Or that’s what some people on the internet are saying, anyway. A...
Keto vs. Vegan: What to Eat if You Want to Save the Planet and Your Health
Debates over the benefits and pitfalls of different diets have been around as long as, well, the diets themselves. Is the ketogenic diet a good way to lose weight, or a carb-free trip to bad health? Are vegetarians missing out on vital vitamins? What, exactly, is the omnivore’s dilemma? Can vegans eat sugar? And do paleo adherents actually know what our ancient ancestors ate?
A study...