Earth Wise
A look at our changing environment.
Episodes
October 31, 2025 • 2 mins
The U.S. home insurance industry is in turmoil. For years it has underestimated the risks posed by climate change intensified storms, wildfires, and other natural disasters. The increased costs associated with rising sea levels, powerful hurricanes, drenching rainstorms, massive wildfires, and more have pushed insurers to the limit. According to the director of the Climate […]
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October 30, 2025 • 2 mins
America’s clean energy industry is unquestionably under attack by the Trump administration. The administration is blocking renewable energy projects on federal lands, slashing clean tech tax credits, and putting in place new regulatory hurdles for solar and wind power and electric vehicles. During the first half of the year, businesses cancelled $22 billion worth of […]
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October 29, 2025
Insects play a crucial role in sustaining life on Earth. They pollinate plants, recycle nutrients, and form the foundation of food webs in both terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Without insects, the rich biodiversity that supports our planet would not exist. However, global studies show a widespread decline in both insect abundance and diversity. According to […]
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October 28, 2025 • 2 mins
The Paris Climate Agreement has the primary goal of limiting global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius and preferably 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Meeting this goal involves reaching global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of the century. Doing so requires the substantial adoption of renewable energy sources to […]
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October 27, 2025 • 2 mins
Clownfishes or anemonefishes are colorful saltwater fishes that mainly inhabit coral reefs in the warm and tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. Clownfishes have a symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship with sea anemones, which they rely on for shelter and protection from predators. In turn, clownfishes will protect the anemone from anemone-eating fish, as well as clean and fan them. The popular film Finding Nemo is about ...
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October 24, 2025 • 2 mins
A new study by ETH Zurich, one of the world’s leading universities in science and engineering, demonstrates that human-induced climate change greatly increased the likelihood and intensity of over 200 global heatwaves between 2000 and 2023. Emissions associated with each of the 180 largest producers of fossil fuels and cement contributed substantially to these events. […]
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October 23, 2025 • 2 mins
A colossal iceberg known as A-23A broke off from the Filchner Iceshelf in Antarctica in 1986. At that time, it was 1,418 square miles in area, slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island, or roughly twice the size of greater London. It weighed about a trillion tons. It was the largest iceberg ever observed. […]
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October 22, 2025 • 2 mins
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances – better known as PFAS – are a type of human-made chemicals that are found in a wide range of consumer and industrial products. They don’t break down in the environment or in the human body, so they are often called forever chemicals. They can contaminate drinking water sources and can […]
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October 21, 2025 • 2 mins
Vast and powerful, the oceans have sustained human life around the world for millennia. They provide food, natural resources, and livelihoods, supporting countless communities and economies. But despite their size and resilience, the oceans are under increasing pressure from climate change and human activity, pushing them toward a dangerous threshold. According to a new study […]
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October 20, 2025 • 2 mins
A recent survey of the plans of U.S. electricity utilities for meeting projected future demand indicates that they are looking to build twice as much natural gas capacity as they had anticipated just 18 months earlier. The reason? Data centers. These warehouses full of computers that form the backbone of the internet are multiplying rapidly […]
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October 17, 2025 • 2 mins
Sargassum is a free-floating brown seaweed that can drift together in vast mats, sometimes stretching for miles across the ocean’s surface. For centuries, these blooms have been a natural part of the Atlantic, creating food and shelter for many marine creatures. Sargassum was once thought to be confined mainly to the Sargasso Sea in the […]
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October 16, 2025 • 2 mins
A new study by Danish researchers examines how invasive plant species are reshaping ecosystems and people’s relationship with nature in the tropics. The researchers found roughly 10,000 alien plant species in the greater tropics – which includes both the tropic and sub-tropic parts of the world. Islands are especially invasion hotspots, and some have more […]
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October 15, 2025 • 2 mins
A company called Eco Wave Power has launched the first U.S. wave energy project in the Port of Los Angeles. The system captures the motion of ocean waves to generate renewable electricity. The Eco Wave Power system harnesses hydraulic energy with floaters installed near the shore on existing structures like breakwaters, piers, and jetties. The […]
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October 14, 2025 • 2 mins
Civilization has an enormous need to utilize the biosphere, that is, the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and bodies of water of the earth occupied by living organisms. The biosphere supplies us with food, raw materials, and increasingly, climate protection. A study by two European universities looked at functional biosphere integrity, which is essentially the […]
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October 13, 2025 • 2 mins
Northern forests store a third of the world’s carbon, acting as sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Forest carbon exchange is the process whereby forests sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via photosynthesis, storing it in their wood, leaves, and roots, and releasing some carbon through decomposition and respiration. This natural cycle in forests is a […]
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October 10, 2025 • 2 mins
In January 2025, a series of destructive wildfires in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and San Diego County killed as many as 440 people, forced more than 200,000 to evacuate their homes, destroyed more than 18,000 homes and structures, and burned over 57,000 acres of land. A study by the nonpartisan California Policy Lab found […]
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October 9, 2025 • 2 mins
Geoengineering refers to a wide range of mechanical or chemical methods aimed at deliberately changing the global climate system. It includes a number of unproven concepts, one of which is intentionally polluting the upper atmosphere with thousands of tons of artificial particles such as chemical sprays or mineral dust. This is referred to as solar […]
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October 8, 2025 • 2 mins
Hanauma Bay is a marine sanctuary near Honolulu that is a popular snorkeling spot and is home to vibrant marine life and well-preserved corals. Its popularity grew in the 1970’s and 1980’s and its visitor attendance peaked at an estimated 10,000 people a day. A new management plan in 1990 reduced visitation, improved facilities, established […]
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October 7, 2025 • 2 mins
Polyethylene Terephthalate (otherwise known as PET plastic) is a clear, strong, lightweight plastic used for food and beverage containers, textiles, and many other things. It is one of the most pervasive forms of plastic piling up in the world’s oceans, in landfills, and elsewhere. Getting rid of it is a real challenge. Scientists at the […]
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October 6, 2025 • 2 mins
The current administration has essentially declared war on renewable energy. President Trump stated recently that his administration will not approve solar or wind power projects. Renewable companies are unlikely to receive permits that were once a normal course of business. Now, the United States is likely to struggle to meet its growing demand for electricity […]
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