Environment

Striking a blow against a pernicious form of pollution, California lawmakers on Thursday passed the nation's most far-reaching restrictions on single-use plastics and packaging, with Gov. Gavin Newsom expected to sign the bill Thursday.... Read more

Flooding in urban areas cost Americans more than $106 billion between 1960 and 2016, damaging property, disrupting businesses and claiming lives in the process. Determining which areas are most likely to flood amid ever-changing land use and shifting rainfall and climate patterns can be expensive and complicated—and past methods of... Read more

The early 1900s were an exciting time across the world, with rapid advances in the steel, electric and automobile industries. The industrial changes also mark an inflection point in our climate. According to an international team of researchers led by the University of South Florida (USF), the sea level has... Read more

Governments must adopt strong, enforceable treaties to protect oceans affected by global warming, overfishing and rampant pollution, Greenpeace activists said while staging a protest Thursday at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon.... Read more

International research led by Dr. Tom Van der Stocken of the VUB Biology Department examined 21st century changes in ocean-surface temperature, salinity, and density, across mangrove forests worldwide. The study suggests that changes in surface-ocean density may impact the dispersal patterns of widely distributed mangroves species, and more likely so... Read more

New research highlights how the risk of wildfire is rising globally due to climate change—but also, how human actions and policies can play a critical role in regulating regional impacts.... Read more

The ocean is intrinsically inhomogeneous in temperature and salinity. This inhomogeneity fundamentally influences physical and biogeochemical processes of oceans, causing mixing of water masses, and shaping three-dimensional geostrophic circulations. The ocean inhomogeneity ultimately determines marine biodistribution, ecosystem structure and functioning, and marine biodiversity.... Read more

Urban areas account for 2% of the world's land but are responsible for 40%–70% of global anthropogenic, or human-made CO2 emissions. Quantitative fossil-fuel and greenhouse gas (GHG) variation tracking in a city's most densely populated areas is important.... Read more

The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the government's key environmental agency cannot issue broad limits on greenhouse gases, sharply curtailing the power of President Joe Biden's administration to battle climate change.... Read more

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is releasing the largest update to its mobile application in a decade, the agency announced today. FEMA is releasing the app at the beginning of a hurricane season that experts predict will be above average and a wildfire season that's already devastating, for example, In... Read more

The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai submarine volcano in January 2022 was one of the most explosive volcanic events of the modern era, a new study has confirmed.... Read more

The history of climate change is one of people slowly coming to terms with the truth. None but a small minority still question whether it's real and caused by humans. Now most grapple with the reality of trying to slow down catastrophic warming, and the difference between solutions and false... Read more

The COVID pandemic slowed mining operations across the Pacific. But as economic activity returns, an Australia-based company is poised to pursue what would be the largest mine in Papua New Guinea's history.... Read more

Growing interest in using the oceans to enhance removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere has in turn spurred more interest in seaweed cultivation. A recent report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded that the "ocean holds great potential for uptake and longer-term sequestration" of carbon... Read more

There is a downward spiral of extreme weather and pollution from wildfires, domestic heating and energy production in the New York and New Jersey area, according to a new study by CUNY SPH Professors Ilias Kavouras and Glen Johnson and 2022 DPH graduate Subraham Singh, in collaboration with Professor David... Read more