#OceanOptimism: Growing Positivity Among Rising Pollution
Fear, anxiety, and hopelessness are growing to define the age of the anthropocene. Mired in climate change, the prospects of a future suitable for children and grandchildren to come seem bleak. What stands out among threats of change and collapse for many is the threat to the ocean. The ocean…
Water Sustainability in Desert Cities
By Katelyn Neff Desert cities like Phoenix and Tucson face an increasing likelihood of severe drought conditions. Most likely to affect rising temperatures are concrete buildings emerging rapidly in urban sprawl, and the heat island effect in which urban temperatures spike higher than they do in the surrounding rural areas,…
Biodegradable Gel Can Prevent Wildfires
By Nathaly Garzon Wildfires have surged in recent years due to climate change. In 2018 alone, 1.8 million acres were burned by wildfires in California. Just last week, more wildfires broke out in the state as well. Scientists have predicted that the number of wildfires will continue to rise as…
Wildlife Conservation on Europe’s New Coastline
By Dane Gambrell Rising out of the marshy waters of the Markermeer Lake, five artificial islands make up the newly-constructed archipelago known as Marker Wadden. While the Netherlands has a well-known history of constructing dikes and dams to expand the country’s habitable territory, the Marker Wadden project is unique as…
Eco Village
EcoVillage, Ithaca New York Written by Katelyn Neff Eco Village Ithaca is a co-housing community. Co-housing is a form of community-oriented housing that has the privacy of individual homes with strong neighborhood ties and interests. Common houses are centered on sharing the space with one another, engaging in social…
The Atlantic’s Biggest Marine Protected Area
Written by Juli Miller Ascension Island is set to be the Atlantic Ocean's largest marine protected preserve. On August 24, the island's council ruled the 169,885 square miles (440,000 square kilometers) surrounding the island will be under the highest form of marine protection, barring all extraction activities and commercial fishing…
Migration in the Age of Climate Change
By Madeleine Lemos As climate change begins to reshape landscapes and lifestyles, many communities are often left with a distinct scarcity of resources or inhabitable conditions. The people living in these communities, many of whom are displaced and forced to emigrate, make up the world's growing number of "climate migrants."…
Climate Change and Melting Glaciers
As temperatures rise around the planet, glaciers continue to melt at significant rates. A glacier found on Sweden’s Kebnekaise mountain is the latest to be impacted by climate change. Once hailed as the tallest mountain in Sweden, Kebnekaise mountain has now been demoted to second-tallest after its glacial peak melted…
The Ecological Cost of Bolivia’s Wildfires
Photo: AP While much of the world’s attention has focused on the recent wildfires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, blazes have also destroyed wide swaths of land in the neighboring country of Bolivia. Particularly hard hit is the area of Chiquitanía, which has seen nearly 40,000 fires that have razed 3,700…
The World’s Most Sustainable Building
In order to combat the increasing threat of climate change, certain companies have now begun to operate in more sustainable ways. Rhenus Netherlands has joined this cause and now owns the world’s most sustainable building, NewLogic III, in the Dutch city of Tilburg. The building received a score of 98.4%,…