The International Seabed Authority had until this weekend to finish drafting exploitation regulations for deep-sea mining. They’re not done. So now what happens? Two years ago, the Republic of Nauru, a small island nation in the South Pacific, put the world on course for the beginning of a new industry: deep-sea mining in
Lab grown meat is back in the news as two companies announce they’ve cleared the final regulatory hurdle to sell cultivated chicken to U.S. consumers. Grown from cells and brewed in reactors, cultivated meat is still expensive but what it offers is unparalleled — actual meat without the massive climate pollution caused by
The Dutch startup “Urban Reef” uses 3D printers with renewable materials to create sculptures that are planted with a variety of mosses, mushrooms, and other plants. These help clean the polluted air of big cities with their natural processes like photosynthesis. As of now the project is still in development but already shows
A pair of studies demonstrate the uncertainty over when the Arctic will become seasonally sea ice free. Every September since 1979, the U.S. government has measured the extent of sea ice in the Arctic. And the picture is not a pretty one—more than 2 million square kilometers have been lost in that time,
In this episode of “News of the Week”, we explore the intense conflict between the auto industry and the Biden administration’s ambitious climate change regulation.The proposed rule aims to achieve a significant shift towards electric vehicles, but the industry’s largest lobbying organization vehemently opposes it. We delve into the potential impact of the
Deciphering Climate Shifts Emerging from an eminent British academic environment, I present a learned view on the daunting subject of climatic shift. The Earth’s meteorological character has been eternally versatile, oscillating naturally across epochs. Yet, the accelerated fluctuations we’re observing presently are largely the consequence of human pursuits, with extensive repercussions on global
The discovery of a tiny fish far from its normal range is a poignant reminder of the changes that are already happening. In the Fram Strait off Greenland’s west coast, Véronique Merten encountered the foot soldiers of an invasion. Merten was studying the region’s biodiversity using environmental DNA, a method that allows scientists
The construction industry has long been associated with negative environmental impacts, largely due to its heavy reliance on natural resources and high energy consumption. The industry heavily relies on concrete in many parts of the world. However, the energy usage required for the extraction of natural resources, production of cement and concrete, and
Theresa “Red” Terry made international headlines for tree-sitting in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline for 34 straight days in 2018. Five years later, she feels despondent about the federal debt deal that cleared a path for the long-stalled pipeline project to be completed. BENT MOUNTAIN, Va. — Theresa “Red” Terry never
Climate transformation poses a relentless global menace, and the urgency to unearth solutions capable of counteracting, if not entirely reversing, the repercussions of our historical and current behaviour, is skyrocketing. The instrumental impact of technological innovation in this crusade cannot be overemphasised. We venture to delve into five potentially revolutionary technologies that could