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From green business and new environmental legislation to how nature impacts our environment in ways never before considered, Earth Wise offers a look at our changing environment.
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We are all aware of the dangers of second-hand smoke. It is why smoking is not allowed in almost all public spaces. But a new study has revealed a persistent and evolving threat to indoor air quality known as third-hand smoke.
The world’s oceans just keep getting hotter. International analysis published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences finds that the oceans stored more heat in 2025 than in any year since modern measurements began.
The use of energy by artificial intelligence technology is rapidly increasing. Massive data centers performing the intense computation needed for training large models are consuming huge amounts of energy. Last year, AI consumed over 4% of U.S. electricity, putting a real strain on electric grids. Projections are that AI energy demand will more than double by 2040.
In healthy ecosystems, mosquitoes feed on a wide range of animals, including birds, amphibians, and mammals. But when those ecosystems lose species, mosquitoes are left with fewer choices. New research suggests that in some places where biodiversity is shrinking, humans are becoming the preferred target.
The ongoing battle between the Trump administration and the American offshore wind industry saw multiple court rulings in January. In December, the Interior Department ordered all work to stop on five offshore wind projects under construction, citing unspecified national security concerns. As a result, $25 billion in investments are in jeopardy. In response, the developers of the projects filed lawsuits in various courts arguing that the government failed to justify its actions and delaying the projects would cause irreparable harm to the companies involved.
Marmara Lake once spread across 17 square miles in the Turkish province of Manisa. Tourists came from far and wide to boat on its waters, which were the home of nearly 20,000 birds. In 2011, the lake began to dry up. By 2021, the lake had lost 98% of its water, destroying the ecosystem that depended on it.
The Amazon rainforest is the world’s large tropical rainforest, covering roughly 2.7 million square miles. It comprises more than half of the world’s remaining rainforests. It is crisscrossed by thousands of rivers, including the huge Amazon River, and is famed for its biodiversity. It is comparable in size to the United States and extends into nine South American countries. Most of it is in Brazil. Colombia contains only a small fraction of the Amazon rainforest – roughly 6% of it – but the rainforest there makes up 40% of the country.
Historically, growing industry and the economy meant burning more fossil fuels. As the world faces the prospect of needing to reduce carbon emissions, the worry is that it can’t cut emissions without cutting growth. But a new analysis by a London-based think tank has found that the opposite is happening.
New Jersey has a program called Blue Acres, started in 1995, which to date has used more than $234 million in federal and state funds to pay fair market value to purchase homes in flood-prone areas. The properties are returned to permanent open space, which can better absorb rainwater than man-made surfaces such as concrete, asphalt, and buildings.
The United States took many backward steps with respect to the environment over the past year. Elsewhere, there was some progress by governments and other organizations in efforts to protect the natural world, preserve ecosystems, and establish policies to benefit the environment.
Climate disasters have become increasingly commonplace and increasingly destructive. The worst year was 2017 where a combination of devastating hurricane and wildfires resulted in $300 billion in damages. But 2025 has been one of the costliest years as well with economic losses of $120 billion spanning four continents.
Food choices shape far more than our health. They influence land use, water resources, and the amount of heat-trapping pollution released into the atmosphere. Because of this wide-reaching impact, scientists have begun to measure just how much dietary change is needed to slow climate change.
Washing clothes may seem harmless, but each load can release hundreds of thousands of tiny plastic fibers from synthetic fabrics into the water. Some of these microplastics are captured in sewage sludge that is often used as fertilizer, allowing the particles to spread onto agricultural fields. Others pass through wastewater systems and eventually into the ocean, where they accumulate in marine life. Laundry is an overlooked but major source of plastic pollution.
Ladakh is the largest union territory and also the highest plateau in India with most of it being over 10,000 feet in elevation. It is one of the least populated parts of the country, but it is having a real problem with dogs – feral dogs that is. Estimates are that at least 25,000 dogs roam freely around Ladakh.
Global surface temperature is the average temperature of the Earth’s surface at a given time. It is a combination of the near-surface air temperature over land and the sea surface temperature, weighted by their respective areas. Global temperature records, using modern instruments for consistent worldwide data, officially began in 1880. So, there is nearly a 150-year continuous record.
All around the world, Chinese companies are building factories, mines, and refineries that make EVs, batteries, solar panels, and other green energy technologies. Since 2022, Chinese companies have committed to spending $200 billion in clean energy manufacturing investments overseas. These facilities are located in every continent other than Antarctica.
The new world screwworm once caused widespread devastation to livestock in the United States, prompting a decades-long eradication effort. Today, scientists in California are taking proactive steps to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.
In November, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that the country “has no choice” but to relocate its capital. Severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain. Even as that country’s regime spends billions of dollars on rebuilding its military and nuclear infrastructure as well as supporting terrorist groups in the Middle East, Iran is running out of water.
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is the primary way to mitigate the effects of climate change. Converting to renewable energy sources to generate electricity and the electrification of vehicles are key requirements for reducing emissions. But industrial plants produce about 20% of global emissions. Major contributors include the production of petrochemicals, cement, and fertilizers. The emissions come from both the heat required for the industrial processes and from the processes themselves.
New York State has some of the nation’s most aggressive policies addressing climate change, including a law that is aimed at all but eliminating greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Gas-powered cars, oil-burning heaters and furnaces, and fossil-fueled electric plants are supposed to be on the way out. But the state has recently started putting the brakes on progress towards that green future.
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