A reader asked: To what extent are cats responsible for climate change? To answer this question, we turned to the editor-in-chief of Yale Climate Connections, Sara Peach, a longtime environmental journalist. Here is her answer: Gather round, fans of the world’s fluffiest, most smoochable animal with switchblades in their feet. Let’s answer this question by…
Tiina Sanila-Aikio cannot remember a summer this warm. The months of midnight sun around Inari, in Finnish Lapland, have been hot and dry. Conifer needles on the branch-tips are orange when they should be a deep green. The moss on the forest floor, usually swollen with water, has withered. “I have spoken with many old…
Discover seven products that represent a new wave of bio-derived offerings for interior design and architecture. WHAT IF THE MATERIALS of the building industry weren’t sourced from mining and extraction, but rather from agriculture and animal husbandry? This dream—that we could someday grow our building products—is represented the offerings shown here. Some bring ancient materials…
Soil sustains life and provides ecosystem services relevant for the environment, society, and the economy. However, soil is a finite resource and is vulnerable to degradation that reduces its ability to provide goods and services >>> Ferreira, C. S. S., Keesstra, S., Destouni, G., Solomun, M. K., Kalantari, Z. Environmental Sustainability in the Mediterranean Region:…
Scientists from Swansea University have developed a new tool to help identify optimal photovoltaic (PV) materials capable of maximising crop growth while generating solar power. In a recent study published in Solar RRL, academics from the University’s Department of Physics have been exploring the effect of semi-transparent PV materials placed over crops – an exemplary…
It is hot and sticky inside the crowded ferry approaching the coast of Naxos. When the ferry docks, the tourists, who are laden down with baggage, surge forward, impatient to disembark. It takes about half an hour for everyone to leave the ferry. The port is extremely busy: Cars honk horns, motorcycles weave in and out between…
Making the benefits of different types of farming plain for the public could provide better protection for the British countryside, according to a new study. Led by a team at the University of Reading, the research says greater education about sustainable agriculture in the UK is needed in order to support farmers. This includes clearing…