A warm January was a pleasant surprise for many Americans this year. Maybe money was wasted on a new winter coat, but the gains far outweighed the losses. Fifty and sixty degree weather meant fewer colds, less time spent shaving ice off our windshields, and more time outside. For many farmers, however, warmer winter weather…
How do erratic weather patterns and atypical seasons affect plants? If you garden, the thought may have crossed your mind. In fact, you may have asked yourself this recently when spring flowers began blooming in mid-February. What happens if the weather gets cold? How do you know when you should begin gardening again? And the…
This isn’t news. We’ve known that the planet has been warming up. Some of us even awoke in January to 60 degree weather and wondered blissfully, where is winter? Whether you believe the change in weather (and climate) is due to human-related activities or the earth’s natural warming and cooling cycle, there is no denying…
Those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it. Ironically, we’ve been repeating and simultaneously ignoring this famous adage for centuries. And it might just be our downfall. Right now, the world is split between climate-deniers and climate-activists. Some petition for a cleaner world and greener legislation while others laugh in their faces….
Have you heard of the term victory garden? These were gardens that were planted during WWII in order to increase food security and prevent famine. The government encouraged homeowners to grow their own food to feed their families, as much of the available food was needed for soldiers. Victory gardens were a hit; in fact,…
When we talk about climate change, we usually discuss its effects on agriculture, people’s homes, or the icebergs in Antarctica. And, often, what follows is discussion on how reducing carbon emissions and planting more trees can help mitigate these negative effects. No one ever brings up the wetlands that have been destroyed by anthropogenic practices…
Brazil isn’t the only one suffering the effects of forest fires. In Australia, bushfires, which have grown increasingly more severe and have begun much earlier this year than in the past, are threatening Australia’s residents and wildlife. In early September of this year, Australia witnessed its first and most severe series of bushfires on the…
We’ve all seen it: the ad for the Impossible Burger, which sounds both tempting and downright impossible. But it’s not impossible to cultivate an authentic-tasting burger from plant-based products; and soon, it might be one of the ways in which we can feed the 9 billion people joining our planet by 2050. So what exactly…
We know that cows contribute to climate change, but does their manure contribute to climate change too? According to a new study, which was conducted by Colorado State University and the University of Idaho and published on October 9 in Ecology Letters, manure from livestock who are given antibiotics can actually contribute to climate change….
Last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, warning the public that the earth’s oceanic and frozen regions are at risk if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced significantly and quickly. The ocean serves as a carbon sink and has absorbed…
