A recent study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, sheds new and troubling light into sea ice retreat and albedo decline over the Arctic and Antarctica across 44 years of satellite observations.
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Plastic pollution is often associated with visible waste such as bottles, bags, or microplastics floating in oceans. However, some of the most concerning plastic-related pollutants are invisible, chemically persistent, and capable of traveling silently through water systems. Among these are phthalates, a group of synthetic chemicals widely used to make plastics flexible and durable.
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When people think of cancer, they often picture an older person. But cancer is also prevalent among children. Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer, and its incidence has risen globally in recent years. Researchers are exploring how lifestyle and environmental factors may influence its development.
Read MoreThe Disappearing Wetlands Wetlands are disappearing and it is more than only the drying of water. It is the silent
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AI models have a huge water footprint that most people do not even consider when they use generative AI. Behind every chatbot response or image generated lies the hidden cost of fresh water. Training and running large AI models like GPT-3 can consume millions of liters of freshwater, from cooling servers to producing electricity. This ‘thirst’ is often overlooked on multiple fronts, by consumers as well as industries because companies rarely report their full water use across data centers, electricity generation, and hardware manufacturing. Without greater transparency and sustainable practices, the rapid growth of generative AI challenges global water scarcity at a time access to clean water is already under threat.
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An ever-expanding human population means more roads, more cars, and more traffic noise. But how does all this racket affect the animals living alongside us, like bees? A recent study examines whether increasing noise pollution affects the pollination behavior of bumblebees, and outline implications for the future of urban agriculture.
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In a new study published in Nature Geoscience, researchers investigate the underlying geography of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and identify fragments of a coastal plain that inform how these ice shelves could respond to warming global temperatures.
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Wildfires significantly impact water quality for up to 8 years post-burn, according to a new study that analyzes data from 500 watersheds across the western continental United States. This effort is the most extensive synthesis to date of large-scale, long-term trends in water quality in response to fires.
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The world is pretty big. Sometimes, even when scientists breakdown and reduce their study area, they don’t have the resources to collect enough samples to be able to reliably interpret the results of their studies. Here is where citizen science comes in. Citizen science is when the general public becomes voluntarily involved in scientific processes, helping researchers collect data and reporting on what they see. But, how efficient and accurate is this new resource we’re only recently applying? And, how can you get involved?
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Riverside vegetation, or “riparian buffers”, provides wildlife habitat, maintains water quality, and reduces flood damage. Human activity can negatively affect these services, and monitoring this vegetation over time can be costly and resource-intensive. Researchers at SUNY ESF have developed a new way of mapping river channels and vegetation that uses open-source remote-sensing software, using the Genesee River in New York to develop this method. Their method greatly improves our ability to monitor this important resource over time with over 90% accuracy.
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