The Sahara desert has been slowly expanding southwards for decades through a region as the Sahel. Heavy grazing, deforestation, and numerous droughts have degraded the once lush Sahel, making it easy pickings for the Sahara’s expansion. In order to stave off an ecological disaster across the continent, 20 different African countries have embarked on an […]
Solar panels all over the Sahara desert?
You may have seen a variant of this meme before. A map of North Africa is shown, with a surprisingly small box somewhere in Libya or Algeria shaded in. An area of the Sahara this size, the caption will say, could power the entire world through solar energy: Area of Sahara you’d need to cover with […]
Tree planting ‘has mind-blowing potential’ to tackle climate crisis
Planting billions of trees across the world is by far the biggest and cheapest way to tackle the climate crisis, according to scientists, who have made the first calculation of how many more trees could be planted without encroaching on crop land or urban areas. As trees grow, they absorb and store the carbon dioxide […]
To be able to monitor exact air pollution from every power plant in the world can mean impact
Earlier this month brought a mind-blowing announcement in the world of power plants and pollution. In a nutshell: A nonprofit artificial intelligence firm called WattTime is going to use satellite imagery to precisely track the air pollution (including carbon emissions) coming out of every single power plant in the world, in real time. And it’s going to […]
Cities Hold The Keys To Greener, More Efficient Homes
Our homes may be a source of safety, comfort, and stability—but they also represent a considerable slice of our country’s carbon emissions (over 20 percent, according to the latest estimate from the US Energy Information Administration). Addressing this piece of our energy system is essential to achieving our climate goals. Perhaps more important, improving the […]