Energy for the Environment

Recently, officials in Utah are scrambling to reverse the damage done to the Great Salt Lake. But what is causing the collapse of the lake, how can officials fix it, how much will it cost, and what are the impacts if the lake collapses? First up, why is the Great Salt Lake on the edge?…

Recently, California has been faced with a series of atmospheric river storms, which can be compared to rivers in the sky that dump rain. These storms have been bringing California plenty of rain– which is beneficial for the extreme drought conditions it has been facing, but also causing destruction and havoc in general. Just in…

My previous post discussed the unsettling reality that Alaskan rivers are turning acidic and orange in color. The working theory to explain this phenomenon states that climate change is melting deep layers of permafrost. The melted permafrost is releasing sediments full of iron. When this happens, oxidation causes iron to rust and gives it a…

Roman Dial (professor) and graduate students from Alaska Pacific University observed orange- colored rivers and inadequate drinking water from previously pristine rivers in the Brooks Range (a mountain range within the Arctic Circle). Once pristine rivers that communities and wildlife rely on for drinking water are now full of acidic minerals. So what caused the…

Originally, before people started crowding in Florida and sugar cane farmers started farming, the water from Lake Okeechobee and Kissimmee River would flow down to the Everglades and FL Bay, hydrating the ecosystems with fresh, non-polluted water. Now, Lake Okeechobee is primarily where the flow is disrupted. Historically, every wet season, the water would spill…

My family recently took a trip to Germany and Austria, and I noticed several things that Europe is doing differently than America in terms of sustainability. First of all, the dual flush toilet. While it may have some prevalence in America, it is not typically in houses, restaurants, or stores. In Europe, however, every place…

A devastating video shown in the article, “Hundreds of animals die in Kenyan wildlife preserves amid region’s worst drought in decades” shows a small elephant lying on its side in the middle of a vast expanse of sand, with a man holding a water bottle into its mouth. Over a thousand parched animals have perished due…

Shockingly, in 4 years, the population of Alaskan Snow crabs declined by 7 billion. Once thought of as the most abundant crab species in the Bering Sea, the harvest this year has been canceled due to the dwindling population. This cancellation will have harsh effects on crab-fishing families and businesses. After all, the seafood industry…

A study in 2019 showed that freshwater shrimp in the English countryside contained trace amounts of drugs such as cocaine, ketamine, xanax, and even some banned pesticides. The most prevalent of these compounds was cocaine, found in shrimp studied in all 15 sites studied. The effects of these drugs on freshwater shrimp are not yet…

17.5% of the world’s population lives in one country- India. That is roughly 1.4 billion people in one area that could fit into the U.S. three times over. With a population this dense, India has severe water problems- but how did they originate? First of all, the intense population growth. In 1951, India had 3,000-4,000…