Play for the planet: five climate change games for the festive season

Games can help us to imagine a better world with family and friends, and to highlight the collective actions that are most needed to tackle climate change.

Prasad Sandbhor, Applied Games Designer and Researcher, University of York • conversation
Dec. 18, 2024 ~8 min

Surface-based sonar system could rapidly map the ocean floor at high resolution

A small fleet of autonomous surface vessels forms a large sonar array for finding submerged objects.

Ariana Tantillo | MIT Lincoln Laboratory • mit
Dec. 18, 2024 ~10 min


Climate change could overwhelm our sewers – here’s how green infrastructure could help

Cities need to find new ways to handle rainwater, especially in the face of climate change. Green infrastructure offers a way to tackle this challenge.

Mayra Rodriguez, Postdoctoral Researcher, Earth Observation Science, Plymouth Marine Laboratory • conversation
Dec. 17, 2024 ~8 min

No flood gauges, no warning: 99% of US streams are off the radar amid rising flash flood risks – we saw the harm in 2024

If federal streamgages were bolstered by networks of cheaper monitors run by communities, the results could save lives.

Branko Kerkez, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Michigan • conversation
Dec. 17, 2024 ~10 min

New climate chemistry model finds “non-negligible” impacts of potential hydrogen fuel leakage

MIT study confirms the climate impacts of hydrogen, recommends leak prevention be a priority as infrastructure for handling this clean-burning fuel is built.

Nancy W. Stauffer | MIT Energy Initiative • mit
Dec. 16, 2024 ~12 min

After wildfires, ranchers face 2-year delay to graze cattle on federal land – is it doing more harm than good?

That delay can tip ranchers’ finances into the red. While the land needs time to recover, studies raise questions about whether two years is really necessary.

Jared L. Talley, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, Boise State University • conversation
Dec. 16, 2024 ~8 min

Wildfire smoke exposure boosts dementia risk

In a new study, higher long-term smoke exposure was associated with an increase in the odds that a person would be diagnosed with dementia.

U. Washington • futurity
Dec. 12, 2024 ~6 min

Rising desertification shows we can’t keep farming with fossil fuels

Tractors and chemicals have served food production well, but at a cost to healthy soil.

Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition • conversation
Dec. 12, 2024 ~7 min


15% of global population lives within a few miles of a coast − and the number is growing rapidly

Nearly 10% of the planet’s human inhabitants live within 3.1 miles of the coast − where the risk of climate disasters is often highest.

Viswadeep Lebakula, Research Scientist in Human Geography, Oak Ridge National Laboratory • conversation
Dec. 12, 2024 ~6 min

Three ways to reduce Europe’s flood risk

Implementing effective flood management is challenging, partly because not all floods are the same.

Paul Hudson, Associate Professor of Physical Geography and Sustainability, Leiden University • conversation
Dec. 12, 2024 ~6 min

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