Local News

New York’s JFK airport has an urban farm. Wait, what?

The potatoes in your bag of complimentary airline chips could someday come from a farm at — surprise! — New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Outside JetBlue Airways’ Terminal 5, a few thousand black plastic crates form raised beds for ...
flying over Antarctica

Flying Over Antarctica: Why Commercial Flights Avoid Antarctica

Despite no legal prohibition on flying over Antarctica, the continent remains largely bypassed by regular commercial airlines. Experts point to a combination of environmental challenges, regulatory hurdles, and economic factors that make the South Pole a less-than-ideal route for modern ...

Humans settled, set fire to Madagascar’s forests 1,000 years ago

There's no question that our species has had a dramatic impact on the planet's physical environment, particularly over the last few centuries, with the rise of modern industry, transportation, and infrastructure. But as new research shows, humans have been transforming ...

Solar storm blasts Earth

The largest solar storm since 2005 swept across the planet this week, forcing airlines to reroute flights and disrupting communications from global positioning satellites. This spontaneous blast of solar radiation may have affected power grids and high-frequency radio communications in ...

The story of air pollution started way back in ancient times

Ahhh — to remember the glory days before dirty air descended on Delhi, a methane leak in California gassed thousands, and catastrophic smog in China prompted people to buy bottled air, of all things. Before the Industrial Revolution, the world was ...

The Seasons Of Antarctica

Winter in Antarctica, it is dark all of the time. In the Antarctic summer, (between January and March, when there is plenty of daylight—twenty-four hours a day! In September, the Sun rises, and then doesn't set again until March. Why ...
Church at the South Pole

Church at the South Pole – A Beacon of Faith

Sophrony Kirilov pulls hard on the strings of the heavy Russian bells from inside the world’s southernmost Eastern Orthodox church, calling to Mass anybody wanting to pray on this remote Antarctic island. The 38-year-old Russian priest is clad in a ...

Heat is heading for new extremes

Heatwaves that used to arrive once every 20 years or so could become annual events by 2075 across almost two-thirds of the planet’s land surface – if humans go on burning ever more fossil fuels and releasing ever more greenhouse ...

Medieval Period Was Warmer Than Expected

One of the most common arguments of those skeptical of global warming is that the Medieval Warm Period (800-1400 AD) was as warm as or warmer than today. Using this as proof to say that we cannot be the cause ...
Rising Ocean Temperatures

Rising Ocean Temperatures

Scientists have recorded that the temperature of the oceans has been on the rise.  The temperatures have been rising at a rate of 40% on average over what they previously predicted over the past five years.  The year 2018 was ...