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With India being one of the most populated countries and having inordinate amounts of waste, it is already facing a pollution problem. After the rainy summer season subsides, however, farmers of India fuel the massive issue. In order "to clear stubble after the harvest" farmers set their property ablaze despite the practice being illegal. But, it is complicated to determine the extent to which the pollution in Delhi can be accredited to smoke from farms. Researchers discovered that about fifty percent of Delhi pollution was a result of these fires in major burning time periods. The World Health Organization states that 25 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particulate air pollution is the maximum for safe air. India, however, exceeds this standard by 125 micrograms per cubic meter at a harrowing 150.

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Coral reefs are famous for their extravagant vibrancy and productivity, but as climate change increases, the beautiful coral reefs and their inhabitants are threatened. Researchers studied a portion of the Great Barrier Reef before, during, and after a mass bleaching which took place in 2016. Just like corals have varying heat tolerances, some fish in coral reefs can adapt to bleached coral better than others. Thus, a decrease in fish biodiversity was seen after the mass bleaching. The article also discusses the prevalent issue of decreasing biodiversity otherwise called biotic homogenization. This is further proof of the detrimental effects of climate change worldwide.

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Since satellite imaging commenced to record sea ice amount, this past winter saw the Arctic's second lowest sea ice extent. This decrease is described as "a bellwether of global warming" in the article. Each winter, the ice cannot compensate for what melted away in the summer, and just last year, the amount of sea ice gained in the winter season reached a record breaking low. The melting ice in the Arctic is not just a concern for this region. The jet stream causes weather patterns including the recent nor'easters experienced by our part of the United States. The decreasing gap between temperatures is hurting the jet stream causing cold air to move south of the Arctic and warm air to move towards the Arctic.

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As the world becomes more technologically advanced, there is a greater need for renewable energy sources. Recently, Portugal was able to generate sufficient renewable energy to power the entire country's demand (103.6%). Of the produced energy, hydropower accounted for 55% of this, and wind 42%. The Portuguese Renewable Energy Association predicts that within the next few decades the country will be able to nearly solely rely on renewable energy sources. Both Iceland and Norway rely heavily on renewable sources of power, however, part of this ability is due to their ideal location. The sustainable practices do however come at a price. The cost of electricity is very expensive in Portugal.

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It is known that climate change is having adverse effects on the planet, but a new study is proving yet another negative impact from the global issue. Researchers analyzed data collected from recent years all the way to the twenties about rainfall. What they found was that climate cycles could explain reduced rainfall and growing desert, however, anthropogenic activity is a factor as well. It is estimated that the Sahara Desert has seen a ten percent increase in size since a century ago. Some of this can be accredited to climate cycles which can impact a region for as long as decades. The researchers noted that from the 1950's to 1980's the region experienced the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscllation cycle which entailed heat and dry conditions. When accounting for this difference however, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation only equaled two thirds of the total. This implies that the remaining third could be resultant of climate change.

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Recently, research has been conducted on Australia's Great Barrier Reef to study the impact of carbon dioxide emissions on ocean acidification. In this experiment, carbon dioxide was added to seawater and then would drift along a natural coral reef habitat. When carbon emissions meet the water, they are absorbed and remain in the water for a very long time. These emissions yield carbonic acid in the water which is highly detrimental to coral reefs, shellfish, and other aquatic life. This study stresses the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If this is not changed soon, the future of coral reefs is at stake not to mention the effect the emissions have on climate change in the atmosphere. Not only are reefs a source of ecotourism and fishing, they are home to many incredibly organisms.

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A new study performed by University of Delaware's associate professor, Jeff Buler, has found that city lights are becoming a distraction to migrating birds. Due to bird's attraction to light, and occasional poor visibility, birds confuse stadiums or lighthouses with their migratory destination. One major problem with this confusion is birds are being drawn to areas with tall buildings they can fly into.  This caused Toronto to implement a "Light's Out" program where lights are turned off in tall buildings to avoid collisions.   Many concerns arise as birds are increasingly drawn to urban areas.  From buildings to predators, cities are dangerous places for birds.  Fairmount Park of Philadelphia has higher densities of birds than Cape May which poses a significant problem. With the birds being in such great proximity of a major city, mortality rates will increase.

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As forests are threatened by deforestation and farmland, the guina wildcat of Chile is threatened as well. It is currently one of the most threatened species in South America with only about 10,000 individual cats left. Over twenty five years, more than two thirds of Chile's temperate rainforests have been lost.  Nonetheless, the guina cat is surprisingly very skilled in adapting to such extreme changes in its environment. The biggest threats facing the cat are habitat fragmentation and the subdivision of large farms into smaller ones, but illegal hunting also drives the cat to extinction. Research showed that 10% of rural inhabitants admitted to killing a guina cat over the past decade. Many people in these areas believe the cat will kill their livestock (chickens).

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According to NASA scientists, 2017 was one of the hottest years ever recorded, without an El Nino. Due to last year being a La Nina year, atmospheric temperatures would be expected to be lower. Even scarier, from two analyses, it was concluded that seventeen of the eighteen warmest years (of modern record keeping) were the years since 2001. The arctic is warming almost twice as quickly as other parts of the planet, causing permafrost to thaw. Rachel Licker, a climate scientist, mentions a great point that opens our eyes to the ever-changing planet. She says, "It's startling to know there are individuals on the brink of adulthood who have spent their entire lives in a climate that, largely due to human activity, is vastly different from the one their parents experienced growing up." Certainly, modern technology is a blessing in many respects, but it does not come free. With the past year being one of the hottest on record, something must be said about what we are doing to our planet.

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Sea turtle populations are now proving the extent to which climate change is affecting the planet. Temperature of the sand decides the gender of turtle hatchlings. Lately, however, within the last twenty years, temperatures have soared so far on Australia's islands in the Great Barrier Reef, that very few males were born. Wildlife managers will try to find ways to lower incubation temperatures, however, this sea turtle issue is proving just how detrimental climate change is to the planet. This makes another problem prevalent. Coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef is occurring as a result of the high temperatures as well. The article
mentions that sea turtles are one of the oldest species of the ocean, and have adjusted to changing climates for a long time. Nonetheless, climate change in the last twenty years has had this significant of an effect on the sea turtle who has withstood a lot.

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This article proposes a different perspective for studying how climate change effects humans. I would never have thought that climate change itself could be detrimental to mental health.
Researchers at The University of Arizona set out to further explore this. The researchers divided people into three groups in their study published in the journal "Global Environmental Change." The first group of environmental concern was the egoistic group. This group is concerned with how climate change affects themselves directly. The second group, the altruistics are concerned with humanity as a whole, and the effect climate change will have on future generations. The third group, the biospheric group are concerned with nature. The third group, the biospheric people were reported to have much higher levels of stress in regards to climate change than the significantly low amount of stress experienced by the first two groups. It was also discovered that biospheric people were most likely to show signs of depression whereas no correlation was concluded between depression and the first two groups. These concerns are quite real and scary to those in the third group. These people are able to understand the threat these bigger-than-us environmental problems pose. The other two groups, more concerned with jobs, family, money, however, cannot yet wrap their heads around these massive issues

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As obtaining fresh water becomes an increasing issue in the world, researchers have been constantly searching for possible solutions (no pun intended). Environmental engineers have birthed a desalination method called BDI or Battery Electrode Deionization. This system is significantly more effective than traditional CDI or Capacitive Deionization methods. Not only can the BDI perform the same as the CDI, it can do so with a lesser voltage. This in turn creates greater desalination while consuming less energy. The engineers also discovered by increasing the number of membranes between electrodes, energy consumption decreased even more. The BDI is not yet suitable for seawater, but it could be beneficial to groundwater or water entering treatment facilities. An invention like this one could be a breakthrough in our understanding of desalination and provide aid to our current water problem.

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London Mayor Sadiq Khan has recently taken it upon himself to make his city a cleaner place through his Toxicity Charge. The Toxicity Charge places a $13.18 daily fee on vehicles which do not pass emissions standards. This fee is in addition to the recent $15.00 congestion charge which all vehicles face between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Khan's goal is to make London a zero emissions city by 2040. He says he refuses to witness more citizens die from pollution and recognizes this is one of the most extreme steps taken by any city in the world. According to a recent study in the medical journal The Lancet, the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death is pollution; more than AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis combined. To my surprise, about seventy percent of London residents support the new levy, and incentive to be cleaner, which is quite inspiring. The only flaw is this new strategy is hitting the poor the hardest. Those less fortunate cannot afford new vehicles, and therefore have to pay the Toxicity Charge.

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The article begins highlighting a major issue; the Arctic is warming twice as fast as other parts of Earth. Even in Alaska, climate change is threatening wildlife habitats and coastal native villages. Recently, scientists from Woods Hole Research Center ventured to Alaska to study the effects of climate change, however, what they have found has proven to be even more alarming. The permafrost which extends as far as hundreds of feet down is thawing, and by 2050, could vastly disappear. The permafrost will even disrupt the carbon cycle as it melts. Permafrost around the world is believed to store twice the amount of carbon than the atmosphere.The release of this excess carbon into the atmosphere amplifies global warming even more, making the melting process continue. Scientists predict that over the course of the next few centuries, the thawing of permafrost alone could add as much as 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit to global warming (without society's attempts to reduce emissions, burning fossil fuels, etc).

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In possibly one of the strangest methods possible, scientists are unveiling more information regarding the history of United States carbon emissions. Scientists are doing this by examining soot on feathers of bird specimen collected by museums for the last century and a half. Their discovery could even help predictions of future climate change.  Over 1,300 birds collected between 1880 and 2015, from areas most heavily influenced by manufacturing and coal burning were examined by researchers.  The birds allowed them to measure "black carbon" concentrations in the United States. Black Carbon, a byproduct of fossil fuel burning, is extremely detrimental to the environment, as it is a major cause of pollution and contributor to climate change. The reason for this, is the albedo of the particles.  Because they are dark, they absorb more heat.  Using this information, researchers decided to measure the amount of light reflected off of the bird's feathers. The darker feathers would contain more soot presumably. The results showed that carbon concentrations could have been underestimated in the past, but the results did not drastically change our understanding of carbon in the atmosphere.

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During a news conference at the yearly meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, scientists mentioned a find that is quite fascinating. Underwater seagrass could possibly lower the levels of bacteria in nearby ocean waters, making the entire environment (coral, fish, and humans included) cleaner and healthier. Seagrasses are said to be one of the largest aquatic stores of carbon and even compared to the rainforest. Healthier corals can help prevent erosion, and although common sense, fish contaminated with less bacteria make for healthier food for consumers. It is not known yet, how exactly the seagrass filters the water. It is possible that similar to a shag carpet, seagrasses trap bacteria and prevent them from continuing on in the ocean.

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One of the most productive ecosystems, salt marshes which can store tons of carbon is facing many serious threats such as sea level rise, nutrient runoff, land use changes, etc. The factor that makes studying this ecosystem so difficult is the fact that they are separating land and water. Therefore, the tide is always coming in and going out, making it complex to measure the effects of the carbon cycle on the ecosystem. Rodrigo Vargas is currently trying to better our understanding of vertical and lateral carbon fluxes through the use of an outdoor laboratory (carbon exchanged between the land & atmosphere, and carbon exchanged between land & coastal ocean). The experimental site is loaded with remote cameras which take automatic pictures of the ecosystem to study plant phenology. The pictures can be taken in color or infrared, helping the scientists understand the complex carbon dynamics of the ecosystem through the use of repeated photography.

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This article seriously left me in awe. The article stresses the detrimental effects of climate change in our world today through the story of olive farmers in Italy. While olives are not a staple of anyone's diet, it is telling how much o an impact climate change has on the world. Olive growers used to rely on the "mezze stagioni" or half-seasons (before and after heat). They also used to be reliant on one good growing season followed by one bad one followed by another good season and so on. This stability is no longer. This year, a scorching heat wave, which scientists accredit to human-induced climate change hit Europe, causing the olives to wither and die.  In 2014, the extreme amount of precipitation caused the olive flies to breed inordinately, spoiling the olives with worms.  Being an olive farmer today is considered risky business and likened to playing the lottery. Seen very clearly here, climate change is no matter to be taken with levity. The global issue is impacting not only the weather, but our food web, food chain, and market.