Environment
Pandemic Sparks Innovation At New Hampshire’s Influential Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest
At the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in northern New Hampshire, the pandemic broke a decades-long streak of field research. Now, scientists there are adapting with new technology – recording the sounds of the forest, which they hope will transform their long and influential record of a changing world. In late fall, Dartmouth biologist Matt Ayres…
Read MoreRopeless Fishing Shows Promise, But There’s a Catch: Financial, Safety, Technology Challenges
The lobster industry could be getting a new sound. On a cold January morning, a lobster trap sitting on a table at a manufacturing facility in Wareham is rhythmically beeping. Two final beeps have a special meaning. “So that’s the release confirmation,” explained Rob Morris, who sells acoustic release systems for the underwater technology company…
Read MoreIs ‘Ropeless’ Fishing the Solution to End Fatal Entanglements for Endangered Whales?
Rob Martin has been fishing from the Sandwich Marina for 29 years off his boat, Resolve. “It’s only 40 feet. It was big when I first got it and now it seems small,” he said, while warming up inside his boat’s cabin on a cold January morning. Over the last few decades, Martin, 56, has…
Read MoreLocal EPA Staffers Look Forward To Life With Biden
Less than a week into his presidency, Joe Biden has already signed executive orders emphasizing the importance of science, environmental justice and climate change within the Environmental Protection Agency. And Undine Kipka says the biggest thing she’s feeling right now is relief. Kipka is an environmental engineer and union vice president at the EPA’s New…
Read MoreSome In New England Unhappy With End Of Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine
The U.S. government has lifted a quarantine on an invasive insect, the emerald ash borer, that’s killed many trees in Massachusetts and Connecticut. But critics of the change have been more vocal outside those states. The emerald ash borer was first discovered in the U.S. in 2002 in Michigan. The federal government soon instituted a…
Read MoreNENC/America Amplified Special: What The Biden Administration Will Mean For Climate Change In New England
Premieres: Thursday, Jan. 14, 2020 Severe storms. Heat waves. Rising seas. New England is already seeing the impacts of climate change, and scientists project they will become more severe and deadly, shaping how we live and work in the northeastern U.S. Ahead of Inauguration Day, the New England News Collaborative and America Amplified will look…
Read MoreState Workers’ Switch To Telework During Pandemic Brings ‘Seismic’ Drop in CO2 Emissions
Maine government workers have reduced their car travel by 1 million vehicle miles a week since the start of the pandemic, thanks to the rapid, wholesale adoption of telework policies. The preliminary data are opening an unexpected window on the future of telecommuting and its potential to deliver substantial reductions in global warming pollution. Last…
Read MoreTo Survive The Pandemic, Vermonters Took A Hike
The reports from earlier this year are in, and all across the state, the number of people using Vermont’s hiking trails was way up. Whether it was the Long Trail, Vermont’s State Parks, or developed trails in our towns and cities, people flocked to the outdoors during the early months of the pandemic. Before COVID-19…
Read MoreTeens Fight For New Climate Change Curriculum in Massachusetts Schools
Every week, more than a dozen student activists from around Massachusetts call into a Zoom meeting. Behind them are glimpses into their lives – superhero posters and hot pink bedroom walls. “OK. So do we want to start off today’s meeting with an agenda?” asked Nico Gentile, the 17-year-old climate organizer running today’s meeting. The…
Read MoreNew Study Shows Methane Leaks Prevalent In Connecticut Cities
A new study of natural gas infrastructure in Connecticut says harmful amounts of methane are leaking from aging underground gas pipes. The findings add to an emerging body of science demonstrating the scale of methane leaks in America. Methane is the main part of natural gas. Like carbon dioxide, it’s a greenhouse gas, trapping heat…
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