By Siddharth Joshi, James Glynn, and Shivika Mittal Rooftop solar panels are up to 79% cheaper than they were in 2010. These plummeting costs have made rooftop solar photovoltaics even more attractive to households and businesses who want to reduce their reliance on electricity grids while reducing their carbon footprints. But are there enough rooftop […]
The Caldor Fire breached Echo Summit on Monday, crossing the Sierra Nevada and posing a direct threat to the population centers around Lake Tahoe, forcing more than 50,000 people to evacuate. A wildfire has crossed over the Sierra Nevada just once before in recorded history: less than two weeks ago the Dixie Fire crossed the […]
In February of last year, a CO2 pipeline exploded, engulfing Satartia, Mississippi in a noxious green fog that left residents confused, convulsing, foaming at the mouth and even unconscious — an episode that augurs danger for what could be a coming wave of new CO2 pipelines across the country, a 19-month investigation by HuffPost and […]
By Krystal Vasquez A specific component of air particle pollution found in some common household products could be responsible for up to 900,000 premature deaths every year — 10 times greater than previous estimates, according to new research published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. While the majority of these components, referred to as anthropogenic secondary […]
As Paradise, California works to buy up properties devastated by the 2018 Camp Fire to create a more fire-resilient barrier for the still-rebuilding town, Northern California is under a siege of wildfire and smoke. Nearly 43,000 Californians are under evacuation orders as more than 13,500 firefighters battle a dozen large wildfires across the state. The […]
In less than a year, a South Carolina paper mill has become one of the dirtiest polluters in the United States. The plant is spewing high and dangerous amounts of smelly hydrogen sulfide gas and soot into the air above Catawba, South Carolina and nearby counties. While emergency orders have been issued to stop the […]
A massive and controversial petrochemical plant in St. James Parish, Louisiana, must complete a rigorous environmental impact statement if it is to obtain a key permit, the Army Corps of Engineers announced Wednesday. The Formosa Plastics plant had been on hold since the fall of last year when the Army Corps suspended an earlier permit […]
Smoke from wildfires can make people more susceptible to catching COVID – and dying from it. Over 700 more people died and nearly 20,000 more were infected with the virus than would have been expected if they had not been exposed to air polluted with particulate matter from fires that burned during last summer’s record-breaking […]
Weeks after smoke from wildfires spread from coast to coast, Google announced that it is adding air quality data to its Nest Hubs display. Beginning Thursday, an Air Quality Index (AQI) badge will be added to the clock and weather widget for select U.S. markets. “Between wildfire season and recent increased efforts to reduce air […]