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  • Could a Detroit Experiment Unleash the Power of Urban Soil?

    July 16, 2020 |

    Civil Eats |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

    A multi-year experiment in Detroit is looking at environmentally sustainable ways to build urban soil. Some urban farmers are concerned about the high alkalinity levels in their soils, which can lead to potentially contaminated produce. The project is studying how cover crops, compost, and tillage can improve a piece of land. Early results suggest that these techniques can improve soils for agriculture but also improve the soil’s capacity to absorb carbon to mitigate climate change in major cities.

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  • During the pandemic, students do field and lab work without leaving home

    July 15, 2020 |

    Science Magazine |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, New Hampshire

    Due to the pandemic, university professors teaching field and lab work courses are rethinking ways to provide what was formerly a strictly in-person, hands-on experience. In New Hampshire staff at a marine laboratory are streaming virtual dissections and field trips to students, and geology instructors across the U.S. have developed online courses like “Orienteering in Minecraft” and “Geology of Yosemite Valley,” and virtual land surveying.

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  • Can direct air capture make a real impact on climate change?

    July 03, 2020 |

    Public Radio International (PRI) |

    Radio |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: Switzerland, Zurich

    Climeworks is focusing on pulling carbon dioxide directly out of the air to store or reuse in some capacity as a way to lower global greenhouse gas emissions. The Swiss company has 16 plants around Europe, with their biggest one in Switzerland that removes 900 tons of carbon dioxide a year that is then sold to Coca-Cola Co. to put in soft drinks or to local industrial greenhouses for plant growth. Scaling the operations to capture more carbon is costly, but the startup recently raised $76 million from investors.

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  • Listening to Silence: Why We Must Protect the World's Quiet Places

    June 30, 2020 |

    Yale Environment 360 |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Ecuador

    The nonprofit Quiet Parks International certifies “quiet parks” after performing a detailed sound analysis. Their work is an effort to raise awareness of and increase public support for preserving these locations.

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  • Can the forests of the world's oceans contribute to alleviating the climate crisis?

    June 24, 2020 |

    Ensia |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Australia, Tasmania

    A researcher in Tasmania is working to create climate-resilient “super-kelp” that could survive in its new climate along the coastline and help absorb carbon to prevent it from being released into the atmosphere. Other conservationists around the world are using different techniques to revitalize its diminishing kelp forests. In California, they have hand-cleared 52 acres of invasive purple urchins from the seas to bring back its kelp forest. While kelp can be tricky to work with, rebuilding these forests is one way to combat climate change.

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  • Can social enterprise fix Pakistan's waste problem?

    May 26, 2020 |

    Pioneers Post |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Pakistan, Islamabad

    Two organizations in Pakistan are working to tackle the country’s waste problem. Saaf Suthra Sheher in Islamabad set up partnerships with offices and schools to process their dry waste like plastics and glass. TrashIt, a Karachi-based group, collects organic waste from vegetable sellers and restaurants and then processes and sells it as compost. Although the two organizations can only process so much of the waste produced in cities, they argue that until an effective municipal waste collection system is implemented, they can educate individuals and businesses about how to recycle properly.

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  • In the forests of New Zealand, indigenous Maori and Western scientists work through past injustices to save a threatened species together

    May 19, 2020 |

    Ensia |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: New Zealand

    A native tree species known as the kauri is being threatened by a deadly pathogen in New Zealand, so Western scientists, the government, and the Māori people are working together to stop it. Early tests suggest that chemical signals from other plants might be able to distract the pathogen and slow down the spread of it. However, collaboration between scientists and indigenous people was not easy, but they were able to build trust between each other.

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  • 'Cool pavement' experiments help urban planners find ways to ease rising temperatures

    May 15, 2020 |

    AZ Central (The Arizona Republic) |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

    To combat the effects of rising temperatures due to climate change, Los Angeles piloted an experiment called “cool pavements,” where they coat streets with a light-colored sealant to reflect heat. Researchers are studying how effective this method is at reducing the urban heat island effect. Using a mobile sensor station, they found mixed results: While the surface temperature of the road was cooler, a person could feel warmer on the reflective roads. Figuring out how to balance different heat-mitigating strategies could be helpful as cities like Phoenix figure out how to implement cooling infrastructure.

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  • The Business of Burps: Scientists Smell Profit in Cow Emissions

    May 01, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Lancaster, England

    A company called Mootral is studying whether changing a cattle’s diet could make the animals belch and flatulate less methane. They created a food supplement out of compounds from garlic, citrus, and other additives, that in early tests, has shown a decrease in a cow’s emission of the greenhouse gas. If they can get investors on board and scale it to different breeds of cows and in different climates, it could help the agricultural and farming industries to combat climate change.

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  • Working to recover the ocean ecosystems that sea urchins gobbled

    April 22, 2020 |

    Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

    In partnership with the company Urchinomics, a lab in California is developing a type of feed that helps sea urchins captured in the wild grow so they can sell them for commercial purposes. Sea urchins have been ravaging bull kelp forests along the coasts and scientists are looking to sustainably control the urchin population. The algae-based feed that scientists produced helps the urchins grow and produce uni — the urchin’s edible gonads — which are sold to restaurants, and a test run of the product in Japan was well-received.

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