Amy Boyer

Hawaiian farmers build food sovereignty: On a discouraging Friday, this article on Hawaiian farmers using Indigenous techniques such as food forests lifted my spirits. They are part of a movement to restore food sovereignty to Hawai'i. Currently the overwhelming majority of food in Hawai'i is shipped in through a single port in Honolulu, but recovering indigenous ways of raising food is a critical strategy for making Hawai'i more food secure.

 Claire Krummenacher

How AI can help prevent wildfires: This week, the U.S. Forest Service acknowledged that climate change is increasing the risks of prescribed burns (a longstanding tool of the Service used to lower the risk of wildfire damage) after a mismanaged burn in New Mexico escalated into the largest wildfire in the state's history. The blaze has prompted a reevaluation of the tools used to prevent wildfires, with AI surveillance emerging as one promising new option given its speed and round-the-clock monitoring capacity. Read more about the applications of AI and big data to wildfire prevention here.

 Courtney White

A superhero in your own backyard: Given all the heavy news in recent days it was refreshing to read about lowly moss being called a superhero. The oldest land plants on earth, mosses survive by absorbing water and nutrients through their leaves, including particles of air pollution. New technology is allowing moss-filters to be incorporated into furniture and architecture, improving air quality in cities. This story about the Galapagos was equally uplifting. A locally-led effort to remove invasive species and rewild one of the famous islands is having success. It’s on my bucket list!

 Emily Jensen

Why reproductive justice is climate justice: Still reeling from the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, I've been sitting with the ways reproductive justice and environmental justice are interconnected. This piece (published before the final ruling) explores what losing federal protection for abortion rights means for pregnant people in pollution hotspots like Baytown, Texas — a “fenceline” community next to an ExxonMobil refinery where maternal mortality is already twice the state average. This moment offers a reminder that an intersectional, regenerative approach to climate solutions is essential to support those who are bearing the brunt of multiple broken systems.

 Juliana Birnbaum

A geothermal vertical farm grows in Canada: Researching my next topic, Geothermal Energy, I loved this news from a town in Alberta, Canada that has secured funding to become the site of a geothermal energy project with an integrated vertical hydroponic farm. Vertical agriculture and forests are among the actions mentioned in the Nature of Cities Nexus, a topic I previously covered. It's the first I'd heard of the weaving together of these two solution pathways for exponential effect, and could be a model for similar projects worldwide.

 Kavya Gopal

The quiet rise of cement’s carbon footprint: Cement often flies under the radar when it comes to global emissions, but according to recently published data, worldwide emissions from making cement for buildings, roads, and other infrastructure is more than 7% of global carbon emissions — double that from twenty years ago. Not only is more cement being made and used, but its carbon intensity has also increased, primarily because of China’s production methods. A combination of developing and using greener cement, as well as growing the Carbon Architecture movement is needed to meaningfully regenerate our buildings.

 Paul Hawken

Bringing common sense to net-zero claims: The French Academy of Ecological Transition has been questioning "net-zero” commitments for the past year saying that companies should not claim “net zero” for themselves or their products if their claim is based on activities that occur somewhere else, such as a forest. These make the company look good but in fact they do not make the claim of “climate virginity” true. Carbone 4 affirms that carbon neutrality is not possible except on a national or global level. This is not bad news. It simply brings common sense to the effort to achieve true carbon neutrality to the world.

 Robert Denney

Afforestation expands in Vietnam: Vietnam first set a goal of planting 1 billion trees by 2025 after a string of typhoons in 2020 showed how at-risk the country was from landslides and flooding. More recently, Vietnam organized a conference and workshop this June to discuss mangrove afforestation along the Mekong Delta. The event brought together government officials, environmental consultants, and nonprofits. Also in attendance was the Netherlands Embassy, which committed to supporting Vietnam in realizing the Mekong Delta Regional Master Plan. The plan focuses on developing sustainable value chains and nature-based solutions such as mangrove afforestation along the delta, which the Netherlands will offer its expertise in as a low-lying country itself.

 Tim Treuer

Sci-fi clean energy concept with real potential: A science YouTuber I respect put out a video this week that dives a little deeper into Quaise, the company looking to make cheap geothermal energy accessible everywhere using technology developed for heating the plasma in fusion reactors. As always with sci-fi type plans, there are still some question marks about feasibility, but I really think this is an important one to watch closely. Imagine being able to flip every coal and natural gas power plant on Earth with cheap, clean, on-demand renewable energy — keeping all the same transmission lines and other infrastructure intact!

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