For decades, climate scientists have highlighted concerns about climate change caused by greenhouse gasses emitted by humans (through fossil fuel use as well as refrigerants). While reducing greenhouse gas emissions would solve the crisis, there is a lack of political will, particularly in the United States, which prevents significant progress towards meeting goals set by
As we head into Georgia’s hot and humid summers, you might find yourself chilling in an air-conditioned room, or reaching out to your fridge for a cold beverage. But have you ever thought about how these appliances might be heating up our planet? Refrigeration is integral to our modern lives, affecting everything from household food
Picture this: you find yourself strolling into a small, crowded shop in downtown Hong Kong. As you cross the threshold, a barrage of strange sights and smells attacks your nose and vision. As you turn your gaze to the walls, you notice shelves upon shelves of animal parts, mysterious fungi, and dubious bunches of dried
People say that April showers bring May flowers, but have you ever considered meteor showers? We are in the midst of the annual Lyrid meteor shower, and it is one of the oldest meteor showers ever observed with sightings dating back to 687 BC. In 2022, the shower is expected to peak on the night
West Virginia is home to the newest national park, New River Gorge, known for its world class white water rafting. It is also home to some of the worst drinking water in the United States. The juxtaposition of the two could not be more clear. Old habits die hard, and in a state where an
When most people picture landscapes of wildflowers, they often picture bright pastels of yellow, blue, and pink against a backdrop of prairie grass. Others may think of the chorus of spring ephemerals blooming in the understory of the woods. Folks from the west coast may even imagine a blanket of desert annuals blooming in synchrony
Every spring, graduate students at the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia organize a short weekly seminar around an interesting theme. This year, the theme is “Machine Learning for Ecologistsâ€. At first glance, machine learning may not seem very related to a discipline mostly concerned with the distribution and abundance of organisms,
How might climate change affect the environment in 50 or 100 years? To even begin to answer this pressing question, we need work that can accurately describe changes in the environment to predict the future. Long term ecological research (abbreviated as LTER), describes studies interested in environmental processes that last for at least one year
When you think of farm animals, what comes to your mind? Cows, chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, horses, and so on? Each animal on the farm serves a key role in providing us with food or resources to use. But before we industrialized and invested into the farming industry, these animals were found in the wild.
Prior to the emergence of COVID-19, there already was a movement to understand infectious disease emergence at the global scale. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, this information has only become more relevant. The macroecology of infectious diseases is an important area of research with great promise for our ability to predict and prepare
Insects comprise over half of all described species excluding bacteria and around 90% of the animals on Earth. They are so prevalent that we encounter them every day without thinking twice, and have evolved to live in nearly every imaginable habitat, from mountaintops to the depths of caves. How do insects survive in such harsh
On an otherwise entirely forgettable late-summer morning during the height of pandemic-induced self-isolation, I stepped out onto my front porch and saw the biggest spider I had ever seen in my life suspended above my hedges, hanging in the middle of an elaborate web. My new neighbor was as big as my palm, bright yellow
