June 25, 2021 – Climate360 News

Four questions about harmful algal blooms, answered

25Jun

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Four questions about harmful algal blooms, answered

Algae are a crucial part of many ecosystems, but they can also overrun and choke out other organisms in the environment. There are many ways for people to combat the rise of these algal blooms before they become too destructive. Photo credit: Carol M. Highsmith via the Library of Congress. By Cristobal Spielmann What are harmful algal blooms? Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are large outgrowths of algae in bodies of water that result from an excess of nutrients, sunlight and other conditions that allow for such growth. Humans have a direct hand in causing some of these conditions. These blooms are fed by nutrients, like phosphorus, from fertilizer runoff in agriculture operations. Increasing temperatures from climate change only add to the growth. Le...

Five things to know about sustainable fashion

By Kennedi Hewitt Via Anna Sullivan on Unsplash. Sustainable fashion is a huge hot topic. Want to learn more about what it means, but not too sure where to start? Here are a few articles to guide you. 1.) “Fast fashion vs. sustainable fashion.” Despite its many benefits, sustainable fashion is not the preferred method of clothing production. Fast fashion, which is more harmful for the environment and less sustainable, still dominates the industry. Read more about the pros and cons of fast fashion as it compares to sustainable fashion here. 2.) “Seven forms of sustainable fashion.” There are many ways to be sustainable in your fashion choices outside of shopping; sustainable fashion choices don’t start and end with buying ...

Living on the edge: NASA centers and military operations at risk of sea-level rise

NASA's Wallops Flight Facility is a rocket launch site located on Wallops Island, Virginia. Photo by NASA/Wallops on Flickr. By Ava Borskey BATON ROUGE, LA — Amid the densely populated cities and tourist-scattered beaches of the U.S. coast, you’ll find a trillion-dollar economy home to science, technology and military operations.  As the Earth continues to warm and sea-levels rise, vital infrastructure along the coast, like NASA operation centers and military bases, will have to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. “If you look at where Wallops is based, you look at Kennedy Space Center and even NASA Langley, we are on the coast,” said Laura Rogers, an associate program manager for NASA’s Applied Sciences Program. “We're at that front edge of where we're goin...