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Yale Climate Connections

When Jamez Staples of North Minneapolis started a solar company about 10 years ago, he saw it as a great opportunity to create jobs for others in his low-income neighborhood.

Staples: “I thought this was going to be easy. I figured, you know, just get up, go to work, get people who wanted to work, and we’d be fine.”

But he learned that there was no easy way for people in his community to get trained as solar installers. The only programs were far away or inaccessible by bus.

So Staples bought a big old building in the neighborhood and turned it into a green workforce training center.

The building itself is topped with solar panels, runs on electric heat pumps, and has EV charging stations. So he says it also serves as a demonstration site to get people excited about clean energy.

Staples: “It’s a representation ...

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Yale Climate Connections

An Antarctic glacier roughly the size of Florida may be even more vulnerable to warming ocean waters than previously thought.

Thwaites glacier is already shrinking by about 50 billion tons of ice each year. Its melting causes about 4% of global sea level rise.

Rignot: “It’s a fragile part of West Antarctica … where we see the most drastic glacier retreat at present.”

Eric Rignot is at the University of California, Irvine. In a recent study, his team analyzed new satellite data that shows that during high tides, ocean water gets pushed under the glacier into cavities between the ice and the seafloor beneath it.

Rignot: “And to our surprise, we saw this seawater intrusion propagating many, many kilometers inland of where we thought it would go.”

He says that means that the water comes into direct contact with a larger ...

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Yale Climate Connections

The phrase 'wind power’ likely conjures images of massive spinning blades. But some companies now make micro wind turbines – tiny devices that can be installed at homes, businesses, and public parks.

Krief: “We can install inside the city, outside the city.”

Luc Eric Krief is CEO of a French startup called New World Wind. His company makes what’s called the Aeroleaf, a tiny turbine that looks like a curled leaf. When the wind blows, it spins and generates energy that can go directly to a nearby building.

The microturbines are installed in groups – either on the roof of a building or as part of what New World Wind calls a wind tree or wind bush.

These sculptural installations mimic real trees and bushes. And their trunks, branches, and leaf colors can be customized to blend in with the surroundings or to draw attention. For ...

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Yale Climate Connections

At oil and gas drilling sites in New Mexico, people work long hours doing hard, dangerous labor.

Marcela Díaz of Somos un Pueblo Unido, an immigrant-led, workers’ rights nonprofit, says more than 40% of the workforce is Latino.

Díaz: “Most of our members in this industry in this region are not unionized. They don’t have pensions. If they’re undocumented, they won’t have access to their social security benefits. And when there are downturns … they don’t have access to unemployment.”

Díaz says that as the clean energy industry grows, many oil and gas workers are eager to transition to new jobs.

But it’s hard to get the necessary training when you’re working long hours, or if you lack English language skills, or live in a rural area.

Díaz: “We just don’t have the kinds of programs that we need in ...

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Yale Climate Connections

Producing solar energy on a farm typically means covering a field with panels.

But now some companies make solar panels that stand vertically, so they take up less space and can be more easily integrated into pastures or croplands.

Biernath: “You still can work on the land, and it’s not just a solar farm and that’s it.”

Helge Biernath is the CEO of Sunstall, which makes vertical solar systems called Sunzaun.

At one winery in California, the Sunzaun solar systems snake in between rows of grapevines.

And Rutgers University is testing the use of Sunzaun panels in a cattle grazing field.

Biernath says the panels can double as fences, shade structures, or windbreaks.

And in addition to their use on farms, they could be installed along canals, railroads, or highways.

Biernath: “I think there’s a huge potential, ...

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Yale Climate Connections

Installing solar panels helps homeowners reduce their use of fossil fuels and their impact on the climate. And going solar can also help homeowners save money on their electricity bills.

In some states, that happens through a system called net metering.

When a solar-powered house needs more electricity than the solar panels can produce, that house can use electricity from the power grid to help keep the lights on.

The homeowner pays for that additional energy, just like anyone else who uses electricity.

But at other times, the solar panels might produce more energy than the house needs.

In that case, the extra energy is sent to the power grid. And in a net metering system, the homeowner receives credit from the utility for the electricity they send – which helps lower their energy bills over time.

Not all states have ...

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Yale Climate Connections

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, large numbers of people work in dangerous, unregulated mines, digging for cobalt – a mineral used in the batteries found in phones, laptops, and electric vehicles.

Akua Debrah of the University of Houston studies mining in the region. She says men and sometimes children extract cobalt ore from deep, unsupported pits and tunnels that can collapse, causing injury and death.

Above ground, women wash and sort the ore, breathing in its toxic dust.

Debrah: “You find children on the backs of these women that are also inhaling some of this dust. And it has long-term impacts on the community. …

You have children that are born with birth defects as a result of their parents mining in these environments.”

As the EV industry grows, the demand for cobalt is increasing.

Debrah: “It is important ...

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Yale Climate Connections

In the 1990s, Jay Warmke and his wife Annie of Philo, Ohio, started building a house made from tires.

It’s a so-called “earthship,” a type of home designed to have minimal environmental impact.

Its walls are made of old tires filled with compacted earth, stacked like bricks.

The north side of the house is buried in the earth.

Warmke: “You get that cave effect, where in the summertime it’s cooler, in the wintertime it’s warmer.”

And the exposed south side is mostly windows, drawing in the warmth of the sun, so the home requires little energy for heating.

During construction, people were curious about the project, so the Warmkes had an open house.

Warmke: “And about 600 people showed up to look at this house in the middle of the hills of Appalachia.”

That inspired them to continue giving tours ...

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Yale Climate Connections

Many landowners in rural parts of the southeastern U.S. have farmed on their land for decades.

But as they get older and worry about their family’s future, some feel a financial need to sell some of their land – potentially to someone who will develop it.

Now the American Forest Foundation is giving some farmers an alternative – growing trees.

Tomcho: “They’re used to tending the land, and trees can be considered a crop.”

Aimee Tomcho is with the foundation’s Field to Forest program.

It pays landowners in Georgia to convert at least 40 acres to forest planted with loblolly pine, a tree native to the Southeast. As these trees grow, they absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Landowners commit to growing trees for at least 30 years. They’re allowed to thin a limited amount, which can provide ...

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Yale Climate Connections

Jeanne Ortiz-Ortiz is from Puerto Rico. She was living on the island, studying for the bar exam, when Hurricane Maria struck in 2017.

After the devastating storm, she saw firsthand the legal and administrative challenges people faced – applying for relief aid, negotiating with insurance, or replacing vital documents.

Ortiz-Ortiz: “I started helping a family member whose apartment was damaged navigate FEMA’s requirements because she only spoke Spanish. And after that, I also helped my employer at the time in applying for the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program. And I was struck by the length of the process and the numerous requirements.”

Her legal expertise helped her provide much-needed assistance, and the experience helped shape the path of her career.

Today, Ortiz-Ortiz is a vice director of the ...

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Yale Climate Connections

Earlier this year, wildfires raged near the town of Ruidoso, New Mexico, destroying more than a thousand buildings and killing two people.

Within a few weeks, the fires had been contained. But then came the rain.

Over the next few weeks, rain repeatedly poured down on the recently burned forest. The water rushed off the charred landscape, flooding the town and causing even more damage and danger to residents.

Floods and mudslides can be common after wildfires.

Wildfires destroy vegetation and coat the soil with a waxy surface, preventing water from seeping into the ground and increasing runoff.

So when rain hits a burn scar, that water can quickly rush downhill while picking up dirt and debris, creating dangerous floods within mere minutes.

This increased flood risk can last five years or more after a wildfire until ...

They say that hindsight is 20/20, and though the theory of ecological speciation - which holds that new species emerge in response to ecological changes - seems to hold in retrospect, it has been difficult to demonstrate experimentally, until now.

Prior work on these birds had established that birds' beaks adapt to changing ecological environments, and that beak changes affect how the birds sing. But, until this paper, no one has yet been able to experimentally show that such changes drive the emergence of new species. The innovative key to this discovery? The ghosts of future finches.

The new study shows that beak-driven changes to songs themselves can impact species recognition, and thus drive the separation of species.

"I started working with these birds 25 years ago," says Jeffrey Podos, professor of biology at UMass Amherst and the paper's senior author. "In my very first publication on the finches, back in 2001, I showed that changes in the beaks of ...

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Yale Climate Connections

Home solar panels can help people save a lot of money long-term.

But installing new solar panels can cost more than $10,000 upfront. So in many states, homeowners can lease solar panels instead.

Larry Sherwood is president of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

Sherwood: “It’s obviously much easier to just pay as you go rather than putting out that large amount of money at the beginning.”

With a solar lease, a homeowner essentially rents the panels and uses the electricity they produce, which lowers their overall energy bill.

And the leasing company is typically responsible for maintenance and repairs on the panels, so leasing can also save homeowners money on upkeep.

But one downside is that people who lease solar panels are not eligible for solar tax credits.

And Sherwood says they also need to check ...

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Yale Climate Connections

For decades, the site of an old municipal landfill in Fort Edward, New York, sat empty. Now it’s covered with solar panels.

Colston: “And it’s … now powering 300 homes and 100 small businesses.”

Annika Colston is the founder and CEO of AC Power, which specializes in converting former landfills into solar farms.

Decommissioned landfills need to be capped and then monitored for decades, to make sure the waste is not polluting the air or contaminating groundwater.

Colston: “And so … there is a lot of ongoing care that needs to go into them.”

… which is an expense for landowners. And it’s difficult to redevelop the sites for most commercial uses.

Colston: “Those landfills continue to be an economic burden to the owners for decades after those landfills are closed.”

But she says solar can provide a solution. The ...

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Yale Climate Connections

When people are released from prison, they often struggle to find jobs.

Davis: “In a country where we claim justice is for all, people serve their time, but they’re still battered and bruised because opportunities are slim to none for them.”

Scott Alan Davis is with SEEL, a company that provides energy efficiency services.

It’s partnered with the utility Ameren Illinois to offer training in this industry to people at the Peoria Adult Transition Center in Illinois, which houses people who are still incarcerated but participating in a work-release program.

Davis: “And then when they come out of the transition housing, they have employment that is now paying them enough where they can afford housing and other things to take care of themselves.”

In three years, about 25 participants have been hired in energy efficiency ...

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Yale Climate Connections

Nearly 200 countries have adopted the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

But almost 10 years after the agreement, the world still has a lot of work to do to reach that goal.

Climate Action Tracker is an independent scientific project that measures the world’s climate progress.

According to their analysis, current climate policies will lead to about 2.7 degrees of global warming by the end of the century, well exceeding the Paris target.

de Villafranca: “That scenario counts where the world would go … if there’s not additional policies or measures put into place.”

Maria de Villafranca of the New Climate Institute, one of the groups behind the project, says many countries have announced ambitious climate goals that go beyond existing ...

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Yale Climate Connections

This year, visitors to San Francisco can travel between two popular waterfront destinations on a free ferry powered by hydrogen.

The boat is equipped with fuel cells. They convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity – which powers the vessel – and water that passengers can drink.

Murphy: “It’s fun to see them line up at the water fountain to experience it firsthand.”

Seamus Murphy of the San Francisco Bay ferry system says most ferries in the U.S. are powered with climate-polluting diesel fuel.

Battery electric ferries provide a cleaner option – and his agency has committed to buying five.

Murphy: “But when it comes to longer distance routes, battery electric technology has just not advanced to the point where those batteries are light enough to be able to accomplish the speeds that our vessels need to travel at for ...

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Yale Climate Connections

As the climate warms, the summer mosquito season is lasting longer in many areas.

Mosquitoes bring itchy bites and the risk of diseases like West Nile virus, so it’s important to know how to keep them away from you.

But Jean Ponzi of the Missouri Botanical Garden says many people misunderstand what attracts mosquitoes.

Ponzi: “People say, 'Well, I think it’s my blood type. Well, I think it’s because I’m such a sweet person.’”

In reality, mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide, which we breathe out, chemicals produced on people’s skin, and certain fragrances and colors.

So she suggests that in addition to wearing mosquito repellent, people limit perfume and fabric scents and wear light-colored, loose clothing.

Ponzi: “When you have loose clothing on, it’s harder for that female mosquito to get her proboscis ...

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Yale Climate Connections

This year, some residents of Tampa, Florida, have been on the hunt for manure. It’s an unlikely quest for city dwellers, but they need it for their new anaerobic biodigesters.

Lewis: “So it’s basically like a very advanced kind of composting system.”

Shelby Lewis is Tampa’s waste diversion and outreach supervisor. She says the city got a USDA grant to supply 100 residents with these backyard systems.

Each unit takes up about as much space as a picnic table. To set it up, users add manure and water to create a bacterial colony.

After that, they just need to add food scraps, and the bacteria break them down.

The process creates a liquid fertilizer people can use in their gardens, as well as cooking gas they can use with a special stovetop burner that comes with the package.

Lewis: “So they can plug that into the ...

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Yale Climate Connections

Breathing in vehicle exhaust, power plant fumes, and other fossil fuel pollution can harm people’s lungs and hearts.

Ganatra: “Climate change and environmental pollution impacts us gravely.”

So Sarju Ganatra, a cardiologist at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Massachusetts, says reducing climate pollution can improve our health.

The U.S. has committed to cutting its climate-warming emissions to about half of 2005 levels by the end of this decade.

Ganatra and his team used computer models to estimate the health benefits of achieving that target.

They found that in the year 2050 alone, it could result in almost a million avoided asthma attacks, more than 40,000 avoided heart attacks, and more than 30,000 avoided deaths.

That’s just a snapshot of the projected health benefits for a single year – and the impact over ...