Ensia

Here’s a peek at what will likely be powering the ships, planes, trains and automobiles of tomorrow

August 3, 2024 — Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Knowable Magazine. You can read a version of the story in Spanish here. As the world races ...
Ensia

As Egypt’s economy dips, sustainable fashion soars

To the sweeping majority of roughly 4.7 million people living in Monofeya, one of Egypt’s poorest provinces, “sustainable fashion” is a term that likely means very little. But it’s here, where 26% of ...
Ensia

Why it’s important to let sediment reach the shore

January 26, 2024 — In the Benediction for his 1968 autobiographical book, Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness, American author, essayist and environmental advocate Edward Abbey wrote, “May ...
Ensia

Inundation and Injustice: Flooding presents a formidable threat to the Great Lakes region

Throughout the Great Lakes region, archaic wastewater systems, crumbling infrastructure and segregated housing create a perfect storm of flooding vulnerability. August 8, 2023 — Editor’s note: This ...
Ensia

Are China’s pledges to green its Belt and Road Initiative the real deal?

Hasina’s short visit benefited both countries. Big new infrastructure projects would help lift living standards in Bangladesh, but also enable China to strengthen its influence on its fast-growing ...
Ensia

To minimize harm from floods and droughts, we need to understand what water wants

Epic flooding has killed hundreds of people across Pakistan, India, South Africa, Germany, New York, Kentucky and British Columbia, Canada, in the last year. Intense droughts are parching landscapes ...
Ensia

Across the globe, those harmed by climate change are turning to courts

In early May of this year, the commission released its report. It found that nearly 50 major fossil fuel companies should be held accountable for the human rights impacts of their carbon-producing ...
Ensia

The future of water in the U.S. West is uncertain, so planning and preparedness are critical

Water authorities in the Western U.S. don’t know what the future will bring, but they are working collaboratively and with scientific rigor to make sure they’re prepared for anything. In a thirsty ...
Ensia

Large food companies are looking to lock carbon in soil as a way to meet ambitious emissions goals

February 9, 2021 — Jason Johnson, Stonyfield Organic’s farmer relationship manager, fires up the AgriCORE soil sampling tool in a pasture with sweeping views of central Maine’s rolling hillsides at ...
Ensia

Fragile cities are being inundated with people fleeing the impacts of climate change. How can they cope?

December 30, 2020 — When the rains never arrived in the East African nation of Somalia in 2016, nor in 2017, hundreds of thousands of rural residents were forced to abandon their lands and livelihoods ...
Ensia

In the northern Great Plains, a search for ways to protect drinking water from fossil fuel industry pollution

December 1, 2020 — Editor’s note: This story is part of a nine-month investigation of drinking water contamination across the U.S. The series is supported by funding from the Park Foundation and Water ...
Ensia

Why aren’t solar water heaters more popular in the U.S., even in solar-friendly states like California?

October 28, 2020 — For Gershon Grossman and Ed Murray, 1978 was a big year. Grossman, then a solar energy pioneer at the Technion, Israel’s premier technological institute, was launching the first ...