The Emerald Review
In 2016, the world experienced the hottest year on record, with average global temperatures nearly exceeding 1°C above pre-industrial levels. The World Health Organization estimated that over 60 million people were affected by drought, heatwaves, and extreme precipitation events that year, leading to devastating food insecurity, outbreaks of vector-borne diseases, and lack of fresh water. […]
The accumulation of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere is nothing new. But with other symptoms of climate change becoming increasingly forceful, processes we rely on, such as carbon sequestration, are becoming less dependable. Carbon sequestration is responsible for storing carbon in different sinks during the carbon cycle. After a long period of time, that carbon […]
Continuously confronted with land-use change, sea-level rise, nutrient and sediment pollution, invasive species, and overharvesting, the Chesapeake Bay has endured a rough few decades. As the largest and most biologically diverse estuary in the United States, the Chesapeake Bay is home to more than 3,600 plant and animal species, with a watershed that supports 18 […]
Located 155 miles northwest of the Hawaiian Archipelago lies one of the world’s largest marine protected areas: Papahānaumokuākea National Monument. Only recently overtaken by Antarctica’s Ross Sea, the monument boasts a large, tropical, and biodiverse community. The fishing exclusion zone of Papahānaumokuākea covers 583,000 square miles, an area larger than all national parks in the […]
While many consider plants to be passive organisms, the reality is quite the opposite. Plants are in constant motion, moving with purpose to detect and respond to their fluctuating environmental conditions. Not only do plants transmit hormonal signals, known as phytohormones, from root to leaf, but they communicate with their neighbors, too. New research in […]
Within the pristine rivers and tributaries of southwest Alaska from June to late July, it is impossible to miss the crimson sockeye salmon as they travel upstream to give birth to the next generation of anadromous fish. Alaska’s Bristol Bay is home to the natal spawning streams for all five species of Pacific salmon: sockeye, […]
Within the intertidal salt marsh of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, a peculiar creature swims among the algae. The Elysia chlorotica, or the Emerald Green Sea Slug, is no more than two inches long at maturation and only lives for about eleven months, but this tiny sea slug has offered some major contributions to studies of symbiosis, […]
Walking across a dead pine tree along one of the tributary streams of the Pripyat River, a pack of wolves searches the forest for their next meal. Mice and foxes hear the pack rustling through the woods and flee, diving into pine burrows and damp wooden walls to avoid detection. Eventually, the group stumbles upon […]
On the night of December 2, 1984, a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India leaked between 30 to 40 tons of poisonous gas into the surrounding area. The immediate effects were catastrophic for the community and the environment. In one of the world’s worst industrial disasters, it is estimated that the leak exposed over half a […]
Throughout history, humans have been responsible for the extinction of many species due to hunting, deforestation, the introduction of non-native species, and habitat destruction. Some of the most well-known examples are dodo birds, passenger pigeons, and woolly mammoths, all of which were hunted to extinction. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), […]