Smoke from Australia bushfires thin ozone layer, research finds

By Justin Malone, Staff Writer According to new research, intense amounts of smoke from the catastrophic “Black Summer” bushfires that spread across Australia during late 2019 and early 2020 created chemical atmospheric changes which thinned ozone in the Southern Hemisphere. The study, conducted by professor Peter Bernath and a team of researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada, found that wildfires like the “Black Summer” bushfires present a new threat to the stratospheric ozone layer. It also concluded these catastrophic wildfires could be cause for additional damaging health effects. This research was published in Science on March 18. The … Continue reading Smoke from Australia bushfires thin ozone layer, research finds

Venice is flooding…again

By Alex Budzynski, Editor-in-Chief Most tourists spend their days walking at a brisk pace, awestruck by historic monuments, ornate cathedrals, and towering skyscrapers. Their sightseeing is interrupted for one of two things: souvenirs or food. Cheap t-shirts, dinky keychains or warm lattes that are overpriced beyond belief. Now imagine doing all of this while wading through inches of water. That is the current reality for Venetians and hundreds of tourists in the aptly named “City of Water.” Flooding in The Floating City is nothing new and has, in fact, been happening for hundreds of years. Driven by high tides, the … Continue reading Venice is flooding…again

Climate Change: An issue that matters

By: Jessica Reker ~Guest Writer~ Climate change and global warming are terms we hear thrown around, but what do they mean? Global warming refers specifically to the rising temperature of the world. Climate change refers to the overall change of the climate of specific regions as well as the globe as a whole. When talking about climate change, scientists are not only referring to the increasing temperatures of the Earth but also to the change in rainfall patterns, increase in natural disasters like floods and hurricanes, droughts and, yes, even colder temperatures. Anything that is outside the normal climatic range … Continue reading Climate Change: An issue that matters