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A phosphate spill spelled disaster for marine ecosystems. Can research mitigate future harm?
A person with short hair in a life jacket pulls a white plastic bucket out of a body of water while kneeling in a boat.

Eckerd student samples water near Skyway after the Piney Point spill that occurred earlier this year (Shannon Gowans/Eckerd College).

Kaitlyn Copland
Planet Forward Correspondent | Eckerd College
In March 2021, a leak was discovered at the Piney Point phosphate mine and fertilizer plant in Florida. Researcher Shannon Gowans said the following red tide was "one of the most severe" she has seen.
All eyes on Tucson: Grassroots efforts give rise to a water conservation committed city
A roundabout in the middle of a paved street.

This roundabout is a type of green stormwater infrastructure, that collects stormwater for plants and people (Halley Hughes/University of Arizona).

Halley Hughes
Planet Forward Correspondent | University of Arizona
As Arizona looks to options to redress a life-threatening change in water availability, Tucson may prove to be an oasis and an example to other cities.
Untangling the web of plastic bag bans
White plastic bag floating in a body of water.

(Brian Yurasits/Unsplash https://unsplash.com/license)

Ryan Bieber
Planet Forward Correspondent | Ithaca College
So Long, Single-Use | There’s plenty of confusion and debate around plastic bans on both the political and practical level. It’s easy to get lost in the logistics of it all –– but, at the heart of it, there’s one question: Are bag laws effective?
’It was never really just about plastic drinking straws’: Plastic elimination starts small
Yellow straws sit on the display case in front of a menu at a coffee shop.

Reusable "Simply Straws" for sale at Kahwa Coffee Roasting in St. Petersburg, Florida (Carter Weinhofer/Eckerd College).

Carter Weinhofer
Planet Forward Correspondent | Eckerd College
In the first piece in our "So Long, Single-Use?" series, St. Petersburg, Florida Councilmember Gina Driscoll said leading the way on single-use plastic started with "one simple object."
Essay | How trees can save a drowning desert
A amber sand dune towers over the tiny figures of a group of people.

A towering sand dun in Wadi Rum(Farzona Comnas/George Washington University).

Farzona Comnas
George Washington University
Climate Hits Home | Jordan's deserts and rocky landscapes have been beloved by Hollywood and cinephiles for decades, yet the country has seen deadly flash floods. How are local environmentalists to respond?
Essay | Was my brush with death caused by climate change?
Several neutral toned skyscrapers sit under a blue sky on the edge of a body of water.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York, New York (massmatt/Flickr https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). 

Kenza Regragui
George Washington University
Climate Hits Home | I’ll probably never know if climate change caused all that extra pollen that sent me to the emergency room that day, but the science is definitive. Warming temperatures usher in way more pollen.
Essay | Austin's toxic algae needs to be put on a leash
A white dog swimming in a pond filled with algae.

A pup swims in a pond of blooming algae. Could he be at risk? (Ildar Sagdejev/Wikimedia Commons)

Ruby Dietz
George Washington University
Climate Hits Home | Reoccurring algae blooms threaten life both in and out of the water. How will we break the news to our dogs?
Essay | Famously hot: Culture and climate change in South Carolina
A single beach goers sits in a beach chair in the sand in front of a row of palm trees.

Folly Beach in Charleston, South Carolina (Taylor Heery/Unsplash)

Sophie Kahler
George Washington University
Climate Hits Home | In many ways, the cultural landscape of South Carolina mirrors the physical landscape. How is climate change impacting that?

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