Environmental Awareness
Stories and commentaries about environmental awareness and ideas for how to make the world a better place.
Have you ever wondered how much breathable air is on Earth, and if we'll ever run out? Our atmosphere is paper-thin relative to a basketball, and we use its oxygen to power internal combustion engines, create electricity, and manufacture products (cement, chemicals, plastic). Worse, we are destroying the plants that make more breathable oxygen.
I calculate how much oxygen a tree breathes and how much excess oxygen a tree produces in three different ways. Spoiler alert: It's not a lot.
Ten reasons why we might be measuring oxygen in the atmosphere wrong. And how global oxygen depletion may be a hidden driver of climate change.
I demonstrate how to calculate the mass of oxygen in the atmosphere. And I talk about ten reasons why the accepted values may be wrong.
What if the driver of climate change is NOT carbon dioxide but oxygen depletion? See the math to compare CO2 emissions to oxygen burned.
There are many ways oxygen is burned/consumed/oxidized. It is a very reactive element. We highlight the major natural causes, like: respiration, decomposition, forest fires, rust and more.
Like many species on our planet, monarch butterflies face many challenges. The population has shrunk dramatically, and their great migration has nearly collapsed more than once. Here is how you can help.
I was riding my bicycle thinking I was improving my health. Then I noticed that the weeds along the fence were being poisoned with herbicide.
Collect your own rainwater with this simple setup. Not only is it free, but rainwater contains its own natural fertilizers.
Does anyone describe the philosophy of our roads in one word? Is it efficiency? Is it cost? It appears to me there is no guiding principal. So why not build stuff optimized for what it means to be human? Not only is this street redesign optimized for health and happiness, but it also 2–4 times as safe and energy efficient. These ideas have been rattling around in my head for years, and I've finally decided to give them life in this quick sketch.
What better way to have a backyard adventure than to grow a garden? We recommend you start with a potted plant like basil.
This graph illustrates the exponential growth of the human race and the consumption of non-renewable resources. The question isn't if the population will stop growing/consuming, but when?