Great Lakes Now

How climate change is supercharging wildfires

4 min read

How climate change is supercharging wildfires

By Amal Ahmed

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.

This is part of the Disaster 101 toolkit, a comprehensive guide to extreme weather preparation, response, and recovery.

Extreme weather seems to make the headlines almost every week, as disasters increasingly strike out of season, break records, and hit places they never have before.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Great Lakes Now

What will the rise of floating solar panels mean for wildlife?

6 min read

What will the rise of floating solar panels mean for wildlife?

By Matt Simon, Grist

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.

The newest, hottest power couple doesn’t live in Hollywood. It’s actually the marriage of solar panels and water reservoirs: Known as floating photovoltaics, or floatovoltaics, the devices bob on simple floats, generating power while providing shade that reduces evaporation.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Clean Technica

Reclaiming Coal Country: 300 GW Solar Goldmine From Coal Mine Conversions

5 min read

In a landmark report released this month, Global Energy Monitor reveals that converting recently closed and soon-to-be-retired coal mines into solar farms could boost global solar capacity by nearly 300 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 — a 15% increase over today’s total installed solar base. The report, titled “Bright Side of … [continued]

The post Reclaiming Coal Country: 300 GW Solar Goldmine From Coal Mine Conversions appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Great Lakes Now

How America’s prairie was nearly destroyed — and why it should be restored

9 min read

How America’s prairie was nearly destroyed — and why it should be restored

By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.

The American prairie was so vast, so alien, it shattered comprehension.

Newcomers to the seemingly endless grasslands that once spanned approximately a quarter of North America often hit a psychic wall, descending into fits of mania.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.