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Itâs no secret that the pandemic rocked the cruise industryâas well as the travel industry overallâto its core. But a year with virtually no trips helped people think more carefully about why and how they travel. As vaccinated travelers dream about their triumphant return, they re bringing a new level of consideration to their plans. No doubt, they re turning to the romance of epic voyagesâas competitive bookings for 2022 and beyond showâbut as they do it, they want to explore more consciously. As a result, small-ship cruise lines are taking center stage for their mission-driven approach to slow travel.
Credit: Bibek Raj Shrestha
Over 20 Indonesian islands mysteriously disappear. One of the world s deadliest criminal syndicates rises to power. Eight cities the size of New York will be built every year for the next three decades. What connects them is sand, embedded in the concrete of nearly all of the world s buildings, roads, and cities, the glass in the windows, laptops and phone screens, and COVID-19 vaccine vials.
The unexamined true costs of sand - broadly, construction aggregates production has spurred a group of scientists to call for a stronger focus on understanding the physical dimension of sand use and extraction. They also suggest new ways to achieve economic and environmental justice.
Solar geoengineering is not a fix-all for climate change but it could be one of several tools to manage climate risks. A growing body of research has explored the ability of solar geoengineering to reduce physical climate changes. But much less is known about how solar geoengineering could affect the ecosystem and, particularly, agriculture. Now, research finds that solar geoengineering may be surprisingly effective in alleviating some of the worst impacts of global warming on crops.
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IMAGE: The seas are alive with ships, from fishing vessels to container ships. This screenshot from marinetraffic.com gives a sense of just how many vessels are out on the high sea.. view more
Credit: Screenshot: Marinetraffic.com
Nearly everything in our daily lives from the electronic gizmos we all use, to the coffee we drink and the bananas we eat relies on shipping. Ships worldwide transport roughly 11 billion tons of goods annually, which works out to about 1.5 tons for every person on the planet.
But how do those ships navigate safely on the open ocean or in the crowded quarters of shipping lanes?