Coral reefs are some of the most valuable ecosystems on the planet. Though they only cover less than 1% of the Earth’s surface, coral reefs support over 25% of all marine life. Additionally, humans rely heavily on coral reefs for numerous reasons. According to the WWF, coral reefs provide nearly $30 billion each year in goods and services. It’s estimated that a billion people are dependent on the coral reefs in some capacity. Besides fishing and tourism, coral reefs provide medicinal value through drugs developed from the reef’s animals and plants, as well as coastal protection, since they act as a buffer for adjacent shorelines to protect against waves and erosion. …

If the title of this blog post seems somewhat familiar, it’s likely because you’ve heard of or read this thoroughly-sourced paper released back in June of this year. The paper lays out an overview of the myriad areas machine learning can provide impactful solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change. While the entire paper is worth summarizing (and reading!), for this blog post I will focus on two specific areas that I found interesting: carbon emission capture/reduction and climate prediction.

Carbon Emission Capture/Reduction

In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that, within 30 years, the world will be facing catastrophic consequences if we do not limit and severely reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Despite international accords, global protests, and the overwhelming scientific consensus that we need to reduce our emissions if we are to avoid catastrophe, our global emissions continue to increase. If governments are unwilling to act as quickly as necessary to decrease emissions, then investment in carbon-capturing technologies is a necessity. While the technology itself exists, it is in its infancy. …

Yeah, I know, it’s nearly October of 2019. For the last nearly two years the crypto market has been getting slapped harder than trade sanctions on North Korea. Veterans in this market should be pretty used to these peaks and troughs, and the (sometimes emotional) volatility that comes with the territory. Since cyrpto is no longer sexy and fun, and interest seems to have returned to normalcy, I would like to take this time to address an often-overlooked drawback of virtual currencies: their environmental impact.

The Issues

When two people transact using cryptocurrencies, their transaction must be verified as legitimate. After it is legitimized, a miner must confirm the transaction before adding it to the blockchain. Only miners can confirm cryptocurrency transactions. The issue is, mining cryptocurrencies on large scales uses an absurd amount of energy. Some estimates put power consumption for bitcoin servers alone at a minimum of 2.55 gigawatts, and potentially up to nearly 8 gigawatts. For context, the net power consumption for the entire country of Ireland is 3.1 gigawatts. …

Renewable Energy Struggles

With the effects of anthropogenic climate change starting to rear their ugly faces, a number of countries have signed agreements, enacted policies, and made pledges to curb global greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the current US administration’s stance and policies on the matter, the renewable energy sector has steadily been growing over the years. While renewable energy consumption has risen and petroleum imports have decreased, the US still consumes roughly 21 million barrels of petroleum per day.

Oil and natural gas dominate the energy sector, but renewables are starting to make an impact. In 2018, wind and solar accounted for 10% of all US electricity generation for the first time ever, and, by the end of this year, non-hydro renewables are projected to hold a 20% share of the energy market. …