Cape Cod needs to clean up its water. The solutions could cost billions – WBUR Boston | Scientific American

The northern tip of Cape Cod, Masschusetts from the air (Courtesy of NASA Johnson CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED via Flickr).

It’s a critical moment for Cape Cod. The Cape has more than 550 miles of coastline, at least 890 freshwater ponds and 53 small saltwater bays bordering the ocean. That water is the Cape’s raison d’être: residents and visitors use it for swimming, boating and fishing, and it forms the backbone of the region’s $1.4 billion tourism industry. Now Cape Cod communities are scrambling for solutions before their ecosystems, economies and property values collapse….

How to Crochet a Coral Reef – and Why – Scientific American

Evolution of a hyperbolic pseudosphere in crochet (by Cheryl, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED via Flickr).

In 2005, Los Angeles-based twin sisters, Margaret and Christine Wertheim tried a different approach to communications by starting the Crochet Coral Reef project. The idea was born from their love of the Great Barrier Reef, their oceanic neighbor, and their appreciation for handiwork and the community it can create, simply by participation…

Earth Just Had the Hottest 12-Month Span in Recorded History – Scientific American

"The Earth in 2100" Edited NASA visualization of climate change (specifically temperature) will probably look like by the year 2100 (by Stuart Rankin CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED via Flickr).

As this past October came to a close, it marked the hottest 12-month period ever recorded, a new analysis finds. This stark milestone is the latest in a string of superlatives to emerge this year that show how much carbon pollution has warmed the planet—and how that trend is accelerating. It also comes just weeks before international negotiators are set to meet and hash out issues around achieving the Paris climate accord’s fundamental goal: limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial temperatures…