• April showers have arrived and with them some really amazing technological advancements we found over the past month!
  A living building block of our oceans could be put under pressure by climate change.
  Low-cost catalyst could accelerate use of waste-CO2 derived products.
  Aloe vera could help fight Alzheimer’s disease.
  Low-cost, sustainable method to product graphene.
  A new membrane could make desalination sustainable.
  We could have more senses than you learned about in school.
  Is AI really making you more efficient at work?
  A cat’s purr is a unique social identifier.
  Apes also have imaginations.
  Frigid Earth-like planet found 146 light years from us.
  A new organic molecule for liquid batteries.
  New way to fight antibiotic drug-resistance.
  This new material could unlock quantum computing.
  Metal and sunlight combine to produce sustainable hydrogen.
  Another reason to eat your oatmeal!
  Jupiter’s moons may have been formed with the ingredients for life.

The February sea-ice extent was the third smallest on record for the Arctic Sea while the Antarctic sea extent for February ranked in the middle third of its records. Heavy rain fell in southern Peru in February, which led to devastating floods and triggered deadly mudslides; while Tropical Cyclone Gezani made landfall on Madagascar’s east coast, dropping torrential rainfall and blowing in strong winds across the region that caused severe flooding and infrastructure damage. Japan reported its second warmest February on record while, on the flipside, a severe snowstorm plagued Mongolia in late February, dumping heavy snow and delivering strong winds and extreme cold. (Image Credit: NOAA Global Climate Report)

• The Global Climate Change Report for February 2026 has been released by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information and reveals further proof that global climate change remains a concern. In February 2026, the global surface temperature was 1.18°C (2.12°F) above the 20th Century average, ranking as the fifth warmest February in the NOAA’s 177-year stretch of keeping records. The 10 warmest Februarys on record all have occurred since 2016. February 2026 also was the 47th straight February recording above average temperatures across both land and sea. The global ocean surface recorded its second warmest February on record at 0.87°C (1.57°F) above average, just mere degrees short of the record set in 2024 and surging past the 2025 level.

• The 56th annual Earth Day – celebrated in April – has come a long way from its original mission of thinking about the planet and taking sustainable steps towards keeping the planet healthy. Technology has allowed entities to utilize GIS technology to do even more now. Geospatial data has helped energy scientists and researchers to identify areas where setting up renewable energy sources – wind, solar, and tidal energy – would prove beneficial. It has helped find locations that are ideal for the optimum utilization of these resources and benefits to society. GIS also has helped create an identifiable map of green energy sources across the world, which can help decision-makers and companies in the energy business with the availability of abundant, analytical data. GIS data helps to maximize the utilization of resources, identify assets, and reduce management costs in forestry. With GIS data that is dynamic and helps analyze many variables at the same time, infrastructure planners can understand land patterns in their area, maintain green cover by optimizing the land available, and also help create an infrastructure that is energy-efficient and green. Natural conservatories across the world use GIS data on a daily basis to find ways of preservation, damage control, and further growth. Environmental maps such as the Map of World’s Protected Areas, Map of Global Soil Humidity, Geothermal Energy, and Virus Spread Maps have helped make people more aware of things at scale. There are numerous GIS tools out there reflecting the importance of protecting the earth, such as the Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) portal. This site, built on ArcGIS Hub, allows communities at any scale to understand climate change impacts on their communities now and in the future. These tools are powered by datasets published in the Living Atlas with or by authoritative partners such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. EarthDay.org uses GIS to map the environmental movement on a global scale. It helps the masterminds behind the organization to compile the details of what is happening, when, and where, from cleanups to round table discussions, so they can make an actionable difference in shaping our future. Stories celebrating Earth Day and others drawing attention to the needs to protect the world can be found on Esri’s website. There are GIS tools inside interactive stories such as The Finite Ocean, A World of Forests, Hot Numbers, The Living Land, An Introduction to Sea Ice, Mapping Mount Everest, Farm Animal Planet, The Night Skies of the U.S. National Parks Service, Coastal Flooding, Living Territories and Sounds of the Wild West. Through these GIS story maps, we can embark upon an audio tour of Monta’s four major ecosystems, gaze at the starry skies above national parks, accompany geographer Alex Taitas he recounts his expedition up Mount Everest, and learn more about our oceans and forests, as well as how humans are hampering their existence.

Brock Adam McCarty
Map Wizard
(720) 470-7988
brock@apollomapping.com