You are here: Home / Archives for The Magazine / Science and Technology / Earth and Environment

Discussing the impact of motorized vehicles in wilderness areas

By

May 12   1 Comment  

A key element of the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act now making its way through Congress would allow motorized vehicles and equipment into wilderness areas, undermine 1964’s Wilderness Act which expressly bans motor vehicles on these last wild vestiges of untrammeled American land. (Comstock)

Destroying what you claim to love

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

Coming Soon: Oil drilling on the Arctic Ocean’s outer continental shelf

By

May 7   1 Comment  

Despite U.S. Geological Survey warnings that drilling in waters north of Alaska could have deleterious effects on ocean habitats and wildlife, the Obama administration proceeded with a lifting of the moratorium on off-shore drilling. Pictured: An Oiled brown pelican awaits cleaning in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Including plenty of darkly-colored animals!

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,

Wanted: Young farmers

By

March 17   Leave a Comment  

Convincing young people to take up farming is a hard sell but a necessary one: For each American farmer under the age of 35 there are now six over 65 and one quarter (500,000) of all American farmers will retire over the next two decades. (iStockPhoto)

Can you dig it?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,

Are there natural bug repellents?

By

March 17   3 Comments  

There are several companies now selling natural insect repellents, many of which use essential oils as their active ingredients. (iStockPhoto)

And do they work?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

Cuba’s foray into offshore oil drilling

By

March 10   Leave a Comment  

Finding significant off-shore oil reserves could turn Cuba into an oil exporter, possibly even thawing relations with a still oil-hungry U.S. Pictured: The Scarabeo 9 oil rig while still under construction in China in 2009. It is now 30 miles off of Cuba's coast and just 60 miles south of the Florida Keys. (Wikipedia)

Possible source of economic power for Communist island

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,

SMOG levels improving in Los Angeles

By

Feb. 28   Leave a Comment  

Tougher state and federal air quality standards, combined with cleaner burning engines on new vehicles today, have cut air pollution from cars and trucks across California by more than 85 percent since the 1970s, with peak smog levels in the city of Los Angeles dropping some 70 percent. (Thinkstock)

Is it possible?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment, Life in the West, Los Angeles Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Why Solyndra failed

By

Feb. 28   1 Comment  

Low natural gas prices, competition from China and other factors helped sink innovative American solar panel maker, Solyndra, despite its having received $535 million in government loan guarantees. But the Obama administration is not deterred and has renewed efforts to force utilities to derive significant percentages of their power from cleaner, greener sources. (Media credit/Zachary Graham via Flickr)

It was SO promising…

Filed Under: Earth and Environment, Life in the West Tagged With: , , , ,

There’s BPA in cash register receipts?

By

Feb. 12   1 Comment  

Laboratory tests found high levels of BPA on 40 percent of thermal paper receipts sampled from major U.S. businesses and services, including McDonald’s, Chevron, CVS, KFC, Whole Foods, WalMart, Safeway and the U.S. Postal Service, among others. BPA in paper receipts also contaminates paper recycling and is showing up in napkins, toilet paper and other common papers with recycled content. (Thinkstock)

Bad news bears

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

How green is the state of our union?

By

Feb. 12   Leave a Comment  

Obama's State of the Union address was, in the words of one prominent green leader, "a strong defense of the importance of clean energy to America’s long-term economic prosperity." (White House photo)

All-in-all, not a bad year

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Fact: Carbon emissions are making our oceans acidic

By

Feb. 1   Leave a Comment  

Ocean acidification is likely to affect the ability of some shellfish to produce and maintain their shells. This process will not only wreak havoc on the shellfish we eat, but also on smaller marine organisms that are key components of the lower end of the marine food chain. (Thinkstock)

Goodbye coral. Goodbye shellfish.

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Water usage in the bathroom

By

Jan. 24   Leave a Comment  

Some 60 percent of our household indoor water usage happens in the bathroom. Toilets are the biggest water hogs, with older models using as much as eight gallons per flush. A shower, even with a low-flow shower head, can use up to 40 gallons of water, and a bath can use up to 50-60 gallons. (Thinkstock)

It’s more than you thought!

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Analysis: Cutting down forests for biomass fuel

By

Jan. 24   Leave a Comment  

In theory, burning any kind of plant material for energy is a carbon-neutral endeavor, but chopping down forests for ethanol is unwise because they cannot be regrown quickly. And tree plantations don't provide the clean water, storm buffers, wildlife habitat and other ecosystem services that natural forests do. Pictured: A wood biomass plant. (Thinkstock)

This will trouble you…

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How to cut emissions in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states

By

Jan. 16   Leave a Comment  

Ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states have, in the face of federal inaction, agreed on a region-wide greenhouse gas emissions limit, enforced through the sale of pollution permits to large fossil fuel power plants there. Money raised is invested in local businesses throughout the region that promote energy efficiency and renewable energy sources Pictured: The Big Allis Power Plant, Queens, New York City. (Thinkstock)

Federal action lacking

Filed Under: Earth and Environment

Global warming and water shortages

By

Jan. 8   Leave a Comment  

One out of three counties across the contiguous U.S., says a recent study commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council, should brace for water shortages by mid-century as a result of human induced climate change. (Media credit/Comstock)

Water supplies would be hit especially hard

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,

About home energy audits

By

Dec. 30, 2011   Leave a Comment  

EarthTalkEnergyAudits

Do-it-yourself or hire out?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,

New standards for light bulb efficiency

By

Dec. 22, 2011   Leave a Comment  

EarthTalkBulbPhase-Out

Bye bye incandescents

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,

A new study reveals new properties of the earth’s magnetic field

By

Dec. 20, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Jordens_inre

Scientists found that Iron Oxide can conduct electricity

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

Why should I recycle?

By

Dec. 17, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Recycling and re-use have many environmental benefits, including reducing the amount of waste we bury in already overcrowded landfills and burn in polluting incinerators, like the one pictured here. (Thinkstock)

Do you really need an explanation?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , ,

How does mercury get into fish?

By

Dec. 10, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Once mercury gets into the marine food chain, mostly from human industrial sources such as coal-fired electricity generation, smelting and the incineration of waste, it “bioaccumulates” in the larger ocean predators. That’s why larger fish -- like the bluefin tuna pictured here -- are generally riskier to eat than smaller ones. (Thinkstock)

It’s a big problem

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

Oil vs. natural gas for home heating

By

Dec. 10, 2011   1 Comment  

Only eight percent of U.S. homes use oil heat today. Natural gas is both cheaper and has lower carbon emissions than oil, though it is still a fossil fuel and its green-friendliness is overstated. Most eco-advocates would rather see a shift to truly renewable heating sources like geothermal or solar. (Thinkstock)

Neither are great for the environment

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,