EarthWise

Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria In The Hudson

August 25, 2015 By EarthWise

Combined sewer systems are designed to collect rainwater runoff, sewage, and industrial wastewater in the same pipe, and then transport the wastewater to a sewage treatment plant. But during heavy rainfall events, wastewater treatment plants can get overwhelmed, forcing them to discharge untreated water into nearby water bodies. This intentional discharge of dirty water is known as C-S-Os – or combined sewer overflows.

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Tech Advances Provide Window Into Wildlife

August 24, 2015 By EarthWise

Since the evolution of our earliest ancestors, people have looked to clues – such as footprints in the mud or rubs on trees – to gain insight into wildlife behavior.

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Shopping Bags

August 21, 2015 By EarthWise

Paper or plastic? It’s a quandary we have faced in the grocery store for decades. Plastic is non-biodegradable and usually ends up in landfills or worse, in waterways or in the ocean. On the other hand, manufacturing paper is water intensive and produces pollution.

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Wind To Hydrogen

August 20, 2015 By EarthWise

There is lots of talk about hydrogen cars these days. Toyota is introducing their Mirai fuel cell car this fall. Proponents tout hydrogen as the best way to fuel environmentally-friendly cars.

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Trash At National Parks

August 19, 2015 By EarthWise

Our national parks are shining examples of the American wilderness whose natural wonders attract millions of visitors from around the world. This popularity has a cost: national park visitors generate more than 100 million pounds of garbage each year, most of which ends up in landfills.

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Is Pollution Good for Trees?

August 18, 2015 By EarthWise

In recent decades, the so-called hygiene hypothesis has been proposed to explain the rapid rise in allergic diseases during the 20th century and has even been linked to a broader range of chronic illnesses. The basic idea is that that when exposure to parasites, bacteria, and viruses is limited early in life, children face a greater chance of having allergies, asthma, and other autoimmune diseases during adulthood.

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Missing Monarchs

August 17, 2015 By EarthWise

We have talked about monarch butterflies before. The orange and black butterflies are often used in school lessons about insect ecology. Monarch caterpillars forage exclusively on milkweed; in the process they acquire foul-tasting chemicals that ward off predators. In late summer, monarchs living in the Eastern U.S. migrate to overwintering grounds in Mexico.

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Watch Out For This Weed!

August 14, 2015 By EarthWise

Weeds are the bane of many a gardener’s or landscaper’s existence. They sprout up, uncontrolled and unwelcome, and must be tediously managed time and again. But some weeds are more than a nuisance – they rise to the level of a public health hazard. Such is the case with giant hogweed.

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Obesity And Food Energy Supply

August 13, 2015 By EarthWise

Obesity is a global health problem and is on the rise in many countries. There are many factors involved in the increasing prevalence of obesity such as increased urbanization, car dependence and sedentary occupations. Of course, the prime culprit is generally thought to be that we eat too much.

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What Would Our Planet’s Sixth Mass Extinction Mean For Us?

August 12, 2015 By EarthWise

A new study by researchers from three U.S. universities echoes an earlier report out of Duke University indicating that earth is in what appears to be the beginning of its sixth mass extinction – the first in some 65 million years. Large animals face the highest rate of decline, and their losses could affect other species, including us.

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The First Mass Extinction Since Dinosaurs

August 11, 2015 By EarthWise

Earth’s current biodiversity is the highest in the history of life – ever. It’s the product of three and a half billion years of evolution. But a new study warns that a tipping point is on the horizon.

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Electricity Goes Local

August 10, 2015 By EarthWise

Towns and cities are increasingly aware of the value of gaining control over their energy supply in order to make sure it is clean, efficient, reliable and secure. The central concept of what may become a local power revolution is the microgrid.

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Too Warm For Seal Hunting

August 7, 2015 By EarthWise

In the far north of Alaska, generations of hunters have traversed the broken sea ice of Kotzebue Sound every late June and early July hunting for bearded seals. A single seal can supply hundreds of pounds of meat, enough to feed a large family for an entire winter. Its meat and oil products are an important food source.

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Ever-Changing Light Bulbs

August 6, 2015 By EarthWise

Electric light became a part of our lives around 1880 as Thomas Edison began illuminating parts of New York City. For more than 100 years, the basic operating principle of light bulbs remained the same. For the most part, we used the incandescent bulbs that Edison pioneered. Of course, there were fluorescent bulbs as well, but most of our lamps used the familiar incandescent in various configurations.

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More About Food Waste

August 5, 2015 By EarthWise

Yesterday we talked about the fact that Americans throw out nearly half of the food they buy. The worst thing about this is that one in seven Americans – over 46 million people – don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

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Food Waste

August 4, 2015 By EarthWise

We recently talked about the problem of food waste on this program, in particular, the 1.3 billion tons of food wasted around the world each year. This is a tragic situation given how many people around the world don’t have enough to eat.

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It’s National Farmers Market Week!

August 3, 2015 By EarthWise

Are you familiar with the farmers markets, CSAs, and food hubs near you? Do you know what products are for sale and what forms of payment are accepted? Can you find these places while on vacation?

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Organic Versus Conventional Food

July 31, 2015 By EarthWise

When you buy organic food, you expect that it has been produced without genetically modified seeds, artificial fertilizer, or pesticides. A scientific review of 50 years of data suggests that organic and conventional foods have similar nutritional content – yet many pay considerably more for organic products, believing they are healthier.

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Earthquakes And Fluid Injection Wells

July 30, 2015 By EarthWise

The number of earthquakes associated with oil industry injection wells has skyrocketed from a handful per year to more than 650 in 2014, according to a new study published in Science by the University of Colorado Boulder and the U.S. Geological Survey.

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Rising Ocean Acidity

July 29, 2015 By EarthWise

Once, the constancy of seawater was taken for granted. Now, as we see evidence of increasing concentrations of mercury in seawater, it is becoming obvious that global pollution is taxing the dilution capacity of the seas. There is also good evidence that the ocean is acidifying.

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