• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

Hide Search
You are here: Home / Archives for Agriculture

Agriculture

Global Warming And The Nitrogen Problem

September 13, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/EW-09-13-17-Global-Warming-and-the-Nitrogen-Problem.mp3

Excess nitrogen in the environment is a big problem.  The most visible aspect of the problem is the spread of toxic algae blooms in oceans, lakes and other bodies of water.  But there are other effects as well such as unwanted alterations to ecosystems.

[Read more…] about Global Warming And The Nitrogen Problem

Genetic Engineering And Conservation

September 8, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/EW-09-08-17-GE-and-Conservation.mp3

Genetic engineering, or equivalently synthetic biology, is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise involved in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, biofuels and, of course, agriculture.  In these fields, it is already the source of a great deal of controversy.  But there is increasing interest in using synthetic biology (or synbio) technology as a tool for protecting the natural world, which is a prospect some find tantalizing and others find absolutely terrifying.

[Read more…] about Genetic Engineering And Conservation

Chocolate Is Good For Your Brain

August 30, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/EW-08-18-17-Chocolate-is-Good-for-Us.mp3

It is always good to learn about more reasons to eat chocolate and Italian researchers have provided us with some impressive facts to digest with our delicious treats.

[Read more…] about Chocolate Is Good For Your Brain

The Monarch Highway

August 24, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/EW-08-24-17-The-Monarch-Highway.mp3

We have talked about the monarch butterfly on a number of occasions.  The population of these iconic orange and black butterflies in North America has plummeted from 1 billion to 33 million over the past 20 years.  People have undertaken a variety of efforts to try to save the species but now a major project to restore the dwindling habitat of the monarch is underway.

[Read more…] about The Monarch Highway

Invasion Of The Sea Pickles

August 22, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/EW-08-22-17-Invasion-of-the-Sea-Pickles.mp3

Sea pickles are translucent, tubular creatures that are usually found in tropical ocean waters.   Also known as pyrosomes, they are actually made up of many small multicellular organisms that are linked together in a tunic to form a tubelike colony that is closed on one end.

[Read more…] about Invasion Of The Sea Pickles

Raw Wastewater On Farms

August 21, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/EW-08-21-17-Raw-Wastewater-on-Farms.mp3

Clean water supplies are dwindling around the world.  As a result, the use of untreated wastewater on farms for crop irrigation is on the rise. 

[Read more…] about Raw Wastewater On Farms

Can The Great Barrier Reef Be Saved?

August 17, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/EW-08-17-17-Can-The-Great-Barrier-Reef-Be-Saved.mp3

There have been many stories in the media about the ongoing environmental crisis at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.  Over the past two years, the reef has lost almost half of its coral because of bleaching events.   Faced with this situation, the Australian government created the Reef 2050 Plan, a strategy to protect and maintain the reef through the year 2050.

[Read more…] about Can The Great Barrier Reef Be Saved?

Wasting Less Food

August 4, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/EW-08-04-17-Wasting-Less-Food-at-Home.mp3

We have talked about the problem of food waste before.  About 40% of the food produced in the United States goes to waste, which is a truly shameful statistic.  According to a Business for Social Responsibility study on the subject, about 44% of the food that goes into landfills comes from homes.  About a third comes from the food service industry.

[Read more…] about Wasting Less Food

Palm Oil Progress

July 21, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/EW-07-21-17-Palm-Oil-Progress.mp3

According to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil or RSPO, almost 12 million tons, or 21% of the global supply of palm oil, is now certified as responsible and sustainable.  The massive expansion of palm oil plantations has been one of the primary causes of global deforestation.  This has been especially the case in Borneo, where 85% of global palm oil production takes place.

[Read more…] about Palm Oil Progress

A CO2 Vacuum Cleaner

July 13, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/EW-07-13-17-A-CO2-Vacuum-Cleaner.mp3

A new carbon capture plant, sitting on top of a waste incineration facility near Zurich, Switzerland, is now sucking CO2 out of the air to sell to its first customer.  The plant opened on May 31, and is the first commercial enterprise of its kind.

[Read more…] about A CO2 Vacuum Cleaner

Edible Tableware

July 4, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/EW-07-04-17-Edible-Tableware.mp3

The problems caused by plastics in the environment continue to mount.  Major companies around the world are endorsing and promoting efforts to combat the problem including the New Plastics Economy Initiative which aims to have 70% of plastic packaging reused and recycled globally, which is five times more than the current percentage.

[Read more…] about Edible Tableware

Saving Borneo’s Forest

July 3, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/EW-07-03-17-Saving-Borneos-Forest.mp3

Borneo is the third-largest island in the world, home to part of Indonesia, part of Malaysia, and the small sultanate of Brunei.   It is also home to the oldest forest on earth – 130 million years old – which is more than twice as old as the Amazon rain forest.

[Read more…] about Saving Borneo’s Forest

‘Noah’s Ark’ Takes On Water

June 23, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/EW-06-23-17-The-Svalbard-Global-Seed-Vault.mp3

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built into a hillside in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard far above the Arctic Circle, is often described as humanity’s last hope against extinction after some global crisis.  While there are more than 1,700 gene banks around the world that keep collections of seeds, all of them are vulnerable to war, natural disasters, equipment malfunctions, and other problems.  Except the Svalbard vault – or so we thought.  It has been dubbed the “Noah’s Ark” of seeds and a last chance for the world to regenerate if the worst should come to pass.  It’s mission is to keep the world’s seeds safe. 

[Read more…] about ‘Noah’s Ark’ Takes On Water

Making Biofuel Cost Effective

June 14, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/EW-06-14-17-Making-Biofuel-Cost-Effective.mp3

Biofuels are considered to be a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.  However, they are generally more expensive than competing fossil fuels.   Government subsidies, such as we have for ethanol in this country, have been necessary to make biofuels competitive in the marketplace.

[Read more…] about Making Biofuel Cost Effective

More Bears In New York

June 13, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/EW-06-13-17-More-Bears-in-New-York.mp3

The population of black bears in southern New York has grown and expanded its range over the past 20 years, which has led to increased encounters with people.   Until recently, a detailed knowledge of bear populations in the state has been lacking.

[Read more…] about More Bears In New York

Increasing Biological Invasions

June 1, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/EW-06-01-17-Increasing-Biological-Invasions.mp3

Invasive species have been a problem for quite some time.  Over the years, we have grappled with – among other things – invasive plants from Japan, zebra mussels from eastern Europe, and Asian fungus that kills off ash trees in our forests.

[Read more…] about Increasing Biological Invasions

A Threat to Rhinos

May 31, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/EW-05-31-17-A-Threat-to-Rhinos.mp3

A South African court recently overturned a national ban on the trade of rhinoceros horns – a decision that was celebrated by the country’s commercial rhino breeders but slammed by animal preservation groups.  A moratorium on rhino horn trade had been in effect in South Africa since 2009. 

[Read more…] about A Threat to Rhinos

Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest

May 30, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/EW-05-30-17-Deforestation-in-the-Amazon.mp3

The Amazon rainforest is the biggest in the world, larger than the next two biggest combined.  It covers over 3 million square miles, roughly the size of the lower 48 states.  For this reason, it functions as a critical sink for carbon in the atmosphere.

[Read more…] about Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest

Water From Thin Air

May 26, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/EW-05-26-17-Water-from-Thin-Air.mp3

Scientists at UC Berkeley and MIT have demonstrated a water harvester that uses only sunlight to pull liters of water out of the air each day in conditions as low as 20% humidity, a level common in arid areas.

[Read more…] about Water From Thin Air

California Sea Lions

May 24, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/EW-05-24-17-California-Sea-Lions.mp3

Sea lions in California are under duress from a rather unassuming source: algae.  Driven by higher water temperatures and pollution, toxic algae is leading to fatal brain damage in many California sea lions. 

[Read more…] about California Sea Lions

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 16
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Recent Episodes

  • 2022 Temperature Report | Earth Wise
  • Agriculture Turning Wild Plants Into Weeds | Earth Wise
  • A Complicated Year For Energy | Earth Wise
  • Energy From Rice Straw | Earth Wise
  • California Flooding | Earth Wise

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)

Copyright © 2023 ·