Climate Change
Trade And Trees
Debate about the Trans-Pacific Partnership overlooks an unintended consequence of increased trade with Asia – the assault on America’s trees.
Carbon Taxes And Canada
Economists around the world are recommending that we move towards systems that reward low-carbon, innovative, resource-efficient production. One way this is likely to happen is through carbon taxes: directly taxing for fossil fuel use and carbon emissions.
Carbon In The Permafrost
Scientists have been watching the increases in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere as we continue to contribute to them through the burning of fossil fuels. They have been also watching the melting of Arctic ice, which has been accelerating in recent years.
Record CO2 Concentrations
Two years ago, we talked about a report out of the observatory on Mauna Loa in Hawaii of the first modern measurements of carbon dioxide levels greater than 400 parts per million. But it was only in that location and only for a brief period of time.
Toads: Warty, Toxic, And Resilient
This spring, amphibians displayed their singing skills in the flooded lowlands at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies’ Millbrook, NY campus. Eastern American toads were major contributors to the evening chorus, which was at times deafening.
Protecting Working Forests
The U.S. has more than 420 million acres of “working” forests, which provide timber for construction, as well as pulp for paper and packaging. Apart from these economic benefits for communities, such forests provide clean air and water and wildlife habitat. Nearly 45 million acres of these forests are at risk of being lost to development.
The Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Are you a smoker who is trying to stop? Or are you helping a loved one kick their tobacco habit? Whether you’ve quit or tried to get someone else to, it is almost certainly because you know that smoking is unhealthy.
Desalination And California’s Drought
Four years of drought in California have created a serious water crisis. 2014 was the third driest year in 119 years and was also the warmest year in recorded history. California’s Sierra snowpack, which provides a third of the state’s water, is at its lowest level in 65 years.
Human Pollution And Fish
We recently spoke on this program about how up to 28 billion pounds of plastic debris enters the world’s oceans every year. Well now a new study has shed some light on how this and other human-caused pollution may be impacting deep-water marine fish.
The Tragedy Of The Atmosphere
More and more, arguments against the scientific consensus that humans are changing the Earth’s climate are not about science at all. Instead, they focus on loss of personal liberties and distrust of increased government regulation.
Time To Move Lyme Disease Awareness Month To April
The month of May brings many things, among them Mother’s Day, tulips, and Lyme Disease Awareness campaigns. But according to Rick Ostfeld, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, if we want to get a leg up on tick-borne illness we need to become vigilant earlier in the season.
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Green Roofs In France
France is becoming increasingly serious about environmentalism. That country recently passed new legislation mandating that all new commercial construction projects must incorporate either green roofs or solar panels. Solar panels are increasingly familiar to us on rooftops but to date green roofs have primarily been a European phenomenon.
Accounting For Sea Level Rise
Several years ago, North Carolina’s legislature voted to ignore sea level rise when setting rules for coastal development. Here is the science that conservationists hope will influence future decision-making.
Why Volcanoes Are Not Driving Climate Change
Once in a while, one will hear the argument that volcanoes are to blame for rising carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. There are several reasons why this can’t be the case.
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Earth Day On A Crowded Planet
In 1970, when the first Earth Day was celebrated, there were 200 million people living in the United States. Sometime during 2015, our population will top 320 million, and the Earth seems destined to harbor at least 10 billion of us by the middle of this century.
Animals And Earthquakes
There has long been the notion that animals can somehow sense that an earthquake is imminent. The observation is that animals suddenly withdraw and go silent before a quake. While there is plenty of anecdotal evidence for this phenomenon, there has been little solid proof; that is, until recently.
Zero Emission Buses
Most of the news about electric vehicles relates to passenger cars. We hear about Teslas, Leafs, and hydrogen-powered Toyotas all the time. But there is also an expanding fleet of electric and fuel cell buses starting to appear on urban streets in several countries, including the U.S. and China.
A Giant Marine Preserve
