Health – Earth Wise

‘Noah’s Ark’ Takes On Water

Posted on June 23, 2017 by EarthWise • 0 Comments

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.

Carbon Dioxide Marches On

Posted on June 21, 2017 by EarthWise • 0 Comments

The end of 2013 marked the first occasional observations of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere of 400 parts per million. There is nothing magical about that value, but we do tend to focus on round numbers. Continue Reading

Natural Mosquito Repellents

Posted on June 20, 2017 by EarthWise • 0 Comments

With summer comes mosquitoes and our desire to keep them away from us. The most common repellents are based on the chemical DEET, which unfortunately has been found to have several health and safety problems. Up to 15% of DEET is absorbed through the skin directly into the bloodstream. Diethyl-meta-toluamide, the chemical name for DEET,… Continue Reading

Carbon From The Alaskan Tundra

Posted on June 15, 2017 by EarthWise • 0 Comments

The soils that encircle the northern reaches of the Arctic are a vast repository for carbon in the form of undecayed organic matter from dead vegetation. The enormous amount of material trapped in the permafrost contains enough carbon to double the current amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. Continue Reading

Dangerous Diseases From The Past

Posted on June 9, 2017 by EarthWise • 0 Comments

Climate change is poised to transform life on Earth as we know it. The higher temperatures, the rising seas, the more frequent floods and droughts, among the countless other consequences associated with climate change, threaten to do irreversible damage to the world in the coming decades. Continue Reading

Category Archives: Health