Health
Organic Versus Conventional Food
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.
Earthquakes And Fluid Injection Wells
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.
Nitrogen Pollution Suffocates Fish
In Riverhead, Long Island the stench of rotting fish is becoming all too familiar. Over the past two months, the Department of Environmental Conservation estimates more than 400,000 Atlantic menhaden, commonly called bunker, have washed up on the shores of the Peconic River – which sits between Long Island’s north and south forks. The culprit: nitrogen pollution.
On The Care Of Our Common Home
Religions are based on systems of faith, morals, and practice. Science is based on a system of theories, evidence, and hypothesis testing. Both are embedded in the structures of society where a convergence of beliefs and knowledge can often work together for a common social good.
Methane: The Other Greenhouse Gas
When we talk about climate change, carbon dioxide often takes center stage. Curbing carbon emissions is essential, but we also need to think about other potent greenhouse gases. A molecule of methane has a lifetime of about 10 years in earth’s atmosphere, where it is 25 times more potent as a heat trapping gas.
Genetically Modified Mosquitos
The use of genetically modified organisms –GMOs – in food crops like corn and soybean has become a real hot-button issue. The controversy has now spread to the use of genetic engineering to control mosquito-borne illnesses.
To Bee Or Not To Bee
No one likes pests: mosquitoes at your barbeque, termites in your basement, caterpillars on your garden vegetables and field crops. During the past 70 years, the chemical industry has developed an arsenal of chemicals designed to eliminate pests.
Structural Color
Structural color is color caused by interference effects rather than dyes or pigments. It is responsible for the blues and greens of the feathers of many kinds of birds as well as bright colors in butterfly wings, beetle wing cases, and oyster shells.
The Ocean Cleanup Array
Plastic debris can be found on up to 88% of the ocean’s surface, and most of it is concentrated in the top two meters of water. Swirling currents known as gyres cause the debris to gather in certain areas. Some of these concentrations are so large they can be seen from space.
Brewing Water For A Good Cause
The recent severe weather and subsequent flooding that battered Texas and Oklahoma killed more than 30 people, and left many other victims in need of basic supplies, like water.
Forecasting Future Infectious Disease Outbreaks
From Ebola and bird flu to Lyme disease and West Nile virus, most emerging infectious diseases are transmitted from animals to humans, with more than a billion people suffering each year. Safeguarding public health requires effective surveillance tools. But to date, most outbreaks are dealt with as they happen.
[Read more…] about Forecasting Future Infectious Disease Outbreaks
Useful Byproducts From Coffee Roasting
Coffee is the second most valuable commodity in the world after oil. This $100-billion-dollar-a-year industry plays a major role in the global economy. It also has a significant impact on the environment. Processing coffee produces more than 2 billion tons of byproducts annually.
Natural Sunscreen
We have all learned about the dangers of too much sun exposure. Sunscreen products are a multi-billion dollar market across the globe. We are careful to limit our hours in the sun. Meanwhile, many animal species spend their entire lives outdoors and apparently don’t suffer from too much exposure to the sun.
Good News On Ozone
In 1985, scientists discovered a hole in the earth’s ozone layer over Antarctica. By 1987, the hole had increased to the size of the continental United States. Ozone, a modified form of oxygen, is present in only small amounts in the stratosphere, but performs a crucial function to life on earth. It absorbs solar ultraviolet radiation, protecting humans and other forms of life from skin cancer, cataracts, and immune system deficiencies.
The Problem With Coal Ash
Coal combustion in the U.S. generates around 130 million tons of coal ash each year, with power plants being the largest contributors. Bottom ash is collected from combustion chambers and fly ash is gathered from smokestacks and air pollution control devices.
Recycling Cigarette Butts
Cigarette butts are widely considered to be the world’s number one litter problem. Cleanup projects at beaches gather twice as many cigarette parts as either food wrappers or beverage containers. New York State produces about 1.5 million tons of cigarette butts each year. In Texas, butts account for 13% of all highway litter to the tune of 130 million butts per year.
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.
A New Oil Repellant
As long as we continue to transport oil around the world in ships, there is going to be the danger of oil spills, which have been some of our worst environmental disasters. While preventing such spills from happening at all is the first line of defense, we also need better approaches in cleaning up the spills that do occur.
The Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
