Sustainable Living

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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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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Trouble For Sardines

July 24, 2015 By EarthWise

In the 1950s, there was a huge collapse of the West Coast sardine population as a result of intense overfishing that coincided with a natural down-cycle related to cooler water temperatures. That crash resulted in the virtual shutdown of the largest fishery in the Western Hemisphere, closing down the famed Cannery Row in Monterey, California.

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On The Care Of Our Common Home

July 23, 2015 By EarthWise

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.

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More Protection For Chimpanzees

July 22, 2015 By EarthWise

Wild chimpanzees have been on the endangered species list for decades. In the early 1900s, there were about a million of them, but current estimates are that there are only between 172,000 and 300,000 remaining around the world.

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The Hyperloop Isn’t Just Hype

July 21, 2015 By EarthWise

A few years ago, Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla, SpaceX, and Solar City proposed the concept of the Hyperloop, a high speed transportation system in which pressurized passenger capsules travel inside of partially-evacuated, elevated tubes, floating on a cushion of air and being driven by linear induction motors and air compressors. The vision was for a route between Los Angeles and San Francisco that would transport passengers between the two cities in 35 minutes travelling at an average speed of about 600 mph.

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Methane: The Other Greenhouse Gas

July 20, 2015 By EarthWise

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.

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The Case For Mixed Recycling

July 17, 2015 By EarthWise

In the early days of recycling, people diligently sorted their waste, with bins for paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass. Comingled approaches are becoming more common. They require less effort, so more households comply.

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Genetically Modified Mosquitos

July 16, 2015 By EarthWise

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.

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A Super-Cool Roof

July 15, 2015 By EarthWise

We have previously discussed the topic of urban heat islands. When summer sun heats up asphalt and rooftops in cities, metropolitan areas end up noticeably warmer than their surroundings.

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Bad News For Birds

July 14, 2015 By EarthWise

While no one was looking, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that threatens to dismantle protections we’ve extended to migratory birds since 1918.

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Green Tips For Landlords

July 13, 2015 By EarthWise

As a landlord, you always have a lot going on. Your goal is to make your tenants as happy and as comfortable as can be – even if it means extra spending. But what if you could improve your tenants’ experience and save money? You can by going green!

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To Bee Or Not To Bee

July 10, 2015 By EarthWise

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.

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Structural Color

July 9, 2015 By EarthWise

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.

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