Sustainable Living
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.
Monarch Butterflies
For the past two decades, the monarch butterfly population has been dropping at an astonishing rate. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service estimates that the monarch population has dropped by nearly one billion butterflies since 1990 – a 90% decline. Today, only about 35 million butterflies remain – a statistic that has some groups calling for the species’ protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Wave Power On The U.S. Grid
Generating electricity from tides, waves and ocean currents is potentially a significant source of clean, green power. However, for a number of reasons, it has lagged far behind other renewable energy sources in actually delivering power to the grid.
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
Dolphins In The Gulf
Bottlenose dolphins, the most common type of oceanic dolphins, are turning up dead in the Gulf of Mexico at record rates. A study recently published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE indicates that the spike in dolphin deaths is directly linked to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
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.
Renewable Energy And Jobs
There is no doubt that the renewable energy industry is booming. Renewable energy sources are seen as the primary and best way to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and other forms of environmental pollution that threaten human health and the world’s ecosystems. For this reason, investment in and deployment of renewable energy has been an area of tremendous growth.
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.
Reducing Food Waste
Wasted food is one of the greatest economic and environmental problems in the world today. According to a United Nations study, one-third of the world’s food winds up spoiled, rotting in fields, or is thrown away. This amounts to 1.3 billion tons of food wasted annually while at the same time nearly 900 million people around the world go hungry every day.
Trade And Trees
Debate about the Trans-Pacific Partnership overlooks an unintended consequence of increased trade with Asia – the assault on America’s trees.
Hybrid Batteries At Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park is now the site of the first ever commercial energy storage installation that uses recycled hybrid car batteries.
The Case For Messy Woodlands
Does your property contain a patch of forest? When managing your woodland, resist the urge to keep things tidy. Dead and dying trees are a healthy part of forest ecosystems.
Texas Wind Power
Texas has a reputation for conservative politics, a powerful oil and gas industry, and a fair amount of skepticism about human-caused climate change. Despite all of this, Texas now leads the United States in wind power production.
The Biofuel Crop Dilemma
The demand for biofuels continues to grow. Producing fuels from plant matter is considered to be a carbon-neutral way to get energy and is an important part of efforts to move away from fossil fuels.
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.
The World’s Rarest Dolphin Is In Danger
The Maui’s dolphin – a subspecies of Hector’s dolphin – is the smallest and rarest marine dolphin in the world. These dolphins, which can only be found in the shallow, coastal waters of New Zealand, are critically endangered.
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.
The Tesla Battery
