Sustainable Living
If flowers could fly, they’d be called butterflies
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Butterflies are the most charismatic of our insects. We appreciate the artistry of their colors and patterns, and we are also captivated by their four-part life cycle, from egg, to larva, to pupa, to mature butterfly. [Read more…] about If flowers could fly, they’d be called butterflies
The next front for environmental activism: your household laundry
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Refrigerators, lighting, and clothes dryers are the top energy consumers in modern households. Most of us would find it challenging to live without lights or refrigeration. But for dryers, there is an alternative–an inexpensive, solar-powered tool: the clothesline. [Read more…] about The next front for environmental activism: your household laundry
Where the river meets the sea
Simply put, an estuary is an inlet of the sea; a place where salt water from the ocean mixes with freshwater from a river or a stream. Influenced by the tides and sheltered by the land, estuaries are among Earth’s most productive and diverse ecosystems. [Read more…] about Where the river meets the sea
Dams can kill river ecosystems, so what’s the best way to kill a dam?
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John McPhee once wrote that for environmentalists, there is a dam “at the absolute epicenter of Hell.” Dams built in the twentieth century, impeded salmon and other migratory fish from reaching their spawning grounds. [Read more…] about Dams can kill river ecosystems, so what’s the best way to kill a dam?
Ecosystem restoration: a long time coming
Much can change in a century, but can long-disrupted ecosystems ever be truly restored? Just over a hundred years ago, Americans realized that our nation’s extraction economy was wreaking havoc on our ecological capital. Natural resources of all kinds were under assault: hillsides denuded, rivers polluted, and wetlands paved over. More and more wildlife species are faced the threat of extinction. [Read more…] about Ecosystem restoration: a long time coming
Older forests are allies in the fight against global warming
When Europeans began settling the New World, a little under half of America’s landscape was forested. Today, after centuries of land conversion, about one third of the U.S. remains forested. Though timber harvesting continues, reforestation efforts generally keep pace, maintaining a steady supply of trees. [Read more…] about Older forests are allies in the fight against global warming
A taste for bullfrogs threatens West Coast amphibians
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Bullfrogs are in demand in metropolitan food markets, where they are sautéed and used in stir fries in Asian cuisine. While these frogs are native to North America, they are not native to the West Coast. In California alone, millions of bullfrogs are imported annually from factory farms in China, Taiwan, Uruguay, and Brazil. [Read more…] about A taste for bullfrogs threatens West Coast amphibians
Trees—a vast store-house of carbon
When you look at a piece of wood or a tree, it is unlikely that you’ll say: “gee, half of that is carbon.” But carbon is a basic building block of life and trees accumulate carbon in their wood, leaves, and roots. In fact wood is about 50% carbon by weight. This carbon is derived from carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, which plants take up and store through the process of photosynthesis. [Read more…] about Trees—a vast store-house of carbon
Did the bats come home to your local belfry this spring?
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A few months back, I spoke on Earth Wise about the loss of bats in North America. First noted in New York State in 2006, a fungal disease, known as white-nose syndrome, has wiped out bat populations in many regions. Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimate that as many as 6.7 million bats have perished. [Read more…] about Did the bats come home to your local belfry this spring?
Sportsmen and birdwatchers unite!
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I was brought up bird-watching and hunting. These two communities were of one mind in the 1960s. The skills needed to be successful at one endeavor were beneficial to the other. Knowledge of natural history was useful for hunting. Knowing where to find things was useful for bird-watching. Both groups benefited from the protection of wildlife habitat. [Read more…] about Sportsmen and birdwatchers unite!
Methane—it’s not laughing gas.
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Methane concentrations are rising in Earth’s atmosphere, more than doubling since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Like carbon dioxide, methane contributes to global warming. In fact, it is 25 to 35 times more effective at warming our atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Trouble is, we’re not sure what’s causing methane levels to rise. [Read more…] about Methane—it’s not laughing gas.
Pollution recognizes no political boundaries—and that includes radiation
Scientists have long recognized that many pollutants travel far from where they originated. Power plant emissions can be carried by winds to distant states, where they contribute to acid rain, ground-level ozone, or mercury in isolated lakes. That’s why some of our national parks, even though they are protected areas, have smog and haze problems.
The challenge for scientists is teasing out the sources of pollution once they have dispersed. Although some elements carry isotopic signatures, others do not; so it’s challenging to trace pollutants like lead or compounds like nitrogen oxides back to their precise source.
The earthquake and tsunami that damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan last year provided an inadvertent demonstration of how air currents can transport pollution over long distances. Within a week of the earthquake, radioactive material was found in rainfall on the west coast of North America. It was in such small concentrations that it didn’t pose a health hazard. But the point is that, because there was no other possible source for the radioactive material, it served as a tracer. Meteorologists noted a strong jet stream over Japan in the days after the disaster; it carried the contaminants across the Pacific where they were then deposited in rainfall.
Although this fallout did not prove hazardous to Americans, the story is a sobering reminder that ocean and air currents are powerful mechanisms for moving pollution. We can’t control or regulate them. It is also a reminder that no matter how safe the nuclear power industry portrays itself to be, all of the safeguards in the world could not prevent the disaster that unfolded in Japan.
Web Link
Scientific paper on Fission-Product Isotopes from Fukushima to U.S.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es203217u
Photo, taken on May 20, 2007 using a Nikon Coolpix L5, courtesy of J. Brew via Flickr.
