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Wildlife and Habitat

Slowing down super salmon

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Salmon

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EW-07-02-12-GMO-Salmon.mp3|titles=EW 07-02-12 GMO Salmon]

AquAdvantage salmon could become the first genetically-engineered animal approved for human consumption. A 2010 Food and Drug Administration evaluation was supportive of commercializing the fish. Recommendations now await further White House review. [Read more…] about Slowing down super salmon

The Earth Observing System

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Earth

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/EW-07-06-12-Earth-Observing-System.mp3|titles=EW 07-06-12 Earth Observing System]

My most lasting memories of John Glenn’s space flight and Neil Armstrong’s 1969 landing on the Moon were the pictures they took of the Earth.  We could see our marvelous blue planet against the black backdrop of outer space. [Read more…] about The Earth Observing System

Where did all the acorns go?

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Acorns

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EW-06-26-12-Acorns.mp3|titles=EW 06-26-12 Acorns]

For many years, oaks in the Northeast were prolific acorn producers. The 2010 crop was record-breaking—many will recall getting hit with acorn rain or slipping on acorns underfoot.  Last fall, however, acorns were scarce. [Read more…] about Where did all the acorns go?

Will you be one of the five million people who will visit the Grand Canyon this year?

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Grand Canyon

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EW-06-25-12-Grand-Canyon.mp3|titles=EW 06-25-12 Grand Canyon]

Most people take in the Grand Canyon in from its rim, where the awe-inspiring view has earned its listing as one of the natural wonders of the world. Hidden from sight, at the heart of the canyon, is the river that helped carve it. [Read more…] about Will you be one of the five million people who will visit the Grand Canyon this year?

Eavesdropping on your neighbors? Even the birds do it

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Tufted Titmouse

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EW-06-21-12-Soundscape.mp3|titles=EW 06-21-12 Soundscape]

Most of us use the sounds around our homes to take measure of our neighborhood: the sounds of lawnmowers, the next-door neighbors having a party, an alarm system being triggered—it’s all part of the information we process about our surroundings.  [Read more…] about Eavesdropping on your neighbors? Even the birds do it

Dams can kill river ecosystems, so what’s the best way to kill a dam?

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Dam

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EW-06-18-12-Dam-Removal.mp3|titles=EW 06-18-12 Dam Removal]

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

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Mountains

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EW-06-14-12-Ecosystem-Restoration.mp3|titles=EW 06-14-12 Ecosystem Restoration]

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

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Forest

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/EW-06-11-12-Old-Trees-Mardon.mp3|titles=EW 06-11-12 Old Trees Mardon]

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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Bullfrog

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EW-06-08-12-Frogs-II.mp3|titles=EW 06-08-12 Frogs (II)]

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

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Trees

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/EW-06-07-12-Trees-Carbon.mp3|titles=EW 06-07-12 Trees (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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White Nose Fungus

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/EW-06-05-12-Bats-II.mp3|titles=EW 06-05-12 Bats II]

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?

Toxic mercury is poisoning songbirds

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Warbler

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/EW-05-28-12-Birds-Mercury.mp3|titles=EW 05-28-12 Birds-Mercury]

Each year in the U.S. coal-fired utilities release some 50 tons of mercury into the air. Once emitted, the pollutant is delivered to the landscape, where it takes on its most toxic form – methylmercury – in wet ecosystems such as lakes and streams. [Read more…] about Toxic mercury is poisoning songbirds

What is an ecosystem?

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Ecosystem

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/EW-05-25-12-Ecosystem-Definition1.mp3|titles=EW 05-25-12 Ecosystem Definition]

In their field studies, ecologists are often overwhelmed by the complexity of nature. Many decades ago, the ecosystem concept was developed to help organize scientific studies of the environment. An ecosystem is a subunit of nature, with easily recognized boundaries that allow scientists to measure inputs and outputs of materials from well defined areas of nature.  [Read more…] about What is an ecosystem?

Hate starlings? Blame Shakespeare!

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Starling

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/EW-05-24-12-Starlings.mp3|titles=EW 05-24-12 Starlings]

Invasive species get to the Unites States in a variety of ways: zebra mussels arrived in the holds of ships from Europe. Many invasive insects have hitched a ride on wood shipping pallets or plants destined for the horticultural trade. Multiflora roses were brought from Asia as an attractive erosion control measure. [Read more…] about Hate starlings? Blame Shakespeare!

Most air pollutants come from the fuels we burn, but one comes from the air we breathe

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power plant

[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/EW-05-21-12-Nitrogen-Cascade.mp3|titles=EW 05-21-12 Nitrogen Cascade]

Nitrogen forms three-quarters of our atmosphere. In its principal atmospheric form, it is inert. A process called nitrogen fixation, which is accomplished by soil microbes or by combustion, converts nitrogen to reactive compounds. In these reactive forms, such as nitrogen oxides, nitrogen is an important plant nutrient. [Read more…] about Most air pollutants come from the fuels we burn, but one comes from the air we breathe

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