Radon
Radon is a cancer-causing, radioactive gas. It is invisible, has no smell or taste, and is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States causing an estimated 20,000 deaths per year.
Electric Power Rights Of Way
The US has over 20 million acres of rights-of-way for electrical transmission lines and pipelines. These corridors are typically 150 feet wide and go on for hundreds of miles through our countryside. Generally speaking, they are thought of as a blight on the landscape.
Pinpointing Invasive Species
Throughout the world, invasive species plague local ecosystems, degrading natural resources and damaging infrastructure. In the U.S. alone, biological pollution is estimated to carry a price tag of $120 billion per year.
Fuel From Seaweed
Biofuel is considered to be a promising way to shift our energy needs to sustainable and climate-neutral sources. Replacing petroleum with fuels made from crops or other plants basically recycles CO2. The plants absorb it as they grow and release it when they are burned.
Bats And Wind Turbines
Large numbers of bats are being found dead beneath wind turbines, leading researchers to believe they may be mistaking the turbines for trees.
Apples And Antibiotics
In the Northeast, fall is all about apples – apple picking, visiting orchards, and baking apple pie. Most of us would never suspect that our apples may have been treated with antibiotics – even those that are certified organic. How is that possible?
Citizen Scientists Help Gauge Conservation Success
In the 1970s, the world’s fastest bird – the peregrine falcon – was nearing extinction in North America. The culprit: the toxic legacy of DDT. The widely used pesticide caused the birds to suffer reproductive problems, and their numbers plummeted.
[Read more…] about Citizen Scientists Help Gauge Conservation Success
Saving The Monarch Butterfly
For the past 20 years, the population of monarch butterflies has been dropping. In the past few years, it has been dropping catastrophically. In 1996, there were an estimated 1 billion monarchs in North America; today there are only about 35 million.
Will Natural Gas Help Reduce Carbon Emissions?
The US is in the midst of a transition from depending upon coal for generating electricity to the use of natural gas instead. This has been driven in great part by the boom in shale gas and the widespread use of fracking technology.
[Read more…] about Will Natural Gas Help Reduce Carbon Emissions?