Earth Wise
Nature: A Natural Stress-Buster
If you’ve ever taken a walk outside to “clear your head,” it turns out you were onto something. Scientists, doctors, and the average person have long known that time spent in nature can have de-stressing, mood-boosting effects. They just haven’t been exactly sure why.
Street Trees Are Good For Us
Want to feel younger? Live on a street with more trees. That’s the finding of University of Chicago researchers who studied the impact of street trees on the real and perceived health of residents of Toronto, Canada.
Meat Consumption & Biodiversity
Several studies warn that the current loss and decline of species is contributing to what appears to be the beginning of earth’s sixth mass extinction. More than 400 species have gone extinct in the last 100 years. And scientists suggest up to 37 percent of the world’s species could go extinct within the next 35 years.
Moving Toward 100% Renewables
More and more cities, states and even entire countries are setting goals to use 100% renewable energy. For the most part, these goals relate to electrical power, which is the energy need most attainable via renewable sources. But ultimately, we would like to cover all of our energy needs – electrical power, heating and cooling, and transportation – using sustainable renewable resources.
El Niño On The Way
There are starting to be a lot of news reports about a strong El Niño being on the way later this year. El Niño is a weather phenomenon that occurs in the eastern tropical Pacific every two to seven years. East-to-west trade winds weaken and ocean surface temperatures go up. The result impacts the weather throughout the Pacific region.
The Really Big One
Most people have heard of the San Andreas fault line. It runs the length of California, and is perpetually rumored to be to be on the verge of unleashing a big earthquake. But there’s a much lesser known fault line located just north of the San Andreas that’s predicted to trigger an even larger quake.
We Need More Free-Range Kids
Once-upon-a-time, kids were expected to amuse themselves outdoors. Today, fears of shady neighbors and bodily harm have led to a nation of parents who appear content to keep their kids inside, playing computer games, surfing the web, texting, and watching TV.
Bumblebees And The Climate Squeeze
Bumblebees face their share of hazards – habitat loss, disease, and harmful pesticides among them. New research shows that climate change is also a significant threat to bumblebee populations in Europe and North America. In fact, University of Ottawa scientists suggest that, for these bumblebees, climate change may be the biggest threat of all.
Climate Change And Lobster
It’s no secret that ocean waters are warming, especially in New England. The waters in the Gulf of Maine are warming 99% faster than the rest of the world’s oceans. What’s the problem? Well, lobsters like cold water, and as a result, they’re heading north.
Offshore Wind At Last
At the end of July, construction began on the first offshore wind installation in the United States. The Block Island Wind Farm is being built off the coast of Rhode Island and is expected to come online next year, providing electricity for about 17,000 homes.
A Giant Red Tide
Red tide is the common name for algal blooms in the ocean. These are typically cyclical events that occur along our coasts and generally last a few weeks.
The Heat From Global Warming
The average surface temperature around the world has gone up over a degree over the past 40 years but some people argue that if the greenhouse effect was really at fault, the temperature rise would be much larger.
The Complicated Case Of Cecil The Lion
The recent killing of Zimbabwe’s Cecil the Lion sparked a world-wide reaction and has focused a great deal of attention on the ethics of trophy hunting. There is no question that trophy hunting is an extremely polarizing issue and there are demands around the world to curtail the practice.
Biodiversity Is Good For Us
There are many reasons to protect Earth’s biodiversity. One of the more underrated is that disease incidence is lower when ecosystems support a variety of plants and animals.
Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria In The Hudson
Combined sewer systems are designed to collect rainwater runoff, sewage, and industrial wastewater in the same pipe, and then transport the wastewater to a sewage treatment plant. But during heavy rainfall events, wastewater treatment plants can get overwhelmed, forcing them to discharge untreated water into nearby water bodies. This intentional discharge of dirty water is known as C-S-Os – or combined sewer overflows.
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Tech Advances Provide Window Into Wildlife
Since the evolution of our earliest ancestors, people have looked to clues – such as footprints in the mud or rubs on trees – to gain insight into wildlife behavior.
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Shopping Bags
Paper or plastic? It’s a quandary we have faced in the grocery store for decades. Plastic is non-biodegradable and usually ends up in landfills or worse, in waterways or in the ocean. On the other hand, manufacturing paper is water intensive and produces pollution.
Wind To Hydrogen
There is lots of talk about hydrogen cars these days. Toyota is introducing their Mirai fuel cell car this fall. Proponents tout hydrogen as the best way to fuel environmentally-friendly cars.
Trash At National Parks
