Earth Wise

Ensuring The World’s Parks Protect Biodiversity

February 2, 2015 By EarthWise

Every ten years, the International Union for Conservation of Nature hosts the World Parks Congress. In November, more than 6,000 people from 170 countries descended on Sydney, Australia to assess the state of the world’s protected areas at the sixth Congress.

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The European Union Can Ban GMO Crops

January 30, 2015 By EarthWise

The widespread use of genetically modified organisms or GMOs in crops is an increasingly controversial practice. Here in the US, there are battles over labeling laws and disclosures about which foods contain GMOs and which ones don’t.

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Keeping The Air Clean While Getting Warm

January 29, 2015 By EarthWise

Fireplaces and stoves are coveted features in many homes, providing warmth and ambiance. But managed improperly, these heat sources can be inefficient and unhealthy.

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Massachusetts and Solar Power

January 28, 2015 By EarthWise

Massachusetts is not known for its sunny climate and can’t compete with California where huge solar-power farms in the desert can produce hundreds of megawatts of electricity. Nevertheless, the state is enthusiastically embracing solar energy wherever it can.

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Recycling Christmas Trees

January 27, 2015 By EarthWise

Were you among the 20 million Americans that put up a real Christmas tree? Most of the Fraser firs and blue spruces so lovingly decorated last Christmas ended up in the same place: the curb.

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Flying On Green Energy

January 26, 2015 By EarthWise

If you’ve ever used an online carbon footprint calculator, you may have been surprised by how much of your energy usage comes from air travel. A few flights a year and you’ve produced as much carbon as you have from driving your car all year.

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Reducing Phosphorus Pollution In Lake Erie

January 23, 2015 By EarthWise

Toxic algal blooms have been spreading throughout Lake Erie. In August, contamination left 400,000 residents in Ohio and Michigan without water for 72 hours. Now, legislators are taking steps to prevent future catastrophes by regulating farming practices.

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Enhanced Geothermal Systems

January 22, 2015 By EarthWise

Geothermal electricity is a clean, around-the-clock source of power, but has been limited to those few sites where the earth’s heat has created sources of hot water under the ground. Enhanced Geothermal Systems or EGS generate geothermal electricity without the need for natural hot springs or similar hydrothermal resources.

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Curbing Curbside E-Waste

January 21, 2015 By EarthWise

These days, technology seems to grow old overnight. In the rush to get the latest gadget, computers, cell phones, and TVs are routinely cast aside. But as of January 1, residents of New York State can no longer put their discarded technology out for curbside pickup. This includes printers, DVD players, video game consoles, electronic keyboards, and older tube TVs.

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The Hunters Are Now The Hunted

January 20, 2015 By EarthWise

The world has lost more than half of its wildlife over the past 40 years. And a very visible part of that loss is a result of poaching. As we’ve previously reported, poachers killed 23,000 African elephants in 2013 for their ivory. In that same year, poachers slaughtered more than 1,000 rhinos in South Africa alone, including more than 600 in the famous Kruger National Park. It should not be surprising that three of INTERPOL’s nine most wanted environmental crime fugitives are accused of ivory-related crimes.

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Microgrids And Energy Resilience

January 19, 2015 By EarthWise

Power outages as a result of extreme weather, excess demand and accidents of various types are on the rise. For many customers, losing electricity is simply not an option. Hospitals, biotechnology research centers that have to maintain cold samples, fire and emergency service centers, and military bases are all examples of facilities that need uninterrupted power. But the conventional power grid simply cannot deliver always-on power.

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A Bad Year For Eels

January 16, 2015 By EarthWise

The American eel has become one of the latest species to be deemed ‘at risk of extinction in the wild’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

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A New Carbon Sponge

January 15, 2015 By EarthWise

One way to mitigate the effects of burning fossil fuels is to capture the carbon emitted in the process and to prevent it from entering the atmosphere. The most common method in use today at natural gas and coal-burning plants is called amine scrubbing.

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Getting Tough On Illegal Fishing

January 14, 2015 By EarthWise

A White House task force has issued a set of recommendations to combat the growing problem of illegal fishing and make it easier to tell if the fish you are buying is what you think it is and whether it was legally caught and imported. [Read more…] about Getting Tough On Illegal Fishing

Let’s Get The Lead Out!

January 13, 2015 By EarthWise

Lead has long been recognized as a potent neurotoxin associated with cognitive problems. Children who are exposed to lead often have lower IQ scores and behavioral troubles.

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Ants: Under-Appreciated Recyclers

January 12, 2015 By EarthWise

A trip to Manhattan is hardly complete without patronizing a food cart. Every day, residents and tourists bustle through the streets eating pretzels and hot dogs. Breakfast is also often consumed in the streets, with workers juggling takeout coffee with their bagels. This activity results in one of the world’s busiest kitchen floors – food crumbs continuously accumulate on the city’s sidewalks and green spaces.

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Can Organic Crops Be Competitive?

January 9, 2015 By EarthWise

More and more people want to buy organic produce for a number of reasons. There are valid concerns about pesticides, chemical fertilizers, GMO crops, and even the nutritional content in conventional agriculture. Organic farming offers an environmentally sustainable alternative to chemically intensive agriculture. On the other hand, there is a pervasive perception that organic farming simply cannot produce enough food to satisfy the world’s growing appetite.

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Strontium And Drinking Water

January 8, 2015 By EarthWise

Thanks to the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, every five years the Environmental Protection Agency identifies new contaminants in our drinking water supply and determines if they should be regulated. This year, of the handful of contaminants assessed, the EPA made a preliminary determination to regulate strontium.

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A Waste-Fueled Bus

January 7, 2015 By EarthWise

The Bath Bus Company in Great Britain recently introduced into its fleet a bus powered by human and food waste. The 40-seater Bio-Bus runs on gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste. This fuel is both renewable and sustainable and the new bus helps to improve urban air quality because it produces fewer emissions than traditional diesel engines.

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The Murky Hudson

January 6, 2015 By EarthWise

Visitors to New York’s Hudson River often comment on how “dirty” or murky its water appears. This murkiness is often taken as a sign of poor water quality. Why does the river look so muddy? And what does it mean?

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