food

The Global Vertebrate Population Is Struggling

December 6, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a new report by the World Wildlife Fund, the planet’s populations of vertebrates have dropped an average of 60% since 1970.

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Sustainable Whaling?

October 10, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The hunting of whales in the 19th and 20th Century nearly drove the giant mammals to extinction. By the 1960s, improved hunting methods and factory ships made it clear that whaling could not continue unchecked.

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Reducing Food Waste

October 9, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Food waste is a huge problem. About a third of all food produced globally goes to waste, and the numbers are even worse in the US. If food waste was a country, it would be the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Worse yet, all of this takes place in a world where 850 million people are chronically undernourished.

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Better Sell-By Dates For Milk

October 2, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The sell-by and best-by dates on milk cartons are ones we tend to pay close attention to. Many of us automatically discard milk if it is past one of those dates. However, those dates are not really scientifically established but rather are guesses based on experience.

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Pests And Crops In A Warming World

October 1, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

By the year 2050, scientists predict that there will be two billion more people to feed in the world. And climate change isn’t making that task any simpler. From extreme weather events to rising global temperatures, climate change is expected to affect the types of food we grow, and to negatively affect the food production needed to feed the growing population.

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Dietary Diversity And Health

September 26, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

For decades, we have heard from public health sources that we should eat a variety of foods. Dietary diversity is touted as important for health. However, there has never really been a consensus about what so-called dietary diversity actually is, how it is measured, or how it necessarily is healthy.

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A New Way To Store Hydrogen

September 20, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Several major automakers including Toyota, Honda and BMW are betting that hydrogen-fueled cars will be a dominant technology in the future. There are a number of technical and economic problems to be solved before that can happen. Producing hydrogen in an cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way is critical. But beyond that, one of the biggest challenges is the transportation and storage of hydrogen.

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Unexpected Effects Of Climate Change

September 18, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The effects of climate change are discussed all the time. We hear a lot about rising seas, extreme weather events, and so on. And mostly, the weather gets warmer. Heatwaves are increasingly common and longer and stronger.

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Land And Diets

September 13, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Most of us are likely familiar with the saying ‘you are what you eat.’ But what we eat – those food choices – can have a profound impact on the planet.

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Fish And Their Sense Of Smell

September 4, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

We use our sense of smell for all sorts of things, like locating food and habitat, avoiding danger, and so on. Fish do as well. But instead of smelling scent molecules in the air like humans do, fish use their nostrils to sense chemicals suspended in water.

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Reducing Slavery In Seafood

August 28, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The seafood industry is one of the largest employers in the world. But according to a 2016 report, the seafood industry also contains widespread forced labor. Forty seven seafood-producing countries were reported to utilize forced labor. The seafood hub countries of Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Peru, and the Philippines were also reported to use a significant percentage of child labor.

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Global Warming And Air Conditioners

August 24, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

All those record high temperatures around the world this summer – such as during the unprecedented heatwave in Japan – put the spotlight on the growing dependence we all have on air conditioning.

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A Small Win For Coral

August 15, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Belize Barrier Reef is the largest barrier reef system in the Northern Hemisphere. It extends roughly 200 miles, and is made up of a series of coral reefs, cays and islands, many of which are covered with mangroves. It was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1996, and added to its endangered list in 2009.

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Labeling Genetically Engineered Foods

August 7, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There has been a great deal of debate over mandating labels for genetically engineered foods. On the pro side, people argue that they have a right to know whether what they are eating contains GMO – or as they are also called GE — ingredients. On the con side, people argue that the aversion toward GE is unfounded and that labeling foods will simply drive away consumers undeservedly.

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Greenhouse Emissions And Food Choices

August 6, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Changes in diet have often been proposed as a way to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions. However, there has not been much research about the affordability and feasibility of such changes.

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Insects In A Warming World

July 19, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The revered biologist E. O. Wilson once said that “if all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.”

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Trouble With China And Climate Progress

July 12, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

With the United States backing away from the Paris climate agreement and with Europe taking a less active role in climate negotiations, China has become the bellwether on global climate change. Recent climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany were rather acrimonious as countries accused other countries of not doing their part or keeping their promises.

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Better Ways To Fish

July 4, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

**A recent study published in Fisheries Research looked at the effectiveness and level of waste for various categories of fishing gear used in the global fishing industry.**

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Tourism And Greenhouse Gas Emissions

June 29, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Tourism is a significant contributor to global gross domestic product. Furthermore, it is growing at an annual rate of 4%, more than many other economic sectors. There are many places around the world where it is the largest industry. But until recently, there really wasn’t very good information about its carbon footprint.

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Alien Waters Invade The Arctic

June 18, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Arctic is heating up faster than any other region of the planet. As a result, once-distinct boundaries between the frigid polar ocean and the warmer, neighboring Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are blurring, opening the way for the southern waters to enter the polar regions. The volume of Pacific Ocean water flowing into the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait has increased by 70% over the past decade. The Arctic Ocean’s cold layering system that blocks Atlantic inflows is breaking down.

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