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Immersion In Nature Is Good for You | Earth Wise

February 20, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There is a growing body of research that shows that getting outdoors in nature can be good for people’s health and well-being. There are so many studies supporting this idea that policymakers, employers, and healthcare providers are increasingly considering this need for nature in how they plan and operate.

A new study of 20,000 people by researchers at the University of Exeter in the UK actually looked at how much exposure to nature was enough to make people say they feel healthy and have a sense of well-being. The answer turned out to be 2 hours a week. And the correlation was strong. People who didn’t meet that threshold did not report the benefits.

Studies have shown that time in nature – as long as people feel safe where they are – is an antidote for stress. It can lower blood pressure and stress hormone levels, reduce nervous system arousal, enhance immune system function, increase self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and improve mood. Most of these studies are correlational rather than causal, but the results tend to be robust.

Given all this, cities are adding or enhancing parks, and schools and other institutions are being designed with large windows and access to trees and green space. The Scandinavian tradition of “forest schools” – where learning takes place in natural settings outdoors -.is finding a home in the US. Japanese researchers study the effects of “forest bathing”, a poetic term for walking in the woods.

With two-thirds of humanity projected to be living in cities by 2050, we are awakening to the idea that we need to be able to spend time in nature for our own wellbeing, even if it’s just a walk in a park.

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Ecopsychology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health

Photo, posted November 6, 2011, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Mealworms And Plastic | Earth Wise

January 21, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Mealworms are widely cultivated beetle larvae that people feed to pets and to wild birds. But it turns out, they may have an even more valuable purpose: they can eat plastic and even plastic containing dangerous chemical additives.

Four years ago, researchers at Stanford discovered that mealworms can actually subsist on a diet of various types of plastic. They found that microorganisms in the worms’ guts actually biodegrade the plastic. It might be possible to cultivate the worms using unrecyclable plastic, rather than feeding them grains and fruits. However, there is the issue of whether it would be safe to feed the plastic-eating worms to other animals, given the possibility that harmful chemicals in plastic additives might accumulate in the worms over time.

Recently, the Stanford researchers studied what happens when the worms ingested Styrofoam or polystyrene. The plastic commonly used for packaging and insulation typically contains a flame retardant called hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD. Studies have shown that HBCD can have significant health and environmental impacts, ranging from endocrine disruption to neurotoxicity.

According to the study, mealworms in the experiment excreted about half of the polystyrene they consumed as tiny, partially degraded fragments and the other half as carbon dioxide. With it, they excreted the HBCD. Mealworms fed a steady diet of HBCD-laden polystyrene were as healthy as those eating a normal diet. And shrimp fed a steady diet of the HBCD-ingesting mealworms also had no ill effects.

It is true that the HBCD excreted by the worms still poses a hazard and must be dealt with in some manner, but mealworms may have a role to play in dealing with unrecyclable plastics like Styrofoam.

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Stanford researchers show that mealworms can safely consume toxic additive-containing plastic

Photo, posted May 11, 2015, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Monster Tumbleweeds

October 18, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Tumbleweeds have long been seen as symbols of America’s old west. Tumbleweeds are a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of a number of species of plants known as diaspores. Diaspores are essentially seed dispersal units. In a few seed plants, they comprise most or all of the plant. Once they are mature and dry, they detach from the roots and roll around due to the force of the wind.

There is a new species of gigantic tumbleweed – the Salsola ryanii – that is expanding its territory in the American west. It is the result of a relatively unusual genetic process known as polyploidy, which produces offspring with multiple sets of chromosomes. Researchers believe that that the new hybrid species of tumbleweed is healthier than earlier versions. As a result, one geneticist described Salsola ryanii as a nasty species replacing other nasty species of tumbleweed in the US.

These tumbleweeds can grow up to 6 feet tall. Tumbleweeds in general are invasive plants that cause traffic accidents, damage agricultural operations, and cause millions of dollars in property damage. Last year, the town of Victorville in the California desert was buried in them, piling up to the second story of some houses.

Salsola ryanii has a relatively small range, but it is expanding rapidly. The new study determined that it is more vigorous than its predecessors, which are invasive in 48 states. The plant is an annual but tends to grow on the later side of winter. It is one of the only things that is still green in late summer. With summer rains increasing as the climate changes, these monster tumbleweeds are poised to wreak havoc. The experts are warning that there should be efforts to suppress them before they take over.

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Monster tumbleweed: Invasive new species is here to stay

Photo, posted February 27, 2018, courtesy of Tracie Hall via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change And Economic Inequality

June 3, 2019 By EarthWise 1 Comment

A new study by Stanford University looked at the effects of climate change on global economic inequality. The study found that the gap between the economic output of the world’s richest and poorest countries is larger today than it would have been without global warming.

The warming climate has enriched cooler countries like Norway and Sweden while dragging down economic growth in warm countries such as India and Nigeria. The results of the study showed that most of the poorest countries on Earth are considerably poorer than they would have been in the absence of rising temperatures. At the same time, the majority of rich countries are richer than they would have otherwise been.

Detailed analysis of 50 years of annual temperature and GDP measurements for 165 countries demonstrated that growth during warmer than average years has accelerated in cool nations and slowed in warm nations. Historical data clearly show that crops are more productive, people are healthier, and they are more productive at work when temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold. That means that in cold countries, a little bit of warming can help but the opposite is true in places that are already hot.

For most counties, whether global warming has helped or hurt economic growth is pretty certain. Tropical countries in particular tend to have temperatures far outside the ideal for economic growth and they are already among the poorest countries. It is less clear how warming has influenced growth in countries in the middle latitudes, such as here in the United States. Some of the largest economies are near the perfect temperature for economic output but continued warming in the future is likely to push them away from the temperature optimum.

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Climate change has worsened global economic inequality

Photo, posted November 1, 2011, courtesy of CIAT via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Strategies For Limiting Global Warming

July 30, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A new study published in Nature Energy shows that the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius could be achieved by a combination of dramatic improvements in the energy efficiency of everyday activities.

The Dirty Dozen Of 2018

May 18, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Every year, the Environmental Working Group ranks pesticide contamination in 47 popular fruits and vegetables for its Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. The environmental nonprofit has created this ranking annually since 2004.

Renewable Powered Cities

March 29, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Cities are responsible for 70% of the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions and it appears that they are taking responsibility for reducing them. Over 7,000 mayors around the world have signed up to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, thereby pledging to act on climate change.

Myths About Organic Food

January 22, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There is much to be said in favor of organic food. The organic produce industry took in $65 billion in 2016 and that farming method is clearly increasingly popular and is here to stay. Nevertheless, there are various misconceptions and inaccuracies related to organic food.

Whales In The Big Apple

July 12, 2017 By EarthWise

For the first time in a century, humpback whales have returned to the waters of New York harbor. These are not rare sightings, either. The whales are showing up in enough numbers that a company is taking tourists out into the harbor to see whales with a backdrop of Manhattan skyscrapers.

Americans And Beef

May 5, 2017 By EarthWise

There’s ample evidence over the past decade or so that Americans are gradually changing their diets, driven by health concerns among other factors. But there’s one change that really stands out. According to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans have sliced their beef consumption by 19% between 2005 and 2014.

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Some Good News For Coral Reefs

August 12, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Most recent news about coral reefs around the world has been bad news. There has been unprecedented coral bleaching in places like Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The effects of climate change – including warming temperatures and rising seas – as well as the recent El Niño event have led to damaged reefs across the globe.

The State Of The Air

May 20, 2016 By WAMC WEB

For the past 17 years, the American Lung Association has analyzed data from official air quality monitors to compile the State of the Air report. The State of the Air 2016, which was released late last month, revealed some troubling statistics about the health of the air here in the United States.

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Alligator Security Guards

April 22, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Complex ecosystems often create complex interrelationships between animals. One of the more surprising ones is that between waterbirds and alligators in the Florida Everglades.

Coexisting With Dangerous Carnivores

February 16, 2016 By WAMC WEB

We come across many things that we don’t like but that are nonetheless good for us or good for the world in general. On some level, we all make cost-benefits analyses to decide what to do about various things that we might just as soon do without.

Toward Safer Produce

January 1, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Government and private organizations have long been encouraging us to eat healthier diets. We have seen food pyramid charts for decades and the “5 a day” campaign has boosted our consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

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