In natural ecosystems, there is little waste. Nutrients taken up by plants are returned to the soil when plants die and decompose. Food eaten by animals is excreted; at the end of their lives, animals are also returned to the soil. Ecologists call this nutrient loop a biogeochemical cycle.
A new satellite study led by Yale University and published in the journal Nature calculates that there are more than three trillion trees on Earth. This is seven and a half times more than previous estimates, which had calculated just over 400 billion trees worldwide.
In the Northeast, grilling season is almost over. While many will miss backyard barbecues, it’s high time that we rethink the American summer ideal of a thick, juicy steak.
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.
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.
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.
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.