You are here: Home / Archives for The Magazine / Science and Technology / Earth and Environment

Obama talks tough on auto emissions

By

April 2   Leave a Comment  

content_marketing_opi_photo587304-02-2013

US making effort to lower greenhouse gas emissions

Filed Under: Automotive, Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , ,

New dinosaur discovered, named after Sauron from LOTR

By

Nov. 8, 2012   1 Comment  

eye-o-sauron-03

Species identified for giant eye socket.

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , ,

Analysis: American consumption habits

By

Sept. 10, 2012   Leave a Comment  

With less than 5 percent of world population, the U.S. uses a third of the world’s paper, a quarter of the oil, coal and aluminum, and 19 percent of the copper. The U.S. ranks highest by a considerable margin in most consumer categories as well

Does this surprise you?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

Baggage-laden biofuels

By

Sept. 2, 2012   Leave a Comment  

Biofuels (or agrofuels) can be a carbon-neutral energy source, but the overall process of producing them is far from carbon neutral, given the substantial amount of fossil fuels expended in growing, harvesting, processing and distributing them. (Hemera Collection)

Worth the trouble?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

The Endangered Species Act — success or failure?

By

Aug. 5, 2012   2 Comments  

The Center for Biological Diversity found that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) had a very successful recovery rate, with some 90 percent of species recovering at the rate specified by their recovery plans. The recovery of the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear is considered to be an ESA success story.

How are we doin?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

Are there alternatives to conventional, energy-hogging air conditioners?

By

July 21, 2012   1 Comment  

The chlorofluorocarbon coolant widely used in air conditioners through the 1980s was phased out because it was damaging the Earth’s protective ozone layer, but the chemicals that replaced it are some 2,100 times stronger as greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. We may have saved the ozone layer, but -- whoops! -- there goes the climate.

Can anything be done?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Infographic: Claim what you’re owed from the BP oil spill

By

June 27, 2012   Leave a Comment  

OilSpillIG

Don’t be scared by the legal process

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , ,

Discussing the impact of motorized vehicles in wilderness areas

By

May 12, 2012   1 Comment  

A key element of the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act now making its way through Congress would allow motorized vehicles and equipment into wilderness areas, undermine 1964’s Wilderness Act which expressly bans motor vehicles on these last wild vestiges of untrammeled American land. (Comstock)

Destroying what you claim to love

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

Coming Soon: Oil drilling on the Arctic Ocean’s outer continental shelf

By

May 7, 2012   1 Comment  

Despite U.S. Geological Survey warnings that drilling in waters north of Alaska could have deleterious effects on ocean habitats and wildlife, the Obama administration proceeded with a lifting of the moratorium on off-shore drilling. Pictured: An Oiled brown pelican awaits cleaning in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Including plenty of darkly-colored animals!

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,

Wanted: Young farmers

By

March 17, 2012   Leave a Comment  

Convincing young people to take up farming is a hard sell but a necessary one: For each American farmer under the age of 35 there are now six over 65 and one quarter (500,000) of all American farmers will retire over the next two decades. (iStockPhoto)

Can you dig it?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,

Are there natural bug repellents?

By

March 17, 2012   3 Comments  

There are several companies now selling natural insect repellents, many of which use essential oils as their active ingredients. (iStockPhoto)

And do they work?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

Cuba’s foray into offshore oil drilling

By

March 10, 2012   Leave a Comment  

Finding significant off-shore oil reserves could turn Cuba into an oil exporter, possibly even thawing relations with a still oil-hungry U.S. Pictured: The Scarabeo 9 oil rig while still under construction in China in 2009. It is now 30 miles off of Cuba's coast and just 60 miles south of the Florida Keys. (Wikipedia)

Possible source of economic power for Communist island

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , ,

SMOG levels improving in Los Angeles

By

Feb. 28, 2012   Leave a Comment  

Tougher state and federal air quality standards, combined with cleaner burning engines on new vehicles today, have cut air pollution from cars and trucks across California by more than 85 percent since the 1970s, with peak smog levels in the city of Los Angeles dropping some 70 percent. (Thinkstock)

Is it possible?

Filed Under: Earth and Environment, Life in the West, Los Angeles Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Why Solyndra failed

By

Feb. 28, 2012   1 Comment  

Low natural gas prices, competition from China and other factors helped sink innovative American solar panel maker, Solyndra, despite its having received $535 million in government loan guarantees. But the Obama administration is not deterred and has renewed efforts to force utilities to derive significant percentages of their power from cleaner, greener sources. (Media credit/Zachary Graham via Flickr)

It was SO promising…

Filed Under: Earth and Environment, Life in the West Tagged With: , , , ,

There’s BPA in cash register receipts?

By

Feb. 12, 2012   1 Comment  

Laboratory tests found high levels of BPA on 40 percent of thermal paper receipts sampled from major U.S. businesses and services, including McDonald’s, Chevron, CVS, KFC, Whole Foods, WalMart, Safeway and the U.S. Postal Service, among others. BPA in paper receipts also contaminates paper recycling and is showing up in napkins, toilet paper and other common papers with recycled content. (Thinkstock)

Bad news bears

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , ,

How green is the state of our union?

By

Feb. 12, 2012   Leave a Comment  

Obama's State of the Union address was, in the words of one prominent green leader, "a strong defense of the importance of clean energy to America’s long-term economic prosperity." (White House photo)

All-in-all, not a bad year

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Fact: Carbon emissions are making our oceans acidic

By

Feb. 1, 2012   Leave a Comment  

Ocean acidification is likely to affect the ability of some shellfish to produce and maintain their shells. This process will not only wreak havoc on the shellfish we eat, but also on smaller marine organisms that are key components of the lower end of the marine food chain. (Thinkstock)

Goodbye coral. Goodbye shellfish.

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Water usage in the bathroom

By

Jan. 24, 2012   Leave a Comment  

Some 60 percent of our household indoor water usage happens in the bathroom. Toilets are the biggest water hogs, with older models using as much as eight gallons per flush. A shower, even with a low-flow shower head, can use up to 40 gallons of water, and a bath can use up to 50-60 gallons. (Thinkstock)

It’s more than you thought!

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Analysis: Cutting down forests for biomass fuel

By

Jan. 24, 2012   Leave a Comment  

In theory, burning any kind of plant material for energy is a carbon-neutral endeavor, but chopping down forests for ethanol is unwise because they cannot be regrown quickly. And tree plantations don't provide the clean water, storm buffers, wildlife habitat and other ecosystem services that natural forests do. Pictured: A wood biomass plant. (Thinkstock)

This will trouble you…

Filed Under: Earth and Environment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How to cut emissions in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states

By

Jan. 16, 2012   Leave a Comment  

Ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states have, in the face of federal inaction, agreed on a region-wide greenhouse gas emissions limit, enforced through the sale of pollution permits to large fossil fuel power plants there. Money raised is invested in local businesses throughout the region that promote energy efficiency and renewable energy sources Pictured: The Big Allis Power Plant, Queens, New York City. (Thinkstock)

Federal action lacking

Filed Under: Earth and Environment