Thursday, 9 February, 2012

The feds put out a massive report on American birds, and the #1 source of data is – amateurs! What is the role of amateurs in ornithology? Hint: if you want to survey 800 species on 3.5 million square miles…

Three giant new reserves, extend 50 miles out from shore, will protect coral reefs, fish, clams, and other life forms. But how effective are marine protected areas?

Carbon tax never even got considered, but it may produce more carbon control at a lower price. Comparing carbon tax with cap and trade…

Each hour, the ocean dissolves 1 million tons of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuel. As the water grows more acidic, sound travels further. What will happen to marine mammals, which rely on an exquisite sense of hearing?

Decay is part of life, and death. When garbage decays in a landfill, or manure decays in a tank, the result is methane. Is this natural gas a problem — or an opportunity?

The candidates are skirting issues related to environment, energy and science policy. Heard promising plans for greener energy, solid science advice, or coping with the decline of oil? We neither…

Coral reefs are the ocean’s biodiversity hotspots, but a new study finds that one-third of reef-building corals are under some threat of extinction.

When too much fertilizer reaches the Gulf of Mexico through the Mississippi River, a vast area gets robbed of oxygen. What can be done to reduce the dead zone that appears each summer?

Hawaii is the world’s capital of biological invasions. A new airborne gadget measures how bad the situation has become; offers aid in fighting weedy trees.

With the Nevada waste dump 20 years late, deadly radwaste still piles up. Would removing the plutonium for new fuel aid proliferators or help with waste storage? The debate continues.