Archive for the ‘Environment & pollution’ Category

  • Energy and climate: The hidden stories
    Energy and climate: The hidden stories

    Climate scientists worry about feedbacks, glacial melting, sea level rise, using tax policy to slow warming, and the complexity of climate science. Is it realistic to base our economy on endless growth? What does human behavior tell us about dealing with warming?


    Thursday, February 11th, 2010
  • Buried charcoal: Global warming star?
    Buried charcoal: Global warming star?

    Buried charcoal stimulates microbes and plant growth, helping farmers on poor soil. Studies show that charcoal is stable for hundreds of years.


    Thursday, December 10th, 2009
  • Thanksgiving: What's what with wild turkeys?
    Thanksgiving: What’s what with wild turkeys?

    Turkeys got help for 75 years from conservation agencies. Coyotes spread across half the country all on their own. Why have these animals succeeded? How have they changed the environment?


    Thursday, November 26th, 2009
  • Tar sands
    Tar sands

    Canada’s oil-drenched sands give it the second-largest oil reserves in the world. Using the “tar sands” pollutes air and water, destroys forests and could cause cancer. Should we leave oil sands alone?


    Thursday, October 29th, 2009
  • Fertilizing the ocean
    Fertilizing the ocean

    As Earth warms, should we try huge geoengineering projects to cool the climate? Would adding iron to fertilize ocean plants withdraw enough carbon dioxide to slow warming — or backfire?


    Thursday, August 6th, 2009
  • History of fishing
    History of fishing

    A new study finds a surprising number of fish, birds and mammals in the oceans 100 and 1,000 years ago. Can this information help regulators slow the decline of important marine animals?


    Thursday, May 28th, 2009
  • Counting birds
    Counting birds

    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…


    Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
  • Bush creates huge Pacific reserves
    Bush creates huge Pacific reserves

    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?


    Sunday, January 25th, 2009
  • Carbon tax or carbon trading? Can economics battle global warming?
    Carbon tax or carbon trading? Can economics battle global warming?

    Carbon tax or carbon trading? As the United Nations gets set for (another!) pow-wow on global warming, policy wonks are focusing on two mechanisms to reduce carbon pollution. Which gets more control at a lower price: carbon tax or carbon cap-and-trade?


    Thursday, December 4th, 2008
  • Green as a garbage dump? Waste rots, makes energy…

    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?


    Thursday, November 6th, 2008


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Image courtesy of Pete Mouginis-Mark, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaii at Manoa

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