Archive for the ‘Environment & pollution’ Category


Tar sands - Thursday, October 29th, 2009

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?



Fertilizing the ocean - Thursday, August 6th, 2009

As Earth warms, we may need huge geoengineering projects to fight climate change. Would adding iron to fertilize ocean plants withdraw enough carbon dioxide to slow warming? Could the plan backfire?



History of fishing - Thursday, May 28th, 2009

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?



Counting birds - Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

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…



Bush creates huge Pacific reserves - Sunday, January 25th, 2009

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 or carbon trading? Can economics battle global warming? - Thursday, December 4th, 2008

Carbon tax or carbon trading? Can economics battle global warming? 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?



Green as a garbage dump? Waste rots, makes energy… - Thursday, November 6th, 2008

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?



Coral reefs: Massive threats to survival around the globe - Thursday, July 10th, 2008

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.



Gulf of Mexico: Dealing with the Dead Zone - Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

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?



Reprocessing nuclear fuel: A cure that’s worse than the disease? - Thursday, February 28th, 2008

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.


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