Friday, 25 May, 2012

As southwestern forests go up in smoke, we look at the long-term picture. Fighting fires has made fire the remaining fires more intense, but controlled burns have their own hazards. Are we already seeing the effect of climate change on forest fires?

When everybody exploits a common resource without limit, we get the tragedy of the commons: Benefiting the individuals burns through the resource. A new economic strategy game, based on how animals and plants grow, suggests that communication helps players allocate the resource and still take home a bigger harvest.

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?

Woman is rescued in wilderness after 5-week ordeal. What is so great about wilderness, and why do so many people think they need it to soothe their souls?

Some call it Fall. Some call it spring. But nobody in the Midwest, East Coast or Northern Europe is calling it “winter.” What’s up with our weather?

As the administration allows more snowmobiles to buzz through Yellowstone, scientists cry foul. Are the parks more than playgrounds?m Scientists call for more money for basic research, but the Bush administration favors recreation.

Feeling burned? Farmed salmon have higher levels of a brominated flame retardant than wild salmon.

Evidence from ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica show how fast the climate has changed in the past. In this era of global warming, you can’t count on a slow, gradual, predictable warming.

How should we deal with mercury air pollution in air, fish and water? Why do the studies of mercury consumption not agree? What to do when the studies conflict…

History shows societies collapse without soil. What can the world cando to keep our dirt clean?