Thursday, 9 February, 2012

Can we fix rivers? Dams, levees, and locks can harm rivers and wetlands. So can draining rivers dry, or encasing them in concrete. In a few places, conservationists are finding smarter ways to manage rivers and wetlands. Is a win-win solution possible for our wicked water woes?

Many of the tastiest crops can’t pollinate themselves: melons, cucumbers, strawberries, almonds, cacao. But pollinators — both native and managed — are under threat from diseases and pesticides. They aren’t finding enough to eat. Their colonies are dying. What can we do?

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?

20 years ago, ecotourism was promoted as a way to save natural systems, and the people who lived in them. We ask: Is ecotourism a force for good, or just another form of “greenwashing”?

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.

Are the Galapagos islands the birthplace of evolution theory and evolution science? What did Darwin learn there, and how are they being preserved nowadays?

For the first time since 1989, ivory will be on the market — legally. This will protect elephants?