Dispatch from the Front...
Photo via Wired You may have heard of Simon Singh long before his name rose to the top of the list of those championing sound science: He’d written two bestselling books, Fermat’s Enigma and the Big Bang . Despite the wide range of subject matter contained in those books, the topic that ended up casting him into controversy was much different — a seemingly benign newspaper article about some of the pitfalls of alternative medicine. He ended up defending his career...
If Obama Had Chosen Ene...
Photo via MSNBC’s Cosmic Blog It’s an interesting question for followers of both politics and climate issues: How would things have turned out if Obama had thrown his weight behind clean energy legislation instead of health care reform? Would we now be looking at a freshly passed law designed to map out the future of the American energy economy and to stimulate job growth in sustainable sectors — while curbing greenhouse gas pollution and ramping up renewables?...
Seasonal Shifts Could B...
Image credit: ruurmo /Flickr Everything from fungus to parasites, pesticides to disease, pollution to habitat loss, has been blamed for the startling—often sudden— declines in bee populations worldwide… Read the full story on TreeHugger Read the rest here: Seasonal Shifts Could Be Confusing...
Finally Something To Do...
Photo via user Crath on reddit The Second “R” Something else than carry bagel sandwiches, that is (see below). This one might only apply to geeks, but then again, if you have lots of empty CD and DVD spindles, chances are you also have a bunch of disorganized cables in a pile somewhere…. Read the full story on TreeHugger Read the rest here: Finally Something To Do With Empty CD/DVD...
USGS Confirms Himalayan...
Small debris-free plateau glacier with glacier lakes at Gangrinchemzoe Pass at 5,200 m, south of the main Himalayan divide, Bhutan. Photo via USGS In case you were convinced otherwise by the quasi-scandal of ‘Himalayagate’ earlier in the year: The US Geological Survey has released a new report on the state of glacier retreat in the Himalaya and it makes perfectly clear the situation, “Many of Asia’s glaciers are retreating as a result of climate change. This...
Like a Good Neighbor, t...
Since 1970, the Clean Air Act has been the EPA’s most effective tool for combating air pollution. When it was first enacted, the Clean Air Act only covered five pollutants. But over the last 40 years it has been amended to protect the public from dozens of additional dangerous pollutants. But air pollution doesn’t stop at state lines, and as a result people throughout the country are forced to breathe unhealthy air. EPA’s proposed Good Neighbor Rule will help states...
Vintage Year for Archae...
Image credit: National Heritage Unless the very worst predictions come true (which is perfectly possible), then it is fair to assume there will be winners and losers from climate change. We’ve already heard about Greenlander’s celebrating increased access to natural resources , and even exploring the idea of bottled iceberg water . Now another segment of the global population… Read the full story on TreeHugger Read the original here: Vintage Year for Archaeology...
50,000 Minks Loose In G...
Photo via qmnonic Nothing like a flood of minks loose in a country’s already fragile ecosystem to put environmentalists in a tough spot. Two fur farms in northern Greece were raided, the results of which saw 50,000 minks running for the hills. Fortunately for everyone (except the minks) the problem could solve itself in a short time. … Read the full story on TreeHugger Originally posted here: 50,000 Minks Loose In Greece After Fur Farm...
Sustainability is Not B...
Image credit: D’Arcy Norman & timtak (Creative Commons) When I wrote about industrial agriculture exploring sustainability , commenter Ruben suggested that the idea of something being “more sustainable” was illogical. Citing Bill Rees, the inventor of Ecological Footprinting, he claimed that sustainability was like pregnancy—”either you are or you aren’t”. I’d like to politely disagree. … Read the full story on TreeHugger...