Environment:
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it was noticed that there were cuts in the budget to the Environmental Protection Agency. The rationale was that we needed to shift more funds to the global and perpetual war...
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Posted on May 2, 2008 12:27 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Here at ScienceBlogs, we've regularly posted about the thorny issue of antibiotic overuse, and the subsequent antibiotic resistance. This is a good example of evolution in action; it's also a good reason why we need to study and understand evolution....
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Posted on April 15, 2008 8:57 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Forget to water your tomato plants? Try using ollas (pronounced oy-ya). Olla is Spanish for pot, as in clay pot. What you do is to get unglazed clay pots, bury them near the plants, and put water in them....
Posted on April 13, 2008 9:29 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
America missed her chance to elect a sane pro-environmental candidate in 2000. Or rather, the Supreme Court missed its chance. Whatever. The critical point is that environmentalism cannot be understood as an isolated issue. Pro-environmental thinking must pervade everything we...
Posted on November 20, 2007 7:35 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The environmental consequences of shopping catalogs have been well documented. For example, over eight million tons of trees are consumed each year in the production of paper catalogs. Now there is a website where you can go to opt out...
Posted on November 16, 2007 11:19 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
People who advocate alternative energy (i.e. not oil or natural gas) often fail to appreciate the true cost of developing the necessary technology. Courtesy of Cryptogon, I now present a chart that illustrates these true costs, in proper perspective. As...
Posted on November 10, 2007 8:24 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I found this at John Fleck's Inkstain, but others are writing about it, too. Some think it is a hoax perpetrated to promote anthropogenic global warming denialism; others think it is an attempt to discredit the denialists. I was...
Posted on November 7, 2007 9:34 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This cartoon is by Clay Bennett, the editorial cartoonist for the Christian Science Monitor. I guess that is one way to get re-elected. Tell people what they want to hear....
Posted on November 6, 2007 6:17 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
...11 miles from Denver, in a wildlife refuge, forcing the cancellation of a number of public events. This refers to a placed called the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, near Commerce City, Colorado. Their website now states, simply: Wildlife...
Posted on November 3, 2007 3:18 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I don't think I am being unduly harsh in saying that this was an incredibly stupid thing to do: U.S. Forest Service investigators were on campus last week to question Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members about an Oct. 11 incident...
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Posted on October 29, 2007 11:05 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Today I watched the C-Span broadcast (link to Real Player file, 80 minutes) of Dr. Gerberding's testimony to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The topic: The potential effects of climate change on public health. After seeing it,...
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Posted on October 28, 2007 12:37 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, and amended in 1977 and 1990. It has been mildly controversial, but most people supported it then and support it now. A retrospective economic analysis done in the early 1990's indicated...
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Posted on October 26, 2007 7:15 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A couple of days ago, I wrote about the government reforms proposed by The Center for Inquiry. Specifically, Enact legislation to specifically permit government scientists to communicate freely with the media and the public. Re-establish the Office of Technology...
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Posted on October 23, 2007 10:07 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Today is Blog Action Day, during which many persons have agreed to write a blog post about environmental concerns. This is one of thousands. Consider Climate Change, and consider the Iraq War. Other than both being among the biggest mistakes...
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Posted on October 15, 2007 9:01 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
On October 15, 2007, over six thousand blogs will have a post about the environment. It was not intended as a tribute to our new Nobel Peace Prize recipients (Al Gore and IPCC), but it will be a fitting recognition...
Posted on October 12, 2007 9:32 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Finally, a cool way to commute via bicycle! Actually, it is not a new idea, but perhaps the cooling aspect has been overlooked. One thing that has kept me from riding a bicycle to work has been the concern that...
Posted on October 7, 2007 8:16 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The government, finally getting wise, has installed 100 stations to measure wind velocity in 32 areas. The idea tis to get a map of available resources for the generation of wind power, specifically with the intention of reducing dependence on...
Posted on September 26, 2007 12:12 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Courtesy of NASA, we have this pair of images illustrating the record growth rate of hurricane Humberto (2007): From Earth Observatory Newsroom: Though it was not a powerful storm, Hurricane Humberto did set a record when it formed in the...
Posted on September 19, 2007 1:11 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Guardian Unlimited has a provocative article on the role of endocrine disruptors in increasing the ratio of girl babies to boy babies in the Arctic. I've written about the topic before (1 2) as have Abel and PZ....
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Posted on September 14, 2007 5:28 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
IBM is launching Project Big Green. Part of the initiative is to consolidate operations in the world's largest data centers. They will replace nearly 4,000 servers with 30 refrigerator-sized System Z mainframes, running Linux, using virtualization technology. This will reduce...
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Posted on September 4, 2007 8:04 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Global Change Research Act of 1990 requires the federal government to publish climate-change research plans every three years, and assessment reports every four years. Both are now overdue. The research plan is one year overdue, and the assessment report...
Posted on August 23, 2007 9:33 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
An article in Forbes documents exorbitant commuter costs in some communities. In and around Houston, for example, the average commuter spends 20% of their household income on commuting. That, together with housing costs, adds to more than 50% of household...
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Posted on August 13, 2007 7:55 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Someone (Jim) at Motley Fool linked to the last LED lighting post. Apparently he tracks the Cree Inc. stock. Anyway, he linked to a site that has more information on the Ann Arbor LED street light project. Part of their...
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Posted on July 21, 2007 7:47 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This afternoon, I had the pleasure of hearing Amy Goodman interview Chris Mooney about the subject of his new book, Storm World. It was a segment from Democracy Now! I won't trouble you with a synopsis, you can...
Posted on July 11, 2007 4:44 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
We are most accustomed to seeing power generation windmills on dry land, here in the USA. In Europe, some are on land and some are offshore. They generally are considered eyesores. Myself, I think they are beautiful. I love to...
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Posted on July 9, 2007 12:02 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
"It won't be easy, but it is time to ask the American people to be patriotic about something other than war." -- John Edwards...
Posted on July 9, 2007 11:25 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The term "entitlement" has garnered a strongly negative connotation in recent years. Usually, the word entitlement is used to refer to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, plus other programs that provide direct assistance (Aid to Families with Dependent Children, student aid,...
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Posted on July 7, 2007 7:07 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The news article does not state specifically why it is happening, but it is a trend over the past two years: Great Lakes fish getting worse: Study Jul 05, 2007 11:36 AM Catherine Porter Toronto Star Environment Reporter...
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Posted on July 6, 2007 8:47 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I really like the idea behind the Farmer's Diner. This guy, Tod Murphy, started a restaurant that only servers food that was grown or produced within seventy miles. There's an interview with him in Orion Magazine. The idea is...
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Posted on June 28, 2007 9:07 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
"You can't handle the truth!" ranted Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. I never saw the movie, but I saw the commercials. Several months ago, Seed Magazine (a darn good publication) published an article entitled Free DSCOVR!....
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Posted on June 6, 2007 8:00 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Sustainable living could use more inventions like this. Eye on Research: Researchers develop low-cost, low-energy desalination process Sun News Report Article Launched: 05/27/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT...
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Posted on May 28, 2007 7:29 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I read this (Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson) when I was in fifth or sixth grade. It was a little paperback book on my Dad's bookshelf. So it was quite a shock to see it included as an "honorable mention"...
Posted on May 27, 2007 11:06 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Dean of the College of Tropical Agriculture is worried about the effects that climate change could have on Hawaii, given the fragility of the ecosystem there: Warming signs seen stressing state's growth By Helen Altonn 20 May 2007 Hawaii...
Posted on May 24, 2007 9:01 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This topic (global dimming) has already been mentioned on SB twice, once on Stoat, once on Living the Scientific Life. Others have picked up on it, too (1 2 3 4 5, among others). It was featured in a news...
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Posted on May 20, 2007 9:35 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
USA Today's top story: Drivers cut back -- a 1st in 26 years. Why is this the most important headline for today?
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Posted on May 18, 2007 9:22 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Perhaps instead of "global warming," or "climate change," we should speak of "climate chaos."
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Posted on May 16, 2007 10:14 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Australian beer maker, Fosters, is installing a prototype fuel cell. Nothing remarkable about that, except this fuel cell uses wastewater from the manufacture of beer. The carbohydrate-rich effluent is expected to generate 2 kilowatts and make the water cleaner...
Posted on May 3, 2007 1:08 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Add this to the list of environmental worries: The generation of electricity is a highly water-intensive process. It takes three times as much water to produce the electricity needed for a home, than the water used in that home....
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Posted on April 18, 2007 12:07 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Perhaps a minor issue in terms of national priorities: the Senate is considering a bill that would make nearly ll federal employees eligible for telecommuting. Senators Push for More Telecommuting By Stephen Barr Washington Post Friday, March 30, 2007; Page...
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Posted on March 31, 2007 11:54 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Everyone's heard of blue lasers by now. Some people have them in their homes. The reason they are important, is that blue light has a shorter wavelength than the red lasers that were used in the first CD and DVD...
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Posted on March 15, 2007 9:04 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The draft for the IPCC report for this year paints a distinctly disturbing picture of the near future. We can expect changes in immigration patterns, and we will need to be prepared. So if you are opposed to immigration, you should support efforts to limit climate change.
Posted on March 12, 2007 10:28 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
One of the embarrassing things about Michigan Politics is that many of the national politicians, while generally fairly progressive, do not get on board with mandates for cars that pollute less. The auto makers argue that it would take...
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Posted on March 12, 2007 9:23 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A while back, I wrote (twice) about the nettlesome issue of endocrine disruptors. A more detailed post was offered at Terra Sig. The reason this is a nettlesome problem is that it is an area with potentially huge implications, but...
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Posted on March 5, 2007 9:21 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Remember geothermal energy? It was a popular topic back in the 1960's, particularly among those who were stridently opposed to the massive investments in nuclear power. Somehow, though, it was never pursued very aggressively. Now, there is a massive report...
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Posted on January 25, 2007 9:24 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
What could be a better advertisement than this?...
Posted on January 1, 2007 4:17 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Rehabilitation of disused industrial sites has been a costly and contentious issue in urban planning. Sites that are mildly or moderately contaminated are called brownfields. Research is underway to see if some brownfields can be used to grow crops, specifically...
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Posted on November 18, 2006 6:58 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
They are monitoring the content of children's books, that's what. From the Senate web site of the Environment and Public Works committee: New UN Children’s Book Promotes Global Warming Fears to Kids MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2006 Nairobi, Kenya – A...
Posted on November 15, 2006 12:49 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Often political discourse breaks sown, when both sides resort to platitudes. This is true especially when the debate is carried out on the basis of deeply-held generalizations. This is especially true when empirical evidence is not taken into account. It...
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Posted on November 11, 2006 4:41 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Perhaps this gets tiresome for ScienceBlogs readers, but here is yet another example of the Republican War on Science, this time in regard to Climate Change. IGs Probe Allegations On Global Warming Data Scientists Say Findings Were Suppressed By Juliet...
Posted on November 4, 2006 11:09 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
No, it is not the name of a new rock band. It is a phenomenon that is increasing in frequency in the world's oceans. The dead zones are areas with very low oxygen content, so low that nothing can live...
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Posted on October 19, 2006 9:33 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
To be perfectly fair, I should note that not all Republicans are opposed to protection of the environment. For example, there is an organization known as Republicans for Environmental Protection. One of their members even published an editorial: Conservation Starts...
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Posted on October 9, 2006 8:08 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Jonah and Kevin have already chipping in on this topic. Bob Lutz, the VP of General Motors, turned a few heads. Not with an eye-catching new auto design, but with a comment in the Wall Street Journal: "I'd say the...
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Posted on October 2, 2006 9:22 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This is a follow-up to yesterday's post. Yesterday, I pointed out that the EPA ignored the advice of its own scientists in developing new rules for fine particulate matter pollution. Now, we hear what some of those experts have to...
Posted on September 25, 2006 9:01 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Frank O'Donnell, writing at TomPaine.com, has an article about the RWOS as applied to clean air regulation. It turns out that the EPA has developed new air quality standards for the control of particulate matter pollution. But the new rules...
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Posted on September 24, 2006 8:38 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I'll be curious to see if there turns out to be a parallel between what is happening now in the auto industry, and what happens in the future in the computing industry. We recently passed the 25th anniversary of...
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Posted on September 20, 2006 8:35 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
