Dr. Reese Halter

It is peculiar that climate coverage since 2009, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a climate bill, has plummeted on the big four television networks. Especially since a recent New York Times poll found that the public has linked extreme weather to global warming. Given...

A couple weeks ago my high school history teacher emailed and asked if I'd been watching the searing temperatures along the Midwest, Northern Plains and into the Northeast. Not only had I been watching them, but also I made a rather eerie prediction about our trees and critters, which unfortunately...

When most people think of tourism, they probably don't think about an industry that can contribute to global solutions for the difficult challenges facing the planet.

Tourism is in fact, the fastest growing industry in the world. According to the U.N. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourism visits grew from about...

Recently my Chesapeake Bay retriever and I had the rare privilege of getting very close to the largest animal on Earth -- a majestic blue whale. It was humbling and a good reminder that humans are but one strand within the rich web of life on our planet.

As we...

More than a half a century ago one of the most recognized scientists and arguably brightest mind ever - Dr. Albert Einstein said, "Our task is to widen our circle of compassion beyond a few people to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its...

Recently I had a cup of coffee with a very intelligent law student. He, like millions of our youth, is concerned about our future. Students, I found, pull no punches when they ask questions -- and as my students know; my answers are never sugarcoated.

The law-student asked...

Some excellent investigative research last week uncovered some startling facts: In excess of three quarters of the honey sold in U.S. grocery stores is unrecognizable and would fail to be deemed honey by the United Nations' Codex Alimentarius, European Union and the European Food Safety Authority.

What's as...

This first week of November (2011) our population surpassed seven billion humans. And in the last week of October (2011) scientists from the University of California at Berkeley irrefutably proved that over one billion temperature sensors registered warming between 1-2 degrees Celsius, in some cases more than three...

All is not well in the semi arid, warming oil sands of Alberta -- the second largest hydrocarbon reserves in the world; only Saudi Arabia has more. To get at the oil sands and supply the Keystone XL pipeline, its leaving Canada with a colossal carbon footprint, which has increased...

History is rich with lessons, but will political hubris take heed of past civilizations annihilated by drought? The Akkadian, Moche, Tiwanaku, Mayan, and Anasazi to name but a few are well documented in our history books.

When speaking this week to colleagues in Texas on the brutal drought gripping the...

As a field biologist with more than a quarter of a century of experience, the unprecedented warming of our globe is disturbing to my very core. Having spent the first half of this year reading and writing for my upcoming book on the beleaguered state of our forests in western...

In 1970 Dave was a student at California Lutheran University and held the position of Religious Activities Commissioner in the Student Government.

With the support of Rev. Gerry Swanson, the College Chaplain, and the assistance of two other students, Will Hall and Susie Struck, Dave reallocated his budget to celebrate...

Dave's 88-year-old father has been involved in the space program most of his career. We have always been interested and supportive of the space program and the benefits that it has brought to all humankind. When Dave served as John Denver's environmental and political advisor, support for the space program...

Hundreds of thousands of visitors come from around the globe to witness the spring majesty of Washington DC's flowering cherry trees. This breathtaking event reminds us that trees are remarkable.

There are over 80,000 tree species and they've inhabited our planet for over 350 million years. They provide watersheds...

Last week, I received yet another vitriolic e-mail chiding me for speaking and writing about global warming when northeastern United States was under feet of snow in addition to unseasonably cold temperatures. So how can a warming world, especially in the mid latitudes, be experiencing such intense periods of deep-freezes?

Leonardo da Vinci, born in the middle of the 15th century, was the founder of modern science and an interpreter between nature and humans.

He sought to understand the nature of life two centuries before the microscope was invented. He believed the Earth was a living, self-organizing and self-regulating system.

It is indeed appropriate that the most recognized and celebrated day of the year -- Christmas -- the birth of Christ, is also focused around trees.

Trees are truly remarkable.

Urban trees provide a healthy environment for people and animals. Urban trees and forests remove air pollution and smog; and...

Last week a number of readers emailed asking what each of them can do to help combat global warming. Since 193 countries meeting at the U.N. climate conference in Cancun were unable to reach any consensus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions; it's up to each of us to lending a...

Last week the Republicans in the House of Representatives decided to eliminate a global warming committee created by Democrats. Apparently some politicians continue to deny that human beings are leaving an indelible footprint around the globe.

Vicious hate-mailers which frequent my inbox on the subject of global warming seem also...

Last year, Iceland and Norway killed 688 whales while Japan, under the guise of "scientific research," slaughtered 1,000 whales. In the 20th century humans decimated the whale populations around the globe by 1.5 million animals.

Interestingly, the message from Star Trek IV -- The Voyage Home -- that in order...