In a landscape empty of a critical carnivore, parts of Yellowstone National Park became denuded, its greenery eaten by elk, its biodiversity diminished. Then in 1995, wildlife managers reintroduced gray wolves to restore the population and found that their presence actually benefited the environment around them. Successful examples like this...
Posted December 9, 2009 | 11:47:39 (EST)
The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday that greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide -- primarily a product of burning fossil fuels -- are a danger to human health and the environment, a finding that allows the agency to limit the pollutants. Not only is the announcement a positive...
Posted August 5, 2009 | 12:34:55 (EST)
If you choose to compost your food scraps, bring a reusable bag to the grocery store, or bike to work, your friends may have psyched you into it. That's right, increasing evidence shows that psychological factors -- like peer pressure and fear of loss -- play a significant role in...
Posted July 29, 2009 | 19:19:28 (EST)
Posted February 23, 2009 | 10:35:19 (EST)
Former vice president Al Gore needs scientists; he needs them to get involved in politics. When he addressed a crowd at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference last week, he asked the scientists in the audience to advocate sound political actions that can alleviate the...
Posted February 1, 2009 | 12:48:45 (EST)
For centuries, farmers have been roasting, fermenting and distilling the agave plant's roasted heart to brew what many consider to be the national drink of Mexico: tequila. Yet new research shows that the liquor's recent growth in popularity is harming communities and the environment.
The Mexican government mandated that...
Posted December 5, 2008 | 15:07:38 (EST)
In the heat of the summer, the northern boreal forest in Canada is saturated with breeding birds. In the soil beneath the trees, thick oil is mixed with sand. But harvesting the resource, known as tar sands, could lead to the death of 166 million birds over the next 50...
Posted December 1, 2008 | 12:01:37 (EST)
The race to drill for natural gas has never been so furious as it has been over the last few years of the Bush administration. All over the West, companies are tapping into reserves. Even New York has a natural gas reservoir, the Marcellus Shale, which could soon be...

Posted February 2, 2010 | 12:50:24 (EST)