Earth Wise

Particulate matter and toxic chemical pollutants are a pervasive problem in the air people breathe in many places.  Poor air quality causes health problems worldwide and is a factor in diseases such as asthma, heart disease and lung disease. Commercial air filters remove the small particles that are present in soot, smoke and car exhaust […]

Spider silk – the protein fiber spun by spiders to make webs, nests, cocoons, and wrapping for prey that they stash away – is a remarkable substance.  Its mechanical properties combine high tensile strength and high extensibility or ductility.  This allows spider silk to absorb a lot of energy before breaking.   It is stronger than […]

Last year, tiger poaching in India jumped to its highest levels in 15 years.   The spike was the result of killings by gangs of poachers, tigers being snared by locals trying to trap other animals for food, and by cutbacks in anti-poaching efforts because of budget cuts. The official number of tiger poaching deaths in […]

Last year was not the hottest year on record in the United States; it was only the second hottest.  2012 was the hottest because of some searing heat waves that summer.   However, 2016 marked 20 above-average temperature years in a row.  The five hottest years recorded have all happened since 1998.  Every state had a […]

Unprecedented things have been happening with the weather up in the Arctic in recent times.   In fact, during the past year, the climate in the Arctic has at times bordered on the absurd. During the recent Christmas week, temperatures were 30 to 50 degrees above average in some places.  Through November, the area of the […]

The United Nations declared 2016 to be the International Year of Pulses.  Pulses, which are also known as grain legumes, are a group of 12 crops that includes dry beans, dry peas, chickpeas and lentils.  They are high in protein as well as fiber and various vitamins.  Pulse crops are highly sustainable and require much […]

Jellyfish are fascinating in appearance but generally are nothing but trouble.  Their stings can ruin a tropical vacation but they can cause far more damage than that. About ten years ago, jellyfish clogged a U.S. nuclear power plant’s cooling water intake for a period of three weeks.  In Northern Ireland, jellyfish killed 100,000 salmon on […]

An oasis is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source such as a pond or a small lake.  Oases can provide habitat for animals as well as people.   Oases have long been essential for trade and transportation routes in desert areas; caravans typically travel via oases […]

2016 was the hottest year on record and saw many extreme weather events.   How much of what happened resulted from climate change has yet to be assessed.  However, the analysis of 2015 – which was the hottest year on record up until last year – has been presented in a special publication by the American […]

The flood of refugees from the Middle East and Africa has prompted governments in the Balkan countries to erect hundreds of miles of border fences.  Countries like Slovenia have put up razor-wire security fences to stem the tide of migrants.  These border fences are built with little if any consideration of the environmental impacts on […]