Earth Wise

The global efforts to reduce carbon emissions are marked by a conspicuous omission:  the aviation and shipping industries.  These two industries contribute 6% of all man-made CO2 emissions, but have so far managed to avoid international control.   And not only are they major sources of carbon emissions, their contributions are growing three times faster than overall […]

From time to time, we encounter wild animals in distress.   A baby robin falls out of its nest.  A fawn is orphaned when its mother is hit by a car.  A bald eagle staggers on the ground, unable to fly. Should we intervene in these cases or back off and let nature take its course? […]

Apparel giant Nike recently announced that 71% of its footwear now contains materials made from waste products from its own manufacturing processes.  They call the waste material “Nike Grind,” and it is made from recycled sneakers, plastic bottles, and manufacturing scraps from Nike’s factories. Nike collects old shoes in its Reuse-A-Shoe program, which collects 1.5 […]

President Obama has set 2030 as the target for reducing U.S. carbon dioxide emissions to comply with the Paris Climate accord. Unfortunately, the Senate’s new Energy Bill would allow states to count wood as a “carbon neutral” fuel when drawing up plans to comply with the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Using wood instead of coal […]

Pakistan has a terrible history of environmental degradation.  Since it became an independent country in 1947, almost all of its primary forests have been cut down while its population has grown by an unbelievable 600 percent. In recent times, extreme weather events linked to climate change have become increasingly common.  In 2014, massive flooding displaced […]

The decline of bee populations worldwide is a serious problem that threatens much of agriculture.  From 2006 to 2011, losses in managed honeybee colonies in the U.S. averaged 33 percent a year.  In recent years, beekeepers have had to replace 50 percent of their colonies each year. The phenomenon of “colony collapse disorder” has been […]

Scientists are calling for the creation of a global early warning system for infectious diseases. Such a system would use computer models to tap into environmental, epidemiological, and molecular data – gathering the intelligence needed to forecast where disease risk is high and what actions could prevent outbreaks or contain epidemics. An early warning system […]

Recycling is often a great thing. But, when you hear about the conditions under which electronic waste is disassembled by impoverished peoples of developing nations, it gives one pause.  Why should they be exposed to the toxic metals and PCBs that allow us convenience in a technological society? The quantities of e-waste are staggering—close to […]

GMO crops have been the source of a great deal of controversy over the years.  A major concern has been whether they potentially cause health issues for consumers, which is an understandable worry. There is now a new, comprehensive analysis from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that persuasively argues that 20 years […]

Nobody really knows how many alligators live in Florida.  It’s estimated that there are anywhere from 1.3 million to 2 million alligators in the Sunshine State, which means there’s one gator for every 10-15 Floridians.  It’s this ratio that makes it just about impossible for someone living in Florida not to encounter an alligator at […]