Earth Wise

Honey fraud is a significant issue for the food industry.  What is honey fraud?  Typically, it involves mislabeling where honey was produced or what types of flowers the bees collected nectar from.  Honey made from a single type of flower is often more expensive because of the unique flavor it provides or from potential health […]

Boise is the capital of Idaho, and the Idaho Statehouse is the only one in the United States to use geothermal heat.  Geothermal heating is possible in Boise because of fault lines that expose its groundwater to hot rocks.  The underground water supply in Boise is heated to around 170 degrees Fahrenheit.  It is the […]

Household products such as laundry detergents and dishwasher tablets are an indispensable part of everyday life, but such products contain all sorts of chemicals that have undesirable properties.  Many are difficult to break down when they enter the environment, and some add nutrients that trigger environmentally harmful algal blooms.   The ingredient lists for even what […]

The majority of commuter trains in the U.S. are powered by diesel fuel.  This is despite the fact that electric trains are quieter, more reliable, and produce fewer greenhouse gases than diesel locomotives.  A new study has found that electric trains are healthier for passengers as well. Caltrain carries millions of passengers a year along […]

Climate change is causing more frequent and intense heat waves in the United States. Studies show that not only are heat waves now occurring more often, but that the average heat wave season is nearly 50 days longer now than it was in the 1960s.  The overall rise in temperatures, linked to climate change, has […]

Mountain lions – also known as pumas, cougars, and even sometimes panthers – are the most widely distributed wild land mammal in the world.  They are found from Canada to South America.  There are an estimated 30,000 mountain lions in the United States, mostly in the West, but there are also mountain lions from the […]

Climate change is endangering many native plant species.  As the climate warms, many species will need to establish themselves in new places that are more hospitable than their historic ranges.  But many native plants in the U.S. cannot move themselves by natural forces quickly enough to avoid climate-change driven extinction.  For such plants to survive […]

Cargo ships are significant sources of global air pollution because of their fuel oil.  Most ships burn heavy fuel oil that is loaded with sulfur, so when it is burned it produces noxious gases and fine particles that can harm human health and the environment.  The International Maritime Organization enacted a mandatory cap of 0.5% […]

The iconic image of the “perfect” tropical beach is fine white sand, a few coconut palm trees, a gently sloping beach, and unobstructed views of the blue sea.  This image came about to a great extent from fascination with Polynesian scenery at the time of World War II.   And because of this imagery, beach resorts […]

Every year, millions of tires from cars and trucks end up in landfills.  Just in the U.S., more than 270 million tires were scrapped in 2021 and more than 50 million of them ended up in landfills.  Discarded tires take up huge amounts of space but, more importantly, create environmental hazards.  They leach chemicals into […]