Psychiatric medications passing through sewage treatment plants could be dramatically changing the behavior of fish. After researchers discovered low levels of common anti-anxiety drugs called benzodiazepines in perch living downstream from a treatment plant in southern Sweden, they tested the same concentrations of the drug on fish in the lab. They found that the medicine made the fish lose their […]
Read more
We’ve heard a lot about the negative effects of climate change in the arctic and subarctic. But some Alaskans, like farmer Tim Meyers, are seeing warming temperatures as an opportunity. Now that potato harvest is underway at his Bethel farm, Meyers uses a giant potato washer, like a washing machine for root vegetables, to clean California white potatoes. They’re some […]
Read more
70 Ways To Save The Earth Unplug your electronics at night Certain electrical appliances need to be turned off at night instead of being left on “phantom power” – standby mode. An average home has about 40 products that drain power constantly. These products are unnecessarily leaking electricity, especially your TV, gaming devices, etc. Turn off all your lights when […]
Read more
Rich foreign countries are buying up Thai farmland to ensure their own food supplies, said Sanitsuda Ekachai. An international nonprofit farmers’ rights group has documented “an alarming trend of governments and corporations buying up farmland on a large scale in more than 60 developing countries.” The rush began after the global food crisis of 2007-08, when rich countries realized they […]
Read more
In a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, scientists from three universities show that products made in China are associated with significantly higher carbon dioxide emissions than the same products made elsewhere. “The amazing increase in Chinese manufacturing over the past 15 years has driven the world economy to new heights and supplied consumers in developed countries with […]
Read more
Penguins Relocate, resulting in many other geological changes. The Antarctic Peninsula, one of the fastest-warming regions on Earth, is experiencing significant environmental changes due to rising temperatures. As the ice retreats, both the physical landscape and the region’s delicate ecosystems are undergoing dramatic transformations. A major consequence of this warming is the shifting distribution of penguin colonies. These iconic birds, […]
Read more
Worrying about everyday problems will shorten your life. A British study found that people who reported feeling even mild anxiety—the sort that distracted them, depleted their self-confidence, or occasionally kept them awake at night were 16 percent more likely to die over a 10-year period than people with no such concerns. About one in four people experiences mild anxiety, but […]
Read more
The newest professor in the University of Rhode Island’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences, Hollie Putnam, thinks some corals and shellfish might have good enough “memories” to buffer the changes in ocean chemistry that are resulting from the effects of climate change on coral reefs. A native of Minnesota who earned a doctorate at the University of Hawaii, […]
Read more
More than 100 intense Arctic wildfires have ravaged the Arctic since June, with scientists describing them as “unprecedented.” Satellite images show huge clouds of smoke billowing across uninhabited Arctic land in Greenland, Siberia and parts of Alaska. The wildfires come after the planet experienced the hottest June on record and is on track to experience the hottest July on record, […]
Read more
The Flint water crisis. A health catastrophe uncovered by a doctor at the Flint, MI Public Hospital. Dr. Mona as she is referred to is also a professor at Flint, MI state university’s College of Medicine. Call it fate, but Dr. Mona was in the right place at the right time when she discovered the horrific safety hazards posed by […]
Read more