Uncategorized

Kim Jong Illin’

North Korea’s Environment Is in Sorry Shape Its rivers and streams are filled with industrial waste, its air is polluted, and its landscape is increasingly devoid of trees. Can’t tell what country we’re talking about? It’s North Korea. The first large-scale environmental assessment of the country, conducted by dozens of government and academic researchers under […]

Well To-Do

Farmers Across Asia Emptying Underground Water Tables Farmers in India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and northern China are setting themselves up for drought and famine in decades to come by pushing wells deep into the ground, emptying underground reserves at a rate faster than precipitation can replenish them. India’s government system of irrigation canals is decrepit, so […]

Don’t Be a Bad Sport

New Study Says Recreational Fishing Harms Endangered Species When it comes to overfishing and the depletion of stocks of threatened and endangered fish species, the focus is usually on commercial fishing. But a new study published today in the journal Science claims that recreational fishing has a much larger impact on those stocks than previously […]

The Glass Is Half Full — Just Don’t Drink From It

Most U.S. Lakes and Waterways Contaminated with Mercury, EPA Says U.S. EPA head honcho Mike Leavitt struggled yesterday to put a positive spin on the agency’s annual report on fish advisories, despite the grim news that virtually every body of freshwater in the country may be contaminated with mercury, which poses health risks to fetuses […]

The Leaser of Two Evils

New Report Belies Need for New Oil and Gas Leases President Bush has made increased domestic energy production, i.e., more oil and gas extraction from federal lands in the West, a centerpiece of his campaign, claiming it is the road to energy independence. His administration frequently proclaims the need to remove restrictive barriers to resource […]

Powder Puffery

New Report Blasts Ski Industry’s Voluntary Environmental Program The National Ski Areas Association unveiled its voluntary Sustainable Slopes Program in 2000 with great fanfare. “Regulations only help you avoid the worst,” said NSAA’s Geraldine Link, “and a voluntary program like this can only bring out the best in terms of environmental compliance.” Uh … not […]

Let It LEED

Green Skyscraper Underway in NYC Since the United States Green Building Council, a nonprofit industry group, published its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building standards in 2000, the field of environmentally friendly construction has become broader and more ambitious. Now the Durst Organization and the Bank of America have broken ground on […]

The Butterfly Effect

Illegal Logging Gangs Threaten Monarch Butterfly Reserve in Mexico A guerilla war is underway in Mexico’s idyllic Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, where millions of black-and-orange monarch butterflies alight every year at the end of a migratory journey that begins in Canada and the Great Lakes states. On one side lie conservation groups, government agencies, and […]

Oil Over Again

Analysts Warn That Natural Gas Could Pose Same Problems as Oil As the inevitable oil crisis draws closer, with demand continuing to rise and production capacity rapidly approaching its peak, natural gas is set to be the next big thing in the U.S. energy sector. But some analysts warn that natural gas will push the […]

Coolin’ the Gang

Toronto Cools Itself with Cold Water Starting this week, near-freezing water from the depths of Lake Ontario will bring relief to heat-stricken residents of Toronto, Ontario. A multi-million-dollar project will pump water from the lake through three intake pipes, where it will be used to cool down other water, which will subsequently be used to […]