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Check Your Fluids

Testing for Pollution in People’s Bodies Is on the Rise A new “biomonitoring” movement is taking off with the aim of measuring pollution levels in people’s bodies. Scientists are increasingly testing people’s blood, urine, and breast milk for the presence of dangerous chemicals, such as dioxins, PCBs, and DDT. Breast cancer activists in particular are […]

I’ll Take Mongolia for $1,000, Alex

Increased Mining in Mongolia Could Threaten Environment Say “Mongolia” and most people think of yaks and yurts — that is, if they think of anything. But these days, mining companies have a very different image of Mongolia: an untapped source of gold, copper, and other natural resources that can be exploited on the cheap and […]

The Kids Are Alright

Michigan Creates Volunteer Corps to Monitor Waterways What do you do if you’re a budget-strapped state with no money to pay for water-quality monitoring? Sign up the seventh graders, of course. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) signed an executive order this week to create the Clean Water Corps, which will enlist volunteers, some of them […]

Soft Sell

McCain and Lieberman Soften Climate-Change Legislation The sponsors of a groundbreaking climate-change bill in the Senate are softening their legislation in an attempt to attract more support. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) announced yesterday that a revised version of their Climate Stewardship Act would not contain a requirement that carbon dioxide emissions […]

Minding Nemo

Tropical Fish Trade Threatens Coral Reef Ecosystems More than 20 million tropical fish and up to 10 million other marine critters are caught each year for the aquarium trade, according to a new report from the U.N. Environment Programme. One of the most destructive harvesting methods involves stunning tropical fish with a near-lethal dose of […]

No More Elks’ Conventions

Wolves Help Restore Biodiversity in Yellowstone Wolves have proven to be a big draw for tourists since they were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995, but camera-toting vacationers aren’t the only species they’ve attracted. The park’s population of about 250 wolves seems to be spurring a general improvement in biodiversity, helping to bring Yellowstone’s […]

Orange U Sad?

Illegal Logging Could Push Orangutans to the Brink of Extinction Orangutans could be wiped out within 20 years if illegal logging continues unabated on two islands in Indonesia and Malaysia, the only spots where the animals live, a researcher warned yesterday. As an example of troubling habitat destruction, anthropologist Cheryl Knott of Harvard University pointed […]

Airing It All Out

EPA Launches New Daily Air-Quality Forecasts If terror threat alerts aren’t your thing, maybe you’ll be more excited about the U.S. government’s newest color-coded warning system — for air quality. Starting tomorrow, the U.S. EPA will provide daily forecasts on expected levels of particulate pollution, or soot, in 141 cities. Airborne particulates contribute to heart […]

Thad Miller, Columbia grad student

Thad Miller is studying for an MPA in environmental science and policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Monday, 29 Sep 2003 NEW YORK, N.Y. Greetings to anyone who may be reading this. Since you’ll be getting to know me over the next week, for better or worse, I’ll start off by […]

Going Mahogany Wild

Illegal Mahogany Logging Endangers Amazon Rainforest in Peru Illegal logging of mahogany is escalating in Peru, threatening the Amazon rainforest and a number of indigenous groups that live in its remote reaches. The mahogany trade is strictly governed by international rules, and Brazil has cracked down on logging of the sought-after tree, but mahogany still […]