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Gaza Stripped

As if the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians weren’t producing enough problems, the U.N. now says the clash is creating a big environmental mess in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A study conducted by the U.N. Environment Programme over the last five months documented increasing water pollution, loss of natural vegetation, indiscriminate waste dumping, […]

Chutes and Bladders

Kids who romp around on wooden structures in playgrounds could face a higher risk of contracting lung or bladder cancer than those who don’t come into contact with the equipment, the head of the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Friday. Nearly all wooden playground equipment in the U.S. has been treated with the […]

Af-gone

Afghanistan’s most significant wetland area is now almost as dry as a bone, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. Satellite imagery shows that 99 percent of the Sistan wetlands, which stretch into Iran, have dried out since 1998. The main source of water to the wetlands, the Helmand River, has been flowing at far […]

No Credence to Clearwater Revival

Stormwater runoff flowing into restored Seattle-area creeks and rivers appears to be killing salmon, according to a groundbreaking study by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service. Eighty-eight percent of coho salmon studied last fall died within hours of swimming into a stream that was being inundated by runoff. Rainwater pours off streets, roofs, and parking […]

Invasion of the Habitat Snatchers

Invasive species are wreaking havoc on African wetlands to the tune of billions of dollars per year, according to a new study by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). For example, the water hyacinth, introduced from the Amazon Basin as an ornamental plant, has spread to most of Africa’s lakes and rivers, choking out other flora […]

Not Keeping Their Powder Dry

The Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming is the center of coalbed methane mining (CBM) in the United States — and now, for the first time, private citizens in the basin have sued a CBM company for damages to their land. Dan and Mary Brannaman, who own a ranch in the basin but not […]

A Connecticut Yank

Environmental-justice (EJ) activists in Connecticut are urging passage of a bill to protect the state’s low-income and minority citizens from bearing the brunt of pollution problems. Yesterday, a coalition of activists unveiled a map showing that power plants, transfer stations, and other heavily polluting facilities are disproportionately likely to be located in the state’s poor […]

Mongoose Step

Invasive species are a problem throughout the world — but in Japan, with its fragile island ecosystems, the problem is particularly severe. The most prominent Japanese battle to protect native species is raging in Lake Biwa, the nation’s largest freshwater lake and a cultural icon frequently referenced in literature, theater, and film. There, voracious American […]

Beam Me Up

The U.S. food industry is increasingly turning to irradiation to kill deadly bacteria such as E. coli and listeria in meat — a move environmentalists, food-safety advocates, and others say could amount to leaping from the frying pan into the fire. Irradiation uses high-energy electrons, gamma rays, or X-rays to kill bacteria. Critics say the […]

Quicksilver, Slow Kids

World leaders urgently need to take action to cut down on mercury emissions to protect human health, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme. Mercury is released into the atmosphere naturally from rocks, soils, and volcanic eruptions, but mercury emissions have dramatically increased from pre-industrial levels due to human activity. Seventy […]