Uncategorized
All Stories
-
The Green Planet
The Northern Hemisphere is greener now than it was 20 years ago, possibly because the Earth’s temperatures are rising, according to a NASA-funded study. The scientists found that the growing season has lengthened and vegetation density has increased above 40 degrees north latitude. In North America, the growing season is now as much as 12 […]
-
Fish-ious Cycle
Traces of antibiotics, estrogen, and antidepressants have been found in Canada’s water system, according to Canadian health officials. They promised yesterday to develop regulations requiring drug manufacturers to assess how their products would affect the environment. So far, the substances have been found in sewage effluent; the officials said drinking water would be tested shortly. […]
-
Clean Up Your Vroom
The German army is developing “green” weaponry meant to reduce the pollution coming from guns and military rockets. In place of missiles and space rockets whose emissions contribute to acid rain and ozone-layer depletion, German scientists hope to produce explosives and missile fuels that emit nothing more than a puff of hot air. Thomas Klapotke, […]
-
Not Plover Lovers
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday released a long-awaited environmental impact statement for managing the Missouri River, listing six possible options but refusing to back the only one that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says would save the pallid sturgeon, least tern, and piping plover. The Corps during the Clinton administration publicly […]
-
Drilling Ain't Job One
Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling would result in only 46,300 jobs, far fewer than the hundreds of thousands of jobs cited by some unions, according to a study released by environmental groups. The study, by Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, found numerous faults in an outdated 1990 […]
-
Sri-k of Horror
Sri Lanka’s proposed ban on genetically engineered foods has been delayed again, this time indefinitely. The ban would require 21 categories of food imports to be completely free of biotech products. Citing a need to study the health risks of genetically engineered foods, Sri Lanka had planned for the ban to go into effect in […]
-
Join Denver
Once one of the worst-polluted cities in the U.S., Denver, Colo., is on the verge of becoming the first major city in the country to comply fully with the Clean Air Act. The U.S. EPA has approved the state’s request to redesignate Denver as a clean-air city for ozone for the first time since 1978. […]
-
Alien Nation
Some ecologists are saying that not all alien species are bad and that some fit into ecosystems just fine. They believe that efforts to rid ecosystems of all exotics are impractical. Michael Rosenzweig, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, says, “You can’t roll back the clock and remove all exotics or […]
-
Betty Patton, environmental consultant
Betty Patton is an environmental consultant with Environmental Practices, LLC, in Portland, Ore., specializing in solid waste, recycling, and waste prevention. She is also the special projects chair on the board of the Association of Oregon Recyclers. Tuesday, 4 Sep 2001 PORTLAND, Ore. A three-day weekend makes for a four-day workweek. It sounds nice, but […]
-
Salmon Take a Tern for the Worse
Northwest salmon in hatcheries and estuaries are testing positive for PCBs and DDT, and researchers at the National Marine Fisheries Service aren’t sure of the source of the pollutants. The chemicals are at levels high enough to harm fish immune systems, but the scientists don’t yet know if they could hurt humans who eat the […]
