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A Hot New Trend
The hot, dry weather that is now plaguing much of the U.S., and which has killed 182 people, appears to extend what federal scientists say is a trend toward more extreme summer temperatures since World War II. While most scientists are hesitant to attribute any individual heat wave to global warming, some note that the […]
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Bay Watch
The San Francisco Bay looks and smells a lot better these days than it did 30 years ago, in part because municipal sewage and industrial waste are no longer dumped directly into the water. But many fish and wildlife species in the Bay are still in steep decline. The problem now is numerous small sources […]
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The E in E-Commerce Ain't Energy
Emissions of carbon dioxide in the U.S. remained almost flat last year, rising only 0.4 percent, despite a booming U.S. economy that grew almost 4 percent and gasoline prices that hit record lows. These new findings are punching a hole in the theory that economic growth is linked to energy consumption, and are giving credibility […]
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A Fine French Whine
Pollution is the top worry for French citizens, with 85 percent of respondents in a recent poll saying they are concerned about the problem. The Paris area has had severe air pollution problems this week, and the World Health Organization estimated earlier this year that some 17,000 people die each year in France from illnesses […]
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A Drought of Good Sense
A House subcommittee this week took up Rep. Joe Knollenberg’s (R-Mich.) quest to repeal part of a 1992 law that gave the feds license to require that new toilets be low-flow. Though plumbing manufacturers and environmentalists say otherwise, Knollenberg and 82 other reps contend that the new toilets, which flush no more than 1.6 gallons […]
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A Good Sense of Drought
Parris N. Glendening (D) yesterday declared Maryland’s first statewide drought emergency in history and said mandatory water conservation measures probably will be imposed as soon as next week. In the meantime, the state has suggested that residents take shorter showers, not wash cars, and not bother to water the lawn or flower beds. Glendening, speaking […]
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High Yangtz-iety
For the second year running, floods are wreaking havoc in the Yangtze River valley. In an effort to stem the problem, China’s cabinet last year issued an order banning logging in many parts of central China because clearcutting had led to soil erosion that in turn contributed to flooding. This year, in a rare public […]
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Midwesterners have a drinking problem
Drinking water across the Midwest is polluted with high levels of the herbicide atrazine and poses a particular risk to infants in the first four months of life, according to a report released yesterday by the Environmental Working Group. The D.C.-based group found that between 1993 and 1998 atrazine contaminated the tap water of some […]
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Just My Type
Compaq recently filed a patent for a keyboard that uses the typing process itself to recharge laptop batteries. Employing magnets attached to the shaft of each key, the company has developed a way to convert the energy from typing into electrical energy to charge the batteries.
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Not by the Hair of Our Chinny Chin Chin
The fate of reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho is on the line today as introductory arguments are heard today in a case before the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Two years ago, a federal judge in Wyoming ruled that the Interior Department’s reintroduction program violated the Endangered Species Act, and […]
