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Whodunnit? Wedunnit

Humans produced most of the gases that have eroded the Earth’s ozone layer, according to a study published in today’s issue of the journal Nature. A team of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration took measurements of air trapped in polar snowpack in Greenland and Antarctica, showing for the first time that major […]

Clouding, the Issue

High-altitude clouds of ice crystals were spotted on Tuesday by scientists in Colorado and Utah, the farthest south such clouds have ever been seen in the Northern Hemisphere, suggesting that the same greenhouse gases that are warming Earth’s lower atmosphere are also chilling and adding water to the upper atmosphere. In other climate news, jet […]

Don't Let Them Eat This Cake

France yesterday called for the sales of all new genetically modified foods to be suspended in the European Union until they are clearly labeled, but EU officials said it’s unlikely the proposal would be accepted. EU environmental ministers are meeting today to settle differences on policies for genetically modified foods. Meanwhile, biotechnology companies are engaging […]

Pilot Crashes into Senate

Republican Senate leaders yesterday accused the Clinton administration of violating a congressional ban against carrying out the Kyoto climate change treaty by planning a pilot program with Russia to jointly cut greenhouse-gas emissions. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said GOP leaders plan to insert language barring the program into a bill funding the EPA. The project […]

Removing Heavy Metal from the Radio

The European Union is weighing a proposal that would require electronics makers to take responsibility for their products once their useful lives are over, with the intent of encouraging companies to design products that are more recyclable. Computers, cell phones, medical equipment, and household appliances would all be affected. The proposed legislation would also require […]

Virginia Slim on Pollution Controls

Environmentalists have won a court order forcing the federal government to act more aggressively to protect Virginia waterways from pollution. A federal judge ruled that Virginia officials have been lax in setting maximum pollution levels and that the EPA is responsible under the 1972 Clean Water Act to make sure the state sets the levels […]

Don't Chew on This

Lead exposure in children may lead to tooth decay, perhaps accounting for as much as 11 percent of cavities in kids, according to a new study published in today’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Though lead has been removed from gasoline and household paint in the U.S., the Centers for Disease […]

What Do Butterflies, Ski Passes, and Eggs Have in Common?

The British government plans to start monitoring numbers of butterflies and the sales of Scotland ski passes, among other indicators, as part of an effort to track climate change. Each year, the government will publish an annual report taking a look at potential signs of global warming, also including the number of floods, the time […]

Summers Hot

In a rare public dispute, Treasury Secretary-designate Lawrence Summers yesterday said the U.S. would vote against a controversial World Bank loan to China that environmentalists have criticized. The $40 million loan would pay for the resettlement of 58,000 poor Chinese farmers from an overcrowded, badly eroded area to traditionally Tibetan land, also considered environmentally sensitive. […]

Giving Public Lands the Shaft

The Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday gave initial approval to a bill that would protect Western mining interests from tougher environmental rules proposed by the Interior Department. A 1997 Interior Department ruling limited the acreage of mining sites on federal lands, but this bill would exempt hundreds of mining operations from the ruling. Earlier this year, […]