Latest Articles

The Sahara Club

Global Climate Change Heats Up Africa It’s the cruelest of ironies: Africa, the continent that contributes the least to global climate change, is suffering the most from its effects, according to a study conducted by scientists at Great Britain’s Hadley Center, one of the world’s leading facilities for climate-change research. And here’s another irony: Part […]

The Fine Line

British Polluters Undeterred by Penalties Some of the biggest and best known companies in the United Kingdom are also some of its worst polluters — but neither financial penalties nor shame seem able to keep them in line, according to the Environment Agency’s fifth annual Spotlight report on the environmental violations of companies in England […]

It Was the Salmon Mousse

Farmed Salmon Found to Contain PCBs Okay, so you’ve read the latest word on mercury in tuna and changed your diet accordingly. But wait! We’re sorry to report that you might have to alter your fish intake yet again, in light of new findings that farm-raised salmon contain high levels of PCBs. In a study […]

The Story of O

Ozone Hole Reaches Turning Point, Scientists Say For the first time, scientists have found evidence that worldwide efforts to halt the destruction of the ozone layer are working. Although the protective atmospheric layer has not begun repairing itself, the rate of its destruction has slowed considerably, presumably thanks to the global phase-out of ozone-destroying chemicals […]

Glowing Recommendation

Report Favors Nuclear Power to Cut CO2 Emissions Pick your poison: nuclear power or global climate change? Former CIA Director John Deutch and former Undersecretary of Energy Ernest Moniz came out in favor of the former yesterday, with the release of a report they spearheaded that found that increasing global nuclear power production would reduce […]

Motor Voters

U.S. Senate Votes Against Increased Fuel Efficiency In a blow to advocates of stricter fuel-efficiency standards, the Senate yesterday voted 65 to 32 against a proposal by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) that would have required cars and SUVs to average 40 miles per gallon by 2015. Instead, the Senate backed an industry-supported proposal to let […]

Genetically modified animals could make it to your plate with minimal testing — and no public input

Last January, inspectors with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration paid a visit to the University of Illinois, where researchers have been studying the DNA of pigs. The pig project, based in Champaign-Urbana, is one of dozens of experiments being conducted across the country in which scientists are altering the genetic structure of animals in […]

Bark, but Little Bite?

Asserting that illegal logging causes a host of social and political problems, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday announced the launch of a new U.S. campaign to help developing countries fight unlawful deforestation. “Such blatant disregard for the law weakens governments, encourages corruption, [and] undermines democracy,” Powell said. He pointed to the example of […]

How to avoid the enviro nasties that lurk in pools

Let water sit around for 24 hours — stagnating in an old tire, say, or in a birdbath in the backyard — and some pretty nasty things can start breeding in it. After Mt. St. Helen’s erupted in Washington State in 1980, newly formed oxygen-deprived pools became breeding grounds for Legionnaires’ disease. Then there’s cholera, […]

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Mock ‘Em

Instead of preaching about the evils of General Motors’ Hummer H2, with its hulking frame and 10-mile-per-gallon fuel economy, the Sierra Club has launched a new website to mock the mega-SUV: www.hummerdinger.com. “G.M. celebrates Hummer’s state-of-the-art 1950’s engine technology with some of today’s hottest stars,” reads a mock story on the site, which goes on […]