Latest Articles

Sand Witches

Growing demand for concrete and asphalt in southern California in the last three years is scarring Baja California’s once-sandy riverbeds. As much as 2 million tons of sand are being excavated, both legally and illegally, each year from Baja and then sent north to help with construction projects in the U.S. Eroding riverbanks, flooding, and […]

Apollo 18

To meet energy demands without escalating the problem of global warming, humankind must embark on a research effort as grand in scale as the Apollo project to put a man on the moon, say scientists in a study published today in the journal Science. The 18 researchers — coming from government, universities, and even such […]

Bambi Vs. Thumper

The Bush administration’s plan to expand fossil fuel exploration in the West ran into an obstacle Wednesday when a federal judge temporarily blocked the Interior Department from allowing energy prospecting on thousands of acres of public land in Utah. The ruling halted a project by a seismic exploration company to search for oil and gas […]

Cooked Vegetables

Nearly half of the world’s plant species could be facing extinction, say two leading botanists today in the journal Science. That finding contrasts sharply with a commonly cited assessment by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), which concluded that only 13 percent of the world’s plant species were at risk of vanishing. The new report argues […]

Umbra on crows

Dear Umbra, Is there a national increase in the crow population, or am I just noticing them more as I age? JimLa Jolla, Calif. Dearest Jim, Probably both. I’ll wager that you have become more observant as the years pass, but it’s also the case that, according to various bird counts and surveys, the American […]

Umbra on corpses

Dear Umbra, What’s the greenest method of disposing of one’s corpse? I’m just dying to know. BuchachaAustin, Texas Dearest Buchacha, You are not the only one thinking of the Great Green Beyond; there are more choices about the fate of your corpse than you might imagine. Let’s start with the traditional options: Cremation is greener […]

Umbra on candles

Dear Umbra, Recently, nature-conscious religions such as Paganism and Wicca are getting a lot of attention. This is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, such religions inspire love for the environment and have spawned many eco-nuts (myself included, I admit). However, although most of the common practices seem to be eco-friendly enough, I’m concerned […]

Keep the Pedal From the Metal

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is barring off-road enthusiasts from one of their favorite playgrounds in Utah — but this time, it’s to safeguard their own health, not that of the environment. At Manning Canyon, a recreation area near Salt Lake City, the soil is contaminated with arsenic, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals […]

Presto Change-o

Frogs are changing genders — and it ain’t just to Halloween getup. The most popular weed-killer in the U.S. is causing sex changes in frogs, according to a summary of a new study published today in Nature. The study, led by Tyrone Hayes, a biologist with the University of California at Berkeley, contains the first […]

Sulfuring Succotash

Refiners should have no problem producing nearly sulfur-free diesel by 2006, according to a report released yesterday by an advisory panel to the U.S. EPA. The panel was convened last year by EPA Administrator Christie Whitman to assess possible technological barriers to complying with a clean diesel rule issued in the final weeks of the […]