Latest Articles
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Canal One
Can the Panama Canal, a relic of the Industrial Revolution, survive in the modern era? That is the question that is haunting Panama, which depends on the canal’s revenue-generating power to help ensure economic stability. As ships grow ever larger, fewer of them are able to squeeze through the narrow canal, despite a $1 billion […]
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What in the Sand Hill?
High on the list of Very Remote Places on Earth are the Great Sand Hills, a 730-square-mile stretch of sage brush and dunes in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. There is one road in the region, and precious little traffic on it. The main residents are mule deer, coyotes, burrowing owls, and the endangered Ferruginous hawk. But […]
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Running Knows
Climate change is caused by human activities — and maybe by more of them than previously thought. That was the conclusion of a report released today by NASA, which found that land-use changes such as farming, irrigation, and urban sprawl contribute as much if not more to climate change than does the burning of fossil […]
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Holey Ozone, Batman
The ozone hole over the South Pole is roughly a third smaller than its average in recent years and it has split in two, according to researchers at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA. Last month, the hole (actually a thinning of the layer of ozone that protects the Earth from ultraviolet […]
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One Giant Spring for Mankind
Last Friday marked the 40th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, the book that galvanized a generation of environmentalists and catapulted the movement out of the margins of American culture and into the political spotlight. The book also resulted in real policy changes: “Silent Spring” was a major factor in the creation […]
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No Screen Savior
California Gov. Gray Davis (D) vetoed legislation yesterday that would have created a program to recycle electronic products and keep their hazardous components out of landfills. The high-tech industry strongly opposed the legislation, which would have levied a $10 recycling fee per new computer or television sold. Environmentalists, who say the veto reflects the political […]
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You’re Out of the Club
With the November elections nearing and tensions heating up in the New York gubernatorial race, the Sierra Club’s 40,000-member Atlantic Chapter voted last weekend to endorse Democratic candidate Carl McCall over Republican incumbent George Pataki. But not everyone’s happy about the vote: Chapter Chair Aaron Mair is arguing that the vote was informed more by […]
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The Iceman Cometh
A Spanish scientist says that when giant gobs of ice fall from the sky, it’s a sure sign of global warming. Jesus Martinez-Frias, the director of planetary geography at Spain’s Astrobiology Center in Madrid, has spent the last two and a half years studying the ice meteors, known as megacryometeors. Although it may sound contradictory […]
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Alana Paul, Tulane Office of Environmental Affairs
Alana Paul, a junior at Tulane University, works as an energy and climate change specialist in the school’s Office of Environmental Affairs. She is majoring in anthropology and environmental policy. Monday, 30 Sep 2002 NEW ORLEANS, La. Hello from N’Orleans! After living here for three years, I have grown very attached to this city. The […]
