Latest Articles

Whales Get a Really, Really, Really Big Sanctuary

France, Italy, and Monaco on Thursday created the first whale sanctuary north of the equator, an area in the Mediterranean Sea twice the size of Switzerland. Thirteen cetacean species live in the area for some portion of the year, including fin, pilot, and sperm whales and four dolphin species. The three nations signed a treaty […]

Dry Me a River

More than half of the world’s major rivers are polluted or are going dry, according to the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century, which is meeting at The Hague, Netherlands. The degradation of waterways and surrounding river basins threatens the health and livelihoods of people who depend on rivers for drinking water, irrigation, […]

Once Bitten, But Not Shy at All

Ukraine restarted the last working nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant on Friday after almost five months of repairs, ignoring strong international pressure to shut it down. Ukrainian officials had previously agreed to close the reactor by the end of this year, but they have now pushed the date forward to sometime next year, […]

Exhortin' Us to Hear the WHO

Environmental degradation increasingly threatens the existence of the world’s 300 million indigenous people, as do disease and poverty, according to a report released Friday by the World Health Organization. For example, populations in the Arctic have been exposed to very high levels of industrial contaminants. Native peoples in Alaska often lack safe drinking water and […]

Ashes, Ashes, We All Burn Down

The world’s first solar-powered crematorium is being built in the Indian state of Gujarat, and it will save about 660 pounds of firewood for each body cremated. A 540-square-foot solar dish will reflect the sun’s rays onto a specially built coffin, taking two to three hours to reduce a body to ashes. The dish cost […]

Seventy

• percent by which global energy use has increased since 1970 • percentage of the world’s commercially important marine fish stocks that are fully fished, over-exploited, or depleted • percentage of the roughly 3,000 plants identified as having cancer-fighting properties that grow in rainforests • percentage of irrigation water in developing nations that never reaches […]

A Sworded Affair

Atlantic swordfish are in trouble, no thanks to fishing nations that this week refused to lower the allowable catch to a level scientists believe is sustainable. Delegates to an international negotiating meeting in Rio de Janeiro, which concluded on Monday, lowered the swordfish catch to 11,660 tons for next year, down from 12,980 this year, […]

Burning Bush

GOP presidential contender John McCain said yesterday that he plans to increase the visibility of environmental issues in his campaign and make a major policy address on the environment within the next few weeks. McCain: “I believe the environment may be the sleeper issue of the campaign. There’s great concern throughout this country and there’s […]

Farm Groups Seed the Light

More than 30 U.S. farm groups representing tens of thousands of farmers said yesterday that planting genetically modified crops could imperil farmers’ livelihoods because the crops are becoming increasingly unpopular with consumers. The groups also warned that inadequate testing of GM seeds could make farmers vulnerable to “massive liability” from damage caused by drifting pollen […]

Paper Chase Gets Some Results

International Paper Co., the world’s largest paper company and one of the biggest private landowners in the U.S., has hired an outside firm to verify that its forest-management practices are environmentally sound, the company will announce today. Pressure is growing on the timber and paper industry to adopt sustainable logging practices, and International Paper said […]