From the monthly archives: July 2008

Penguins Washing Up Closer to Equator

By On July 31, 2008

When you think of locations for penguins, Antarctica is probably your first guess. If you know a bit more about penguins, you might point to Patagonia or even down my way, where the Fairy Penguins live at Phillip Island. However I would very much hope that you wouldn’t predict that they could be [...]

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Recycling at Outdoor Concerts: Wecycle Has a Better Idea

By On July 30, 2008

It’s summer, and you are sitting outside on the Great Lawn of Central Park, listening to a concert in New York City.  You are surrounded by friends, you are enjoying a delicious picnic, and the music is great.  The only way to improve this event would be to devise a smarter way for you and the thousands [...]

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Hurricane Dolly versus Gulf’s Dead Zone

By On July 30, 2008

The dead zone that grows and shrinks in the Gulf of Mexico, at the outlet of the Mississippi River, has long been on my radar. Hurricanes too, have long been on my agenda, for fear that global warming is increasing their intensity and frequency. However I never thought that I would report on [...]

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Minimum Ice Record Unlikely for 2008

By On July 30, 2008

Over the past 12 months there has been one big fear lingering over the environmental community. It was a year ago that we were watching the Arctic ice disappearing at a tremendous rate, and saw it slip to its lowest levels in recorded history. Subsequently, we also saw the complete opening of [...]

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EPA Staff Ordered Not to Talk With Reporters or Investigators

By On July 29, 2008

Gag Order Imposed

Your tax dollars at work. The Environmental Protection Agency is protecting itself from everyone, including it’s own Inspector General’s Office. (IG)

In a report released by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility website workers in the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance were forbidden to speak with anyone [...]

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Blue Planet Run Foundation: Peer Water Exchange Reports that Access to Safe Water Brings Health and Happiness to Kenyan Hospital

By On July 28, 2008

This guest post comes to us from the Blue Planet Run Foundation.

Annette Fay visited Blue Planet Run’s project in Kisii, a crowded town nestled on top of a hilly, green part of the Kenyan countryside. The news from the completed water project demonstrates just how immense the impact of [...]

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Mini Extreme Recycling: What Are You Doing?

By On July 28, 2008

I admit, I am not an extreme recycler.  But I am trying to recycle more and encourage others to do the same.  It just takes a little creativity.

A few weeks ago, I helped my 9-year-old daughter host a lemonade stand to raise money for her teen-age baby sitter’s annual service trip to Costa Rica.  [...]

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The Arctic Oil Rush and My Misgivings

By On July 27, 2008

Every time that I see “Arctic” paired with “oil” in the one sentence, I start getting antsy. It can only mean one thing, and that one thing is eventually going to see oil spills coating ice-sheets rocking up on the front pages of our newspapers. And over and over people are reminded that [...]

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Edible Activism: Changing the World Through What We Eat

By On July 25, 2008

For as often as we do eat, it seems as if most of us don’t think too much about what we’re putting into our bodies. With food production so far removed from our every day lives, it’s easy to ignore where our food comes from and what it’s impact may be. But what we [...]

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3 Unique Ways That You Can Help Protect Urban Wildlife

By On July 25, 2008

Across the world, animals are invading cities and suburbia at a magnitude unlike ever before. The reason is simple: animals are adapting and finding new places to live as their original habitats are destroyed or altered by people. But do not despair.

If you live in a city or suburban area, you can [...]

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An SUV Vanishes: OneFewer.com Makes it Happen With Your Input

By On July 25, 2008

If you drive an SUV, the easiest way to cut your carbon footprint drastically is pretty clear: ditch the gas-guzzling monster.  But what do you do with a large car you no longer want?  Tune in to onefewer.com starting today, to find out.

Ryan Mickle spent $60,000 on his Range Rover Sport in 2006.  [...]

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Challenge to the Nuclear Industry: Honest Questions Require Honest Answers

By On July 25, 2008

My Issues and Support of Nuclear Power

In the past year or so I’ve been writing articles in opposition to the proliferation of nuclear power stations, not only in the United States, but in the world.  The responses have been enlightening, intelligent, pedestrian and downright rude.

In each case, the respondents seem to [...]

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Uranium Contaminated Soil at Grand Canyon School District Playgrounds?

By On July 25, 2008

Putting an Old Dog to Rest…Hopefully

For years, there have been rumors, and concerns, about playground areas at the Grand Canyon School District, located inside the park, being contaminated with radioactive soil from old uranium mines in the area.

I talked with park Public Affairs Officer Maureen Oltrogge, and she said that an [...]

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Wildfire Ecology Part 3: Lighting Fires to Fight Fires

By On July 24, 2008

I’ve lived in the mountains of far northern California for over 15 years, yet the last few summers have been filled with smoke.  My property has been threatened by three wildfires in the past four years, one of which was human caused (PGE) and burned across my property. I am not a trained firefighter, [...]

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Are North American Wildfires an Arctic Savior?

By On July 24, 2008

For countries across the planet, summer is not necessarily the looked-for time of the year where it is all beach parties and sunbathing. For many of us, our lands celebrate the arrival of summer by bursting in to flame. One would need to be blind, deaf and dumb to have missed the fires [...]

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Turkish Man Believes His Ant Farms Can Predict Earthquakes

By On July 24, 2008

When you were younger, did you ever own an ant farm? I’m still begging my wife to get me a glow-in-the-dark one that we saw several years ago in a science center gift shop. Ok, begging might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but I’d still like the novelty gift.

[...]

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