Environment

Jonathan Lundgren Says USDA Suppressed Him Over Neonicotinoids- They Say He's An Activist Not Doing His Job

Jonathan Lundgren, a US Department of Agriculture currently on leave facing misconduct charges, says the government is suppressing information about the dangers of pesticides, which he believes are endangering the health of bees around the world. ...

Article - Jon Entine - Mar 16 2016 - 2:48pm

Into the New Wild

Book review: The New Wild: Why invasive species will be nature's salvation by Fred Pearce Icon Books 2015 In 1910  New Zealand's great botanist Leonard Cochayne described the dramatic change in  plant communities which had occurred since the fir ...

Blog Post - Graham Strouts - Mar 22 2016 - 6:33am

Permaculture and the Edible Forest Garden: a Critical Analysis

I've been interested in the edible forest garden idea for over twenty years and have planted and designed several myself in Ireland in that time, and visited several others. But they have never lived up to my expectations and were largely unproductiv ...

Blog Post - Graham Strouts - Mar 26 2016 - 6:48pm

Near 20-Year High: Bee-pocalypse Postponed Again, Until 2017

Despite the hype, there’s still no bee-pocalypse. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department Agriculture released its latest count of commercial honeybee hives, and although the figure dipped 2.9 percent from the 20-year record-high set in 2014, the overall count ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 3 2016 - 4:30pm

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your...Nuclear Waste?

A very unusual exchange is about to take place over the Atlantic. The UK is sending some 700 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to be disposed of in the US, the largest amount that has ever been moved out of the country. In return, the US is sending oth ...

Article - The Conversation - Apr 6 2016 - 6:30am

People Who Eat Fast Food Have More Phthalates

A recent survey revealed that people who claimed to eat more fast food also had possible exposure of higher levels of  phthalates. Is that bad? In 2016, when all chemicals are scary, it certainly is, and environmental groups have raised a fortune claiming ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 13 2016 - 6:54am

Test Hopes To Identify Any Shale Gas Hazard In Groundwater

A new test has been developed to check for contamination of shallow groundwater from modern gas extraction techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking. ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 22 2016 - 5:24am

When Natural Beauty Becomes The Ecological Beast, Replace Environmentalism With Science

Natural solutions are all the rage to people who believe in a 20th century "balance of nature" hypothesis. Scientists know better, it is obvious that there is no ecological balance, no environmental harmony, and never has been, the winners are i ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 24 2016 - 9:08am

CO2 Fertilization Greening The Earth

An international team has just published a study titled "Greening of the Earth and its Drivers" in the journal Nature Climate Change (doi:10.1038/nclimate3004) showing significant greening of a quarter to one-half of the Earth's vegetated l ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 25 2016 - 4:26pm

Wildlife Loss In Tropical Forests Is Bad News For Everyone

I had drinks with an old college friend last week. As we reminisced and I caught him up on my job leading the Tropical Ecology Assessment&Monitoring (TEAM) Network, he stopped me mid-sentence. ...

Article - Jorge Ahumada - May 5 2016 - 12:54pm