Category: Environment

Scientists investigated yield differences between organic and conventional cash grain and forage crops in the Upper Midwest to compare the productivity of the two cropping systems. The researchers found that organic rotations had similar yields as their conventional counterparts.

Can organic cropping systems be as productive as conventional systems? The answer is an unqualified, “Yes” for alfalfa or wheat and a qualified “Yes most of the time” for corn and soybeans according to research reported by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and agricultural consulting firm AGSTAT in the March-April 2008 issue of Agronomy Journal.

Although we know that air pollution in the 19th century was a major problem, as the Industrial Revolution brought about the massive buring of coal, we now find that this pollution reached as far north as the artic.

Scientists know that air pollution particles from mid-latitude cities migrate to the Arctic and form an ugly haze, but a new University of Utah study finds surprising evidence that polar explorers saw the same phenomenon as early as 1870.

The term Colony Collapse Disorder, which was coined by scientists in 2007, is being used to describe the sudden disappearance of adult bee populations, an unexplained phenomenon that has plagued honeybee colonies around the world.

More than 2,000 beekeepers in Virginia face the possibility of losing entire bee colonies to the Colony Collapse Disorder, but through Virginia Cooperative Extension, they have access to the latest research-based information about the problem.

World Water Day is celebrated globally on March 22 in an effort to raise awareness about the availability of clean, fresh water, a natural resource that many take for granted.

One-in-five people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water, and two-in-five lack access to improved sanitation services. By 2025, close to two billion people will be living in regions with severe water scarcity, according to a United Nations report.

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a series of global maps that show where projected habitat loss and climate change are expected to drive the need for future reserves to prevent biodiversity loss..

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a series of global maps that show where projected habitat loss and climate change are expected to drive the need for future reserves to prevent biodiversity loss.

Jonathan Storm and Justin Boyles, who are working on doctorates in the ecology and organismal biology department at Indiana State University, were selected by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to take part in the research hoping to unravel the mystery of what is leading to bats’ deaths.

When Jonathan Storm and Justin Boyles journeyed to New York to investigate what is killing entire colonies of bats, the two Indiana State University doctoral students found bats in crisis.

Media packaging is going low-plastic, no-plastic, bio-degradable, and almost edible.

In an industry dominated by the consumption of plastic and paper, Precision Disc Manufacturing Corp. has announced new greener packaging alternatives for CD and DVD discs. "The typical retail CD or DVD package is entirely comprised of plastic, paper and metal," explained Mike Arnold, General Manager of the British Columbia based company, "so we have worked with our suppliers to provide choices that reduce the negative environmental impact of the traditional packaging types."

On Apollo 14, Edgar Mitchell spent nine hours walking on the surface of the moon. During the flight he conducted private ESP experiments with his friends on Earth. In this article, he explains the dire situation we're in regarding our environment.

We have all asked questions like: Who am I? How did I get here? What is my purpose in life? How did this body come together with this mind, perception and awareness? Most of us allow these heavy, seemingly unanswerable questions to glide by while we stay busy living our lives. But for some seekers, the pursuit of greater knowledge becomes a lifelong quest.

Suspected family of contaminants are used in nonstick coatings and as additives in a wide variety of goods including cookware, furniture fabrics, carpets, food packaging, fire-fighting foams and cosmetics.

The same chemicals that keep food from sticking to our frying pans and stains from setting in our carpets are damaging the livers and impairing the immune systems of loggerhead turtles—an environmental health impact that also may signal a danger for humans.

Article Continues After Illustration

NIST research biologist Jennifer M. Keller taking a blood sample from a loggerhead turtle as part of her study looking at the health impacts of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) on the endangered marine reptile.

As vast and far-reaching as the world’s oceans are, every square kilometer is affected by human activities, according to a study in the journal Science by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and others.

An international team of scientists has integrated global data from 17 aspects of global change – from overfishing to global warming – that threaten 20 different marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs and continental shelves, to create a global threat map of the oceans. Similar to an online satellite map that lets you add layers of highways, retail stores, schools, parks, etc., to find the most congested areas or the highest concentration of fast food restaurants, the global threat map highlights areas in the ocean where threats overlap.