Glaciers at the earth’s poles are melting, calving and surging toward the seas at alarming speeds. With few exceptions, global glaciers have been getting smaller since the early 20th century, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. The suspected cause of all this shrinkage, of course, is warming temperatures. The consequences are not surprising: a warmer world could mean melting ice, rising seas and flooded coastlines.
To learn more about what is happening, researchers in the bursting field of glacier seismology are refining techniques to track changes inside the ice in real time. Specifically, they are using seismic instruments to listen to ice movements, like physicians use heart rate monitors to learn about a patient’s health. With such information, these ice doctors could better determine how glaciers are changing over short periods--a sharp contrast to more traditional methods in which glaciologists relied on photographs, satellite images and direct measurements to document large-scale, long-term ice movements.
[More]Glaciers at the earth’s poles are melting, calving and surging toward the seas at alarming speeds. With few exceptions, global glaciers have been getting smaller since the early 20th century, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. The suspected cause of all this shrinkage, of course, is warming temperatures. The consequences are not surprising: a warmer world could mean melting ice, rising seas and flooded coastlines.
To learn more about what is happening, researchers in the bursting field of glacier seismology are refining techniques to track changes inside the ice in real time. Specifically, they are using seismic instruments to listen to ice movements, like physicians use heart rate monitors to learn about a patient’s health. With such information, these ice doctors could better determine how glaciers are changing over short periods--a sharp contrast to more traditional methods in which glaciologists relied on photographs, satellite images and direct measurements to document large-scale, long-term ice movements.
[More]With global warming looming, Mother Nature could sure use a backup plan--a secure place to store copies of her crops and other plants. Now, thanks to the government of Norway, she has one. Dug into a permafrost mountain, the massive Svalbard Global Seed Vault began collecting seeds in February. So far it has 268,000 unique samples, with a capacity for 4.3 million more.
Although about 1,400 seed banks exist worldwide, this one, in Norway’s Svalbard islands, dwarfs them all and aims to safeguard duplicates of the seeds. Stored seeds are frequently lost because of natural disasters, war and warm temperatures, so Svalbard was built to withstand these challenges. The facility is remote, located 1,000 kilometers beyond mainland Norway’s northernmost tip. It can be accessed only via a 93-meter tunnel through the permafrost. And it is “the best-insulated freezer in the world,” says Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust: if the cooling units fail, the permafrost will keep the vault below –3.5 degrees Celsius. Norway built Svalbard for $9 million and maintains it, and the trust oversees its collection, but institutions that deposit seeds can remove them anytime.
[More]With global warming looming, Mother Nature could sure use a backup plan--a secure place to store copies of her crops and other plants. Now, thanks to the government of Norway, she has one. Dug into a permafrost mountain, the massive Svalbard Global Seed Vault began collecting seeds in February. So far it has 268,000 unique samples, with a capacity for 4.3 million more.
Although about 1,400 seed banks exist worldwide, this one, in Norway’s Svalbard islands, dwarfs them all and aims to safeguard duplicates of the seeds. Stored seeds are frequently lost because of natural disasters, war and warm temperatures, so Svalbard was built to withstand these challenges. The facility is remote, located 1,000 kilometers beyond mainland Norway’s northernmost tip. It can be accessed only via a 93-meter tunnel through the permafrost. And it is “the best-insulated freezer in the world,” says Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust: if the cooling units fail, the permafrost will keep the vault below –3.5 degrees Celsius. Norway built Svalbard for $9 million and maintains it, and the trust oversees its collection, but institutions that deposit seeds can remove them anytime.
[More]Africa is splitting apart at the seams--literally. From the southern tip of the Red Sea southward through Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, the continent is coming unstitched along a zone called the East African Rift.
Like a shirtsleeve tearing under a bulging bicep, the earth’s crust rips apart as molten rock from deep down pushes up on the solid surface and stretches it thin--sometimes to its breaking point. Each new slit widens as lava fills the gap from below.
[More]Africa is splitting apart at the seams--literally. From the southern tip of the Red Sea southward through Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, the continent is coming unstitched along a zone called the East African Rift.
Like a shirtsleeve tearing under a bulging bicep, the earth’s crust rips apart as molten rock from deep down pushes up on the solid surface and stretches it thin--sometimes to its breaking point. Each new slit widens as lava fills the gap from below.
[More]Atypical farm burns vast quantities of fossil fuels to plow fields, sow seeds, reap harvests and truck products many miles to population centers. It spreads heaps of petroleum-based fertilizers, which then run off into streams and watersheds. It also consumes rivers of freshwater and casts pesticides across the countryside. Raising chickens and pigs further insults the earth with unhygienic filth.
Why not grow grains, vegetables and fruits right where the expanding crowds of consumers are: in the middle of a city, inside a tall glass building? Poultry and pork could be reared there, too. A vertical farm would drastically reduce the fossil-fuel use and emissions associated with farm machinery and trucking, as well as the spread of fertilizer and its runoff. Crops could grow and be harvested year-round instead of at the end of one season, multiplying annual yield by at least four times. Urban agriculture could also convert municipal wastewater into irrigation water, reducing a city’s refuse problem. And consumers would get the freshest food possible, without pesticides.
[More]Atypical farm burns vast quantities of fossil fuels to plow fields, sow seeds, reap harvests and truck products many miles to population centers. It spreads heaps of petroleum-based fertilizers, which then run off into streams and watersheds. It also consumes rivers of freshwater and casts pesticides across the countryside. Raising chickens and pigs further insults the earth with unhygienic filth.
Why not grow grains, vegetables and fruits right where the expanding crowds of consumers are: in the middle of a city, inside a tall glass building? Poultry and pork could be reared there, too. A vertical farm would drastically reduce the fossil-fuel use and emissions associated with farm machinery and trucking, as well as the spread of fertilizer and its runoff. Crops could grow and be harvested year-round instead of at the end of one season, multiplying annual yield by at least four times. Urban agriculture could also convert municipal wastewater into irrigation water, reducing a city’s refuse problem. And consumers would get the freshest food possible, without pesticides.
[More]In northeastern Ethiopia one of the earth’s driest deserts is making way for a new ocean. This region of the African continent, known to geologists as the Afar Depression, is pulling apart in two directions--a process that is gradually thinning the earth’s rocky outer skin. The continental crust under Afar is a mere 20 kilometers from top to bottom, less than half its original thickness, and parts of the area are over 100 meters below sea level. Low hills to the east are all that stops the Red Sea from encroaching.
Such proximity to the planet’s scorching interior has transformed the region into a dynamic landscape of earthquakes, volcanoes and hydrothermal fields--making Afar a veritable paradise for people, like me, eager to understand those processes. Yet few outsiders, scientists included, have ever set foot in Afar. Daytime temperatures soar to 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer, and no rain falls for much of the year. But I knew I faced more than treacherous geology and climate. Nasty geopolitical struggles--namely, war between Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea--combine with those natural hardships to make Afar utterly inhospitable.
[More]In northeastern Ethiopia one of the earth’s driest deserts is making way for a new ocean. This region of the African continent, known to geologists as the Afar Depression, is pulling apart in two directions--a process that is gradually thinning the earth’s rocky outer skin. The continental crust under Afar is a mere 20 kilometers from top to bottom, less than half its original thickness, and parts of the area are over 100 meters below sea level. Low hills to the east are all that stops the Red Sea from encroaching.
Such proximity to the planet’s scorching interior has transformed the region into a dynamic landscape of earthquakes, volcanoes and hydrothermal fields--making Afar a veritable paradise for people, like me, eager to understand those processes. Yet few outsiders, scientists included, have ever set foot in Afar. Daytime temperatures soar to 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer, and no rain falls for much of the year. But I knew I faced more than treacherous geology and climate. Nasty geopolitical struggles--namely, war between Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea--combine with those natural hardships to make Afar utterly inhospitable.
[More]Power plant owners and speculators yesterday bid for the right to emit carbon dioxide (CO2) as part of a new multistate government program designed to reduce global warming pollution. Interested parties during an online auction offered at least $1.86 per ton of CO2 emitted; there were 12 million allowances (one per ton) to emit climate change–inducing CO2 from power plants in eastern seaboard states from Maine to Maryland available in a market known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, pronounced "Reggie.") [More]
Power plant owners and speculators yesterday bid for the right to emit carbon dioxide (CO2) as part of a new multistate government program designed to reduce global warming pollution. Interested parties during an online auction offered at least $1.86 per ton of CO2 emitted; there were 12 million allowances (one per ton) to emit climate change–inducing CO2 from power plants in eastern seaboard states from Maine to Maryland available in a market known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, pronounced "Reggie.") [More]
Dear EarthTalk: Why are some environmental groups jumping on the immigration issue? What does immigration have to do with the environment? -- Ginna Jones, Darien, CT
[More]Dear EarthTalk: Why are some environmental groups jumping on the immigration issue? What does immigration have to do with the environment? -- Ginna Jones, Darien, CT
[More]I live in the South Bronx. this small part of New York City receives more than 40 percent of the city’s commercial waste. It is home to two sewage plants and four power plants; 60,000 diesel trucks drive through each week. Some 50 percent of the residents live at or below the poverty line. The hospitalization rate for asthma is seven times the national average.
Unfortunately, race and class are reliable indicators of where one can find trees or waste facilities. We see this reality in many ways, from where good public schools and bad ones are found to sentencing disparities for possession of crack versus powder cocaine. Concentrating power plants, truck routes, chemical facilities and waste-processing plants among poor people with less clout results in dirty industrial design. And it happens because the decision makers don’t have to live amid their choices.
[More]I live in the South Bronx. this small part of New York City receives more than 40 percent of the city’s commercial waste. It is home to two sewage plants and four power plants; 60,000 diesel trucks drive through each week. Some 50 percent of the residents live at or below the poverty line. The hospitalization rate for asthma is seven times the national average.
Unfortunately, race and class are reliable indicators of where one can find trees or waste facilities. We see this reality in many ways, from where good public schools and bad ones are found to sentencing disparities for possession of crack versus powder cocaine. Concentrating power plants, truck routes, chemical facilities and waste-processing plants among poor people with less clout results in dirty industrial design. And it happens because the decision makers don’t have to live amid their choices.
[More]Some politicians and pundits fear that addressing global warming will drain the U.S. economy and hurt the nation’s competitive edge. But going green and clean is the best way to remain an economic powerhouse, argues Thomas L. Friedman in his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008). We asked Friedman, a New York Times op-ed columnist, to explain his thinking.
Click here for an extended version of this inteview
[More]Some politicians and pundits fear that addressing global warming will drain the U.S. economy and hurt the nation’s competitive edge. But going green and clean is the best way to remain an economic powerhouse, argues Thomas L. Friedman in his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008). We asked Friedman, a New York Times op-ed columnist, to explain his thinking.
Click here for an extended version of this inteview
[More]When food writer Lisë Stern needs fresh vegetables to roast with a chicken, she bicycles to the green market near her Cambridge, Mass., home where local farmers sell organically grown produce. Once back in her kitchen, she prepares the meal using knives, bowls, utensils, a cutting board and a roasting pan dedicated solely to cooking with meat, and serves it to her two teenage sons (her 11-year-old daughter is a vegetarian) on glass plates never touched by milk, cheese or other dairy foods. [More]
When food writer Lisë Stern needs fresh vegetables to roast with a chicken, she bicycles to the green market near her Cambridge, Mass., home where local farmers sell organically grown produce. Once back in her kitchen, she prepares the meal using knives, bowls, utensils, a cutting board and a roasting pan dedicated solely to cooking with meat, and serves it to her two teenage sons (her 11-year-old daughter is a vegetarian) on glass plates never touched by milk, cheese or other dairy foods. [More]
Even though U.S. financial markets have cooled in 2008, investments in “clean technology” from firms such as Silicon Valley–based Khosla Ventures have remained hot. Clean technology--products and services that harness renewable resources and limit environmental impacts--has emerged as one of the top three asset classes for venture capitalists. “The past five years have seen significant increases in interest and investment in this area,” says Ron Pernick, co-author of The Clean Tech Revolution. Venture capital totaled $2 billion in the second quarter of 2008--a new record--and was up 48 percent from the first quarter despite the economic downturn.
The market’s large size and its potential for addressing important global challenges will continue to drive investments, according to Samir Kaul, a founding partner at Khosla Ventures, one of the top five clean-tech investors. Utility-scale solar power plants and second-generation biofuels such as algae have led the field in recent financing rounds, but funding is now branching into less developed technologies such as bioplastics, green building materials and water desalination.
[More]Even though U.S. financial markets have cooled in 2008, investments in “clean technology” from firms such as Silicon Valley–based Khosla Ventures have remained hot. Clean technology--products and services that harness renewable resources and limit environmental impacts--has emerged as one of the top three asset classes for venture capitalists. “The past five years have seen significant increases in interest and investment in this area,” says Ron Pernick, co-author of The Clean Tech Revolution. Venture capital totaled $2 billion in the second quarter of 2008--a new record--and was up 48 percent from the first quarter despite the economic downturn.
The market’s large size and its potential for addressing important global challenges will continue to drive investments, according to Samir Kaul, a founding partner at Khosla Ventures, one of the top five clean-tech investors. Utility-scale solar power plants and second-generation biofuels such as algae have led the field in recent financing rounds, but funding is now branching into less developed technologies such as bioplastics, green building materials and water desalination.
[More]Dear EarthTalk: How can I measure--and then improve--my overall “carbon footprint?” What are the major areas of one’s daily life that one measures?-- Andy Fusco, Passaic, NJ
[More]Dear EarthTalk: How can I measure--and then improve--my overall “carbon footprint?” What are the major areas of one’s daily life that one measures?-- Andy Fusco, Passaic, NJ
[More]There is no market yet for turbines that turn the tides into a source of energy from deep beneath the sea. But that has not stopped mechanical engineers at the University of Strathclyde's Energy Systems Research Unit (ESRU) in Scotland from developing one that will ride the tide while latched to the seabed by a cable--like a kite flying on a windy day.
The ESRU team's goal: create a device that literally goes with the flow rather than resting on the sea bottom like an underwater windmill--a model already being developed by a handful of companies. The kite and cable model is designed to facilitate placing tidal turbines in deep water, where the stronger current has the potential for providing greater power but also makes it extremely difficult to plant a turbine in the seabed.
[More]There is no market yet for turbines that turn the tides into a source of energy from deep beneath the sea. But that has not stopped mechanical engineers at the University of Strathclyde's Energy Systems Research Unit (ESRU) in Scotland from developing one that will ride the tide while latched to the seabed by a cable--like a kite flying on a windy day.
The ESRU team's goal: create a device that literally goes with the flow rather than resting on the sea bottom like an underwater windmill--a model already being developed by a handful of companies. The kite and cable model is designed to facilitate placing tidal turbines in deep water, where the stronger current has the potential for providing greater power but also makes it extremely difficult to plant a turbine in the seabed.
[More]Deep in the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala, armed men near a stopped white truck face us--one gripping a shotgun, another slashing a nearby branch with a machete. They glare at us menacingly as we drive by. “That was a perfect place to kill someone,” half jokes our guide, Javier.
“Let’s not talk about that right now,” curtly replies Seth Factor, Guatemala director of the environmental advocacy group Trópico Verde. Bands of armed outlaws are a common threat in the western third of the Maya Biosphere Reserve--“the Wild West,” as one scientist here has called it.
[More]Deep in the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala, armed men near a stopped white truck face us--one gripping a shotgun, another slashing a nearby branch with a machete. They glare at us menacingly as we drive by. “That was a perfect place to kill someone,” half jokes our guide, Javier.
“Let’s not talk about that right now,” curtly replies Seth Factor, Guatemala director of the environmental advocacy group Trópico Verde. Bands of armed outlaws are a common threat in the western third of the Maya Biosphere Reserve--“the Wild West,” as one scientist here has called it.
[More]Scientific American editor Mark Fischetti talks about Earth 3.0, a new Scientific American publication concerning energy, sustainability and the environment. And SciAm.com writer Larry Greenemeier discusses the interface between nanotech and biology. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Web sites mentioned in this episode include www.sciamearth3.com
The text transcript is currently not available. Transcripts are posted about a week after the podcast airs.
[More]Scientific American editor Mark Fischetti talks about Earth 3.0, a new Scientific American publication concerning energy, sustainability and the environment. And SciAm.com writer Larry Greenemeier discusses the interface between nanotech and biology. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Web sites mentioned in this episode include www.sciamearth3.com
The text transcript is currently not available. Transcripts are posted about a week after the podcast airs.
[More]The Roan Plateau in western Colorado is known for its natural splendor. Deep canyons and mountain streams cut across the aspen-forested landscape. Hunters, hikers and anglers prize the Roan for its large herds of mule deer, rare plants and cutthroat trout.
But there are resources below the Roan that some prize even more: fossil fuel. The plateau boasts the biggest nonleased reserve of federally owned natural gas outside of Alaska, according to David Boyd, a spokesman at the Colorado office of the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
[More]The Roan Plateau in western Colorado is known for its natural splendor. Deep canyons and mountain streams cut across the aspen-forested landscape. Hunters, hikers and anglers prize the Roan for its large herds of mule deer, rare plants and cutthroat trout.
But there are resources below the Roan that some prize even more: fossil fuel. The plateau boasts the biggest nonleased reserve of federally owned natural gas outside of Alaska, according to David Boyd, a spokesman at the Colorado office of the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
[More]Table of Contents: 1: Global Warming: Is It Man-Made? | Reducing Carbon Emissions [More]
Table of Contents: 1: Global Warming: Is It Man-Made? | Reducing Carbon Emissions [More]
LOS ANGELES--It would seem that measures promoting renewable energy and alternative fuels would be shoo-ins here where gas prices are among the nation's highest. Two thirds of Californians polled say they want their state to be a leader in advancing technologies that reduce pollution and combat climate change.
But a pair of ambitious ballot initiatives--Proposition 7 (aka "Big Solar") and Proposition 10 ("Big Natural Gas")--designed to do just that appear to be in trouble because of growing fiscal concerns. Prop 7 would require utilities to procure half of their power from renewable resources by 2025 and Prop 10 calls for a $5-billion bond, with most of the money earmarked for rebates for consumers who purchase natural gas and other fuel-efficient cars.
[More]LOS ANGELES--It would seem that measures promoting renewable energy and alternative fuels would be shoo-ins here where gas prices are among the nation's highest. Two thirds of Californians polled say they want their state to be a leader in advancing technologies that reduce pollution and combat climate change.
But a pair of ambitious ballot initiatives--Proposition 7 (aka "Big Solar") and Proposition 10 ("Big Natural Gas")--designed to do just that appear to be in trouble because of growing fiscal concerns. Prop 7 would require utilities to procure half of their power from renewable resources by 2025 and Prop 10 calls for a $5-billion bond, with most of the money earmarked for rebates for consumers who purchase natural gas and other fuel-efficient cars.
[More]Treasure Island: A polluted military base is being transformed intoa dense green neighborhood.
View images from the plans for this city
[More]Treasure Island: A polluted military base is being transformed intoa dense green neighborhood.
View images from the plans for this city
[More]The “earth” part of the title of this special issue from Scientific American is no doubt self-explanatory, but why “3.0”? Because this planet is no longer simply the home of our species: it is also our creation. And as with any product, sometimes it is prudent to upgrade its quality.
If you will indulge the analogy further, Earth 1.0 was the world that persisted and evolved for billions of years, up until very recently. The environment was dominated by closed ecological loops and a few geological and astronomical processes, such as the movements of continents and the brightness of the sun. As such, life was highly sustainable. Even after we humans developed agriculture, which considerably enlarged our footprint on the environment, our overall influence was fairly small and localized.
[More]The “earth” part of the title of this special issue from Scientific American is no doubt self-explanatory, but why “3.0”? Because this planet is no longer simply the home of our species: it is also our creation. And as with any product, sometimes it is prudent to upgrade its quality.
If you will indulge the analogy further, Earth 1.0 was the world that persisted and evolved for billions of years, up until very recently. The environment was dominated by closed ecological loops and a few geological and astronomical processes, such as the movements of continents and the brightness of the sun. As such, life was highly sustainable. Even after we humans developed agriculture, which considerably enlarged our footprint on the environment, our overall influence was fairly small and localized.
[More]