Articles tagged with environment

Having completed his 5,000-mile voyage, Kristian Beadle weighs his trip’s carbon use and examines whether the benefits balance the costs.

Tales of bandits lead our Kiri blogger to reflect on the environmental causes of poverty and poverty’s relation to crime.

Advances in technology make low-efficiency but wide areas solar energy newly practical.

A fruitless ascent to collect climate data at an observatory teaches that not all lessons can be viewed through human prisms.

Even low-grade oil used to fuel cargo ships is likely to become precious in the age of peak oil.

The Voyage of the Kiri enters Mexico — at least the Tijuana watershed — before even leaving the U.S.

“El Hippo” approaches the Mexican border but on the way south learns about the Aztecs and water in separate Los Angeles exhibitions.

Fears that wind only provides power when it’s blowing outside could be neutralized by drawing from a wide area — like the U.S. Atlantic coast.

When it was no longer easy or cheap to burn trees for development, a new economy had to be forged from fossil fuel.

Three prominent environmental activists reflect on the state of the American green movement for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

The Mycenaean world was built on a solid base of bronze, but that edifice was found to have wooden feet.

Without instituting a fifth-period forestry class, federal officials want school kids to get outside and observe what’s there.

Once written off, the Delta of the Colorado River has found a hardy band of NGOs and local governments willing to sweat to keep it wet.

A movement aimed at tackling the energy crisis with aplomb has been stepping on the gas since its formation.

With 90 percent of its water diverted for agricultural and urban use, scientists and managers have to get creative about how they go about habitat restoration on the Colorado River.

Demonstration farm in rural California draws attention with its crop of unique building experiments.

Charging a nickel for every bag at the grocery store has created ‘a behavioral economist’s dream.’

Citizen crews sidestep bureaucracy to confront invasive species in Hawaii, the nation’s extinction capital.

From forest trails to NASA missions, researchers are trying to get a handle on what ‘old growth’ means and how it can be saved.

Coyote House, a living design lab, offers beauty as a way to solve design challenges.

The eponymous highlights of Glacier National Park are fast disappearing.

As Californians start looking seriously at using greywater for home irrigation, all roads — or pipes — lead to Art Ludwig.

Bone-dry California eases restrictions on greywater use, allowing wastewater from washing machines and bathtubs to spill onto the state’s lawns and lemon trees.

Scientists propose guardrails for how far mankind can push the planet tomorrow, while others examine how far collapsed civilizations pushed it yesterday.

Judy Hoy has tracked genital malformations among Montana’s roadkill for years. She’s been reporting disturbing trends for years, but few are paying her heed.

Engineers at Nissan creating a buzz with their ‘Safety Shield.’

Human error helped worsen a nuclear meltdown just outside Los Angeles, and now human inertia has stymied the radioactive cleanup for half a century.

There’s a brush war in the field of ecology in attempting to describe the basis for biodiversity. An experiment that mixes modeling and mud amid California’s wildflowers looks for some clarity.

Cost and carbon have chopped down the high hopes America’s Midwest had for growing the nation off climate-changing foreign oil.

The death spiral for global fish that has been reported with glum glee by the media can be reversed, according to a blue-ribbon panel of marine scientists.

Higher water bills spark ratepayer revolts but may also dampen Californians’ proclivity to use more wet stuff than necessary.

While lots of places and people are interested in sustainable chemistry, California has become a pioneer in requiring it.

A recent energy policy summit concluded what the Group of 8 powers are learning: The Third World may require help reducing heat-trapping gases.

Oh, sure, they look pretty, but don’t be fooled. Some flora will explode in your face, some will take over the earth if left unchecked, some could kill you or make you wish you were dead. Here is a top 10 list of the planet’s evil greens.

The transformation of landscapes to accommodate ‘friendly’ energy technologies like solar and wind are not inconsequential concerns, says a former Interior official.

Reprocessing spent nuclear fuel appeals to the modern urge to recycle, and some past concerns may be surmountable, but it remains an expensive and fraught process.

An angry Mother Nature and increasing urbanization have led Columbia’s Dickson Despommier to urge agriculturalists to consider tilling vertical farms in high-rises. A Miller-McCune.com interview.

Solar lanterns are already making some headway in India’s poorest areas, and a new study suggests they could be a bigger part of the effort to reduce fossil fuel use while improving lives.

Humans have shown they’re pretty much serial bunglers when it comes to managing fire, but some fire ecologists say that with global warming, mankind now really needs to learn how to manage change.

While some experts say mum’s the word when it comes to nanoproducts’ environmental safety, others believe that cannot be good for the future of the technology.

Who ya gonna call when your tank’s on ‘E,’ the topsoil’s salty or there’s too much TNT? The 10 plants Miller-McCune.com believes can save the world, that’s who.

Deforestation has long been associated with global warming, but a new paper suggests the method of deforesting — intentionally burning — may be a terrifically potent climate changer, too.

Aside from global climate change, carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to another equally disturbing global problem: Ocean acidification — and its potential effects on marine ecosystems, especially coral reefs — has biologists very concerned.

The marketing war between industry and environmentalists over the catchphrase belies a pragmatic truth: Both sides really want the same thing.

The co-author of A Golden Thread: 2500 Years of Solar Architecture and Technology takes a look at how white backgrounds — be they snow, concrete or rooftops — might help bend back a little bit of global warming.

Although it’s no surprise that any activity is better than none, hiking has specific medicinal benefits.

Two guys in a pickup truck brewing fuel from farmed trees and grasses aim to show Americans that switching to alternative fuels is a viable option right now.

Geothermal energy, dubbed by some as a ‘sleeping giant’ or renewable power in the United States, appears as one of the most attractive climate-friendly options available.

Environmental and scientific policy reversals signal difference between last and current presidential administrations.

A new generation of machines, some based on nature’s own designs, is mobilizing to draw cheap and carbon-free renewable energy from the seas.

In a nondescript industrial park near Portland, Ore., lies a solar gem that just might save the American Dream.

University centers harness brainpower and technology to stop wasting energy — conserve, baby, conserve!

The best of Miller-McCune magazine’s first year of publication, as chosen by Editor-in-Chief John Mecklin.

A host of meaningful stories from Miller-McCune.com’s first full year on the Web.

Can government incentives bring something besides fast food to South L.A.?

A respected geochemical engineer proposes a new way to deal with toxic waste: Make it into shrines that people can work, shop and even live on.

Bees do it. Frogs do it. And now scientists fear bats may be the next die-off victims.

An invasive ecological bad guy may be able to paper over his evil ways and absorb some carbon as well.

Scientists are working to put economic value on the natural world, hoping to create ecosystem-services markets that protect the environment. But are they really just putting out a contract on Mother Nature?

Analysis: Two prominent energy thinkers suggest a direction for what to do as the spigots start trailing off — which they feel is much closer than do most in the industry.

A new paper suggests fishery collapse isn’t inevitable if those harvesting seafood share what’s there.

New Orleans’ plans for getting carless residents out of danger overcame initial obstacles only to founder later.

The lure of a cool blast costs 22,000 barrels of oil and pumps out tons of carbon dioxide.

Analysis: Writer Bruce Allen claims that picking the right solar options can power America’s clean electricity and transportation future.

With a clear cash incentive to reduce garbage, the ‘one-can’ concept gains ground.

For your Labor Day weekend reading pleasure, we have crafted summaries of recent research papers focusing on unions, strikes and the attitudes of workers. Collectively a bargain, they come to you fresh off the Miller-McCune factory floor.

Mother Nature needs to be allowed to protect New Orleans from … Mother Nature.

Salt buildup in America’s most productive farming area could idle thousands of acres. But there are, ahem, solutions …

In planning a diet based on global concerns, sometimes it’s better that there are miles to go before you eat.

Like the advice given to Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, some people think the future of solar cells lies in plastics. Here’s why.

Conservation used to be the province of the bold, not the pinched. The Everglades deal is a return to form.

Different constituencies’ visions of Everglades restoration may not look all that alike.

An ambitious plan to restore the Everglades to a pre-development condition may be plain impossible.

Humankind can learn a lot from the power of circadian clocks and sunlight observation that are child’s play to monarch butterflies.

Biomass, for those areas with a reliable supply of woody waste, could be a dream source of renewable energy and the ideal enemy of carbon release. If only someone would try it …

Solar is a great theoretical answer to climate concerns and energy independence. Although some nettlesome questions keep it from becoming a practical solution, skyrocketing oil makes some answers more palatable.

We’ve got deserts with no people and people with no power. So, like an electrical Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, we’ve got thinkers with an idea …

North America’s monarch ‘is one of the largest of our butterflies and rules a vast domain.’ But it’s in trouble on both ends of its massive migration.

A conversation with renowned entomologist Hans Herren on a United Nations report calling for changes in how the world produces its food.

It’s a zero-sum game between conservationists and four-wheelers, according to a University of Idaho academic, and one that those who favor the pristine can never win.

While industrial production of ethanol may not be the savior as it was once heralded, home distillers are willing to tap into a more parochial form of energy independence.

Ken Nedimyer and the Nature Conservancy find coral tough enough to withstand global warming.

A discussion with ecologist Alan Townsend on mankind’s love-hate relationship with nitrogen, and how this marriage can be saved.

The recent temblor that left the Midwest shaken shows that there’s nowhere that’s absolutely free of earthquake danger.

Keeping trace contaminants out of drinking water is easier and cheaper than removing them later.

In the wildflower meadows of the West, we may be hearing the whisperings of a post-climate-change world.

The cheapest solar technology is just situating your home or office in the right direction when it’s built. You don’t have to be Socrates to understand the concept — but it might help.

The revival of Cleveland’s incendiary Cuyahoga River teaches that environmental restoration, no matter how daunting, is possible.

Sticking solar concentrators where the sun shines could potentially generate phenomenal amounts of electricity. But the perfect technology doesn’t yet exist.

The United States has built one of the most advanced technological societies the world has ever seen, but we still don’t really know when spring starts.

Two new surveys regarding Americans’ attitudes toward climate change suggest that Americans have yet to make a personal connection to the issue.

The German experience offers an excellent model for creating a solar cell marketplace.

How the in-space success of the world’s first solar cell-powered satellite encouraged their commercialization across the globe.

Ecological sanitation, or ‘ecosan,’ can provide both improved hygiene and an income for the majority of the world, where just getting a sip of clean water can be a challenge.

Sterilizing the family farm may not be the best way to keep E. coli out of your salad.

Climate change and fossil-fuel costs have re-energized the flickering nuclear movement in the United States, but many proponents are the fairest-weather of friends.

When people think of solar these days, photovoltaics, or solar cells, pop into their heads. But there is just so much more than merely PV when it comes to solar devices.

Individual states are taking occasionally painful steps to rein in emissions.

Some commercial adventurers are considering topping off their tank with pond scum, an approach that gains currency as other biofuels lose some luster.

The United States remains on the low end of countries using energy powered by wind. Experts point to tax credits as a factor in efforts to establish wind as an energy source.

While geographer Alan Grainger has upset conventional wisdom by suggesting the world’s tropical forests are not shrinking, he sees his research as a clarion call.

Build new, low-impact hydropower facilities but keep the old: Large dams already in existence can be improved.

Hydropower will never be the complete answer to emissions-free energy production in the U.S., but a strong case can be made for it becoming a useful part of the answer.

Looking at the untapped potential for hydropower to supply the U.S. with carbon-free electricity, Lea-Rachel Kosnik finds ample opportunities for expanding hydro.

Cleaning up a broken compact fluorescent bulb (and the toxic mercury inside) can turn any living room into a hazmat site.

Take that, hakuna matata. The Disney-fied notion that, left to its own devices, nature will always revert to an idyllic equilibrium is a dangerous fallacy, say two researchers. The cultural bias colors discussions on climate change.

Reports show the ocean’s unique ecosystems are adapting to fluctuation in water temperatures likely caused by global warming, but increasing acidic levels may prove fatal for the world’s coral reefs.

A roundup of research taken in the wake of the Bali summit on climate change finds little to warm the heart with the one exception that Atlantic hurricanes may grow more numerous but less fierce.

While it’s widely acknowledged that forests can be useful for holding carbon, they release phenomenal amounts of greenhouse gases when they burn.