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Imagine a world where 100% of material resources—such as copper, lead, zinc, lithium—were recycled, all nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer applied to crops was recovered, and all trees cut for timber were replanted

The northeast is one of the country’s most thoroughly forested regions, with forests covering two-thirds of the nine northeastern states. But that statistic belies the extraordinary wave of logging and clearing of land for agriculture that followed European settlement 400 years ago.

A few weeks ago, when Apex Clean Energy of Charlottesville, Virginia announced its plans to build a 126-MW wind farm in rural, eastern Maine, I braced myself for an onslaught of outrage from local citizens.

As the world fights the coronavirus, researchers are testing a model that can predict which animal species have a higher risk of spreading a zoonotic disease.

When photographed from space, the Earth appears as a blue planet, with swirls of clouds passing over its surface that circulate its atmosphere from pole to pole and top to bottom, mixing it over time periods of a few months.

Many of us assume that avoiding toxics found in poor quality air simply requires avoiding occupational exposure, or at most, refraining from tobacco use, either by not smoking or by not being in a room occupied by smoking individuals.

Although often attributed to Sir John Crapper, it was Alexander Cumming who perfected the design of the flush toilet in 1775, forever changing the way that humans dispose of their personal waste.

One of the flip-sides of global warming is the increasing likelihood of widespread drought. The effects of drought on crops are well known, but drought is also likely to take its toll on forests

Nearly all nitrogen pollution stems from agriculture, which strives to feed more than 7 billion of us with low-cost abundance. Compared to industry, we’ve been reluctant to point the finger at farmers, but now it’s time.

A local resident here in Maine asked what she should do for an injured hummingbird. After a long winter and sluggish spring, we relish the return of hummingbirds. And, considering that during its northward migration it had probably covered more than 3000 miles, including a 500-mile non-stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico, it is sad to see a bird get injured just when it has arrived at its summer home.

One of the worst proposals by the Trump Administration is to roll back some protections of the Clean Water Act for surface waters. This comes at a time when the future quality and quantity of fresh water for human use is uncertain.

Noise in the sea is of immediate relevance to life in the sea. Whales and dolphins emit sounds over a wide range of frequencies to communicate. Increasing background noise from large ships, seismic testing, and oil drilling make communication more difficult, similar to living next to a construction site.

Amongst the 80,000 compounds that help promise “better living through chemistry,” are 3,000 or so perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS) that repel grease and water. These have widespread use in non-stick surfaces (Teflon), raincoats, stain-proof coatings, and fire-fighting foams.

Deduced from a variety of methods, the average rise in sea level has been about 1 to 2 mm/yr for the last 100 years, but recent rates are now ≥ 3 mm/yr and accelerating.

Forty-nine years ago today, we celebrated the first Earth Day. Environmental degradation had grown too obvious to ignore, and scientists demanded action. President Nixon moved to create the Environmental Protection Agency and soon the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act followed.

With an increasing concentration of the human population in cities, it is worth asking if city-life or country-life casts more impact on the environment.

Loyola University aquatic ecologist Timothy Hoellein discusses the ecology of plastic garbage – including its production, disposal, and accumulation in the environment.

Political ecologist Marissa Matsler is a Postdoctoral Associate at Cary, working with Peter Groffman. Marissa’s research focuses on who green infrastructure affects, and how. Matsler draws from urban ecology, sociology, political ecology, and science and technology studies theory to understand how water can be sustainably and equitably managed in cities. 

Thirty years ago, a NASA scientist, Dave Rind, published a paper showing the enhanced likelihood of droughts with global warming. His view was prescient. Rind reasoned that with global warming the land surface would warm faster than the oceans. 

Science is facing a deepening crisis in America. Despite our best efforts to increase funding for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education to train a new generation of scientists, we are seeing an increasing denial of science by the general public—often spread by cell phone and social media, paradoxically two of the most visible products that computer science has brought to us.