Tag: environment
Sweden imports waste from European neighbors to fuel waste-to-energy program
Sweden's successful waste-to-energy program converts household waste into energy for heating and electricity. But they've run into an unusual problem: they simply aren't generating enough trash to power the incinerators, so they've begun importing waste from European neighbors....
United States debates joining Law of the Sea
The race is on for oil and minerals under the melting Arctic ice. But the U.S. is still not on board with the Law of the Sea, the United Nations treaty on who gets access to ocean resources. ...
At Rio+20 Summit, little actual disappointment over lack of progress
As the global economic crisis has consumed more and more time and attention, focus on the global warming crisis has waned. So it wasn't surprising when President Barack Obama chose not to attend the Rio+20 conference this week in Brazil, and it also was unsurprising when there was little progress reported there....
New study finds greater risk of wildfires in U.S. from climate change; others see decline
A new study out of Texas Tech University found that all corners of the world aren't in fact equal in terms of how climate change will alter the risk for wildfires. In fact, while the United States will see -- and is seeing -- an increase in wildfires, other parts of the world are in line to see their wildfires decrease....
Boston's mass transit system burdened by debt and increased ridership
A flawed highway construction project has put the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority nearly $9 billion in debt. The costly project forced MBTA officials to answer two fundamental questions about their 100-year-old system: Who benefits from it and ultimately, who should pay for it?...
Turks suspicious after a dead 'Israeli' bird found in a field
Turkish media took a conspiratorial turn recently after a bird was found in a field, dead, with a metal band around its leg. The band said "Israel Tel Aviv," which immediately raised suspicions that the bird was on an espionage mission. Of course it wasn't, but it's not the first time banded animals aroused suspicion of nefarious intentions....
What's behind the grizzly bear attacks in Yellowstone?
Grizzly bears killed two people last year in Yellowstone National Park. After 24 years of no deadly encounters, many people were left wondering what caused the fatal attacks. Some said global warming had depleted the bears' normal food sources. Others say the answer is much simpler....
New effort to dismantle aging U.S. dams aims to improve wildlife habitats
Some 1,000 U.S. dams have been dismantled in the past 100 years — but the pace has definitely been accelerating in recent years. Now, there's a major initiative underway to take apart old dams that serve little purpose as a way of restoring fish habitat and rebuilding aquatic ecosystems....
As ocean gets more acidic, situation is exacerbated in Puget Sound
The carbon dioxide we release is absorbed by the Earth's oceans. But it doesn't just benignly vanish. It's eventually released into the water, making the water more acidic. That's feeding algae blooms and killing some animals. In the Puget Sound, the situation is even worse....
Lawsuit over BP oil spill threatens academic freedom, critics say
The multinational oil company BP recently was allowed to move ahead with a subpoena to gain access to 3,000 emails among the first scientists who showed up to measure the oil spilling from the Deep Water Horizon and contain the damage. Critics say BP's subpoena will have a harmful effect on academic freedom....
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