Tag: environment
Louisiana bayou slow to recover from Gulf oil spill
Many ecosystems along the Gulf coast have been slow to recover from the BP oil spill in 2010. But few have struggled as much as Louisiana's coastal wetlands, where the annual erosion rate doubled from five to 10 feet over an 18-month period....
Forest fires, power outages make nation-wide sweltering heat more troubling
As the country deals with its first persistent heat wave of the summer, storms over the weekend left millions without power and, therefore, air conditioning. It's also made things tougher for firefighters fighting fires throughout the American west....
Key West officials debate use of genetically modified mosquito to fight Dengue fever
Officials in the Florida Keys are hoping to enlist genetically modified mosquitoes in their fight against Dengue fever. Though countries like Brazil and Malaysia have already implemented the new technology, the United States has yet to determine if it poses any potential risks. ...
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....
