Month: February 2011

  • Fracking Ground Water

    Congress commissioned the Environmental Protection Agency to study hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, after complaints that the process pollutes water. The EPA is slated to make public initial results of the study by the end of next year. Natural gas plays a key role in our nation’s clean energy future and the process known as hydraulic…

  • Victory for the Jersey Shore: Governor Vetoes Offshore LNG Port

    For the past few years, Liberty Natural Gas has been trying to construct an offshore port for the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The port would be located about 15 miles off the coast of Asbury Park, NJ, and a gas pipeline would be constructed along the sea floor that would deliver an estimated…

  • Batteries that Breathe

    Lithium-ion batteries need to be recharged too frequently to make them useful in electric cars. But replacing an electrode with air could more than double energy storage. Researchers estimate that a lithium-air battery could hold 5 to 10 times as much energy as a lithium-ion battery of the same weight and double the amount for…

  • Whooping cranes to be reintroduced in Louisiana

    Ten whooping cranes, the most endangered species of crane in the world, will be reintroduced in a Louisiana conservation area more than 60 years after the birds’ numbers dwindled to near zero, the U.S. Interior Department said on Tuesday. “The whooping crane is an iconic species that should be returned and restored to health along…

  • Thunder Snow!

    Thundersnow, also known as a winter thunderstorm or a thunder snowstorm, is a relatively rare kind of thunderstorm with snow falling as the primary precipitation instead of rain. It typically falls in regions of strong upward motion within the cold sector of an extratropical cyclone, where the precipitation consists of ice pellets rather than snow.…

  • Bushmeat trade pushing species to the edge in Tanzania

    Hunters are decimating species in the Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve, a part of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Southern Tanzania, according to a new report compiled by international and Tanzanian conservationists. Incorporating three research projects, the report finds that bushmeat hunting in conjunction with forest degradation imperils the ecology of the protected area.

  • EPA Considers Adding Vapor Intrusion Pathway to Superfund Ranking System

    For over two decades, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has considered four exposure pathways in determining whether to list contaminated sites on the Superfund National Priorities List (“NPL”): groundwater, surface water, soil and air. In a Federal Register notice published January 31, 2011, EPA solicited public comment on the potential addition of a fifth pathway:…

  • Mercury Levels in Fish Higher Than Previously Estimated

    As a chef of over twenty years who has been dedicated to serving wholesome, transparently procured food, I was struck recently while reading an article about a 2010 study by www.GotMercury.org an off shoot of The Turtle Island Institute. The study assessed the levels of Methymercury in swordfish and tuna in a variety of restaurant…

  • Study links Yellowstone bison fate to genetic flaw

    A congenital defect combined with U.S. government plans to kill bison exposed to an infectious cattle disease could doom America’s last wild herd of pure-bred buffalo at Yellowstone National Park, a genetics expert said in a new study. The findings were posted on Monday in Nature Precedings, an online archive for pre-publication research by scientists,…

  • The Dunes of Mars

    A dune is a hill of sand built by the wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter slip face in the lee of the wind. Dunes can be found in any environment…