EarthScape

Research conducted over the past 11 years at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier will help ensure the safety of California’s $1.16 billion pistachio crop. This summer, for the first time, a beneficial fungus is being used in San Joaquin Valley pistachio orchards to protect the pistachio nuts from aflatoxin contamination.…

Last week ENN Affiliate TriplePundit covered Apple’s withdrawal from EPEAT. Shortly after this, the city of San Francisco banned all its employees from using Apple products for city business as by law it is necessary that all IT equipment be 100 percent EPEAT certified. It was also expected that several education and government bodies would…

At some point today, you will probably flip on a light switch. That simple action connects you to the oldest and most plentiful source of American electricity: coal. Since the early 1880s — when Edison and Tesla pioneered the distribution of electrical power into our homes — most of that power has come from the…

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) – a cap-and-trade program designed to limit power plant emissions in 10 Northeastern states – has been under close scrutiny in recent months as a result of lawsuits in New Jersey and New York, and legislation in New Hampshire. Each of these developments demonstrates the polarization and controversy that…

A study lead by researchers from Brigham and Women’s hospital (BWH) shows an association between increased concentrations of phthalates in the body and an increased risk of diabetes in women. Phthalates are endocrine disrupting chemicals that are commonly found in female personal care products such as moisturizers, nail polishes, soaps, hair sprays and perfumes. They…

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. Scientists have discovered two viruses that appear to infect the single-celled microalgae that reside in…

Former Secretary of State George Shultz is calling for a carbon tax to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and oil consumption, according to an interview released today by Stanford University. Shultz, who served as secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan as well as a number of other roles under previous Republican administrations, is heading…

On a quiet stretch of coastline along the western shore of the Dead Sea, a sinkhole had swallowed a piece of a road, pulling in concrete and rusted fence posts. The sea lay a short distance beyond, its turquoise-colored waters dropping at the rate of more than one meter a year. The sinkholes are among…

There have been many invasions of foreign species into new territories. Asian carp may pose substantial environmental risk to the Great Lakes if they become established there, according to a bi-national Canadian and United States risk assessment released today. Bighead and silver carps — two species of Asian carp — pose an environmental risk to…

Indonesian authorities are failing to take action against a palm oil company that is operating illegally in Central Kalimantan, alleges a new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Telapak. The report, published Thursday, says that authorities have failed to conduct a criminal investigation into the illegal conversion of more than 23,000 hectares of…