Dear EarthTalk: I understand that, among mining”™s other problems, like providing climate-warming coal and endangering miners”™ lives, it is also a serious water polluter. Can you enlighten? Mining disasters have grabbed a lot of headlines of late, but mines pose another insidious threat that tends to get little press attention: pollution of the nearby environment [...]
“A growing, more affluent population competing for ever scarcer resources could make for an “unrecognizable” world by 2050, researchers warned at a major US science conference Sunday.” Do we as humans have innate, unstoppable desire to kill ourselves off? Do we really care more about material possessions like money, cars, and houses than we do [...]
Why can”™t the United States of America ban the obsolete and unnecessary plastic bag? Many communities around the country have tried and a few have even succeeded thus far, with San Francisco, Maui, San Jose, Long Beach, Portland OR, and the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles immediately coming to mind. But while our cities and [...]
Dear EarthTalk: Can pollution affect my child’s IQ? A spate of recent studies suggests that pollution can indeed affect the intelligence of children of all ages (even those still in utero). The primary culprit is smog – ground level pollution comprised of vehicle and smokestack emissions that can form a dense haze on and near [...]
Care to see what quality of air you may be breathing? Maybe it’s time to check out the American Lung Association’s annual Most Polluted Cities rankings, assembled using data from the Environmental Protection Agency. Considered a yearly report card on air pollution in communities across the nation, they also offer information on how to protect [...]
Dear EarthTalk: Has China been making any progress reducing its output of global warming gases, and/or in tackling other environmental problems? Decades of rapid-fire development and lack of government oversight has meant that China now faces some serious environmental challenges. According to research by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, China surpassed the United States as [...]
Dear EarthTalk: What effects do fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides used on residential lawns or on farms have on nearby water bodies like rivers, streams or even the ocean for those of us who live near the shore? With the advent of the so-called Green Revolution in the second half of the 20th century-when farmers began [...]
