The signs are all around. Many places in the world show degradation of the air, water, and soil. Species becoming extinct as natural habitats are being destroyed. The emissions of greenhouse gases that can alter the planet’s climate are unacceptable. All the environmental issues put together amount to a very serious threat to human welfare.…

The horseshoe crab is one of the most ancient animals on the planet today. They have survived massive upheavals throughout the Earth’s history and have remained intact and unchanged. Recently their numbers have been in decline, and this is thought to be due to coastal habitat destruction and over-harvesting; they are often used as bait,…

Carbon Dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, is intricately linked to global warming. The largest store of CO2 is the world’s oceans. How the oceans sequester or release CO2 to or from the atmosphere is important to understand as mankind alters Earth’s climate with the burning of fossil fuels. A new report from researchers at the…

Every year an amazing event happens on this small island, owned by Australia, which is 220 miles away from the nearest land mass. Christmas Island’s geographic isolation and history of limited human disturbance has brought about a high level of species not found elsewhere in the world. Among these species is the Christmas Island Red…

Rachel Carson is widely considered the founder of the modern environmental movement. Through her book, “Silent Spring,” she opened the public’s eyes to the damages caused by the pesticide DDT. From that point on, society realized they have a much greater influence on the environment than previously thought. Borrowing the title from another one of…

Artificial light has, throughout history, been a powerful force contributing to the quality and productivity of human life. It is so significant to human life that society spends an enormous amount of energy to produce it. Currently, there is new artificial lighting emerging on the market place. These new technologies, in the form of solid-state…

Vitamin D is a type of fat-soluble steroid that can take two separate forms, vitamin D2 and D3, whose actual names are Ergocalciferol and Cholecalciferol. It is produced in the skin from exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the sun. This is the primary way to build up vitamin D, but it can also be ingested in…

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has successfully completed the cleanup of a superfund site in Long Hill Township and Harding Township, Morris County, NJ. The site, at the edge of a National Wildlife Refuge, had formerly served as an asbestos dump. It has now been removed from the National Priorities List of hazardous waste…

Ice can exist on the equator, so long as it’s at a high elevation. The Indonesian mountain ridge, which rises to 16,000 feet on the island of New Guinea, supports the presence of such an ice field. According to a study by researchers from Ohio State University, that tropical ice field can disappear within a…

Since the Obama Administration came to power in Washington, the EPA has taken upon itself the mission of addressing global climate change. They have been very proactive in getting information out confirming that climate change exists and that it is caused, at least in part, by human activities. Ten petitions were sent to the agency…