Category: News

  • Weather Rarity: Snow in 49 States

    Get out the toboggans and winter gloves: There’s snow on the ground in 49 out of 50 U.S. states – including Hawaii. The only state that isn’t at least partially a winter wonderland today is Florida, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The agency estimates that 70.9 percent of the country is currently covered…

  • Wolves, bears blamed for decline of elk in Yellowstone

    Wolves and grizzly bears are mostly to blame for a steep population decline in a signature elk herd in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park, government scientists said on Wednesday. The elk population in the northern section of the park is prized by sportsmen who hunt outside Yellowstone boundaries in Montana and by the…

  • Snow, Snow, Everywhere

    Is it growing warmer or it growing colder? In the US and in Europe it is hard to tell this year. As of now about 71% of the USA is covered with a layer of snow. Comparing earlier January amounts this is the highest in the last 7 years. 2010 was 56% with a low…

  • Rhino poaching in South Africa reaches highest ever levels in 2010

    A total of 333 rhinos were illegally killed in South Africa in 2010, including ten critically endangered black rhinos, according to national park officials. The yearly total is the highest ever experienced in South Africa and nearly triple 2009 when 122 rhinos were killed in the country. An additional five rhinos have been lost to…

  • Study Estimates Land Available for Biofuel Crops

    ScienceDaily (Jan. 10, 2011) — Using detailed land analysis, Illinois researchers have found that biofuel crops cultivated on available land could produce up to half of the world’s current fuel consumption — without affecting food crops or pastureland.

  • E-readers vs. old fashioned books—which is greener?

    A relatively new phenomenon is the E-Reader, be it Kindle, iPad, or a number of other new competitors coming into the marketplace. When you think about it, these devices would seem to be more environmentally friendly than your typical paper and cardboard book, even a paperback. Should we be buying our loved ones e-readers or…

  • “End of Days” bird kill just a fraction of real death toll

    The sudden en-masse deaths of thousands of birds in the Southern U.S. on the night of New Year’s Eve have created a frenzy of media attention, but in reality hardly compare to the massive number that die each year because of human activity.

  • 2010 hottest year on record for Canada

    Canada had its warmest year on record in 2010, according to the country’s environmental agency, with the biggest impact seen in the Arctic region. The national average temperature for the year was 3 degrees Celsius above normal, based on preliminary data, according to a report put on Environment Canada’s website on Monday. That made it…

  • Prison Air Pollution

    Prisons are where they keep criminals. What has that to do with the environment? The answer is that prisons need to be heated and like industrial boilers or even home heating systems they must burn fuel and in the combustion release potential air pollutants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice…

  • Mass Wildlife Die-Off Events

    On New Year’s Eve, over 3,000 red-winged blackbirds inexplicably plummeted to their deaths from the skies over Arkansas. They may have struck something while in the air such as lightning or hail. It is also possible that the ground itself caused their deaths, and they were merely rendered unconscious while flying by some mysterious force.…