EarthScape

Mars is too cold. Venus too hot. Earth is just right in terms of temperature for us to live. How does this all affect climate change? The notion that scientists understand how changes in Earth’s orbit affect climate well enough for estimating long term natural climate trends is challenged in a recent study.

Are warming conditions in the Arctic unprecedented in Earth’s history? It turns out that they are not. The Earth’s climate has gone through warming and cooling times in the past as can be seen in the fossil record that shows tropical species in regions now too cool to support them. These past variations were obviously…

Climate change has affected Kenyan coffee production through unpredictable rainfall patterns and excessive droughts, making crop management and disease control a nightmare, a researcher said on Thursday. Intermittent rainfall in the 2007/08 crop year, for example, caused a terrible bout of the Coffee Berry Disease that cut Kenyan output 23 percent to 42,000 metric tons…

We live in a strongly climate-oriented era, where each one of us is called to choose between sides; are we among the “believers” or the “infidels” of the “Global Warming?”. Two decades ago, a part of the scientific community started engaging in intense discussions around the “unusual” temperature trends which, for the northern hemisphere, had…

Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil or animal fat based diesel fuel consisting of long chain alkyl is typically made by chemically these oils with an alcohol. Biodiesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines. Biodiesel can…

A fresh coat of paint can change a room from dreary to divine. Stains, sealants, caulks, and adhesives help you build everything from a new bathroom to a bookcase. But all these useful products can also introduce unhealthy chemicals into your home and your body. Low-VOC paint The biggest culprit is VOCs, or “volatile organic…

It is very cold in most of the US this winter. It brings to mind is it so cold that you can freeze to death as well as what happened to global warming? Cooling as well as warming trends have happened before and will happen again. Back in the 1970’s for example winters turned significantly…

I have immense respect for Robert F Kennedy Jr, and have been frequently moved by his outstanding speeches on big-picture environmental topics. I’m not alone, however, in continuing to be surprised and baffled at the Kennedy tradition of steadfastly opposing the Cape Wind turbine project, the first major offshore wind energy project in the US,…

The United States Environmental Protection Agency proposed new stricter health standards for Ozone. Ozone is linked to a number of serious health problems, ranging from aggravation of asthma to increased risk of premature death in people with heart or lung disease. Ozone can also harm healthy people who work and play outdoors. Children are at…

More beautiful open space is being preserved in New Jersey. In this heavily populated state, there is reason to celebrate the preservation of areas of natural beauty and wildlife habitat. Conserving this land also protects important groundwater aquifers. The first of two long-anticipated conservation projects within the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge was recently completed,…