Ukraine’s Donbas bears the brunt of toxic armed conflict
Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region is an area with a fairly favourable climate, home to high plant biodiversity. In spring, several species of feather, sheep fescue…
Nature & Environment
Science denialism is dangerous. But so is science imperialism.
Calls for strict science-based decision making on complex issues like GMOs and geoengineering can shortchange consideration of ethics and social impacts. “Your scientists were so…
Ozone pollution in US national parks is nearly the same as in large cities
“Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue” John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra (1911) Most…
The Great Inequity of Climate Change
Climate change is a multifaceted phenomenon but is also iniquitous. It affects the most disadvantaged countries harder. In a papal encyclical letter called “Laudato Si”…
Planet or plastic?
Out of sight, out of mind, they say. I’m originally from Finland, a country that prides itself on having the purest air in the world,…
Grass Lawns are an Ecological Catastrophe
Are American lawns beautiful visions of nature? Or ecological calamities? Unfortunately, the grass leaves in our parks leave havoc in their wake. Lawns are extremely…
What Does China’s “Ecological Civilization” Mean for Humanity’s Future?
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, affirms an ecological vision that is in line with progressive environmental thought. Is it mere rhetoric or does it have a…
Let’s follow new zealand’s lead and make people and nature as important as gdp
By requiring planners to consider impacts on society and the environment as well as economics, New Zealand is setting a much-needed example for other nations….
Permafrost and wetland emissions could cut 1.5°C carbon budget ‘by five years’
Emissions of CO2 and methane from wetlands and thawing permafrost as the climate warms could cut the “carbon budget” for the Paris Agreement temperature limits…
Pleistocene Park: protecting the future by returning to the past
It is a well-known fact that burning fossil fuels causes the buildup of greenhouse gases which leads to global warming. This results in melting permafrost…
From Australia to El Salvador to Vietnam, the environment is finally getting its day in court
When the improper disposal of wastewater from the construction site of a joint shopping center and apartment complex threatened to contaminate hundreds of residents’ water…
How the growing “One Water” movement is not only helping the environment but also saving millions of dollars
Solutions to floods, droughts and pollution that look upstream, downstream and everywhere in between save dollars and make sense. The Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District in…
The race is on to decarbonize the 50,000-plus ships that carry our stuff around the world
International shipping produces as much CO2 as aircraft. Here’s what we can do about that. May 3, 2018 — Watch out for the return of…