Scientists have long thought that nature is good for human health, but finding strong evidence to support this isn’t easy. Now, a study has linked the decimation of about 100 million trees—killed by the invasive emerald ash borer—to higher rates of cardiovascular- and lower respiratory disease–related deaths.
One of the most convincing studies on […] Read More »
How can people be convinced to act in a greener way? Environmental campaigns have tried everything, from extolling the cost savings of cutting electricity use to bemoaning the devastation of our planet. But neither approach may be the most effective, two new studies suggest. Instead, the best way to encourage environmentally friendly behavior might […] Read More »
By Emma Marris
Chances are good that somewhere in your house—in your fridge or your bathroom, probably—you’ve got a container with the title of Nathanael Johnson’s new book on it: All Natural. It is calming, reassuring, and totally meaningless. The phrase has no regulatory definition; companies can slap it onto whatever perfumed synthetic stew […] Read More »
Eating AliensBy Jackson LandersStorey Publishing, 2012
Jackson Landers stalks black spiny-tailed iguanas from an electric golf cart in Florida and catches carp with globs of oatmeal in Massachusetts—all in the name of eating invasive species to keep their populations in check. In this combination travelogue/invasive species primer, Landers recounts how he hunts, cooks, and then […] Read More »
By Jeffrey A. Lockwood
The title and cover of David Quammen’s newest book would lead one to guess that this consistently brilliant writer has crafted a terrifying tale about how we’re all going to be infected by a microbe that originates in a crazed monkey and makes us hemorrhage to death unless we pour […] Read More »
By Peter Kareiva
Before you read any further, please answer the question in the headline. Finished? Now read on.
I’m guessing that a lot of you answered yes. Now let’s think this through: We have 7 billion people on the planet.
Were 5 billion too many?
Were 3 billion people too many?
Were 1 […] Read More »
If you buy eco-friendly fish at the supermarket, you could be doing your body a favor. According to a new study, unsustainably harvested seafood also tends to pose more health risks.
Today’s consumers are awash in information about what kind of seafood to buy. Many educational campaigns offer recommendations for sustainable fish, and some […] Read More »
Wild animals in Iowa are carrying an antibiotic-resistant superbug, scientists have reported in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases.
The pathogen, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is a bacterium that can resist antibiotics called beta-lactams, which include penicillin and methicillin. Humans infected with MRSA often suffer from rashes and abscesses; if the bacteria enter the bloodstream, […] Read More »
The Kingdom of RaritiesBy Eric DinersteinIsland Press, 2013
“Rarity has an allure all its own,” writes Eric Dinerstein, chief scientist with the World Wildlife Fund. Scientists are seduced by rarity and novelty, he says, in the same way that art collectors, wine connoisseurs, and others are drawn to pay exorbitant prices for novelties. Dinerstein captures […] Read More »
When poachers approach the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve near Johannesburg, South Africa, they quickly learn that they won’t find anything of value there. Yes, the reserve is home to rhinoceroses, whose horns fetch top dollar—up to twice the price of gold—for use in traditional Asian medicine, but signs surrounding the park tell poachers […] Read More »
Before congratulating yourself for recycling that sheaf of paper, you might want to think about how much you used. According to a new study, people tend to fritter away more resources when they know they can recycle them.
The idea for the study arose when Jesse Catlin and Yitong Wang, then graduate students at […] Read More »
By Emma Marris
One summer afternoon I bobbed on the waters of a river with an Indian name, watching a kingfisher dive for fish. Osprey perched nearby, and a few feet from my kayak a salmon jumped with an impressive splash. Was I on the Sol Duc River in Olympic National Park, perhaps, or […] Read More »
By James McWilliams
Not too long ago, Americans were waging cultural wars over topics as explosive as reproductive rights and capital punishment. Today, in a development few could have predicted even a decade ago, we now rage over the politics of food production. In a nation that engineered the Twinkie, it seems any emphasis […] Read More »
By Rob Dunn
We live at the crossroads of three global megatrends, three barreling and intertwined juggernauts of modernity. The first is the massive migration of humanity to the world’s cities. I grew up in a small town, walking deer trails beneath the shade of maples and oaks. Now I live with my kids […] Read More »
By David Ropeik
Michael, a 55-year-old friend of mine, has cut way back on eating certain species of seafood because the government says those species may carry high levels of mercury. But the levels of mercury in those fish pose almost no risk to 55-year-old males, although they can be risky for fetuses and […] Read More »
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