Whatever the weather in Europe, EUMETSAT’s meteorological satellites will be observing it. The good news for researchers, climate modellers, and amateur meteorologists is that the data they produce are freely available for non-commercial or research purposes. You can even set up your own reception station.
For one-sixth of the world’s population – roughly 1 billion children, women and men – growing, buying or receiving adequate, affordable food to eat is a daily uncertainty. The World Monetary Fund reports that food prices worldwide increased 43 percent in 2007-2008, and unpredictable growing conditions make subsistence farming, on which many depend, a risky business. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are part of a network of both private and government institutions that monitor food security in many of the poorest nations in the world.
The maple tree, admired for its glorious foliage and sweet sap, and seemingly ubiquitous in some parts of the world, is under threat of extinction. A recent study led by the UK-based conservation organization Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) has shown that nearly a third of all maple species are under threat of extinction in their native habitats. Of the 119 maple species assessed, 54 are considered at risk today, and a further 29 species are likely to become threatened in the near future.
A practice that started in the late 1800s is experiencing a sustainable resurgence as communities begin to construct super efficient houses out of bales of straw. In this article Emily Sullivan explains how using straw bales to build houses not only greatly reduces our footprint on the Earth, but also improves communities through job creation and economic improvement.
There is a definite cause-effect relationship between the environment and human health, one of direct dependency. To put it in simple terms, the healthier the Earth is, the healthier its inhabitants. It’s something that is pretty obvious if only we stop to think about it, but since most of us are busy with our own lives, we fail to see how the two are interlinked.
Julia Cechvala explains that laughing at our current environmental crisis – with a little help from various eco-cartoonists – is not only a healthy exercise, but can actually drive the point home easier than words alone.
Botulinum neurotoxin is produced by the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is the most poisonous poison known. Very small amounts of botulinum toxin can lead to botulism, a descending paralysis with prominent bulbar symptoms and often affecting the autonomic nervous system.
Among the biggest challenges the world faces today are the climate crisis and the broader issues of environmental sustainability raised in books such as Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Viking, 2004). Part of the solution to this problem depends on climate science, breakthrough technologies, and policy changes.
The epic drought that stretched across the southeastern U.S. in 2007 won’t be forgotten soon. Water supplies plunged to perilously low levels and public officials imposed draconian conservation measures to protect a resource that had become more valuable than gold.
