environment

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The Gross Ways That Plastic-Bag Bans Backfire

Reusable bags are home to all kinds of germs: Ramesh Ponnuru

(Newser) - Environmental concerns have spurred plastic bag bans or fees in US cities ranging from Los Angeles to Washington—but these measures come with "unintended consequences" that "can be, among other things, kind of gross," writes Ramesh Ponnuru at Bloomberg . It seems that reusable shopping bags can carry...

Sitting in Traffic Cost Us Each $800 in 2011

Commuters released 56B extra pounds of carbon dioxide: study

(Newser) - This may not do much to quell road rage: America's commuters each wasted an average of $818 in time and gas while stuck in traffic in 2011, a yearly study finds, for a total of $121 billion nationwide. That's up $1 billion from the year before, the AP...

Cats Kill Billions of Birds a Year
 Cats Kill Billions of Birds a Year 
new study
Jan 30, 2013 8:56 AM CST

Cats Kill Billions of Birds a Year

And even more mammals: study

(Newser) - Forget the adorable YouTube videos—cats are cold-blooded killers, or so says a new study that attempted to quantify the toll felines take on birds and other wildlife. NPR has the numbers: Of the estimated 84 million pet cats owned by Americans, researchers determined as many as 47 million are...

Nebraska OKs Route for Keystone Pipeline

Obama will have 'stark' choice soon, says one blogger

(Newser) - The controversial and long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline just cleared a major hurdle: Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman says the state is fine with an alternative route that avoids an environmentally fragile area knows as the Sand Hills, reports NPR . (Read his full letter to President Obama here .) Nebraska's...

US Report: Climate Change Already Taking Heavy Toll

National Climate Assessment offers bleak overview

(Newser) - A federal advisory panel has delivered its assessment on climate change, and it's not pretty. Expect hotter temperatures and more "extreme weather events" across the US in coming decades, says the panel of 240 scientists and other experts, reports the Hill . “These changes are part of the...

Tehran Pollution So Bad That Going Out Is 'Suicide'

City shuts down for days until winds pick up

(Newser) - When the potent mix of cold weather and windless days hits Tehran, so does pollution so thick that it shuts down buildings and stings the eyes and throat, prompting calls to stay indoors. Schools, banks, and government buildings were closed for five days last week in an effort to cut...

Century-Long Drought Was Mayans&#39; Undoing
 Century-Long Drought 
 Was Mayans' Undoing 
new study
Nov 9, 2012 8:18 AM CST

Century-Long Drought Was Mayans' Undoing

Civilization failed 'to adapt successfully to climate change': study

(Newser) - The Mayan civilization collapsed at the hands of "a nearly century-long drought," says a UK-based researcher following a new study that the AFP reports has confirmed an existing climate-change theory. The Mayans' rise and fall "is an example of a sophisticated civilization failing to adapt successfully to...

Scientists Turn Air Into Gas
 Scientists Turn Air Into Gas 
Oct 19, 2012 11:54 AM CDT

Scientists Turn Air Into Gas

British company thinks it can help energy crisis in a big way

(Newser) - An amazing-sounding breakthrough from the UK: Scientists have found a way to extract carbon dioxide from air and mix it with water vapor to create a cleaner, clearer gas that can be used in existing cars and other forms of transport, reports the Independent . A company called Air Fuel Synthesis...

Rogue Bizman Dumps 100 Tons of Iron Into Sea in 'Experiment'

Canada probing possible treaty violations

(Newser) - A California businessman dumped 100 tons of iron sulphate dust into the Pacific Ocean as part of a rogue "experiment" that has infuriated scientists and government officials. The operation launched by Russ George, 62, spewed the dust off western Canada in exchange for $2.5 million from a native...

Couple Busted for Alleged Cyanide Dump

55-gallon dump kills 'nearly every fish in a three-mile stretch'

(Newser) - Federal authorities have accused an Ohio couple of killing "nearly every fish in a three-mile stretch" by illegally dumping 55 gallons of toxic cyanide into a storm sewer. Renato and Teresina Montsori, age 79 and 74, respectively, used to own a metal-plating company that used cyanide, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer...

Study: Electric Cars Hurt the Environment

At least in areas that burn fossil fuels for electricity

(Newser) - Buying a Model S or a Leaf might not be the proverbial tree hug you thought it was. Electric cars actually harm the environment more than their gas-powered counterparts in many places, a new study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has concluded. That's in part because...

Town Buys Livestock to Go Green, Save Dough

Charlotte, Vermont, replaces mowers with goats and sheep

(Newser) - Want to cut back on grass-cutting costs and go green at the same time? Buy a few sheep and goats to chomp on your lawn. That's been the solution in one Vermont town that wanted to save money without letting its cemeteries become overgrown with grass and weeds, NPR...

Bring Green Movement Back to the Suburbs

Revive environmentalism by making climate change a local issue: Essay

(Newser) - This month marks the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring—but these days, the environmental movement seems to have lost its steam. Pollution ranked as the No. 1 problem in the US in a 1970 survey; today, it hardly ever makes the top five. Writing in the New ...

Islands to Be Built in India ... and Towed to Maldives

Dutch design features private islands, golf course with underwater club

(Newser) - Many of the islands that comprise the Maldives could soon be submerged—so replacements are under way. A Dutch firm is designing artificial islands to join some 1,192 islands that sit an average of five feet above sea level, making the Maldives the world's lowest country. Now, the...

UN Scientist: Blame Extreme Weather on Climate Change

Dire warnings heard at first congressional hearing in two years

(Newser) - Get used to droughts, hurricanes, heat waves, and wildfires, scientists warned Congress today, because the extreme weather is a result of global warming. The comments were made to the Senate's environmental committee during the first hearing on the subject in more than two years, reports the Guardian . "There...

To Fight Climate Change, Dump Iron in Water?

Old theory gains traction following experiments

(Newser) - Algae growing around Antarctica is short on iron. For decades, scientists have theorized that iron dumped in the oceans there could help fertilize the algae—and that algae could in turn absorb carbon dioxide, thus battling global warming. While tests have shown that iron can, in fact, fuel algae blooms,...

New Concern: Fracking Under ... Graveyards?

But some families eager to cash in: gas firms

(Newser) - Activists are already furious about the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing; now some are adding spiritual concerns to their list of grievances. Energy companies are extracting gas from deep below US cemeteries from Texas to Pennsylvania. The fracking occurs far below ground, with companies citing depths of 7,000 to...

New Environmental Worry: Ancient Gas

Researchers now able to distinguish new, old sources of methane

(Newser) - There are huge quantities of methane locked in ice sheets around the world, threatening to speed up climate change as they get released in melting ice. But determining which methane is the ancient kind and which is much younger and hails from, say, plant life that has decayed in lakes...

Environmentalists Fear New Biotech Corn

Dow's 'Enlist' resists powerful herbicide

(Newser) - Debate is raging over a new biotech corn engineered by Dow Chemical. The corn, called "Enlist," is intended to solve farmers' struggle against tough weeds; that's because it's resistant to a powerful herbicide, also made by Dow. But environmentalists fear that wind, heat, and humidity would...

Oceans Acidifying at Highest Rate in 300M Years

Columbia researchers warn of dangers to marine life

(Newser) - Industrial emissions are causing the oceans to acidify at a fast rate—the fastest in 300 million years, say researchers from Columbia University. That could spell danger for sea creatures. In the last century alone, the pH of the oceans dropped by 0.1 units. That's 10 times faster...

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