By Kristin Ohlson From where I stand inside the South Dakota cornfield I was visiting with entomologist and former USDA scientist Jonathan Lundgren, all the human-inflicted traumas to Earth seem far away. It isn’t just that the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye — are people singing that song again? — but that […]
In addition to a long list of incredible benefits for farmers and their crops, regenerative agriculture practices help us fight the climate crisis by pulling carbon from the atmosphere and sequestering it in the ground. We know that to solve the climate crisis, business as usual will not cut it. Not in electricity production. Not […]
By Erica Cirino In the early 2000s, residents of a small, Rust Belt city called Tonawanda, New York, began noticing something strange: Over the years, it seemed, an increasing number of people were getting sick — primarily with cancer. Tonawanda’s a highly industrial city with more than 50 polluting facilities situated within a three-mile radius. […]
By Courtney Lindwall Growing your own juicy tomatoes or crisp peppers sounds idyllic. But in practice, backyard farming can be daunting. Many gardeners dealing with pests, weeds and unpredictable weather quickly find themselves questioning whether they are working with nature or against it. Just ask John and Molly Chester, who bought a sandy, barren plot […]
Washington became the first U.S. state to legalize human composting Tuesday, offering residents a more environmentally friendly way to dispose of their remains, AFP reported. The bill, signed by Governor and climate-focused presidential candidate Jay Inslee, would allow people who die in Washington after May 2020 to forgo burial or cremation and have their bodies […]
By Paula Ezcurra and Octavio Aburto Thousands of hydroelectric dams are under construction around the world, mainly in developing countries. These enormous structures are one of the world’s largest sources of renewable energy, but they also cause environmental problems. Hydropower dams degrade water quality along rivers. Water that flows downstream from the dams is depleted […]
For the first time ever, scientists have made a complete map of the “wood wide web,” the underground network of bacteria and fungi that connects trees and passes nutrients from the soil to their roots, as Science Magazine explained. The paper, published in Nature Thursday, draws on a database of more than 1.1 million forest […]
Ninety-six percent of America’s national parks have significant air pollution issues ranging from unhealthy breathing conditions to contaminated soils and waterways, according to a new report released by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). National Parks Conservation Association “When people think of iconic parks like Joshua Tree or the Grand Canyon, they think of unspoiled […]
By Karen Perry Stillerman An email in my inbox last month caught my attention. It was from author, environmental advocate, and Academy Award-winning film producer Laurie David (An Inconvenient Truth), and it offered a preview of The Biggest Little Farm, a new documentary film David had coming out soon. “I promise you that any person […]