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7.5 Billion and Counting: How Many Humans Can the Earth Support?

7.5 Billion and Counting: How Many Humans Can the Earth Support?

By Andrew D. Hwang Humans are the most populous large mammal on Earth today, and probably in all of geological history. This World Population Day, humans number in the vicinity of 7.5 to 7.6 billion individuals. Can the Earth support this many people indefinitely? What will happen if we do nothing to manage future population […]

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    Why It’s Time to Curb Widespread Use of Neonicotinoid Pesticide

    Why It’s Time to Curb Widespread Use of Neonicotinoid Pesticide

    By John F. Tooker Planting season for corn and soybeans across the U.S. corn belt is drawing to a close. As they plant, farmers are participating in what is likely to be one of the largest deployments of insecticides in U.S. history. Almost every field corn seed planted this year in the U.S.—approximately 90 million […]

    Public Health Benefits of Adding Offshore Wind to the Grid

    Public Health Benefits of Adding Offshore Wind to the Grid

    By Jonathan Buonocore New plans to build two commercial offshore wind farms near the Massachusetts and Rhode Island coasts have sparked a lot of discussion about the vast potential of this previously untapped source of electricity. But as an environmental health and climate researcher, I’m intrigued by how this gust of offshore wind power may […]

    Toxic Leftovers From Giant Mine Found in Snowshoe Hares

    Toxic Leftovers From Giant Mine Found in Snowshoe Hares

    By Som Niyogi and Solomon Amuno Even though it was closed decades ago, the Giant Mine on the outskirts of Yellowknife has left a long environmental legacy. The gold extraction process, which required roasting ores at extremely high temperatures, created a toxic byproduct called arsenic trioxide. For about 55 years (1948-2004), arsenic and other toxic […]

    4 Reasons You Should Avoid Activated Charcoal

    4 Reasons You Should Avoid Activated Charcoal

    By Sophie Medlin On her Goop website, Gwyneth Paltrow claimed that charcoal lemonade was one of the “best juice cleansers.” That was in 2014. Today, charcoal products—from croissants to capsules—are everywhere. Even high street coffee chains have taken to selling charcoal “shots.” Some vendors of these products claim that activated charcoal can boost your energy, […]

    Mexico City’s New Airport Is an Environmental Disaster But It Could Become a Huge National Park

    Mexico City’s New Airport Is an Environmental Disaster But It Could Become a Huge National Park

    By Gabriel Diaz Montemayor Mexico City long ago outgrew the two-terminal Benito Juárez International Airport, which is notorious for delays, overcrowding and canceled flights. Construction is now underway on a striking new international airport east of this metropolis of 20 million. When it opens in late 2020, the LEED-certified new airport—whose terminal building was designed […]

    Microplastics May Heat Marine Turtle Nests and Produce More Females

    Microplastics May Heat Marine Turtle Nests and Produce More Females

    By Mariana Fuentes Have you ever considered that small pieces of plastic less than 5 millimeters long, or smaller than a pencil eraser head, called microplastics, can affect large marine vertebrates like sea turtles? My research team first discovered this disturbing fact when we started to quantify the amount and type of microplastic at loggerhead […]