Scientific American - Environment

Who's to Blame? Making Poor Nations Share the Cost of Fighting Climate Change

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST

A new framework for reducing carbon emissions takes a crack at the knottiest dilemma confronting a global climate solution: how to divvy cuts between rich and poor nations.

A new study published Monday attempts to sidestep the rancor, finding that virtually every country has a class of individuals - the so-called "high emitters" - enjoying a rich, carbon-intensive lifestyle. If those individuals, no matter their locale, are forced to take responsibility for their emissions, a great swath of countries become participants in the climate effort, the study claims.

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Hybrid Solar Cells Shine

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:30:00 EST

As the race to create clean, renewable power heats up, the solar industry is focusing on a technology in hopes of producing utility-scale energy.

Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar power -- which marries traditional solar photovoltaic technology to large-scale concentrated solar power plants -- could ramp up utility-scale solar production, advocates say, especially in niche markets. But as with all developing technologies, the effort faces significant hurdles.

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Voyage to the Pacific Ocean's garbage patch: Tangoing with a ghost net while finding trash (and shallow-water fish) in unexpected places

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST

Editor's Note: Scuba instructor and underwater videographer Drew Wheeler is traveling on board the Algalita Marine Research Foundation's 50-foot (15.2-meter) Ocean Research Vessel, Alguita, on a two-month voyage to sample and study portions of a 10-million-square-mile (25.9-million-square-kilometer) oval known as the North Subtropical Gyre (aka "Pacific garbage patch"). Wheeler and the rest of the Alguita crew left Long Beach, Calif., on June 10 with a plan to cross the International Date Line and investigate regions of reported high plastic concentrations, northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. This is his fourth blog post for Scientific American.

July 2, 2009 [More]

Forensic Tools Battle Ivory Poachers

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

In 1983 while exploring a small forest called Malundwe on the edge of the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, one of us (Wasser) came across two elephant skulls lying side by side. One, from a female, was big, and the other was small--it had molars just a quarter the size of the female’s and they had not yet been used enough to show any signs of wear. The poachers had first shot the young elephant, a ranger explained, so that they could draw its grieving mother close enough to kill her for her enormous tusks. This exploitation of familial ties in the sophisticated social system of elephants has been repeated thousands of times in Africa.

The Selous Game Reserve is the largest protected area in Africa but was nonetheless among the most heavily poached during the well-publicized slaughters that occurred between 1979 and 1989. At least 700,000 elephants were killed during this period--70,000 in the Selous alone. Then, in 1989, Tanzania’s new director of wildlife launched a major antipoaching initiative called Operation Uhai. The combined effort of wildlife rangers, police officers and the military rapidly brought an end to most poaching in the country.

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Animals of the Disappearing Mangroves

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST

In the watery limbo between sea and river, where salt and fresh water mingle in the roots of mangrove trees, a handful of uniquely adapted species--terrestrial and aquatic--have evolved to fill the novel niche. [More]

Bombs bursting in air: What's in those Fourth of July fireworks, anyway?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST

Red, white and blue aside, how green will this weekend’s firework festivities be? Not very, argue some. [More]

MIND Reviews: A Healthy Mind

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST

Healthy Mindswww.wliw.org/healthyminds

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Some Species Rebound, But More Become Endangered

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:20:00 EST

The global crisis for endangered species is more serious than the financial meltdown, with numbers of imperiled animals and plants rising at record rates, scientists are warning in a report released today.

In its latest four-year assessment of endangered species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has added several new entries to the Red List of Threatened Species. Judging from the list's expansion, the report warns, the world is unlikely to meet a goal of reversing a trend toward species depletion by 2010.

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Higher temperatures may be shrinking Scottish sheep

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST

Bigger had always been better for sheep living on the remote, windswept Scottish island of Hirta. [More]

Plastic Not-So-Fantastic: How the Versatile Material Harms the Environment and Human Health

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST

From cell phones and computers to bicycle helmets and hospital IV bags, plastic has molded society in many ways that make life both easier and safer. But the synthetic material also has left harmful imprints on the environment and perhaps human health, according to a new compilation of articles authored by scientists from around the world.

More than 60 scientists contributed to the new report, which aims to present the first comprehensive review of the impact of plastics on the environment and human health, and offer possible solutions.

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Turbines Spin in Antarctica

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST

Wind energy is being harnessed everywhere, even Antarctica. [More]

The Wonderful World of Transgenic Animals

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:08 EST

[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]

Since Dolly the sheep was cloned back in July of 1996, the world of manipulating animal DNA has come a long way. In Massachusetts, goats now produce milk with drugs embedded. There are monkeys whose DNA glows green to enable scientific study. [More]

Rain Zone Moving North

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:08 EST

[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]

If you’ve spoken to anyone in New York City--where Scientific American’s offices are--then you’ve heard about the rain, every day since mid-June.

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Perennial problems loom large for threatened species

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:01:00 EST

Forget about climate change for a moment, the biggest threats to the world’s imperiled species are deforestation, pollution, poaching and invasive species.

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Bald eagles succumb to poison in rat eradication on Alaskan island

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:47:00 EST

Last month we reported on bald eagles and other birds found dead after a rat eradication project in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. The National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., has confirmed that the birds were casualties of brodifacoum, the poison used in bait scattered around Rat Island by helicopter.

“Every one of the liver samples tested positive for brodifacoum,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Bruce Woods told Scientific American. Fish and Wildlife law enforcement agents are investigating whether there were any egregious errors and to assess that the poison drop was conducted according to an approved protocol, Woods said.

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Chestnut's Revival Could Slow Climate Change

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:20:00 EST

The American chestnut tree, which towered over eastern U.S. forests before succumbing to a deadly fungus in the early 20th century, appears to be an excellent sponge for greenhouse gases, according to a new study. [More]

Indonesia gets debt relief for preserving Sumatran forests

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EST

The United States has agreed to cut what Indonesia owes Uncle Sam by nearly $30 million over eight years in exchange for increased protection of Sumatran forests that are home to endangered rhinos, tigers and orangutans.

This debt-for-nature deal, orchestrated by Conservation International and the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation, creates a trust to preserve 18.29 million acres, including Way Kambas National Park.

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Why Didn't Earth Freeze Completely?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:01:08 EST

[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]

During the last ice age our problem was too little carbon. Unlike today where too much carbon is causing global warming.

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Save the giant spitting earthworm

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:56:00 EST

The three-foot long, giant Palouse earthworm has only been seen a few times in the last century, for which many people are probably grateful. [More]

Fit Body, Fit Mind? Your Workout Makes You Smarter

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:05:00 EST

As everybody knows, if you do not work out, your muscles get flaccid. What most people don’t realize, however, is that your brain also stays in better shape when you exercise. And not just challenging your noggin by, for example, learning a new language, doing difficult crosswords or taking on other intellectually stimulating tasks. As researchers are finding, physical exercise is critical to vigorous mental health, too.

Surprised? Although the idea of exercising cognitive machinery by performing mentally demanding activities--popularly termed the “use it or lose it” hypothesis--is better known, a review of dozens of studies shows that maintaining a mental edge requires more than that. Other things you do--including participating in activities that make you think, getting regular exercise, staying socially engaged and even having a positive attitude--have a meaningful influence on how effective your cognitive functioning will be in old age.

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