Environment

How will California’s new TV energy standards affect you?

On Wednesday, the California Energy Commission approved new energy-efficiency standards to regulate how much electricity television sets sold in the state can consume. When do the standards take effect? Jan. 1, 2011, with more stringent rules kicking in two years later. Do they apply to the TV sets I currently own? No. ...

Economists put a price tag on the benefits of coral reefs

In recent decades, coral reef ecosystems around the world have declined dramatically. One-fifth have died, according to a 2004 World Wildlife Fund assessment, and human activity directly threatens another 24 percent. As atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide increase, scientists say that higher temperatures and ocean acidification could kill 70 percent of ...

The hidden costs of fossil fuels - and biofuels, too

A new report by the National Research Council seeks to put a dollar amount on the “hidden” costs of energy produced by burning fossil fuels. These costs aren’t factored into the market prices of coal, oil, and gasoline, or the prices of electricity generated by fossil fuels, the report says. But ...

Two big advantages of closed-loop geothermal systems

When our heating contractor Tony Silverio told us we had a choice between a closed loop and an open loop geothermal system, our first inclination was simply to go with the least expensive. That’s in part because we already knew we’d be spending significantly more upfront for a geothermal system than ...

‘Going Rogue’: Is Sarah Palin a creationist?

In her memoir, "Going Rogue," Sarah Palin reveals that she has creationist leanings, explicitly rejecting the belief that humans and other species evolved from a common lineage. There's no precise definition of "creationism," but the term generally encompasses those who oppose all or part of the theory – held almost universally ...

Did 2008 Wenchuan quake strike because China filled a reservoir?

Scientists have seen this one before: Fill a reservoir behind a new dam, and, oops, you trigger an earthquake nearby not long after the lake is topped off. Now, a team of researchers led by the University of Colorado's Shemin Ge suggest that this could well be what happened with the ...

Earth Talk – Little cigarette butts make big litter impact

Q: Has anyone ever studied the environmental impact of discarded cigarettes? I’m constantly appalled at the number of drivers I see pitching their butts out their car windows. – Ned Jordan, via e-mail A: It’s true that littered cigarette butts are a public nuisance, and not just for aesthetic reasons. The filters ...

Geothermal heating and cooling – why we chose a closed-loop system

The wonder of a geothermal heating and cooling system is that it uses use the energy naturally stored in the ground to heat and cool your house. Some extra juice is needed, of course, to run a heat pump to keep the system operating, but it amounts to a fraction – ...

Saving wildlife in a warmer world

Whether it’s a polar bear clinging to a melting iceberg in the Arctic or a tiny, rabbitlike pika panting atop a warming mountain in western North America, scientists say that these species and others could be historical footnotes unless people help them survive. Pushing animals to the brink – and then ...

Ways to help wildlife adapt to a warmer world

At least 18 strategies for adaptive wildlife management were put forward in a 2008 study by the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment. Among them: – Add more protected areas. – Conserve multiple examples of each ecosystem type. – Manage and restore existing protected areas for maximum resilience. – Design new natural areas ...