Bottled water is a huge industry, and a profitable one. Last year it netted $10 billion in the US, but there are signs that the industry is slowing. Restaurants have turned away from pricey bottled water, and consumers have returned to tap water to save money. Nestlé is a huge player in the sector:... 

Pollutants can lower IQ and cause other health issues. See the rest here: Effects of Air Pollution on Young Comparable to Cigarettes: Harvard  Read More →

How will environmental issues, and the candidates that champion them, fare in the 2010 midterm elections? See the article here: Election Day Predictions, from Prop 23 in the Most Populous State to Governor in the Smallest  Read More →

The change in the ice mass covering Antarctica is a critical factor in global climate events. Scientists at the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences have now found that the year by year mass variations in the western Antarctic are mainly attributable to fluctuations in precipitation, which are... 

Boosters tout the advantages of growing plants in water, and they are lobbying for organic hydroponic standards. The rest is here: Greener Veggies: The Benefits of Hydroponics  Read More →

Indonesia’s Mount Merapi erupted on Thursday for the second time in a week, blasting vast plumes of ash into the sky, as the death toll from the initial eruption and a tsunami that hit remote western islands reached 377. Read more here: Indonesia disaster toll hits 377 as volcano erupts again  Read More →

Scientists have revealed that an anti-obesity drug changes the way the brain responds to appetizing, high-calorie foods in obese individuals. This insight may aid the development of new anti-obesity drugs which reduce the activity in the regions of the brain stimulated by the sight of tasty foods. This... 

Sierra Leone is closing its international shipping registry to foreign-owned fishing vessels in a move intended to reduce illegal catches in its seas and around the world, the fisheries minister said on Thursday. Officials said the West African country — notorious as a so-called “flag of... 

by Jonathan Hiskes. Ben Lowe is a 25-year-old first-time candidate getting whomped in a suburban Chicago congressional race. He’s being outspent 16-to-one by Republican incumbent Peter Roskam. The biggest publicity the campaign drew came when Lowe, who is half-Chinese, claimed racial profiling... 

by Jonathan Hiskes. Biodiversity doesn’t get as much attention as it should now that climate change has become preeminent among environmental quandaries. But it’s important! Species extinction isn’t some boutique issue that’s distinct from the needs of humans. And building successful... 

A vast new amber deposit in India has yielded 100 fossil spiders, bees, and flies that date to the Early Eocene, or 52-50 million years ago. These arthropods are not unique — as would be expected on an island (which India was at that time) — but have close evolutionary relationships with... 

Hunters’ reports have led scientists to discover a new species of monkey in the northern forests of Myanmar. Discovered by biologists from the Myanmar Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association with support from primatologists with Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and the People Resources... 

by Jonathan Hiskes. Up until a month ago, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) was pursuing a curious strategy of not campaigning on his record of promoting economic growth through clean energy and efficiency. In 2008, he signed a renewable energy standard that ensures a market for wind and solar producers,... 

Israel and the Palestinian Authority are among 15 Mediterranean nations who have just signed a historic agreement to work together to combat the effects of climate change, one month ahead of the next United Nations conference on climate change, meeting at Cancun in November. Read more: Israel and Palestine... 

A global coalition of about 200 companies said yesterday (26 October) that it was ready to support the introduction of a price tag on ecosystem services, in the hope that a global biodiversity panel will lay the foundations for an offset mechanism to encourage trading of nature services. Read more: Business... 

At one time riding the rails was a delightful way to travel; quick and easy as well as a reasonable and profitable way to move goods. Something happened over the last 50 years. Some people objected to railroads as unsightly. They also became crowded and in many cases run down. A new report prepared by... 

The Obama administration is defending its plans to crack down on industrial pollution after a report from a utility group found proposed regulations may result in tighter U.S. power supplies. The North American Electric Reliability Corp released a study on Tuesday that found four possible Environmental... 

The risk of health effects from Bisphenol A exposure is well known among pregnant women and mothers, but grown men have reason to be concerned, too. See the rest here: Study: BPA Causes Low Sperm Count and Motility  Read More →

Sockeye salmon are making their run up the Fraser River in numbers not seen since 1913. More than 34 million salmon are reportedly in the British Columbia river system, befuddling scientists who last year tallied less than 2 million fish. Visit link: British Columbia Sees Largest Salmon Run In A Century,... 

On the day of Roosevelt’s birth, we look back at the 10 administrations (prior to President Obama’s ) with the best environmental legacies. Also see Presidents With the Worst Environmental Records See the rest here: Happy Birthday Theodore Roosevelt, One of the Greenest Presidents in U.S....