Q: Buying organic can get expensive. Does the higher price tag come with health benefits? Autumn is in full swing, which means supermarket produce sections are ripe with the finest late-season fruits and vegetables — like apples, leafy greens and winter squash — and often pricier organic versions of each. …
Read More »Much of Ireland Is an Ecological Desert. Meet the Man Who Wants to Rewild It.
Is Ireland really all that green? Ecologically speaking, the answer is no, says Eoghan Daltun, a sculptor who restored a patch of native rainforest in the Beara Peninsula, on the country’s rugged southwestern coast. “Ireland really coasts on its reputation as the Emerald Isle,” Mr. Daltun said in a recent …
Read More »A ‘New Day’? Justices Step Back, Slightly, From an Aggressive Climate Stance.
The conservative-majority Supreme Court has taken an aggressive stance against many environmental rules in recent years, but three small victories for regulators this month have left some analysts wondering whether a shift is underway. The latest sign came on Wednesday, when the justices declined to block the Environmental Protection Agency …
Read More »These Scientists Tested Dolphin Breath. They Found Plastic.
Scientists have found plastic pollution almost everywhere they have looked. In clouds. On Mount Everest. In Arctic snow. Now, for the first time, tiny plastic particles have been detected in the breath of dolphins. The findings, published on Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, point to the ubiquitousness of …
Read More »Opinion | Growing Darkness, October Light: A Backyard Census
There’s hardly a spot of color on the hardwood trees in our yard, but the light is glorious, as it always is in October, and the signs of fall are unmistakable. The pokeweed, in full berry-laden splendor at the end of September, has been reduced to drooping leaves and magenta …
Read More »California Tries ‘Trump-Proofing’ Its Climate Policies
California officials have been working for months on a plan to “Trump proof” the state’s leading edge environmental and climate policies, in the event that former President Donald J. Trump returns to White House and follows through on his promise to gut them. Whether California succeeds could affect more than …
Read More »Here’s What a Shocking New Number on Wildlife Declines Really Means
Wildlife populations around the world continue dropping precipitously, according to an important but limited and often misinterpreted assessment that’s issued every two years. The declines reported by the Living Planet Index, a collaboration between two large conservation organizations, have been so steep as to feel disorienting. This year is no …
Read More »How Can I Get ‘Forever Chemicals’ Out of My Life?
“Forever chemicals,” also known as PFAS, are everywhere. They’re in our water, our soil and in everyday items like cookware, mascara or waterproof clothing. And there’s mounting evidence that this family of thousands of synthetic chemicals can increase the risk of some types of cancer, developmental and fertility issues, and …
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