Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The effort to open parts of the Superior National Forest to copper-nickel mining has become a test case for how far governments are willing to go in trading long-term ecological protection for short-term resource extraction.
There’s a wider point here—that in general the private sector would never be profitable if it had to pay for the environmental capital it gets through—but it’s rare to see such a clear cut example.
To meet ambitious climate goals, L.A. needs more local water. A critical step is battling the ghosts of industry past — polluted groundwater that dates back to World War II
All of the cigarettes sold in the US are filtered and the discarded “butt” is contaminated with tar, nicotine, and other tobacco additives that are known to be carcinogenic and/or toxic.
Kurt’s farm is one of three demonstration projects in the Blanchard River watershed that spills into Lake Erie. Its aim is to gather field data and help educate farmers, policymakers and citizen groups about effective conservation practices.
Once trees catch fire, they unleash ash, sediments and various noxious chemicals. And heat from fires undermines soil stability. Then, when heavy rain falls, tainted water slides into rivers rather than seeping into underground aquifers. If it rains hard enough, flooding often follows, especially when there are no trees to take up what moisture is absorbed into the soil.
In response to the discovery of nitrogen contamination, a group of city officials, staff from the local conservation district, farmers, members of the agribusiness community, concerned citizens and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture decided to go beyond finger pointing. Instead, they held a series of meetings in the early 2000s that focused on both securing clean drinking water and ensuring a strong agricultural economy, and that were rooted in the context of local conditions.
The state started to get serious about cleaning up nitrates a decade ago. It is now working with growers to stop new pollution and is considering how it might clean up old contamination. But it’s costly to clean an entire aquifer, and even extraordinary efforts would take several decades to pay off. So the state is also focused on funding interim local solutions to supply people with safe drinking water.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls nutrient pollution the “single greatest challenge to our nation’s water quality.” Rising concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in waterways, the agency reports, are a significant threat to human health, ecosystems, and local economies.
According to new research, many septic systems — which are simple, backyard devices for addressing the ceaseless problem of toilet waste — are unfit for future climate conditions.
This idea might seem all wet to some people, but I’d like to propose on Earth Day that we make a top priority of making water’s links to food, environment and city issues more dramatic, more front-and-centre, and more spirited and spiritual.
Septic systems and nitrogen pollution are killing the island’s marine heritage
