Best Thinking in Pollutants & Toxics

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  Accumulating Electronic Waste Proving an International Environmental Challenge
  Topic by Harvey K Black

  Discarded computers, cell phones, smart phones, televisions, and numerous other pieces of electronic equipment are the world’s largest growing pile of waste, according to a recent report for the International Labour Organization, an agency of the United Nations. The numbers are simply...

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  The Porous Nature of Concrete As It Relates to Molds
  Article by Rod Danz

  This article defines a novel way to understand why structures are susceptible to the entry of molds. It elucidates th...

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  Acid in the Ocean
  Topic by Harvey K Black

  Mention climate change and people’s thoughts typically turn to changes in the weather. We hear stories of extreme events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, mammoth snow and rain--storms linked to man-made climate change. Another eye-catcher is stories of sea-level rise, and the inundation of...

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  Solve the Invasive Species Problem by Eating the Aliens
  Topic by Carrie Kirby

  We humans are very good at devouring species. We've depleted countless species by hunting. Have you seen a dodo or a passenger pigeon lately? So why wouldn't we turn our voracious appetites into a weapon and begin consuming invasive species that are threatening ecosystems where they...

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  The Science of Trash
  Topic by Kate Prengaman

  America has a trash problem. We produce 7.1 pounds of waste for every American , every day. That's twice the trash Americans produced in the 1960s. Recyling has taken off dramatically, but despite the growth in household recycling, we still put out more trash than we used to before we began...

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  Hot Enough for You? Thermometers Shatter Around the Globe
  Topic by Derrick Bang

  At roughly 4 p.m. Saturday, June 16, our backyard thermometer read 111 degrees. Mind you, triple-digit temperatures aren’t unusual in California’s Sacramento Valley; we can expect several weeks, each summer, of daily highs that hover between 100 and 105. But 111 was an eye-opening...

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  The Cadiz Project: California's Water War
  Topic by Kate Prengaman

  Underneath the dry desert valleys and rocky ridges of the Southern Mojave desert, there is a huge chamber of groundwater. The Cadiz Aquifer holds as much water as Lake Mead, accumulated slowly, over centuries of rain and snow falling on the nearby mountains and absorbing into the earth.  ...

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  The Rise of Tick-Borne Illnesses and Misdiagnosed Cases
  Topic by Erin Luhmann

  After 8 years of testing and nervous system ailments, Jennifer Crystal was diagnosed with Lyme disease. She now had a name for her condition, but was up against a challenging path to recovery. “I was left bedridden, hooked up to an IV, for two years. The co-infections of babesia,...

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  Shrinking: 2012 set to be the hottest summer on record
  Topic by Sheila V Kumar

  Records are being shattered across the globe, but no one is celebrating. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, March saw “record and near-record breaking temperatures …[across] the eastern two-thirds of the nation and contributed to the warmest March on record for...

• North Carolina Sea Level Controversy
  Topic by Harvey K Black
• The Science of Sea Ice and What It Says About Climate Change
  Topic by Kate Prengaman
• 100 Years Ago, Biochemist Funk Was First to Identify a Vitamin
  Topic by Harvey K Black