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Below are current event articles that relate to events, topics, and people found in Passion for Life.
EcoCenter Air
Smithsonian.com
6/1/2010
In December 1952, a deadly smog settled over London. Trapped by cooler air above, the dirty cloud enveloped the city for four days. Rich with soot from factories and low-quality home-burned coal, the Great Smog, as it came to be known, caused some 12,000 deaths that winter.
Saving the World's Most Endangered Sea Turtle
Smithsonian.com
5/1/2010
Cape Cod Bay churns as a frigid gust flicks froth into the air and the surf claws at the beach. I find a tangle of black seaweed on the sand, lift a handful of the wet mess and glimpse the lines of a shell. I grab more seaweed and uncover what I’ve been searching for: a Kemp’s ridley turtle, a member of the world’s most endangered species of sea turtle.
Air Pollution as Seen From the Skies
Smithsonian.com
4/20/2010
Chinese cities have some of the worst air quality in the world. Much of the country’s electricity comes from burning coal, which releases millions of tons per year of sulfur dioxide and particulates into the air.
Lessons From The Past: Research Examines How Past Communities Coped With Climate Change
Sciencedaily.com
5/29/2009
Research led by the University of Leicester suggests people today and in future generations should look to the past in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. The dangers of rising sea levels, crop failures and extreme weather were all faced by our ancestors who learnt to adapt and survive in the face of climate change.
What’s the Deal about New Deal Art?
Smithsonian.com
5/20/2009
Sweeping a long arm in an arc around the walls of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, deputy chief curator George Gurney fires off a string of locales. “This is Seattle, Washington,” he says. “This is St. Paul, Minnesota. That’s Peterborough, New Hampshire.” He continues through New England to Pennsylvania, California and New Mexico.
Global Warming and Tropical Cyclones: a Vicious Cycle?
Discovery.com
5/14/2009
Global warming can change storm patterns. In turn, storms might help fuel global warming. A new study suggests that tropical cyclones shoot water high into the atmosphere. The result may be a small but significant contribution to the greenhouse effect.
The Nature of the Fiscal World
Conservationmagazine.org
5/1/2009
As economic prospects turn grim, conservationists are locked in a familiar, highly polarized debate over the downturn’s potential costs. On one side are those who believe the recession may trigger dramatic environmental setbacks because only wealthy, growing nations are willing and able to fund conservation initiatives.
Antarctic ice nearly size of N.Y. City breaks up
MSNBC.com
4/29/2009
New satellite images from the European Space Agency show massive amounts of ice are breaking away from an ice shelf on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, researchers said Wednesday.
Man's Greatest Crimes Against the Earth, in Pictures
Discovermagazine.com
4/8/2009
Click the link below to see some rather impacting pictures of how humans abuse the earth.
Rare elephants shot dead in Indonesian jungles
MSNBC.com
3/31/2009
Two Sumatran elephants used to patrol protected forests were killed with single shots to the head each, Indonesian wildlife officials said Tuesday. The carcasses were found near their rangers' camp.
Land conversion contributed to 1930s drought. Could it happen again?
Conservationmagazine.org
3/18/2009
In the 1920s, farmers conquered the Midwest’s great prairie plains, turning them into the amber waves of grain we know them as today. But the change did not come without consequences. Research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that large-scale land conversion was the tipping point that turned a regular La Nina-style drought cycle into an environmental catastrophe.
Whatever Happened To... Acid Rain?
Discovermagazine.com
3/13/2009
At the end of the last century, a great environmental crisis came from above in the form of acid rain. As the precipitation “killed” lakes and streams, alarming studies reported massive die-offs of trees and fish. A 1984 Congressional report estimated that acid rain caused the premature death of about 50,000 people in the United States and Canada. But in the last decade, acid rain has all but fallen off the radar. So is the threat really over, or just in hiding?