An international initiative this fall will encourage hundreds of organizations to assess their use and recycling of plastics in a push to call more attention to the vast amounts of plastic waste entering the environment.

While many companies and organizations are familiar with their “carbon footprint” and are taking steps to (more…)

A nanoengineered graphene coating could make it possible to generate hydroelectric power without disrupting river ecosystems.

Humans have been harvesting the power of moving water for centuries, from waterwheel’s to hydroelectric dams. The only problem with most of (more…)

New research suggests that woodlands, forests and other terrestrial ecosystems are able to sequester up to 40% of the US’s carbon emissions that is caused by burning fossil fuels. The study, which was carried out in the 48 lower states provides evidence that these ecosystems can absorb far more carbon than first thought as long as these regions are not subjected to (more…)

A ranking of 163 nations based on environmental public health and the vitality of their ecosystems places Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden, and Norway in the top five, with the U.S. trailing in 61st place and China and India ranking 121st and 123rd respectively.

The Environmental Performance Index, compiled by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities, ranks countries based on 10 main categories such as environmental health, air quality, water management, biodiversity and habitat, forestry, and climate change. Iceland ranked at the top because of its excellent environmental public health and reliance on renewable sources of energy such as geothermal and hydropower.

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