Climate Wars in the News
It seems most of the climate change debate is waged in the media and the halls of government, where the misinterpreters of science can joyfully, and with impunity, run afoul of facts. Not what one expects of the most pressing scientific issue of any era but our own....
Which is the Greatest Show on Earth? You Decide
This is a tale of two lives. The first, an elephant's life in the United States, as a traveling Ringling Brothers entertainer. The second, an elephant's life in Africa, an integral member of a roaming, socially structured herd. According to elephant expert Dr. Joyce...
Amazon by xkcd
xkcd is the webcomic creation of Randall Munroe, an extraordinarily popular web presence whom we feature regularly on EarthDesk. He draws on science themes often and has been nominated for a Hugo Award twice, thanks to his loyal science fiction fan base. Read more...
Home Rule vs. Fracking: Can Your Local Government Have Final Say?
By Tom Wilber Editor's Note: The question of whether Article IX of the New York State Constitution, the enumerated "Bill of rights for local government," empowers locales to stop fracking is now before the state's highest court. "New York is a home rule state" is a...
Letter from Isanjandugu, Part Two
By Chinyere Ojini Editor's Note: Much has been written about the best way to assist developing communities in desperate need of clean water. Biggest is not always best. Even massive infusions of dollars -- from developed-nation to developing-nation -- are ineffectual...
Letter from Isanjandugu, Part One
By Chinyere Ojini Editor's Note: In Isanjandugu, Tanzania, what we call the "global water crisis" is an everyday fact of village life. Without fanfare, volunteers of the local chapters of Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB) take on the crisis one place at a time, just...
Climate Change Conference, Cancun Style! by Joe Mohr
We enjoy Joe Mohr's irreverence; environmentalism needs more of it. He drew this cartoon one week before the Dec. 10, 2010 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Cancun. (See Joel Pett's take on the 2009 Copenhagen Conference here.) Joe is a talented...
A New Consideration When Teaching the Business of Climate Change
By Noushi Rahman Professor of Management, Lubin School of Business The economic implications of climate change can no longer be viewed as simply the burden of future generations. Impacts on agriculture in particular may give rise to civil conflicts, with significant...
So, Dream: To the Children of 2100
Editor's Note: Today is the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the “I Have a Dream” speech Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered to the 250,000 gathered before him on Washington's National Mall. In Fall 2000, the Eddie Bauer...
Water for Isanjandugu
Far from the offices of EarthDesk -- our water cooler, lavatories, and coffee maker -- the villagers of Isanjandugu, Tanzania rely on ditches and holes, fed by an erratic, six-month rainy season, for drinking water. With assistance from Pace Academy for Applied...
MSNBC Geography by Adam Zyglis
Adam Zyglis is the staff editorial cartoonist for The Buffalo News, his hometown daily newspaper. He accepted the position fresh out of college, after winning 3 national awards as a college cartoonist. In 2004, he graduated summa cum laude from Canisius College with a...
“We Still Have Work to Do”: Cory Booker at the 50th Anniversary March on Washington
When millions of children are living in neighborhoods where the soil is toxic, and their rivers are polluted, and their air quality is so poor that asthma is epidemic, we still have work to do. -- Cory Booker, Mayor, Newark, NJ