Green Science

Global warming has become a common term, but it's not commonly understood. Learn about global warming and the greenhouse effect.

By Jonathan Strickland & Ed Grabianowski

We'd be up a creek without Earth's atmosphere and the greenhouse effect it provides, but it turns out that an overactive greenhouse effect can result in a similarly devastating outcome.

By Julia Layton, Ed Grabianowski & Sascha Bos

Organic food promises freedom from synthetic ingredients. Find out what organic food is, how organic farming works, what the pros and cons are, and why you should care.

By Robin Brett Parnes

How do plants compare to solar cells when it comes to collecting solar energy? Would you get more power from an acre of ground by putting solar cells on it or by raising plants?

We want the ozone layer, but we don't want ozone pollution... Good in the atmosphere but bad on the ground? Find out about ozone pollution, how it affects you and what you can do about it.

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

What if the land you relied upon simply blew away? In the 1930s, poor stewardship and crushing drought created black blizzards and an internal American exodus known as the Dust Bowl.

By Maria Trimarchi

Recycling is a pretty simple concept: take something that isn't useful anymore and make it into something new. Learn about the process and the good and bad of recycling.

By Ed Grabianowski

While actual footprints measure size, weight and speed, carbon footprints measure how much carbon dioxide (CO2) we produce in our daily lives. Do you know how big your carbon footprint is?

By Sarah Dowdey

Eco-conscious people purchase carbon offsets to help reduce worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. But do offsets actually help, and what does Pink Floyd have to do with them?

By Sarah Dowdey

It's evident the debate over climate change is a heated one. Are skeptics clouding the public judgment for money? Are climate-change believers merely alarmists who risk the present for the future?

By Josh Clark

Crews have to race to contain the damage from major oil spills to prevent damage to beaches, death to marine life and birds, and devastation to local wetlands. So how do they clean them up?

By Josh Clark & Sarah Gleim

Consumers are becoming more and more knowledgeable about food safety and their health. As a result, organic farming has entered the agriculture mainstream. But what methods must be used, and how is organic farming certified?

By Maria Trimarchi

Introducing a new species into an ecosystem can have unforeseen and disastrous consequences for the species that already live there.

By Karen Kirkpatrick

Forest-fire prevention has been a touchstone of American consciousness since the creation of Smokey the Bear in the 1940s. But now, environmental experts believe that some amount of fire is good for the forest too.

By Laurie L. Dove

The idea behind a green transportation infrastructure is one that provides opportunities for people to get around their communities using their own power -- such as walking or biking. In this article we 10 ideas for greener transportation.

By Chris Warren

The transportation sector is the second largest producer of carbon dioxide emissions is the U.S. Is it possible to reduce emissions without stiffing the importing and exporting of goods? You'll discover the answer in this article.

By Dave Roos

Lots of people consider recycling to be kind of a no-brainer, something we all should do. It's good for the environment, it re-uses materials rather than creates new ones, it reduces landfills - the list goes on and on.

By Meghan E. Smith

Polystyrene -- the plastic used in items ranging from plastic forks to take-out boxes to life rafts -- can be recycled, but not without costs. What does it take to recycle polystyrene?

By John Kelly

What's the smartest step you can take to help reduce pollution and live in a more sustainable way?

By John Kelly

The automobile is one of the most important inventions of the past 150 years. This is not only because it provides convenient personal transport and great independence through mobility, but also because of the problems it can cause.

By Jane McGrath

Landfills have long been the final destination for garbage, but as they start to fill up, we're left to find ways to reduce our waste. What challenges are involved, and why isn't reducing waste as easy as it sounds?

By Jennifer Sellers

Although a certain amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) occurs naturally in the Earth's atmosphere, there are several human activities that increase levels of the greenhouse gas.

By Heather Kolich

Sunlight can break plastic down but not very fast. Is there a way to speed up the process so that natural environments like this one aren't cluttered with plastic debris for centuries?

By Nathan Chandler

The green movement isn't going to die just because the world ends. In fact, sustainable types might even have a leg up post-apocalypse. Here's how.

By Robert Lamb

Invasive species are found around the globe, and their presence outside of their native areas is damaging the world's ecosystems and threatening biodiversity. Some -- like the five on this list -- seem almost unstoppable.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus