Green Science

They may seem like a fun water sport or a noisy nuisance, but whatever your stance on personal watercraft, there's no denying they pollute. So how bad are they?

By Julia Layton

Plastic bags are generally unsustainable. Even if they are biodegradable, they take roughly 1,000 years to fully break down. Minnesota company NatureWorks has come up with a green plastic bag, but how eco-friendly is it?

By Josh Clark

Earth Day is the ideal time of the year to form new eco-oriented habits. Here are 10 things you can do to celebrate our planet all year long.

By Julia Layton & Sarah Gleim

If you've ever seen a kid frying ants with a magnifying glass, you know that the concentrated power of the sun can create great heat. But what if that heat were applied to something a bit more productive -- something like cooking food?

By Julia Layton

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.

We know that paper comes from trees, but just how much does it take? Let's do the math and figure out how much paper your average tree can be made into.

During the summer I am always hearing about ozone warnings in my city. This ozone is bad. But then I hear about the ozone layer, which is good. How can ozone be both good and bad?

What happens to all of that trash you put on the curb every week? It doesn't just disappear into a parallel universe. Much of it probably goes to the local landfill, and how it gets handled there is a very involved system.

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D. & Patrick J. Kiger

Recycling proponents tell us that everything that can be recycled should be. Some items, however, can use more energy to recycle than it would cost to make new ones. Are we better off throwing some things away?

By Jonathan Strickland

Most scientists agree that human interference in the environment has something to do with the recent trend of rising temperatures on the Earth. If we got ourselves in this pickle, what can we do about it?

By Jonathan Strickland

The ozone layer prevents much of the sun's ultraviolet light from reaching the Earth. But there's a problem: a gaping hole the size of Antarctica. What can we do about it?

By Tracy V. Wilson & Julia Layton

Artificial light lets us stay up through the night or feel secure in the dark. But those midnight noons push our bodies out of whack and confuse the natural world. Is there a fix for light pollution?

By Jessika Toothman

Relief wells made the news as a possible method to cut off the Gulf Coast oil leak, but that's not all they're used for. How do these wells prevent and stop dangerous overflows?

By Laurie L. Dove

You probably think all parasites are disgusting little critters, but that's not always the case. Several are actually critical to the planet.

By Mark Boyer

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

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

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

Right now, landfills are all over the place. Yet, no one wants to live near one. So, what if we combined all of those landfills into one? How much space would it take up?

By Marshall Brain