We cannot talk about streams without first discussing a very important concept: the watershed [1]. A watershed, or drainage basin, is an area between ridges where precipitation collects in creeks and streams, eventually coalescing to form rivers. The way precipitation moves across land is analogous to the way water from a faucet pools in the
Farmers today face a number of challenges, old and new. Global climate change is exacerbating harsh growing conditions, invasive species are devastating crops, and consumer demands are shifting toward sustainable farming practices. Farmers also have to balance the increasing cost of fertilizers and pesticides with a need for high crop yield. An estimated 877 million
Anyone that has seen Alfred Hitchcock's “The Birds†should have a healthy fear of crows. Even to someone who has never enjoyed the glorious spectacle of crows pecking people's eyes out in black and white, crows are unsettling. They are a large menacing black bird with a blood-curdling caw; add the fact that a group
This is the second part of a three-part series on climate change. For information concerning whether or not the climate is changing, see part one. Part three will deal with the consequences we face from climate change. We can agree that the global climate is actually warming, so who or what do we have to blame
This is the first of a three-part series on common questions about climate change: This first article will address the question of whether the climate really changing. Subsequent articles will look more closely at human's role in climate change and the effects can we expect from climate change. It's no secret that there's a crisis
They smell, they're muddy and hard to cross, and let's be honest, they just don't have the charm of a nice sandy beach. Wetlands certainly do not rank very high in the aesthetics category, but the value of an ecosystem cannot be measured in beauty alone. For one thing, many ecosystems offer what are called
It's 1974: the first published peer-reviewed article claiming that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are damaging the stratospheric ozone layer hits the news. CFCs, once used commonly in aerosol cans, fire extinguishers, refrigerators, and air conditioners, were responsible for causing depletion of the ozone layer. The paper created such a national stir that ozone depletion is still a
For decades millions of visitors wound their way underneath the towering skeletons of Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops at Washington, D.C.'s Museum of Natural History. Now, the National Fossil Hall has closed as curators work on a revamped exhibition, tentatively titled “Deep Time,†set to open in 2019. Alongside the dinosaur skeletons that have long dominated
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, illustrator, ecologist, and native Orleanian Uma Nagendra takes a look at what we’ve learned since Katrina about how wetlands mitigate the devastating impacts of hurricanes. Uma Nagendra is a native New Orleanian now living in Athens, GA. She has been interested in natural disturbances since Katrina, and
It is a Sunday morning. You are sitting on the front porch, sipping from a cup of coffee, and reading the day's paper. You hear a rustle, look up, and see your dog chasing a squirrel away from his nut-burying chores; you chuckle. Ah, the good life! While it may not be at the forefront
There's always that one ultra clingy couple—you know the ones I'm talking about. The two members are practically attached at the hip, they refer to themselves as a single unit, and you honestly can't remember if you've ever seen them apart. Like two modern characters from a Shakespeare play, sometimes it seems like they would
Hollywood has unleashed unrealistic natural disaster movies in the past. But how will climate change actually alter the nature of weather related disasters?
