Archive | Human Impacts

fracking pollution

What’s so bad about fracking? Here’s what you need to know.

 If you’ve been wondering what fracking is and whether it’s good or bad, you’re not alone. It’s a complicated, high tech process whose advocates say it produces abundant clean energy. As an environmentalist as well as a consumer, though, I’m concerned about the impacts fracking is having on drinking water, clean air, and farmland. To […]

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Tune in to the Climate Reality Project’s “Dirty Weather Report”

“Dirty” fuels, like coal, oil and natural gas, emit gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) when they are burned. This CO2 lurks in the atmosphere, creating a gaseous blanket that is smothering the earth, causing temperatures to rise, and disrupting the climate. We’ve all seen the impacts of climate change, whether it’s the destruction caused by […]

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climate impacts

Climate Change Impacts on Our Health, Our Homes, Our Families and Our Future

344viewsIt’s easy to dismiss climate change as a big, confusing, uncertain issue that affects other people living in other parts of the world. But as the blogposts in this month’s Green Moms Carnival show, the build-up in our atmosphere of heat-trapping “greenhouse” gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) is hitting very close to home, seriously impacting […]

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climate change poison ivy

How Climate Change Makes Poison Ivy Worse

Poison ivy is getting more poisonous, and climate change is to blame. What’s the connection? Climate change is occurring because burning oil, coal and other fossil fuels releases gases like carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 builds up in the atmosphere, trapping heat that causes temperatures on the ground to rise, creating a “greenhouse” effect on the […]

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Fracking: A Clear and Present Danger

I don’t like to exaggerate the impacts of the many environmental issues we face. But  it’s impossible to overstate how dangerous fracking is. Fracking stands for “hydraulic fracturing,” a highly polluting process for tapping underground pools of natural gas. It involves drilling a hole a mile deep and thousands of feet long, then pumping down […]

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What the Heck is Fracking? And Why Don’t You Want It Anywhere Near Your Water?

It sounds like it could be a new dance (“Let’s do the frack!”). Or maybe it’s a cool way to clean your house (“I really fracked my floor this week; it looks great now!”) But it’s not. Fracking is short for “hydraulic fracturing,” explains Chris Bolgiano in this Bay Journal article. “It involves drilling a […]

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