Minnesota anglers get out early to fish along the north shore of Lake Superior. Contaminants in some Superior sport fish contain high levels of some persistent organic pollutants.

More than 40 years after the first human health advisories were issued for fish consumption because of Great Lakes toxic contaminants, concerns remain. In at least one of the five Great Lakes, Erie, levels of mercury in fish are actually increasing after years of decline, according to a report publicized this week. Toxaphene levels in Lake Superior fish also persist at levels that could damage human health, although the primary route of contamination has changed since 1970.

As an avid forager for wild foods, I’m in the woods a lot. I don’t want to be eaten alive while hunting for dinner, but I also don’t like using toxic repellents against ticks, chiggers, mosquitoes, and biting flies.

Luckily for me, there are some great natural alternatives to DEET, the most common pesticide in insect repellents. My favorite is All Terrain Natural Herbal Armor.

All Terrain Natural Herbal Armor uses a combination of citronella, soybean, peppermint, cedar, lemongrass, and geranium oils to repel biting insects. It works great against mosquitoes, gnats, black flies, horse flies, and ants.

Like most commercial dog food, many of the dog treats out there are full of fillers and low-quality meat.

Here’s a recipe for soy-free, corn-free, and wheat-free dog treats. They’re made from sardines, a fish species that’s high in omega-3 fatty acids, low in contaminants, and sustainably harvested.
Sardine Training Treats

A peer-reviewed study soon to be published in the journal Energy Policy shows that moving clocks forward an hour in Britain would substantially cut carbon emissions.

The new study by Dr Elizabeth Garnsey of Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering shows that if Brits moved their clocks forward an hour for the whole year, the carbon emissions saved would be the same as taking 200,000 cars off the road.

Hundreds of dogs and cats at the OSPCA in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada were set to be euthanized due to the spread of ringworm amongst shelter animals and people. Many were saved as a result of positive human impact.

Something has been happening in the Toronto area in Canada that hasn’t been receiving the international coverage that is deserves. In the past week, a horrifying situation occurred at the Newmarket OSPCA. After the shelter’s 350 animals were found to have ringworm, the facility announced that all of the resident cats and dogs would be euthanized. Amongst all of the horror, Canadians proved that they will advocate for animal rights despite the belief that North Americans are becoming apathetic to environmental issues.

A new study looks specifically at the benefits and tradeoffs that the planet’s forests play in the global carbon cycle.

Published in the spring edition of Issues in Ecology, the study authored by Mike Ryan from the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and colleagues looked at how the carbon offsets provided by forests and harvested woods can increase, and what the tradeoffs will be.

“Several strategies for offsetting carbon emissions have been proposed or are currently being implemented in the U.S.,” says Ryan, lead author of the paper. “Some of the important tradeoffs are worth mentioning because many people have viewed forests as a simple and uncomplicated partial solution to reducing CO2 in the atmosphere, and they are not.”

Atrazine, the most commonly used herbicide in the world, has been found to disrupt the reproductive cycles of the African clawed frog and may offer a partial solution to the global decline in amphibian species.

Atrazine is the most common herbicide used world-wide and, consequently, it is also the most commonly detected herbicide residue found in ground and surface water, as well as in our drinking water. Atrazine is a known “disruptor” of endocrine functioning (the endocrine system secrets and regulates hormones and proteins that are vital for proper growth) and it remains biologically active even in low concentrations.

In addition to supplementing the soil with sea minerals, Claverach Farm and Vineyard also adds biochar. Biochar is basically charcoal, but instead of being used for fuel, it’s used for capturing and storing carbon in the soil.

Because biochar can sequester carbon in the soil for thousands of years, it might be able to slow global warming and mitigate the environmental impact of agriculture.

Researchers predict that billions of tons of carbon from agriculture and forestry waste could potentially be stored in the world’s soils.

A new study published in Nature this week found that grazing animals on grasslands reduced the amount of nitrous oxide released by those grasslands. Nitrous oxide is the third most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and methane. It contributes to the destruction of ozone in the atmosphere and accounts for roughly 6% of the heating effect of greenhouse gases. About a third of the nitrous oxide produced in the U.S. anthropogenically comes from lands used for grazing; the rest comes from crop lands and from industrial sources.

Nitrous oxide is produced by soil organisms when the soil warms in the spring. When grass has been cut low by cattle or sheep, the soil freezes in the winter and many of the soil organisms die off. When the grass is not cut, snow covers the vegetation, providing warmth over the winter and moisture in the spring, and more of the soil organisms survive.

Urbanization may be having unexpected impacts in the Amazon rainforest by leaving forest areas vulnerable to exploitation by outsiders, report researchers writing in Conservation Letters.

Conducting field surveys during the course of 10,000-kilometers of travel along remote Amazon rivers, Luke Parry of Lancaster University found that a sharp decrease in rural habitation has not been accompanied by a decline in harvesting of wildlife and forest resources, indicating that urban populations exact a heavy toll on distant forests through hunting, fishing, logging, and harvesting of non-timber forest products.

For all of you who enjoy syrupy pancakes, bacon, eggs, and sausage for breakfast; for all who crave omelets and pork-roll, egg and cheese sandwiches; for all who relish the breakfast of champions, there is some great news coming your way. According to a new study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, eating a high fat breakfast is healthier than you think!

Metabolic syndrome, the technical term for abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, insulin resistance, and other cardiovascular disease-risk factors, may actually be prevented from eating a high fat breakfast in the morning.

A new study commissioned by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) demonstrates that unclean water for drinking as well as for sanitation services is responsible for more deaths than all forms of violence, including war.

“These deaths are an affront to our common humanity, and undermine the efforts of many countries to achieve their development potential,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said today, World Water Day.

There are two primary challenges surrounding water: quantity and quality. The study titled “Clearing the Water: A Focus on Water Quality Solutions” plunges into the latter challenge as fulfilling cleaner water standards is currently the more achievable goal.