NASA’s Earth Observatory's "Image of the Day" blog is like a high-grade morning fix for nerdy armchair geographers (ahem). It takes a certain mindset to get excited each morning by an Uruguayan rainfall anomaly map or a satellite image of the Indus River. Take a step back, however, and the vast archive of images reveals a portrait of some of the most pressing environmental issues of the day. The stories told by the archive can reflect emergencies (the liberal sprinkling of Gulf of Mexico oil slick images since April), reliable seasonal changes (satellite images of floods dominate during the spring and fall months), or co ... Read Full Article»
Like many regions of the United States, Long Island faces a mind-boggling array of short and long-term environmental challenges that touch upon food, water and energy issues. A recent Newsday interactive series identifies six key concerns including pollution of groundwater, stagnating recycling rates and negative effects of climate change. Some big issues, however, didn’t make the list. For instance, the adverse impact of five Long Island power plants on the North and Sou ... Read Full Article»