ENVIRONMENT

Is there anything more diverting for a Southerner than a couple of inches of snow? The mere suggestion of the slightest chance of a flurry whips us into a frenzy. When my niece and nephew were younger, they’d flush ice cubes down the toilet then go to bed wearing their pajamas inside out and underpants […]

I’m not immune to the charms of a dozen roses on Valentine’s Day – or any day for that matter – though I’m always disheartened by those with no discernible fragrance and perfect buds that inexplicably shrivel and droop. These are not attributes one cares to associate with romance. I try to limit my purchase […]

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh has an area where you can see through the glass and watch scientists at work, and in this section they also have a couple of glass displays that house a much smaller worker of the creepy crawly variety – dermestid beetles. These beetles have a job […]

The carbon footprint of a household can vary greatly based on income and location. Researchers from UC Berkeley included these factors in a new analysis. The result is a set of interactive maps that show carbon footprints based on ZIP codes.** Household greenhouse gas emissions are lower in central cities compared to suburbs, but the […]

In 2006, solar farms in North Carolina were few and far between. Last year, the state added more solar power capacity, about 400 megawatts, than any state except California, according to a report from NPD Solarbuzz. A combination of tax incentives, aggressive renewable energy mandates and decreasing costs has driven the industry’s growth in the […]

The brown-headed nuthatch is one of our own, a permanent resident of the Southeast. They don’t care to visit the Caribbean in winter, and they rarely stray above the Mason-Dixon Line. They make their living in our piney woods. Until recently, it was assumed they required a stand of old-growth pines, but Davidson College Professor […]

Is it possible “to see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower” as poet William Blake suggested? According to biologist David George Haskell, this “search for the universal within the infinitesimally small” runs through many cultures. Tibetan monks create mandalas, paintings of sand that represent the entire universe within […]

As I write this article, temperatures are forecast to be in the low 70s later this week, so it’s unlikely we’ll have a white Christmas this year. While the arrival of significant winter weather is always questionable in North Carolina, an occasional white coating is not uncommon. Although you probably won’t see any snow for […]

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute’s online publication, PlanCharlotte.org, has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Arts & Science Council for its “City of Creeks” project. “City of Creeks,” is envisioned as a way to combine history, environmental science and community engagement, all focused on Charlotte’s distinctive landscape of urban streams. It will feature online […]

Despite the popularity of trampolines and bouncy castles, kids still love to frolic in a good old-fashioned leaf pile. A solid mound turns out to be delightfully springy. There’s plenty of room to hide. Armloads of leaves are virtually weightless. Thrown into the air, they spiral slowly back to earth. As adults, we start to […]