Humans have been changing Chinese environment for 3,000 years
A widespread pattern of human-caused environmental degradation and related flood-mitigation efforts began changing the natural flow of China’s Yellow River nearly 3,000 years ago, setting the stage for massive floods that toppled the Western Han Dynasty, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.
What plant genes tell us about crop domestication
Archeobotanists argue that plant domestication involved much trial and error in many different geographic regions over a long period of time. A genetic technique that allows domesticated and wild strains of the same plant to be compared shows that domestication requires only simple genetic changes. Yet the findings don’t contradict the archeobotanical data.
Population growth drives depletion of natural resources
Population growth is driving much of the world’s resource problems, and our political leaders ignore it, says Robert Criss, Ph.D., professor of earth & planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences.
Vegetable oil spills hurt environment, too
Next time you think “oil spill,” remember that the vegetable oils used to make Freedom fries also can create an environmental mess.