Posts Tagged ‘Smithsonian’

Podcast: On the Way to Peak Phosphorus

By Generation Anthropocene | Smithsonian.com | June 17, 2016 Phosphorus is an essential element to life on earth, but it’s not distributed equally, to say the least. Geologic deposits of phosphorus are concentrated in just five countries, and experts say the rate at which we’re consuming it is unsustainable, predicting we may reach peak phosphorus this century…

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Since the Late Pleistocene Humans Were Already Radically Transforming the Earth

By Jackson Landers | Smithsonian Magazine | June 7, 2016 “The idea of trying to restore things to a pristine state is not possible,” says Melinda Zeder, senior research scientist and curator of old world archaeology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. “Humans are very much a part of nature,” Zeder says. “The ways in…

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How Rising CO2 Levels May Contribute to Die-Off of Bees

By Lisa Palmer | Yale Environment 360 | May 10, 2016 Specimens of goldenrod sewn into archival paper folders are stacked floor to ceiling inside metal cabinets at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The collection, housed in the herbarium, dates back to 1842 and is among five million historical records of plants from around…

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