Ozone

Last Friday, President Obama withdrew a new draft of the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Obama cited regulatory uncertainty and burden as the reasons for his decision. Joining us is David Biello of Scientific American.

There’s an odd feeling of deja vu these days on the environment beat. First came the awful events in Japan with a nuclear disaster on a scale unseen since Chernobyl in the 1980s. Now comes news about atmospheric ozone that takes us back to the 80s as well

Untouched by humans for millions of years, the frozen south is now an important outpost for studying human impact on the planet. In the first of a four part series, Terry FitzPatrick reports how greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, and surging tourism are affecting the fragile continent.

Skin cancer is one of the few cancers still on the rise in the United States. And while scientists say ozone depletion may be a contributing factor, the major culprit is our behavior. Anna Solomon-Greenbaum has the story on our cultural obsession with the sun.

The release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere does more than affect the temperature of the planet. It’s also an important nutrient for plants. Produce growers have known for decades that hothouse crops do better at enhanced CO2 levels. But scientists are still trying to learn how plants will react to increased CO2 in the […]