environmental news | The Burgundy Zine

April 26, 2020

Litter is Not a Suitable Home for Ants, Study Says

The world is your oyster, not your dumpster – although it’s often mistreated as such.

The non-profit organization Keep America Beautiful reports the United States spends approximately $11.5 billion to clean up litter annually. However, crumbled up plastics and abandoned glass bottles still find their way into the natural world, invading forests, lakes, rivers, and oceans.

Recently, researchers investigated the impact of discarded bottles and containers on ants, questioning whether these discarded byproducts of human activity are a “deadly trap or sweet home.”

April 22, 2020

Experts Say Deforestation Increases Risks of Future Pandemics

Deforestation doesn’t just jeopardize the environment and the animals we cohabitate this planet with; it also increases the risk of humans contracting zoonotic diseases, which have been at the heat at recent pandemics.

Zoonotic diseases are those that spread from animals to humans – salmonellosis, West Nile virus, rabies, Lyme disease, and coronaviruses being among the “top zoonotic diseases of most concern in the US,” according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.

“Sixty percent of novel infectious diseases originate in animals and can be highly contagious and dangerous,” says a recent article by Sustainable Brands. “Despite advancements in medical technology that improve disease treatment outcomes, the incidence of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases and their potential for pandemic have increased.”

April 4, 2020

The Ecological Cost of the Trump Border Wall

The “world’s most costly” border wall has a projected budget that extends beyond its dollar amount: the environmental and ecological costs.

If the Trump administration pursues a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, “there are species that will be completely extirpated from the United States,” said Sky Island Alliance program director Emily Burns during our recent interview.

Not to mention, the cement needed to create the border wall will require draining “hundreds of thousands of gallons of water that’s very precious down here in the southwest” from sensitive, local sources, she added.

April 2, 2020

Human Impact by Natalia Bennett

Australian artist Natalia Bennett discusses our role in climate change and calls for positive human impact through political involvement.

December 18, 2019

Fake Trees Won’t Appease Millennials

For millennials, it ain’t a Christmas tree unless it really sheds and breathes. According to a recent Value Penguin survey in the United States, millennials are 82 percent more likely to buy live Christmas trees than baby boomers.

However, an artificial tree is generally $513 cheaper than a real tree. While it may not be the more economical choice, it’s still the more environmental choice, says the National Christmas Tree Association.

August 24, 2019

Water in Kilauea: The Impact and Potential Aftermath

Water was found in Kilauea, the most active volcano on the island of Hawai’i, on July 25, according to US Geological Survey (USGS)’s most recent report.

Recently, we reached out to Janet Babb and Dr. Carolyn Parcheta, experts with the USGS, via email to learn more about these findings and what they could mean for Kilauea, the island of Hawaii, and its residents.

August 6, 2019

What’s Beneath Greenland May Not Be so Green

Greenland is a vast island adorned in an ice sheet that’s three times the size of Texas, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

Although Greenland’s ice sheet has withstood the test of time over the last 2.7 million years, its increase in surface melt over the last few years is rapidly chipping away at the island’s 656,000 square mile blanket of ice.

What lies beneath the ice, and what lies in our future if these trends continue, is a future that is far from green (for us, at least).