Why is Greenland a part of Denmark?

Though a part of the North American continent, Greenland has been associated first with Norway, then Denmark since the 9th Century.  Its head of state is King Frederik X of Denmark.  It is an autonomous Danish territory with self-government and its own parliament.  But how did this all come about?

The Great White Hurricane – the Terrible Blizzard of 88

Few winter storms are as legendary as the American Blizzard of 88, dumping 55 inches (140 cm) of snow in the northeast U.S. It was the snowiest, coldest and deadliest, winter storm in American history.  From March 11-13, 1888, over 400 souls perished, including 200 in New York City alone.  Many people were literally buried inContinue reading “The Great White Hurricane – the Terrible Blizzard of 88”

California’s Vanishing Salton Sea

California’s largest lake is the man-made Salton Sea, a shallow, salt water lake in the middle of the southern California desert.  It sits just north of the Mexican border.  The Salton Sea lies in what used to be an ancient dry lake bed, only five feet higher than Death Valley. Today it is sadly vanishingContinue reading “California’s Vanishing Salton Sea”

The History of Climate Change in 10 Minutes

It’s taken nearly a century of research to convince the majority of the earth’s population that we humans are polluting the atmosphere and changing the climate of our own planet.  Decades of data now shows that not only is climate change real, but that our disregard has now left us near the point of no return, with dire consequences ahead of us.  As the earth heats up, climate change has now become the Climate Crisis.  But how did we get to this point so fast?  Let’s take a quick look back.

The Forgotten Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau

For an entire generation, the name Jacques Cousteau was synonymous with undersea exploration.  He was a famous French explorer, inventor, and researcher. He co-invented the Aqua-Lung, better known today as SCUBA.  On board his equally famous ship, the Calypso, he hosted dozens of TV documentaries from the 1960s thru the 1980s, exploring the world’s oceans.Continue reading “The Forgotten Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau”

Who Drained Russia’s Vast Aral Sea?

The Aral Sea is actually situated in Central Asia, between Northern Uzbekistan and Southern Kazakhstan.  Once the fourth largest freshwater lake in the world, the vanishing Aral Sea is nearly empty now, thanks to a decades-old, Soviet-begun desert irrigation program.

Life Before Earth Day and the Environmental Movement

In 1969, Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River was so polluted with industrial waste runoff it Literally Caught Fire! The Potomac, Chicago, Delaware and Hudson rivers all stunk to high heaven with millions of gallons of industrial waste deposited every single day.