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The charismatic and colorful Wood Duck provides bird-watchers with a familiar and welcome sight. Hunters also value this bird, which is second only to the mallard in terms of numbers shot each year. Data shows that in parts of the Southeast, the duck is now breeding a full month earlier than it did in the [...]

From the time of its discovery in the Gulf of Mexico in the 1940′s until about 1990, a single-celled marine parasite (Perkinsus marinus) was rarely spotted north of the Chesapeake Bay. Perkinsus marinus is best known for causing large-scale die-offs of the commercially important Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Since 1992, however, outbreaks of the parasite [...]

The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) is a 65-year cycle during which sea-surface temperatures in the North Atlantic alternate between warm (positive) and cool (negative) phases. The effects of this Oscillation are felt around the World. For example, warm (positive) sea-surface temperatures in the North Atlantic generally correspond to drier and warmer conditions in the Western [...]

Tree Swallows are medium-sized birds with white underbellies and iridescent blue-green capes that run from their heads to their wing tips. They often live in flocks that can number hundreds of thousands of birds and just before sunset, these flocks will swarm around their roosting spots in great circles that resemble living tornadoes. In the [...]

Seabirds, such as auks, gulls, petrels, terns, and gannets, have spent tens of millions of years adapting to life on the ocean. Some species, such as the Sooty Tern, can spend years at sea before returning to land. The success of these species is dependent on the success of their food sources (such as fish [...]

The warming trend over the last thirty years in the Eastern U.S. has coincided with changes in the behavior of migratory birds. Depending on each individual specieslifestyle, birds that breed in the northern U.S. and southern Canada may either delay or advance the date at which they begin their journey south in the fall. Because [...]

Rice yields must increase by one percent each year in order to meet the world’s growing demand. The United States is the world’s third biggest rice exporter, and rice production in the United States is a 1-1.5 billion dollar a year industry. Louisiana produces close to 3 million pounds of rice a year, and Texas [...]

Growing seasons are defined as the annual period between the last frost, which occurs in the late winter or early spring, and the first frost, which usually occurs in the fall. In the last half of the twentieth century, the length of America’s growing season grew each decade by and average of 2 days. There [...]

Not only do hurricanes transport heat and moisture from the tropics to more northern latitudes, they also stir up nutrients from cold water in deep seas. When these nutrients reach the ocean surface, they can cause phytoplankton (microscopic plant) blooms in “ocean deserts” – areas that typically have very little marine life growing in them. [...]

In order to intensify, hurricanes need warm sea surface temperatures. One of the reasons that the Gulf of Mexico is so prone to hurricanes is an ocean characteristic known as the Yucatan Channel Loop Current. Found in the southeastern part of the Gulf, extending from the mouth of the Mississippi River down through the Florida [...]

The Earth’s oceans are extremely important climate regulators. Covering about two-thirds of Earth, they absorb 80 percent of the solar radiation reaching the surface. They also contain nearly 97 percent of the total water on Earth. Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter (Source: Oceans. Environmental Literacy Council. Accessed online February 7, 2008. http://www.enviroliteracy.org/subcategory.php/48.html.)

More than half of hurricanes that make landfall produce at least one tornado. Tornadoes associated with hurricanes most often occur in the right-front quadrant of the hurricane, but can occur in rainbands and away from the hurricane?s center. As Hurricane Ivan (2004) moved inland, it produced heavy rains and more than 100 tornadoes. Hurricane Katrina [...]

The American Lung Association’s 2008 State of the Air Report found that about one-third of people in the U.S. live an an area with unhealthful levels of ground-level ozone pollution, and Houston ranked number four on the list of 25 cities with the highest number of high-ozone days. Ozone pollution, which forms when emissions from [...]

Over the past year, gasoline prices in the lower Atlantic states have risen by $1.05, and diesel fuel prices have risen by nearly two dollars. Reducing your driving time not only saves fuel and money, but it also reduces vehicle emissions. Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from cars react with heat and [...]

Between 1980 and 2001, energy consumption in Texas increased by about 2.7 percent annually. Demand for energy can be particularly high during the summer months, when people crank up the air conditioning for relief from extremely hot temperatures. Viewer Tip: Save energy by adding a programmable thermostat to your home. A programmable thermostat automatically adjusts [...]

Protecting your house from the summer sun can save energy, significantly reduce your air conditioning bills, and increase home comfort. Viewer Tip: To keep out the heat of the summer sun, close window shades and drapes in warm weather. Strategically planting deciduous trees (tree that lose their leaves in winter) near south, east, and west-facing [...]

The American Lung Association’s 2008 State of the Air Report found that about one-third of people in the U.S. live an an area with unhealthful levels of ground-level ozone pollution. Ozone pollution, which forms when emissions from vehicles, yard care equipment, and other sources react with heat and sunlight, can cause health problems for kids [...]

Over the past year, gasoline prices in the south-central states have risen by about 82 cents per gallon, and diesel fuel prices have risen by almost two dollars. Reducing your driving time not only saves fuel and money, but it also reduces vehicle emissions. Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from cars react [...]

At more than 49,400 square miles (128,000 square kilometers), lawns in the U.S. cover three times more area than corn crops, making them the largest irrigated crop in the country! The typical home lawn only needs about one-inch of water per week – including water received from rainfall – which means that you can save [...]

Did you know that vital Galveston Bay marsh habitats and wetlands have been lost or reduced due to human activities? All commercial and recreational fisheries in the Bay area rely on wetlands for their role as habitats and breeding grounds for popular species such as brown shrimp, blue crab, red drum, spotted sea trout, southern [...]