Articles by Chris Schults

Media Shower: Another weekly roundup

Well, I'm off to the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival soon for a weekend bonanza of green films. I don't have much time to write, so here's another weekly recap:

Humans spur worst extinctions since dinosaurs

Humans are responsible for the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs and must make unprecedented extra efforts to reach a goal of slowing losses by 2010, a U.N. report said on Monday.

Habitats ranging from coral reefs to tropical rainforests face mounting threats, the Secretariat of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity said in the report, issued at the start of a March 20-31 U.N. meeting in Curitiba, Brazil.

"In effect, we are currently responsible for the sixth major extinction event in the history of earth, and the greatest since the dinosaurs disappeared, 65 million years ago," said the 92-page Global Biodiversity Outlook 2 report.

Keep reading (if you can). Or go straight to the report.

Using TV to illumininate and inspire

Last night I watched the film Good Night, And Good Luck. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. It is currently available on DVD.

The movie is about the 1953 CBS News team (led by Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly) that successfully went head-to-head with the junior senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy. How closely the situation in 1953 mirrors today is disturbing, but CBS's success gives us hope.

The Daily Grist Headline Battle Royale: Match 4

And last week's winner is (drum roll ...) "It's Hard Out Here for a Chinook" with 39%. Natch.

Now, here are this week's nominees:

1. Silly Rabbit, Toxics Aren't for Kids!: Parents strive to protect kids from everyday chemical hazards
2. Love Means Never Having to Remove Your Oil Platforms: Controversial research shows fish thriving around California oil platforms
3. That'll Anacostia: A plan to spruce up D.C.'s Anacostia River has some residents anxious
4. Flame! I Wanna Log Forever: Congress debates measure that would speed up salvage logging
5. Sense and Sensitivities: Multiple Chemical Sensitivities can cause poverty as well as ill health

Vote!