Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [environment]

Referring to the surrounding ecosystem of the planet Earth, its natural mechanisms and balances, and study of the effects of human interaction with it.

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Does a dishwasher consume less water than manual dish washing

I've always heard the claim that a dishwasher is more water efficient. I can attest that I once washed the dishes with a clogged pipe, and put a bucket below the sink, and was appalled at the amount of water used, and this was while using low flows…
Gilad Naor
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Does one acre of hemp yield as much paper as 4 acres of trees?

I saw the following photo on my Facebook news feed: I asked my friend who posted it for a source, and he gave me a link to a hemp manufacturer. I'm pretty sure it's not a reputable source. I'm interested to see if there is any independent study,…
Dang Khoa
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Is replacing paper towels with electric hand dryer blowers beneficial to the environment?

I'm sure paper towels don't harm the forests, because they are made from reforestation crops. So using them only harm trees that were already destined to being cut. I found this article that tries to compare the carbon emissions of each "paper…
ariel
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Is banning plastic bags beneficial to the environment?

There's always this big talk about plastic bags, but how much can you compare banning them to other measures? Bottomline: Is it worth the whole media coverage about this issue, or is it just a pointless factoid to distract from other much more…
ariel
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Was the "hole in the ozone" caused by CFCs?

Burt Rutan (the aviator) has put out a critique of climate change: An Engineer's Critique of Global Warming "Science" On page 7, this caught my eye: Modern Human-Extinction Scares ... • Hole in the Ozone layer, caused by CFCs, 1970s & 1980s (We now…
Mike Elkins
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Can indoor plants recycle the air we breathe?

This question on the Gardening SO site suggests that plants can be used to clean the air within a home or office environment. I know of the research done by NASA on indoor plants which can clean/reduce certain pollutants in the air. [...] According…
going
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Are more than a billion umbrellas thrown away every year?

I own a Blunt umbrella. From their and other umbrella sites, there is a claim that over a billion umbrellas are thrown away every year. Blunt claims it on their website Finisterre claims it Senz claims it as well Nobody quotes a source, and I…
Mark Mayo
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Is 90% of the large fish biomass gone, when compared to pre-industrial levels?

According to this video only 10% of the fish biomass that was in the ocean during the pre-industrial era is left, due to overfishing. This claim seems to be based on a study by Myers and Worm which has been published 2003 in Nature. This seemed…
LeoR
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Kindle vs Books and ecofriendliness

I was in a conversation with a friend trying to convince her to switch to kindle, so she said that the cost and plastic material and eco footprint of kindle is higher then all the EBooks she could possibly read. While others have made the case that…
mireille raad
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Does glass decompose in one million years?

Is there any authoritative reference to the claim that glass decomposes in one million years? I came across that figure multiple times (for example, 1, 2, 3). They often cite The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services which, in turn,…
Sergey Zolotarev
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Is the Amazon being cleared at the rate of X football fields a minute?

I've heard it mentioned in the media in different forms, the Amazon is being cleared at a phenomenal rate. Is there any factual evidence to support this claim? Here is an article from Greenpeace's website from 2005 which claims the rate is 6…
going
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Is paying your bill online more environmentally friendly than post?

My monthly Comcast statement says that I should go paperless and pay my bill online via "Ecobill, the environmentally friendly way to pay your bill each month". All jokes about Comcast aside, has anyone done studies about the environmental impact…
Tim Reddy
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Do lost people tend to unintentionally walk in circles?

Is it fact/myth that when you get lost in the wilderness, you go round in circles? Common belief has it that people who get lost in unfamiliar terrain often end up walking in circles. Although uncorroborated by empirical data, this belief has…
Agent Smith
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Does one Volcanic eruption release more CFC's into the atmosphere than all man made CFC's combined since their invention?

There appears to be a large number of people who are under the impression that Volcanos release ozone-depleting CFC's into the atmosphere. What's more is that they believe a single eruption expels more CFC's into the atmosphere than all the CFC's…
ShemSeger
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How long do disposable plastic shopping bags take to break down

Recently in Australia some major supermarkets have begun phasing out disposable shopping bags. A lot of people are saying things like that the new reusable bags are worse than the disposable bags. There's also a lot of debate about whether the new…
Brett
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