Posts by

Deborah Byrd

World population: 7 billion on the horizon

Global world population numbers are on track to reach 7 billion in 2011, just 12 years after reaching 6 billion in 1999.

Deborah Byrd

September 2, 2009

Are nano-materials in sunscreens worth the risk?

Let the buyer beware. If your sunscreen goes on clear, it contains manufactured nano-particles and don't keep you safe from the sun.

Deborah Byrd

August 31, 2009

Mothers and children in sub-Saharan Africa

Every year in sub-Saharan Africa, 265,000 mothers die in childbirth and 4.5 million children die before the age of 5 from preventable causes.

Deborah Byrd

July 30, 2009

But we still have to eat even with climate change

Climate change is being caused by an excess of certain kinds of gases in Earth's atmosphere. Some of these gases come from cows.

Deborah Byrd

June 3, 2009

Swine flu preparedness. I vote yes.

The Swine flu viruses mutate. Conditions can change quickly. Is a pandemic imminent, as a Phase 5 alert level suggests?

Deborah Byrd

May 3, 2009

Miles traveled by your breakfast?

'Food miles' - or the Miles traveled by your breakfast - account for about 11 percent of the carbon emissions that are contributing to Earth's changing climate.

Deborah Byrd

April 16, 2009

Plug-in hybrids for U.S. security, climate

A former CIA director says a switch to vehicles that are plug-in hybrids could strengthen national security and help forestall climate change.

Deborah Byrd

April 12, 2009

Soil beneath our feet can slow climate change

As plants grow, they take up carbon dioxide, and the plant material that goes into the soil to form organic matter stabilizes that carbon in the soil.

Deborah Byrd

April 1, 2009

Are we and Earth coupled? Read more

We and Earth are part of a single system. We affect nature, and nature affects us, in endless cycles.

Deborah Byrd

December 7, 2008

Africa’s GM wars: Leaders seek answers

No one - not scientists, not environmentalists, not policy makers - wants an ecological catastrophe. No one wants to see people hungry, either. Read about the GM wars.

Deborah Byrd

November 29, 2008

Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.