Ask a Scientist Archive
Ask a Scientist is a monthly column from UCS. We invite you to read
these past issues.
2013
- How Do Clean Coal Advocates Justify the Use of the Word Clean?
- How Can We Ensure Transparency and Integrity at the Intersection of Science and Policy Making
- Can Changes in Our Food System Help Make Americans Healthier
- How Vulnerable are the Pools that Store Spent Nuclear Fuel at U.S. Reactors?
- How Does the Cost of Renewables Stack up against Other Sources?
- What Accounts for the Varying Rates of Sea Level Rise in Different Locations?
- How Can I Better Explain That Things Like Leaving Your Car Running Have Big Impacts?
- Are Scientists Mapping and Predicting Changes in Precipitation Patterns?
- How Can We Promote Farmers Who Grow Healthier Foods Given Our Current Focus on Subsidizing Commodity Crops?
2012
- Can We Avoid Running out of Oil and Minimize Its Impact on Our Environment?
- Q&A with UCS Center for Science and Democracy Director Andrew Rosenberg
- Can Shifting from Coal-fired Power Plants to Natural Gas Help Tackle Global Warming?
- Would a Large-scale Reforestation Effort Help Counter the Global Warming Impacts of Deforestation?
- How Much of a Health Risk is Posed by Increasingly Common Heat Waves?
- What Are the Implications of North Carolina Legislating Against Peer-reviewed Science on Sea-level Rise
- Q&A with UCS Food and Environment Director Ricardo Salvador
- How to compare EVs with gasoline vehicles
- Are Our Drugs Safe And, If Not, What Should We Do About It?
- After Fukushima, Are We Safe with All the Aging Reactors in the United States?
- Monsanto’s Claims for Their Genetically Engineered Crops Seem Too Good to be True—But What Are the Alternatives?
- What Will the New Standards Actually Mean for the Fuel Economy of New Car Models in the Real World
2011
- What Are the Differences in Water Usage between Various Energy Technologies?
- Have Scientists Seen Any Effects of Climate Change on Coffee Crops?
- Would U.S. Nuclear Experts Be Better Able to Avert a Meltdown Than the Japanese Experts Were?
- Why Are Most Fruits and Vegetables Still Classified as "Specialty Crops"?
- Can You Help Seperate Facts from the Hype on Electric Cars?
- How Much Ozone Depletion Has Occurred over the Past Two Decades?
- Are Other Science-Based Laws Under Attack Besides the Clean Air Act?
- Can We Realistically Retire Coal Plants and Still Have Enough Power to Meet Our Needs?
- Can We Produce Enough Energy with Green Sources or Must We Rely on Coal, Oil, and Nuclear?
- How Much CO2 Is in the Atmosphere and Can That Level Have Dramatic Effects?
- How Can We Recognize and Reward Sustainable Agricultural Practices Regardless of Farm Size?
- My Senators Claim We Aren't in the Right Part of the County to Benefit from Solar Energy; What Does Science Say?
2010
- Is There Any Truth to Claims That We Can't Afford Comprehensive Climate and Energy Legislation and It Would Cost Thousands of American Jobs?
- Aren't There Mechanisms in Place to Keep Corporations from Interfering in the Regulation of Their Own Products
- Do All-electric Cars Provide Global Warming and Pollution Reductions If They Get Their Energy from Power Plants That Use Natural Gas or Coal?
- What Is the Scientifically Accurate Response to Claims That Global Warming Is Only Related to Natural Changes in Earth's Climate?
- Is It Even Possible to Get the Entire World to Carbon Zero by 2050?
- Are There Serious Reservations in the Scientific Community Regarding Wind Energy?
- What Is the Connection between Growing Crops and Climate Change?
- How Does the Global Warming Pollution from Cars Compare to Other Major Sources Such As a Coal Power Plant?
- How Powerful Are Today's Nuclear Weapons and, If Used, How Would They Affect the World?
- What Has the Clean Air Act Done for Us Lately?
