Browse Environment Stories - Page 52

For the past 12 years, the University of Georgia has tapped its own talent to help keep its dozens of Athens based building safe from termites.

Daniel Hillel, the 2012 World Food Prize Laureate and a 1950 graduate of the University of Georgia, spent the better part of his career perfecting arid- land farming methods in Israel and sharing them with farmers across the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia. On Nov. 8, Hillel will return to Athens to deliver the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ 2012 D.W. Brooks Lecture at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

Georgia made it through September without much dramatic weather. Temperatures across the state were normal, but rainfall was light. The areas that received the most rainfall were affected by the remains of Hurricane Isaac in the first week of September.

A classroom and field workshop focusing on how to develop a conservation reserve program plan is set for Oct. 23, 2012 on the University of Georgia campus in Tifton, Ga. The class is part of the Conservation Reserve Program Readiness Initiative (CRPRI) and is co-sponsored by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Perfluorinated chemicals keep eggs from sticking to frying pans, protect furniture from spills and help firefighters fight blazes, but studies now show that some of these chemicals—particularly the ones used to fight fires—are also toxic to laboratory animals in varying amounts.

Many parts of Georgia have received excessive amounts of rain over the past few weeks. Although the rain is good for the state’s drought conditions, too much rain in a short period of time can cause havoc in vegetable gardens.

Is that a red-tailed hawk or a red-shouldered? If you’ve ever wanted to identify native raptors, the Saturday, Sept. 15 session of Saturday at the Rock is perfect for you. The Birds of Prey class is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. at Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Eatonton, Ga.

August in Georgia was cooler than average across the state, but rainfall varied considerably from northwest to southeast. Generally the driest area was the metro Atlanta area, and the wettest areas stretched from south of Augusta and east towards the Georgia coast.

Forecasters initially projected that rains from Hurricane Isaac could erase or at least put a large dent in Georgia’s drought, but the state has seen little relief.

West Nile virus usually peaks between Aug. 15 and Sep. 15 in Georgia, but this year doctors are seeing an earlier start. Entomologists and public health officials are worried that a near record number of Georgians will be sickened with West Nile virus this year.