Christopher Elvidge News Today

"Before we devised artificial lights and atmospheric pollution and modern forms of nocturnal entertainment we watched the stars. There were practical calendar reasons of course but there was more to it than that. Even today the most jaded city dweller can be unexpectedly moved upon encountering a clear night sky studded with thousands of twinkling stars. When it happens to me after all these years it still takes my breath away." -Carl Sagan

The Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, home to a massive amount of natural gas flaring, is battling for regulatory control over this wasteful practice.

Flaring and venting fossil fuels release methane, which traps heat 80 times more effectively than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period

Flaring and venting fossil fuels release methane, which traps heat 80 times more effectively than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period

Flaring and venting fossil fuels release methane, which traps heat 80 times more effectively than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period

“The atmosphere is a free dumping place,” said one Columbia University researcher. “It’s like throwing garbage out the window back in the Middle Ages.”

Oil and gas operators in the U.S. have burned off 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in recent years.

Oil and gas operators in the U.S. have burned off 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in recent years.

Gas flaring soars in Mexico, derailing its climate change pledges as it seeks to boost oil output

The advent of electrical lighting has allowed us to colonise the night. Not only have kilometres of street lighting e...