Free Republic

Every year at this time, Joanne Driscoll is a prisoner to pollution. Four air purifiers hum incessantly in her two-story West Houston townhouse. Industrial-strength air filters are stacked on her glass-topped dining room table. She won't answer her front door without wearing a mask. The culprit isn't smog, pollen or any of the other contaminants and allergens that make Houston's air infamous. It's smoke -- from agricultural fires set hundreds of miles away in other countries. "Pollution knows no boundaries," said Driscoll, an asthma sufferer who had her first serious bout of illness during the particularly heavy Mexican and Central...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 31 Mt. Etna Lava Plumes Credit & Copyright: Marco Fulle (Stromboli online) Explanation: Mt. Etna has been erupting for hundreds of thousands of years. Located in Sicily, Italy, the volcano produces lava fountains over one kilometer high. Mt. Etna is not only one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, it is one of the largest, measuring over 50 kilometers at its base and rising nearly...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured , along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 6 Comet NEAT in Southern Skies Credit & Copyright: Noel Munford (Palmerston North Astronomical Society, New Zealand) Explanation: After last month's dramatic swoop past the Sun, Comet NEAT (C/2002 V1) appeared as a naked-eye comet, emerging from the evening twilight in planet Earth's southern skies. On March 1st, New Zealand photographer Noel Munford captured this telephoto view of the outbound comet close to the southwestern...