Hakai Magazine: The Decade of Sock Hops, Poodle Skirts, and Climate Change Awareness
“In the 1950s, the science behind climate change was accepted and research was funded, but we lost sight of the future and set the world ablaze. In June 1953, (the popular) Life Magazine, ran a 20-page article entitled “The Canopy of Air,” which addressed the suspected link between warming temperatures, rapid glacial retreat, and industrial CO₂. (Also in 1953, in) Time magazine, “In the hungry fires of industry, modern man burns nearly two billion tons [1.8 billion tonnes] of coal and oil each year. Along with the smoke and soot of commerce, his furnaces belch some six billion tons [5.5 billion tonnes] of unseen carbon dioxide into the already tainted air … This spreading envelope of gas around the Earth serves as a great greenhouse.” Fascinating article HERE.
Phys.org, May 31: Secret industry documents reveal that makers of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ covered up their health dangers
“The chemical industry took a page out of the tobacco playbook when they discovered and suppressed their knowledge of health harms caused by exposure to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), according to an analysis of previously secret industry documents (from DuPont and 3M) by UC San Francisco (UCSF) researchers. The paper analyzes the tactics the industry used to delay public awareness of PFAS toxicity, and in turn, delay regulations governing their use. PFAS are widely used chemicals in clothing, household goods, and food products, and are highly resistant to breaking down, giving them the name “forever chemicals.” They are now ubiquitous in people and the environment. ‘These documents reveal clear evidence that the chemical industry knew about the dangers of PFAS and failed to let the public, regulators, and even their own employees know the risks’.” LINK
Surfer Magazine, June 5: Juvenile White Sharks Common at Some So Cal Beaches
This report comes from Cal State Long Beach’s Shark Lab, and shows that juvenile great white sharks are more common than previously thought at popular Southern California surf spots and swimming beaches in San Diego and Santa Barbara. The study was conducted via drone footage from above. Over two years, researchers examined 26 locations on the California coast. And they found that at two locations in So Cal, juvenile great whites between the ages of one and five years old were swimming near people 97% of the time. No shark bites were reported at any of the beaches observed during the two-year survey. Scientists say it should instead be a reminder of how rare shark bites are. Read ON.
Nontoxic Powder Uses Sunlight to Quickly Disinfect Contaminated Water
“At least 2 billion people worldwide routinely drink water contaminated with disease-causing microbes. Now, scientists at Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have invented a low-cost, recyclable powder that kills thousands of waterborne bacteria per second when exposed to ordinary sunlight. The discovery of this ultrafast disinfectant could be a significant advance for nearly 30 percent of the world’s population with no access to safe drinking water, according to the Stanford and SLAC team. Their results are published in a May 18 study in Nature Water.” Read MORE.
The Conversation: Degrowth isn’t the same as a recession – it’s an alternative to ecological and economic collapse
“An increasing number of policymakers, thinkers and activists argue for abandoning our obsession with growth at all costs. Instead of pursuing GDP growth, they suggest orienting the economy towards social equality and wellbeing, environmental sustainability and democratic decision making. The most far reaching of those proposals are made under the umbrella term of degrowth. Degrowth is a set of ideas and a social movement that presents a comprehensive solution to these issues. The pandemic demonstrated that a new normal can be achieved at pace, as we saw sweeping changes to how many of us lived, worked, and travelled. Degrowth proposes an equitable, voluntary reduction of overconsumption in affluent economies.” Read into THIS.
LA Times, May 27: Think El Niño might be bad? Wait until climate change really gets going
“The last El Niño year, 2016, was the hottest year on record globally; we’ll probably be hotter this year, exceeding the 1.5-degree Celsius of warming seen as a climate change tipping point. Thankfully, a single year of 1.5 degrees isn’t the stuff true tipping points are made of — but if we find the looming heat waves and floods from this El Niño intolerable (not to mention the ones that have already happened recently), imagine what several years 1.5 degrees warmer might look like. The term “Earth breakdown” used by climate scientist Peter Kalmus comes to mind.” Keep READING.
The Guardian, May 24: ‘Worthless’: Chevron’s carbon offsets are mostly junk and some may harm, research says
“A new investigation into Chevron’s climate pledge has found the fossil-fuel company relies on “junk” carbon offsets and “unviable” technologies, which do little to offset its vast greenhouse gas emissions and in some cases may actually be causing communities harm. Chevron, which reported $35.5bn in profits last year, is the US’s second-largest fossil fuel company. New research by Corporate Accountability, a non-profit, transnational corporate watchdog, found that 93% of the offsets Chevron bought and counted towards its climate targets from voluntary carbon markets between 2020 and 2022 were too environmentally problematic to be classified as anything other than worthless or junk.” Delve DEEPER.
The Crucial Years, Bill McKibben, May 25: Two Really Dumb Things We Might Be Able to Stop
#1. “The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) wants to build 27 new hangars for parking private jets at Hanscom Field, which borders the national park commemorating the beginning of the American Revolution. I feel like an idiot explaining why this is a bad idea, but here goes: private jets, as the Boston Globe pointed out, emit about ten times more carbon per mile traveled than commercial aviation, and on shorter hauls that number is even higher: Flights from New York to Washington, D.C., on private jets are responsible for about 45 times the emissions per passenger of commercial planes flying the same route, and more than 1,100 times the emissions per passenger of train travel to those cities. In our wretchedly unequal society, the number of these flights is growing rapidly, up 11 percent last year.” Read ON.
SC Museum Of Natural History: The Inner Lives of Shells, June 10 – Aug 20
“Seashells hold secrets from an underwater world. These tiny treasures connect us with the vast ocean and the hidden creatures that live within them. Humans have long been captivated by their diverse colors and intricate forms, but our actions also threaten their future.” Learn about the Museum’s upcoming exhibits HERE.
CA State Parks Week: Guided History Walk at Forest of Nisene Marks, June 14, 10 am – Noon
“Delve into forest history—and prehistory—with a 2 hour walk through the Forest of Nisene Marks. Bring water and snacks. Meet at the Georges Picnic Area next to the steel bridge about one mile past the kiosk. This is a light to moderate hike and is a free event. Vehicle day-use fee is $8. For more information, call (831) 685-6444. This event is made possible by California State Parks and Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. Event is free and pre-registration is highly recommended.” Sign up HERE.
CA State Parks Week: Fall Creek After The Fire, June 16, 10 am – Noon
Join us for a series of guided tours of the burn zone at Fall Creek State Park! Fall Creek State Park is a sub-unit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. The Park is in the unceded homelands of the Awaswas-speaking Ohlone village known as Sayanta, who stewarded these lands since time immemorial. We’ll explore how the landscape has responded to the fire, from redwood trees to wildflowers, and banana slugs to birds, as well as share how community members can help monitor the fire’s impacts. This guided experience will support CZU Lightning Complex and Community Science Project. During your visit, we will spend time learning about iNaturalist so that participants may help us track how this landscape is responding to fire. Registration highly recommended. Sign up HERE.
Bike Share Launch June 20, 2 pm
The City of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz, County of Santa Cruz, City of Capitola, Cabrillo College and City of Watsonville have partnered to bring an electric Bike Share system to Santa Cruz County providing a convenient, fun and affordable way for community members and visitors to travel countywide. Bike Share will launch on June 20 throughout the City of Santa Cruz and UCSC campus. The regional system is scheduled to expand to Capitola, Watsonville, Cabrillo College and the unincorporated County in early 2024. The initial launch will include about 400 e-bikes and 800 docks throughout the City of Santa Cruz and UCSC. The countywide rollout will expand to up to 660 e-bikes and 1320 docks in 2024. More info HERE. The City of Santa Cruz is requesting feedback from the community on additional locations for bike share stations. Share your thoughts through the survey HERE.
UCSC Seymour Center: Younger Lagoon Reserve Tours, June 24, 10:30 am – Noon
This 90-minute, behind-the-scenes hiking tour takes visitors into Younger Lagoon Reserve adjacent to the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. Part of the University of California Natural Reserve System, Younger Lagoon Reserve contains diverse coastal habitats and is home to birds of prey, migrating sea birds, bobcats, and other wildlife. Come and see what scientists are doing to track local mammals, restore native habitats, and learn about the workings of one of California’s rare coastal lagoons. A tour is offered on selected Thursdays and Saturdays of each month. Younger Lagoon Reserve tours are free and open to the public. Space is limited to 18 participants. Call 831-459-3800 or sign-up online HERE. Virtual tours are available ONLINE.
Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History: Summer Kick-Off Festival, June 24, 11 am – 3 pm
“Celebrate summer in Santa Cruz! This annual festival promises to be a day of nature-filled family fun — both out in the sunshine and within our Museum galleries. 🦉 Live animals 🎶 Live music 🥙 Food trucks 🎨 Nature Crafts 🔬 Science activities… and more! Free admission to the Museum and outdoor festivities! 1305 E. Cliff Dr.” More info HERE.
Permaculture Food Forests With John Valenzuela & Dave Shaw, Starting Aug 26
“Planning, Growing and Enjoying Year Round Abundance. An Applied Permaculture Practicum in Santa Cruz & Surrounding Region. 6 weekends over 12 months – join at any time and gain experience & knowledge designing & maintaining edible forest gardens through every season. Skills taught include: Design and plant productive, resilient, and site/climate appropriate orchards; Engage in seasonal care of fruit trees and perennial vegetables, including summer and winter pruning, fertility management, and irrigation; Propagate fruit trees via grafting and budding.” More info and registration HERE.
Terranova & Permafunk Institute: Permaculture Design Course, Sept – March, 6 Weekends, 9 am – 4 pm
“This Permaculture Certificate Course will put you at the center of a thriving learning experience with in-person classes, unforgettable field trips and “opposable thumbs 101″ hands-on in the field. The Permaculture curriculum will be thoroughly covered with a strong focus on Climate Change mitigation including fire prevention and regeneration, including Keyline design and Holistic Management. From greywater to rainwater harvesting and from placemaking to living economies this course will show a broad spectrum of real life examples of Eco Neighborhoods, Natural Building and Food Forests for sustainable living.” Learn MORE.
YES! Magazine, May 22: For a Just Transition, Recruit More Women Electricians
“The trades in general and electrical work specifically are overwhelmingly male. Only 2% of electricians are women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It’s also a sector facing a massive labor shortage as the country looks to transition away from fossil fuels and toward electrifying cars and buildings. According to Rewiring America, an electrification nonprofit, the United States will need one million more electricians to make updates like installing solar panels, heat pumps, and electric-vehicle charging stations to help the country meet its climate goals. Getting more women working as electricians would help resolve a crucial labor shortage, but it could also help close the gender wage gap.” Read ON.
Environteers: Wetsuit Recycling Options
If you frequent the ocean, you’ve probably got 1 or more wetsuits in your closet/garage that you never use. Pass them on for reuse or repurposing! Here are a few ways to clear out your closet and keep them out of the landfill. Ripcurl has a company wide program that accepts all wetsuits that are then delivered to TerraCycle.com for repurposing to playground mats. Blownout Surf Shack, 3055 Portola Dr., will either donate your usable suit to a youth in need, use the material for wetsuit repairs, or recycle unusable material. And Play It Again Sports, 4770 Soquel Dr., will pay you for suits that are re-sellable. Wetsuits must be dry. Tell them Environteers sent you!
Center For Biological Diversity: The Endangered Species Act at 50
“No law has done more to save wildlife from extinction than the Endangered Species Act. It’s the reason bald eagles soar from coast to coast, grizzlies and wolves roam the Rockies, blue whales migrate along the West Coast, and American alligators stomp through the Southeast. The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of this extraordinary law, which has saved 99% of animals and plants under its care. Since its inception, the ESA has protected millions of acres of forests, mountains, rivers, deserts, beaches, oceans and other habitat — as well as the fragile and fascinating network of life we know as biodiversity. It has also become an inspiration for other countries in their pursuit to protect what’s wild.” Keep learning HERE.
Scientific American, May 4: Perspective – Population Decline Will Change the World for the Better
“As the human population has doubled over the past 50 years, wildlife populations have plummeted by an average of 69 percent. Where our current model of endless growth and short-term profits sacrifices vulnerable people and the planet’s future, population decline could help create a future with more opportunity and a healthy, biologically rich world. We’re at a crossroads—and we decide what happens next. We can maintain the economic status quo and continue to pursue infinite growth on a finite planet. Or we can heed the warning signs of a planet pushed to its limits, put the brakes on environmental catastrophe, and choose a different way to define prosperity that’s grounded in equity and a thriving natural world.” Author: Stephanie Feldstein. Keep READING.
Down To Earth, May 18: Europe – The days of making billions with misleading ‘climate-friendly’ products may be ending
“The era of vague environmental claims is over, advertising executives declared this week, as the marketing meets the science. Terms like environmentally friendly, nature positive and carbon negative are facing scrutiny from regulators in London and Brussels, with offsetting the subject of special attention. “Misleading environmental claims are under the microscope from advertising regulators, consumer watchdogs and even governments. The risks of getting it wrong are huge, with brands being shamed publicly when they are guilty of misleading the public,” Jonny White, a director at advertising agency AMV BBDO, told my colleague Ellen Ormesher.” Read MORE.
Patagonia: Hasta La Raiz – Down To The Root, Documentary Film, 11 min.
“For Javier Zamora, the prospect of owning his own farm seemed out of reach—Hispanic people make up the majority of US farmworkers, yet only 4% of farm owners are Hispanic. But with the support of his community, Zamora set out to defy the odds. Follow Zamora’s journey and learn more about ALBA, a nonprofit in California’s Salinas Valley that provides economic opportunities and training for limited-resource and aspiring organic farmers on a 100-acre farm.” Watch film for free HERE.
Inside Climate News, May 16: Did Montana Just Enact the Nation’s Most Aggressive Anti-Climate Law?
“Montana Republican lawmakers have passed legislation that bars state agencies from considering climate change when permitting large projects that require environmental reviews, including coal mines and power plants. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill last week, marking what could be considered the nation’s most aggressive anti-climate law. Under House Bill 971, Amanda Eggert reports for the Montana Free Press, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and other state regulators can’t consider greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts when conducting environmental reviews for large projects. The move builds off a decade-old state law that already banned the state from considering “actual or potential impacts that are regional, national, or global in nature” in such reviews.” Keep reading HERE.
Center For Biological Diversity: Lawsuit Challenges California’s New Regressive Rooftop Solar Policy
“A lawsuit filed 5/3/23 by 3 environmental groups argues that the California Public Utilities Commission acted illegally when it slashed compensation payments for power generated by solar panels. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appointees failed to consider all the benefits of rooftop solar, and also ignored instructions from the state Legislature to ensure that solar adoption “continues to grow sustainably,” the environmental groups say in their lawsuit. The petition says the new rooftop solar policy “will devastate solar adoption rates, especially for working-class Californians” and ignores rooftop solar benefits, including “reduced greenhouse gas emissions, resilience to extreme weather and power outages, and avoided land use impacts by decreasing the need for utility transmission infrastructure which also keeps electricity bills down.” The new policy slashes customer credits by up to 80% for electricity generated on rooftops and sold back to the grid, which reduces the financial benefit of installing solar systems but spurred a boom for installation before the rules changed.” Read ON.
The Guardian, May 3: Common US consumer products release toxic compounds, new research shows
“Some of the most common consumer products probably release 5,000 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in American homes annually, new research on the dangerous class of chemicals finds. The research, which analyzed ingredient lists across dozens of product categories, found the most concerning levels in general purpose cleaners, art supplies and laundry detergents. The sum of the exposures present a health risk for average consumers and especially those working with many of the products in a professional capacity. The findings are “alarming”, said Kristin Knox, a scientist and study co-author.” Quote from the study: “DEA (listed as a carcinogen under Prop 65), used in the production of soaps and surfactants and found in both cleaning products and personal care products, appears in 40 product categories. DEA has the potential to cause high consumer exposures because of its inclusion in lotions, hair products, shaving gel, hand sanitizer..” Educate yourself HERE.
Nature Climate Change: Trophic Rewilding Can Expand Natural Climate Solutions
“Natural climate solutions are being advanced to arrest climate warming by protecting and enhancing carbon capture and storage in plants, soils and sediments in ecosystems. These solutions are viewed as having the ancillary benefit of protecting habitats and landscapes to conserve animal species diversity. However, this reasoning undervalues the role animals play in controlling the carbon cycle. We present scientific evidence showing that protecting and restoring wild animals and their functional roles can enhance natural carbon capture and storage. We call for new thinking that includes the restoration and conservation of wild animals and their ecosystem roles as a key component of natural climate solutions that can enhance the ability to prevent climate warming beyond 1.5 °C.” Get the bigger picture HERE.
YES! Magazine: Visions Beyond Apocalypse
“Climate science fiction, or “cli-fi,” is having a renaissance, with writers like Kim Stanley Robinson and Emily St. John Mandel garnering national attention. Although the genre is recent, the bleakness of post-climate-change stories is nothing new in science fiction. But not all of these stories are grim postapocalyptic journeys after climate catastrophes. In fact, a particular kind of cli-fi with themes of hope, resilience, and renewal has existed for years. Until recently, it’s been the purview of authors from communities that are underrepresented in publishing. These books offer a new and socially responsible look at what Earth could be like after an apocalyptic event—written by authors who were already living in spaces damaged by climate change and who had survived horrors in real life.” Read on about these hopeful visions HERE.
Santa Cruz Works: Ambient Opens New Low-light PV Factory in Scotts Valley
“April 21, 2023, marked an exciting day for Ambient Photonics as they opened their brand new factory Fab 1, located in Scotts Valley, California. The factory is dedicated to the production of Ambient Photonics’ proprietary technology which provides energy-efficient, high-quality energy solutions for various applications. This state-of-the-art 43,000-square foot Fab 1 facility is now one of the largest indoor energy harvesting technology factories in the world and will ship tens of millions of patented low-light PV cells per year. The PV cells produced at Fab 1 have the potential to revolutionize the energy harvesting industry. These cells generate three times more energy than traditional PV cells of the same size, thanks to their breakthrough energy density. These small, durable, and low-cost PV cells could render disposable batteries obsolete in devices across multiple industries, ushering in a new era in connected device form, function, and sustainability. Ambient’s PV cells are so “green” that when they are depleted of energy in 10 years, they can be ground up and deposited in your home garden.” Read ON.
EcoWatch, April 5: ‘We Have No Other Home’- Alaska Tribes Sue to Stop Largest Pure Gold Mine
“If the Donlin Gold Mine is built as planned in Southwest Alaska, it would be the largest pure gold mine in the world. It would also lead to the filling of thousands of acres of wetlands, harm salmon and rainbow smelt and risk a catastrophic spill of 20 to 40 percent of the up to 568 million tons of toxic waste that could end up stored behind a 471-foot tailings dam. That’s why three Indigenous Tribes filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block the project, arguing that it threatens the Kuskokwim River ecosystem. “We’ve been on this land for almost 10,000 years. What will happen if a tailings spill occurs?” Orutsararmiut Native Council Executive Director Brian Henry said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. “We all know the answer. It would be catastrophic to our people and our way of life. We have no other home.” Go DEEPER.
River, a Cinematic Love Letter to the World’s Rushing Waterways
“The documentary film River, coming to theaters this Earth Day, opens with a view of a river flowing calmly between shadowed banks, shimmering with the liminal light of dusk or dawn. “Thousands have lived without love,” a quote from W.H. Auden appears over a reflected cloud bank. “Not one without water.” Yet the film that follows suggests that the line between love and need winds a meandering path. The next hour and a quarter is a visual, musical and poetic love letter to rivers, which the movie depicts as a source of both basic necessities and “human dreams.” “I don’t think you’d find anyone who didn’t love a river,” the film’s director Jennifer Peedom told EcoWatch in an interview. More info HERE
Eat For The Earth: Community Rx – Plant Based Living Program
“The most powerful way to end your health struggle is to transform your diet. Major lifestyle change requires effective education, accurate information, and plenty of inspiration, tools, and support. For many people, the ideal way to obtain all of these things is to find a program that immerses you in a proven learning experience infused with acceptance, love, encouragement, and fun! This is why we are partnering with PlantPure Communities to offer Community Rx in English and Spanish in Santa Cruz County! Through 3 dynamic in-person events, a ten-day online program of nutrition education, exposure to delicious healthy food, a supportive community, and high-quality materials, Community Rx teaches you how to go from discomfort and ill-health to bodily freedom, vitality, and comfort beyond your wildest imagination!” More INFO.
World Economic Forum: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Synthesis Report
“Reliance on fossil fuels is the root cause of climate change: in 2019, coal, oil and gas contributed to 80% of all human-related CO2 emissions. Global surface temperature has already increased by 1.09°C since pre-industrial times – faster than at any point in at least the last 2000 years. If temperature rise passes 1.5°C, entire ecosystems in the polar, coastal and mountain regions will be forever lost. Even at 1.5°C of warming, from 3% to 14% of all terrestrial species will face a very high risk of extinction, and further warming will make these threats to biodiversity even worse. If we want to (stay) within the 1.5°C limit by the end of this century, we need to reduce emissions across all sectors, and fast, (making) deep and rapid cuts in emissions of all major greenhouse gases, particularly CO2 and methane. The viability of humanity living within planetary boundaries rests on the actions we take in the next seven years. There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.” Need to KNOW.
Let’s Green Cal!: Senate Bill 823 – Equitable Access to Affordable EV Charging
“California’s utilities incentivize clean car adoption by offering lower cost energy to customers who charge electric vehicles at home. Unfortunately, these programs are inaccessible to the very communities which stand to gain the most from EV adoption: low income households of color, many of whom are renters or live in apartment buildings, and thus are unable to install charging equipment where they live. These residents must rely on public charging infrastructure, where costs can be 2 – 3 times as much. SB 823, introduced by Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (Los Angeles), would solve this problem by allowing eligible residents to use a Discounted EV Charging Card provided by their utility at publicly available EV chargers. When program participants use this card, they’ll pay the same rate at-home chargers, plus receive any low-income discounts offered by their utility.” Action to support this bill coming soon.
Down To Earth: The path to radically lower emissions tucked away inside the devastating IPCC report
“It feels impossible. The world has to slash carbon emissions by almost half in the next seven years to remain on track for just 1.5C of global heating and avoid the worst of climate impacts. Yet emissions are rising. However, tucked away in the recent (and devastating) landmark report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a chart (view HERE) that provides the road map for an escape from catastrophe. It assesses with extraordinary clarity the potential for emissions cuts of more than 40 options. So what does it show? First, solar and wind power are by far the best option, with the potential to cut a staggering 8 billion tons from annual CO2 emissions by 2030. Even more startling is that most of that potential can be achieved at lower cost than just continuing with today’s electricity systems. After wind and solar, the biggest prize is stopping the destruction of forests and other wild places, the IPCC scientists found.”
Nature Communications: Thawing permafrost poses environmental threat to thousands of Arctic sites with legacy industrial contamination
“Industrial contaminants accumulated in Arctic permafrost regions have been largely neglected in existing climate impact analyses. Here we identify about 4500 industrial sites where potentially hazardous substances are actively handled or stored in the permafrost-dominated regions of the Arctic. Furthermore, we estimate that between 13,000 and 20,000 contaminated sites are related to these industrial sites. Ongoing climate warming will increase the risk of contamination and mobilization of toxic substances since about 1100 industrial sites and 3500 to 5200 contaminated sites located in regions of stable permafrost will start to thaw before the end of this century. This poses a serious environmental threat, which is exacerbated by climate change in the near future. To avoid future environmental hazards, reliable long-term planning strategies for industrial and contaminated sites are needed that take into account the impacts of climate change.”
More INFO.
Friends Of Corcoran Lagoon Beach: Annual Birds of Corcoran Lagoon Beach photo exhibit, March 1 – April 28
“Since the first exhibit was installed in 2016, this photo exhibit has been a favorite of the Live Oak Branch Public Library patrons. It is a perfect fit for the library, which sits adjacent to Corcoran Lagoon and to the beach and shoreline beyond. All photos were provided by Friends of Corcoran Lagoon Beach and will be found throughout the library. The library is located at 2380 Portola Drive. Library hours are Mon.- Thurs. 10:00 – 6:00; Fri. and Sat. 10:00 – 5:00; closed Sunday.” Website HERE.
Cruz Foam: The Evolution of Foam Packaging
“On Feb 8, Cruz Foam, a local circular materials company, announced the launch of a revolutionary new family of earth-friendly protective packaging products highlighting highly performant solutions to meet specific customer needs for shipping fragile and temperature-sensitive goods for consumers and businesses. Cruz Foam’s patented compostable foam outperforms equivalent plastic-based products and exceeds current industry standards for sustainability. It is made using a range of natural by-products that would otherwise be unused.” Learn more HERE
Santa Cruz Museum of Art And History: Bay of Life – From Wind to Whales, Jan 19 – April 30, 2023
“An exhibition by Frans Lanting and Chris Eckstrom that brings land and sea together for a unified view of Monterey Bay and its natural abundance. Monterey Bay is the hottest hot spot for biodiversity in all of North America, according to The Nature Conservancy. It is a place of giants, from redwood forests on land to forests of kelp offshore. Monterey Bay supports iconic wildlife from secretive mountain lions to majestic blue whales. All survive in a region where far-flung migrants mix with rare local species that live nowhere else in the world. That richness is due to a unique mix of physical features and microclimates, shaped by the powerful influence of the ocean—and by the actions of people.” More INFO
Santa Cruz Community Calendar Newsletter
Every 1 – 2 weeks, Pauline Seales publishes this important calendar newsletter of upcoming environmental, transportation, housing, social justice, and cultural events. Examples include: Cesar Chavez Day at Barrios Unidos, Buddism and Ecology Summit, River Habitat Restoration in Ben Lomond, and Youth Earth Day. The events posted are most of what is shown on the Community Calendar website: https://santacruzcommunitycalendar.org/. Subscribe to Pauline’s email calendar here:
paulineseales120@gmail.com
Watsonville Wetlands Watch & City of Watsonville: Adopt A Fruit Tree
“With the help of many local partners and community volunteers we are planting trees throughout the City! In 2017, the City and Watsonville Wetlands Watch partnered together to receive a grant from the California Department of Fire and Forestry and the California Climate Investment Program to expand the tree planting effort. Through this project, we planted an additional 300 trees on streets and parks. In 2019 PVUSD partnered with Watsonville Wetlands Watch and received a grant from Releaf to plant 116 more trees in city parks and on the PV High campus. In the current phase of the project, Watsonville Wetlands Watch is offering free shade trees and fruit trees to Watsonville residents to plant in their yards. Monthly tree adoption workshops teach residents how to care for their tree, and our bilingual e-newsletter provides on-going tree care tips and support. For info in English go HERE. En Espanol AQUI.
EcoWatch, March 8: Collagen Craze Linked to Deforestation in Brazil, Investigation Reveals
“From supplements to skin care, collagen has been buzzing in the wellness world. But this popular ingredient is linked to the deforestation of tropical forests in Brazil, according to a recent investigation. The investigation, conducted by The Guardian, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Center for Climate Crime Analysis (CCCA), ITV and O Joio e O Trigo in Brazil, has found that many of the trending protein powders, vitamins, face serums and other products that contain collagen are sourced from cattle farms that are linked to deforestation. Forty-one percent of deforestation can be attributed to the clearing of land for cattle and other livestock, with 80 percent of that land located in the Amazon. In addition to connecting the industry to deforestation, the investigation found that the collagen had been linked to violence against Indigenous communities in Brazil amidst the deforestation to establish cattle farms.” Read MORE.
Inside Climate News: Biden Administration’s Global Plastics Plan Dubbed ‘Low Ambition’ and ‘Underwhelming’
“The opening plastics treaty proposal from the U.S. delegation to the United Nations sidesteps calls for cuts in production, praises the benefits of plastics and focuses on national priorities versus global mandates. Critics are describing the Biden administration’s opening position in a United Nations effort to reach a global treaty or agreement to end plastic waste as vague and weak, despite its recognition of a need to end plastic pollution by 2040. The proposal, for example, calls for individual national action plans as opposed to strong global mandates. It does not seek enforceable cuts in plastics manufacturing, even though reducing plastic production was a key recommendation of the landmark 2021 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report on the devastating impacts of plastic pollution.” Go DEEPER.
Chart shows Exxon’s predictions with subsequently observed CO2 and Temperature changes
Eco Watch, Jan 13: Exxon Scientists Accurately Predicted Climate Damage While Company Pushed Misinformation
“(Between 1977 and 2003) Exxon Mobil climate scientists predicted the climatic damage their product would cause with remarkable accuracy, all while the company spent huge sums of money denying and obfuscating the science of climate change, a study published Thursday in Science reveals. That “Exxon knew” its product was dangerously increasing global temperatures has been known for years, but the precision and accuracy of its predictions were “actually astonishing,” Harvard science history and co-author of the study Naomi Oreskes told the AP.” Read more HERE
Inside Climate News: Study Documents a Halt to Deforestation in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest After Indigenous Communities Gain Title to Their Territories
“Land rights granted by the government make a difference, allowing forests to slowly begin healing, researchers find. Most people know that Brazil’s rainforests are rapidly disappearing, and that the loss accelerates global climate change while harming the communities living under the trees’ canopy. Now, a study published in the scientific journal PNAS Nexus suggests that after Indigenous communities obtain legal title to their territories, the rate of deforestation significantly declines. The new research centers on Brazil’s portion of the Atlantic Forest, fragmented along the country’s eastern coastline and wrapped around São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.” Go deeper HERE.
Inside Climate News, Feb 14: Sea Level Rise Could Drive 1 in 10 People from Their Homes, UN Secretary Warns
“António Guterres says rising seas are a serious threat requiring a coordinated global response at the highest levels. With 900 million people at risk, sea level rise could drive ‘a mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale’. Rising sea level isn’t just about losing a few inches of shoreline to the encroaching oceans each year. It’s a threat multiplier that will disrupt and destabilize global societies unless there is an organized international effort to get ahead of the problem, UN Secretary General António Guterres told the U.N. Security Council. The danger is most acute for about 900 million living in low-lying coastal zones. That’s one out of 10 people on earth, and some coastlines have already seen triple the average rate of sea level rise. Some countries could disappear forever, he added.” Learn MORE.
The Climate 202, March 2: Dilemma Regarding Expediting Permitting for Electrical Grid
“House Republicans are racing to pass an energy package this spring that would speed up the nation’s permitting process for new natural gas pipelines, wind turbines and other energy infrastructure projects. Democrats now have a dilemma: They could agree to work with Republicans on permitting legislation and (expedite electrification and natural gas projects), or they could shun the permitting talks and risk slowing the nation’s clean-energy transition. “Any final permitting package is going to probably include some stuff we don’t love — but we know we need to do this for our climate goals,” said one House Democratic staffer. The Inflation Reduction Act could cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by about 6.3 billion tons over the next decade, (but that requires) more than doubling the historical pace of building transmission lines needed to carry clean electricity across the country, the analysis found. Several Senate Climate Hawks have voiced support for making it easier to approve transmission lines.” Learn MORE.
Lookout, Feb 14: California’s snowpack is melting faster than ever before
“For decades, Californians have depended on the reliable appearance of spring and summer snowmelt to provide nearly a third of the state’s supply of water. But as the state gets drier, and as wildfires climb to ever-higher elevations, that precious snow is melting faster and earlier than in years past — even in the middle of winter. That’s posing a threat to the timing and availability of water in California, according to authors of a recent study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, which found that the effects of climate change are compounding to accelerate snowpack decline. “As wildfires become larger, burn at higher severities, and in more snow-prone regions like the Sierra Nevada, the threats to the state’s water supply are imminent,” said Erica Siirila-Woodburn, one of the authors of the study. Source: LA Times.” Learn more HERE.
Center For Biological diversity: Ducey’s Shipping Container Wall Comes Down, but the Damage Is Done
“Piles of dirt and trees, bulldozed by the construction crew, dotted the grassland of the San Rafael Valley, known as a vital wildlife corridor. Former Republican governor Doug Ducey had planned to build 10 miles of a double-stacked shipping container wall through the federally protected land. But residents and environmental groups occupied the construction site, running out the clock on Ducey’s final days in office. This destructive project sliced through a vital wildlife corridor in a national forest, including habitat for endangered jaguars and ocelots. In late December, Ducey, under threat of litigation from the Justice Department, finally agreed to remove the walls. Early February saw the removal of the final shipping containers (of the original 1,700) from the rogue border wall.” $200 Million was spent building then removing the container wall! Read MORE.
Boiling Point LA Times, Jan 12: This giant underground battery is a $1-billion clean energy strategy
“What can store solar power for after dark, doesn’t require lithium and costs three-quarters of a billion dollars? The answer is deep beneath the ground in California’s San Joaquin Valley — or at least, it will be. A group of local governments announced January 12, that it’s signed a 25-year, $775-million contract to buy power from what would be the world’s largest compressed-air energy storage project. The developer, Hydrostor, will (excavate) underground caverns will have a collective volume equivalent to two football fields about 100 yards high. During the day when (solar and wind) electricity is cheaper, Hydrostor will use that low-cost energy to compress air into the caverns. Then to draw on that stored energy, the compressed air can be funnelled out the high-pressure air through a turbine, generating electricity. Read MORE.
New Yorker, Feb 6: The U.N. Secretary-General’s Searing Message for the Fossil-Fuel Industry, Bill McKibben
“On Feb 6, 2023, at the United Nations, the Secretary-General delivered his annual report on priorities—a kind of State of the Planet address. If you’re struggling to remember the name of the current Secretary-General, it’s António Guterres, who came to the job after, among other things, serving as the Prime Minister of Portugal. He begins by saying, in a sentence typed in bold in the official transcript, “We must end the merciless, relentless, senseless war on nature.” That war, he continues, “is putting our world at immediate risk of hurtling past the 1.5-degree temperature increase limit and now still moving towards a deadly 2.8 degrees.” Hence: “We need disruption to end the destruction. No more baby steps. No more excuses. No more greenwashing. No more bottomless greed of the fossil fuel industry and its enablers.” Read ON.
Live Science: Catastrophic Ohio Methane Leak Stayed Hidden Until a Satellite Found It
“A blowout in Ohio made little news in 2018, but satellite images show it was a major global event. It wasn’t clear how large the leak was until researchers, studying data from a new European Space Agency (ESA) methane-monitoring satellite, spotted the plume. The sheer scale of the Ohio incident might have gone unnoticed if the team of Dutch and U.S. researchers behind a (Dec 2019 Research) paper hadn’t decided to specifically look for the leak in the satellite data after hearing reports of the blowout. (The image above is from the Ohio methane leak.) The blown well was pumping 132 tons of methane into the atmosphere every hour (for 480 hours = 63,000 tons!!), nearly double the rate of a much more famous leak reported at a SoCalGas site in Aliso Canyon, California, in 2015.” Learn MORE.
SJ Mercury News, Feb 5: The end of an era, the long, lonely days of Mount Madonna’s last white deer
“Hidden in the redwoods above Watsonville, a shy and ghostly beauty once drew crowds but is now destined to live, and die, alone. The small white doe, Penelope, is the sole survivor of a large and cherished herd of fallow deer created by famed publisher William Randolph Hearst, gifted to cattle baron Henry Miller, bought by Santa Clara County and then expanded by the addition of a smaller herd seized during a raid of an illegal farm in Morgan Hill. Now she is a mere oddity. The exotic creature, living out her final years in comfort in a wooded pasture, represents the end of an era at Mount Madonna County Park that is now committed to protecting wildlife that is native and natural, not weird.” Read MORE.
EcoWatch: 3.4 Million Adults in U.S. Were Displaced by Extreme Weather Last Year
“About 3.4 million adults in the U.S. (1.4% of the adult population) were displaced from their homes by extreme weather disasters in 2022, a new survey from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals. Those findings, based on the 68,500 responses to the Bureau’s Jan. 4-16 Household Pulse Survey , are far higher than figures from the International Displacement Monitoring Centre, which estimates an average of 800,000 U.S. residents were displaced annually from 2008 through 2021, including the 1.7 million people the Centre estimates were displaced in 2017 when Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria all rocked the country.” Read FURTHER.
Washington Post: A Cycle of Fire and Beef
“Cattle ranching, responsible for the great majority of deforestation in the Amazon, is pushing the forest to the edge of what scientists warn could be a vast and irreversible dieback that claims much of the biome. Despite agreement that change is necessary to avert disaster, despite attempts at reform, despite the resources of Brazil’s federal government and powerful beef companies, the destruction continues. But the ongoing failure to protect the world’s largest rainforest from rapacious cattle ranching is no longer Brazil’s alone, a Washington Post investigation shows. It is now shared by the United States — and the American consumer. In the two years since Washington lifted a moratorium that was imposed on raw Brazilian beef over food safety concerns, the United States has grown to become its second-biggest buyer. The country bought more than 320 million pounds of Brazilian beef last year — and is on pace to purchase nearly twice as much this year.” Get informed HERE.
The Guardian, Jan 27: Google Made Millions Of Dollars From Daily Wire Climate Denial Ads
“A media outlet founded by conservative influencer Ben Shapiro paid Google to advertise on search pages questioning whether the climate crisis is real, according to new research from a disinformation watchdog group. The Daily Wire bought ads on search terms over the past year such as “climate change is a hoax” and “why is climate change fake”, meaning that when people Googled these phrases, stories from Shapiro’s outlet were some of the first results that appeared, the research found. Google sold these ads even after announcing a new policy in October 2021 prohibiting ads that promote climate crisis denial. Its CEO, Sundar Pichai, publicly stated at the time that “when people come to Google Search with questions about climate change, we’ll show authoritative information from sources like the United Nations”.“Google’s hypocrisy knows no bounds,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO of the US and UK-based Center for Countering Digital Hate, which provided its research exclusively to the Guardian. “They’re actually selling the right to climate deniers to spread disinformation.” Learn MORE.
Reuters: The collapse of insects
“The most diverse group of organisms on the planet are in trouble, with recent research suggesting insect populations are declining at an unprecedented rate. As human activities rapidly transform the planet, the global insect population is declining at an unprecedented rate of up to 2% per year. Amid deforestation, pesticide use, artificial light pollution and climate change, these critters are struggling — along with the crops, flowers and other animals that rely on them to survive.“Insects are the food that make all the birds and make all the fish,” said Wagner, who works at the University of Connecticut. “They’re the fabric tethering together every freshwater and terrestrial ecosystem across the planet.” Go DEEPER.
EcoWatch: Warning of ‘Off the Chart’ Temperatures as El Niño Set to Return in 2023
“Last year was the fifth hottest on record, but with the return of El Niño — the climate pattern that warms the surface of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean — 2023 could prove to be even hotter. Preliminary forecasts indicate the possibility of the return of El Niño later this year, which scientists say could cause “off the chart” temperature increases, along with record heat waves, reported The Guardian. This would make it “very likely” that Earth’s temperature will warm by more than the 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature threshold, above which the risk of deadly extreme weather and related crises — like large-scale drought, water and food shortages, famine, sea level rise, species die-off and loss of ecosystems — increases dramatically.” Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News, Jan 6: Scientists Report a Dramatic Drop in the Extent of Antarctic Sea Ice
“The new year started with the familiar refrain of climate extremes, as scientists with the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported Jan. 3 that the sea ice around Antarctica dropped to its lowest extent on record for early January. “The current low sea ice extent … is extreme, and frankly we are working to understand it,” said Antarctica expert Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the University of Colorado . Scambos said the sea ice extent is about 270,000 square miles less than the previous low, set in 2018. That’s an area just a bit bigger than Texas, and the measurements reflect a persistent, strong trend toward lower-than-average Antarctic sea ice extent that started in 2016 and shows no signs of letting up, he added.” Read ON
Ocean Wise: New Findings On Reducing Microfiber Shedding
“Microfibers, small bits of fibers similar to those found in our clothes, are a type of microplastic found to be pervasive in even the most pristine environments, including the Arctic Ocean. These microplastics are troubling because they’re often mistaken for food by plankton and end up in our food chain. This month Ocean Wise published a new report examining the impact wash cycles can have on microfiber shedding. Our findings are conclusive: low intensity wash conditions – generally described as ‘gentle’ cycles – can reduce microfiber shedding by approximately 70%!” See report HERE
Inside Climate News: Who Were the Worst Climate Polluters in the US in 2021?
“A new report (identifies) the country’s worst climate polluters, including a coal-fired power plant in Alabama, a coal mine in Pennsylvania and a nylon plant in Florida. Each industrial facility emits massive amounts of climate-warming greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Emissions from such major industrial sources climbed by 4.1 percent in 2021, according to new data recently released by the Environmental Protection Agency. The increase is the largest year-on-year rise in emissions tallied across more than a decade of reporting and comes at a time when global climate pollution must quickly be curtailed to limit further warming.” Learn MORE
The Guardian, Jan 6: One in eight cases of asthma in US kids caused by gas stove pollution – study
“About one in eight cases of asthma in children in the US is due to the pollution given off by cooking on gas stoves, new research has found, amid moves by Joe Biden’s administration to consider the regulation, or even banning, of gas cookers sales to Americans. Around a third of US households have gas stoves in their kitchens, with the gas industry long touting the method as the cleanest and most efficient way to cook food. However, research has repeatedly found the emission of toxic chemicals and carcinogens from gas stoves, even when they are turned off, is creating a miasma of indoor pollution that can be several times worse than the pollution experienced outdoors from car traffic and heavy industry. Brady Seals, manager of the carbon free buildings program at RMI who undertook the research with epidemiologists in the US and Australia, said the prevalence of asthma due to gas stoves is similar to the amount of asthma caused by second hand smoking.” Continue READING.
EcoWatch, Dec 23: Lost Narwhal Adopted by Pod of Beluga Whales Could Result in ‘Narluga’ Offspring
Two of the most mythical whale species — the narwhal and beluga — have been hanging out together and may produce a fairy-tale-like hybrid species, the “narluga.” First seen in the St. Lawrence River in 2016, a lost male narwhal has been traveling with the beluga whale pod that adopted him ever since, and researchers are waiting to see if they will mate. President and scientific director of the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM) Robert Michaud, who has been studying whales for more than 35 years, said that the hybridization of belugas and narwhals has happened “a few times,” CBC Radio reported. Read ON.
EcoWatch: 10 Simple Ways to REDUCE Microplastics AND PLASTIC CHEMICALS in Your Everyday Life
“Miniscule pieces (less than 5 millimeters each) are called microplastics, and can be found virtually everywhere; oceans, soils, human organs, the guts of fish and insects, and floating through the air. Even in the Marina Trench – the deepest part of the ocean – animals are consuming microplastics. The chemicals in microplastics have a variety of health consequences for humans, including developmental, reproductive, and hormonal problems. While some larger-scale steps have been taken to limit microplastics – such as the microbead ban implemented in 2015 for rinse-off body products – simple steps can be taken to cut down on your exposure to microplastics and plastic chemicals in your daily life, and keep them from entering the natural environment. (For example) installing a fiber-catching filter in your laundry machine will keep microplastics from washing out with the spent water.” Read ON!
EcoWatch: A Guide to Greenwashing and How to Spot It
Since “you care about the planet, you’re likely seeking ways to make environmentally responsible purchases. But, all your efforts to buy from companies that boast of making better choices for the environment might not have the benefit you believe. In short, you might be falling victim to greenwashing. This shady advertising strategy is becoming a buzzword today, but what does greenwashing mean? Here, we’ll explore how to spot and avoid the common signs of greenwashing so you can make more informed buying decisions. For example,” Symbolic Actions”, a standard practice for brands to draw attention to a minor positive action that does little to change its overall environmental footprint. Oil companies donating Dawn dish soap to clean infected animals after their own product spills in the ocean is one example.” Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News: Comprehensive Roadmap For Cutting US Emissions by 50% by 2030
“Researchers of a peer-reviewed study published in Science say they’ve developed the “first detailed roadmap” for how the United States can achieve its ambitious climate pledge to slash the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. It’s a critical target that, if missed, would likely jeopardize the larger global efforts to prevent devastating runaway climate change. The study, by some of the nation’s leading research institutions, found that it is both technically feasible and financially beneficial for the U.S. to rapidly transition to clean power sources and electric vehicles. The study offers the most comprehensive set of recommendations to date on how the U.S. can fulfill its climate promise. While ambitious, such a shift wouldn’t result in investors losing money and would keep the country on track to fulfill its commitment under the Paris Agreement, the paper’s authors said — but only if policymakers act immediately to implement the necessary changes.” Learn MORE.
PHYS.Org, Dec 12: Snakes have clitorises, scientists say, slamming research ‘taboo’
“A new study has described the “hemiclitores” of snakes for the first time. Female snakes have clitorises, according to the first detailed study on the subject, in which the scientists lashed out at how little female sex organs have been researched compared to males across species. Previous research had hypothesized that the organs on female snakes were scent glands, under-developed versions of penises, or were even there to stimulate males, rather than the other way around. But the new study said it has “definitively” ruled out such theories, offering the first complete description of snake clitorises. The findings suggest that clitorises may be common across squamates, the largest order of reptiles which includes snakes, and could play an essential role in how they reproduce. However comparatively little research on the subject has been carried out, as in the case for the clitorises of pretty much all animals — including humans.” Learn MORE.
Times-Herald, Dec 21: $36.5 million from Monsanto water pollution settlement headed to Bay Area cities
“One of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies is set to pay Bay Area cities tens of millions of dollars after settling a class action lawsuit involving PCBs, a toxic chemical compound manufactured by Monsanto that seeped for decades into storm water, sediment and the area’s rivers, streams and lakes. German-based Bayer, which acquired the now defunct Monsanto in 2018, will dole out $36.5 million in total to 13 Bay Area cities and Alameda County. The lawsuit, which stretches back to March 2015 in the U.S. District Court for Central California, centered around the chemical compound polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit successfully argued that the company knew of its toxicity, yet turned a blind eye. The chemical was later found to have polluted stormwater systems and its exposure has been linked to a variety of health problems, including liver and respiratory issues.” Read MORE.
PHYS.org, Dec 20: UK woodlands could store almost twice as much carbon as previously estimated
“UK forests could store almost double the amount of carbon than previous calculations suggest, with consequences for our understanding of carbon stocks and humanity’s response to climate change, according to a new study involving UCL researchers. For the study, in the journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence, the international team – used to derive carbon storage — of 815 trees in a UK woodland. The team found that their results were 77% higher than previous estimates (410 t ha-1 of biomass vs. 232 t ha-1). Study co-author Professor Mat Disney said, “Forests currently act as a carbon sink in the UK. However, whilst our finding that the carbon storage capacity of typical UK woodland could be nearly double what we previously thought might seem like a purely positive outcome, in practice this means that for every ha of woodland lost, we’re potentially losing almost twice the carbon sink capacity we thought.” Go DEEPER.
Environmental Defense Fund: Plugging orphan wells across the US
“While oil and gas operators are required to seal wells at the end of their productive lives, one hundred seventy years of oil and gas development has nonetheless left a massive inventory of so-called “orphan” wells across the United States — oil and gas wells that are inactive, unplugged, and have no solvent owner of record. These wells pose significant risks to human and environmental health by leaking toxic chemicals into the air, contaminating groundwater and emitting methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that methane emissions from over 2 million inactive, unplugged wells, of which documented orphan wells are a subset, range from a CO2 equivalent of 7-20 million metric tons per year (approximately the emissions of 2 to 5 million cars).” Learn MORE.
Biodiversity For A Livable Climate: Which creature is a combination of two other organisms, comes in bright colors, and helps us measure air quality?
“Lichen! Though we know lichens as creatures in and of themselves, lichens are actually a result of symbiosis, a mutually beneficial relationship between two or more species. In the lichen’s case, algae and fungi come together to form a new creature. No two lichens are alike. They vary in form, color, and which type of algae they have – either green, blue-green, or both. The fungus gives the lichen a majority of its traits, including shape and anatomy. The algae determines the color, from orange to yellow to neon green. The fungus partners with the algae out of necessity for food. Since the algae, or cyanobacteria, can photosynthesize, they provide food for the fungus in exchange for shelter. Therefore, each party relies on the other for survival.” Read more about this fascinating combo HERE.
The Guardian: 20 climate photographs that changed the world
“They are the images that made us sit up and take notice. As world leaders gather for Cop27, these pictures prove that global heating isn’t a distant possibility – it’s already here.”
View pictures HERE.
Inside Climate News: Oil Industry Trying to Undo New Calif Law Protecting Communities From Air and Water Pollution
“In September, Governor Newsom signed into law SB 1137, which would establish a 3200’ health and safety setback between new (and reworked) oil and gas drilling sites and nearby schools, homes, health care facilities, and similarly sensitive sites. After over a decade of effort to establish such setbacks, this was a major victory for those communities that have suffered very serious negative health impacts from the toxic vapors and water pollution generated by these drilling sites. Unfortunately, the fossil fuel industry quickly initiated a referendum process to repeal SB 1137, and began collecting signatures to qualify this referendum for the Nov. 2024 election. If they collect sufficient signatures to qualify the measure, then SB 1137 will be put on hold for the next two years, and it will not take effect unless the voters defeat the referendum in that election. Don’t get tricked into signing these deceptive referendum petitions.” Learn MORE.
EcoWatch: Why We Can’t Offset Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis
“While carbon offsets have been growing in popularity as more companies announce net-zero emissions pledges, they have also faced growing criticism. Ultimately, the fact remains that in order to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis and limit greenhouse gas emissions to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, wealthy countries and corporations must stop spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon offsets allow companies or individuals to feel better about polluting without actually doing anything about those emissions, and that assumes the offset one purchases actually corresponds to real carbon removal or pollution prevention. Author George Monbiot compared buying carbon offsets to the early modern practice of paying the church for the redemption of sins. “[T]oday you can live exactly as you please as long as you give your ducats to one of the companies selling indulgences. It is pernicious and destructive nonsense,” he wrote in The Guardian.” Read ON
The Guardian: Weather disasters hit 90% of US counties in last 11 years, report finds
“Ninety percent of the counties in the US suffered a weather disaster between 2011 and 2021, according to a new report. Some counties endured as many as 12 federally declared disasters over those 11 years. More than 300 million people – 93% of the population – live in these counties. Rebuild by Design, which published the report, is a non-profit that researches ways to prepare for and adapt to climate change. It was started by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the catastrophic storm that slammed the eastern US just over 10 years ago, causing $62.5bn in damage.California, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Iowa and Tennessee had the most disasters, at least 20 each, including severe storms, wildfire, flooding and landslides.” Learn MORE.
Environment California: New Public Utilities Commission proposal risks stifling rooftop solar growth
“The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a ‘proposed decision’ on Nov 10 that, if finalized, will dramatically change how future owners of rooftop solar get compensated for the energy they provide to the electric grid. The CPUC’s revision addresses numerous critiques raised by Environment California in response to previous drafts. The new proposed draft: eliminates the solar tax, or “grid participation fee,” that the previous proposal would have implemented on solar consumers; and honors the commitment to pay current rates to existing solar energy system owners who send excess power they generate to the grid. On the down side, the proposed decision slashes the rate at which new solar consumers can sell their excess electricity back to the grid by 70% – 80%, reducing a key incentive for people to install solar in their homes and recoup their investment within a reasonable time frame. California produces more solar energy than any state in the nation, but to meet its ambitious climate and clean energy goals, including generating 100% of its power from clean energy sources by 2045, California needs to quadruple its rooftop solar capacity.” Learn MORE.
Patagonia: Sweet in Tooth and Claw, Kristin Ohlson
“The prevailing scientific consensus claims that nature is inherently competitive — “red in tooth and claw,” Lord Alfred Tennyson decried, or more directly stated, “survival of the fittest.” But for those who have cared to look closer, deeply cooperative relationships emerge as the dominant natural paradigm. In her latest book, Sweet in Tooth and Claw, best-selling author Kristin Ohlson captures stories of generosity in nature and profiles the people who learn from them, from trees and mushrooms to beavers, bees and more. And in recognizing cooperative interdependency as the natural order, Ohlson sketches a path of balance humans must walk in order to navigate the climate crisis.” Learn more about her book HERE.
Reuters: Lula cheered for new climate policies after Brazil election
“Environmentalists, world leaders and sustainable investors on Monday cheered the victory of Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has promised to protect the Amazon rainforest and restore Brazil’s leadership on climate change. In his victory speech, Lula pledged to clamp down on illegal logging, mining and land grabbing that have driven the surging deforestation of the Amazon over the past four years under President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday’s election. “Brazil and the planet need a living Amazon”, said Lula. Destruction of the Brazilian rainforest hit a 15-year high under Bolsonaro, who rolled back environmental protections, and pushed for more mining and commercial farming in the region.” Read MORE.
Reuters, Oct 26: UN Warns That World On Crash Course To 2.5C Of Warming
“(Even) if countries fulfill their current climate commitments, global greenhouse gas emissions will rise by 10.6% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels, according to a United Nations report. (These) inadequate pledges put the world on a path to warm by 2.5C by 2100. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030 is needed to limit warming to 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. With world leaders expected to gather in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for the COP27 climate summit from Nov. 6, experts said more action was urgently needed.” Read MORE.
Science, Oct 11: Secrets of Tibet’s hot-spring snakes revealed
Jia-Tang Li knows firsthand how tough life can be on the Tibetan Plateau. The air at 4500 meters is so thin that just a few steps take one’s breath away. Despite bitter cold, the Sun is intense enough to quickly burn the skin. Yet the small grayish-brown snakes this herpetologist at the Chengdu Institute of Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences studies have been thriving in the plateau’s northern reaches for millions of years. The Tibetan hot-spring snake, Thermophis baileyi, keeps from freezing to death by hanging around the region’s geothermal pools, feasting on frogs and small fish living there.In recent work, his team has pinpointed genetic adaptations that may help the snake find waters that are just warm enough and withstand the low oxygen and intense Sun. Learn more HERE.
The Nature Conservancy: 2022 Photo Contest Winners
The Nature Conservancy is pleased to share the top images selected by our judges for the 2022 Photo Contest! Click HERE to see the images that amazed us the most.
The Revelator: ‘Soil Isn’t Forever’ – Why Biodiversity Also Needs Protection Below the Ground
“Published literature has only just begun to unravel the complexity of soil biological systems,” a 2020 study by researchers from University of Reading found. “We barely know what is there, let alone their breadth of functional roles, niche partitioning and interaction between these organisms. But what scientists do know is that healthy and biodiverse soil communities support a wide variety of functions that sustain life on Earth. That includes nutrient cycling, food production, carbon storage and water filtration. At the global scale, soil biodiversity is still a blind spot: most Parties of the Convention on Biodiversity neither protect soils nor their biodiversity explicitly,” found a study published in April in Biological Conservation.” Learn MORE.
Carbon 180 The Deep End: A longtime Indigenous practice could feature in the upcoming Farm Bill
“For millennia, Tribes have stewarded biodiverse ecosystems by cultivating food in cooperation with nature, nourishing people and land in tandem. This includes co-managing trees, shrubs, and low-lying crops symbiotically — a suite of practices known as agroforestry. Agroforestry can mitigate climate change, boost ecosystem health, and secure economic and climate resilience. Unlike conventional row crops, trees are perennial and don’t need to be replanted yearly to continue producing — instead, they build deep root systems and underground microbial communities year after year, sequestering carbon undisturbed. Agroforestry is good for farmers and ranchers’ bottom lines, too.” Learn MORE.
Emergence Magazine: Coming Home to the Cove – A Story of Family, Memory, and Stolen Land
“In honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we are re-releasing “Coming Home to the Cove: A Story of Family, Memory, and Stolen Land.” This three-part podcast series, directed by Adam Loften, follows a Coast Miwok family’s eviction from their ancestral home on a cove in Tomales Bay in Northern California and one woman’s effort to bring the living history of her family back to the land. Throughout this series, Theresa Harlan chronicles the multigenerational story of her family’s displacement and shares her grassroots efforts to involve the wider community in protecting both the history and the future of this place.” More info and access to the audio story HERE.
Emergence Magazine: Beings Seen and Unseen – An Interview with Amitav Ghosh
“Once you open the door to the other beings that exist, it quickly opens the door to all kinds of unseen beings as well.” Mayflies have long pointed to the health of the freshwater ecosystems they inhabit. As their populations plummet in the Midwest — a decline driven by human-made pesticides, fertilizers, sewage, and sprawl—their plight is yet another story of how we’re pushing nature out of balance. When we’re willing to widen our concern beyond just our own human well-being, as we are wont to do, even the smallest creature has something to teach us. (Listen to) a wide-ranging conversation between Emergence Executive Editor Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee and renowned writer Amitav Ghosh, author of The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis.” Listen to INTERVIEW
EcoWatch: Wealthiest 10% Responsible for Nearly 50% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Study Finds
“A new study has highlighted the inequality under riding the climate crisis. The paper, published in Nature Sustainability on 9/28/22, looked at the difference in per-capita emissions across the global economic spectrum between 1990 and 2019. During this time, the top one percent of emitters were responsible for nearly a quarter of all emissions contributing to the climate crisis and the top 10 percent are now responsible for nearly half of the total.” Go deeper HERE.
Climate 202: Supreme Court Took Up a Major Clean Water Act Case
On October 3, “the court heard oral arguments in a closely watched challenge to the Clean Water Act, passed in 1972 to protect all “waters of the United States”— including streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands — from harmful pollution. Environmentalists fear the court’s conservative majority could dramatically narrow the law’s reach, undercutting the federal government’s ability to protect waterways — and the wildlife for which they provide critical habitat — across the country. “Their decision (in 2023) will be nothing short of a life-or-death sentence for coho salmon, razorback suckers, California tiger salamanders and hundreds of other endangered animals that rely on ephemeral and intermittently flowing streams and wetlands,” Hannah Connor, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.” Learn MORE on NBC.
NYT The Revelatory, Sept 24: E.P.A. Will Make Racial Equality a Bigger Factor in Environmental RulE
“The Environmental Protection Agency will establish a new national office of environmental justice, the Biden administration’s latest effort to rectify the disproportionate harm caused by pollution and climate change in communities of color and in low-income cities, towns and counties. Michael S. Regan, the E.P.A. administrator and the first Black man to run the agency, announced the creation of the office alongside environmental justice and civil rights leaders on Saturday in Warren County, N.C., the site of a toxic dump where protesters were arrested 40 years ago, giving rise to the environmental justice movement.” Learn MORE.
Environmental Action: The Surprising Friendship Between Wolves And Ravens
“Wolves and ravens share a highly developed, and potentially ancient, relationship of cooperation. Like other scavengers, ravens will feed on other animals’ leftovers — but unlike other scavengers, these birds specifically choose to associate with wolves. And the ravens aren’t just getting a free meal off of wolves — sometimes, ravens will even assist wolves in the hunt. One researcher in Yellowstone observed instances where crowds of ravens, spotting an injured elk, would raise a racket to attract nearby wolves. Recognizing the birds’ caws as a dinner bell, the wolves would follow the ravens to an easy meal. Researchers have observed ravens interacting with wolves — especially pups and yearlings — in a way that can only be described as playing.” Read MORE from the Yellowstone Quarterly.
Tech Explore, Sept 22: EVs Will Need to be Charged During the Day
“The vast majority of electric vehicle owners charge their cars at home in the evening or overnight. We’re doing it wrong, according to a new Stanford study. In a little over a decade, they found, rapid EV growth alone could increase peak electricity demand by up to 25 percent, assuming a continued dominance of residential, nighttime charging. To limit the high costs of all that new capacity for generating and storing electricity, the researchers say, drivers should move to daytime charging at work or public charging stations, which would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Learn MORE
Natural Resources Defense Council: The Issue With Tissue 2.0
“Tissue companies are flushing away our forests and our future by making toilet paper from ancient forests essential to the climate fight. More than a year after the release of NRDC’s first edition of The Issue With Tissue, this edition, 2.0, finds that, while new additions to our scorecard are offering tissue products made with recycled materials and sustainable alternative fibers, the biggest makers of toilet paper in the United States, and in particular Procter & Gamble, continue to lag far behind, with tissue products still made entirely from climate-critical forests.” Learn which products to avoid HERE.
YES! Magazine: The Future Is Degrowth – A Guide to a World Beyond Capitalism.
“According to the authors of The Future Is Degrowth, the term “degrowth” is a critique of the dominant ideology of growth in capitalist societies and includes proposals for a radical reorganization of economic life in order to dramatically reduce advanced economies’ use of energy and resources. The writers assert that such a transformation is not only possible and desirable for the world’s richer countries, but is also necessary to tackle climate change through a global, just transition from fossil fuels.The book invites us to envision a much deeper societal transition than simply swapping energy sources to maintain the status quo. By recognizing the time and material wasted in capitalist competition, degrowth theory maintains that systems of care and sufficiency can improve our quality of life, offering immaterial gains such as “time prosperity” and “conviviality.” Read ON
EcoWatch, Sept 7: Drumming Chimpanzees Have Unique ‘Signatures’
“It turns out that humans aren’t the only animals who pound out beats to express themselves. A new study published in Animal Behavior Tuesday found that male chimpanzees in Uganda’s Budongo Forest use “individual drumming ‘signatures’” when they drum on the buttress roots of trees, so much so that researchers could compare different chimps to famous human rockstars. “Tristan — the John Bonham of the forest — makes very fast drums with many evenly separated beats,” said study lead author Vesta Eleuteri, referring to the drummer with Led Zeppelin. The sound can travel for up to one kilometer (approximately 0.6 miles) and is accompanied by a vocalization unique to chimpanzees known as a “pant hoot,” the study authors explained. The chimpanzees typically drum with their feet, according to AFP, but do use their hands as well, turning the tree root into a full drum kit.” Read MORE.
Environmental Working Group, Aug 26: EPA Designates Two “Forever Chemicals” As Hazardous Substances
“The Environmental Working Group applauds the Environmental Protection Agency for today proposing to designate the two most commonly detected toxic “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances under the Superfund law. The designation of these two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, as hazardous will jump start the cleanup process at contaminated sites across the country, including military installations. It falls under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, better known as Superfund. The designation will also help ensure PFAS polluters contribute to cleanup costs. “Today’s historic proposal will mean PFAS polluters are finally held accountable,” said EWG Vice President of Government Affairs Melanie Benesh. “For too long, they’ve had a free pass to dump PFAS into communities and poison their neighbors. Thanks to this proposal, PFAS polluters will finally be forced to pay their fair share of cleaning up their mess.” Keep READING
Guardian, Aug 10: Fate of ‘sleeping giant’ East Antarctic ice sheet ‘in our hands’
“The fate of the world’s biggest ice sheet rests in the hands of humanity, a new analysis has shown. If global heating is limited to 2C, the vast East Antarctic ice sheet should remain stable, but if the climate crisis drives temperatures higher, melting could drive up sea level by many meters. The analysis includes data from the geological past showing that the last time CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere were higher than today was about 3 million years ago. Temperatures were then 2 – 4C higher – in the range the world could experience later this century – and sea level eventually rose 10 – 25 meters higher than at present.” (Nature, Aug 10) Learn MORE
EcoWatch, Aug 18: Heat Waves Pose Deadly Threats to Incarcerated People, Prison Staff
“Extreme heat is taking an increasing toll across the U.S. in summertime. People who are incarcerated are among society’s most vulnerable groups and have been especially affected. More than a dozen states do not have air conditioning in all of their prison units, including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. In Texas, where I work, only about 30% of prisons are fully air-conditioned. Many of these states also face some of the highest heat risks in the U.S., according to recent studies.” Read MORE.
Inside Climate News, Aug 22: Warming Oceans Could Lead to a Spike in Seabed Methane Emissions
“Shallow deposits of frozen methane beneath oceans may be more vulnerable to thawing than previously known. Increasing runoff of frigid meltwater from the Greenland Ice Sheet is disrupting Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current that moves warm and cold water between the Arctic and the Southern Ocean, which could lead to more thawing of frozen methane in partially organic seabed sediments, a new study suggests. This could warm the ocean at depths of 300 to 1,300 meters and destabilize methane hydrates, or clathrates, buried 20 to 30 feet deep in the seabed. (This) could result in a surge of methane emissions that would spike the planet’s fever. The main message of the study is that researchers need to consider temperature changes greater than they are currently looking at, Weldeab (UCSB) said, due to the possibility of unexpected feedbacks that can magnify warming like changing currents or methane releases brought on by higher temperatures.” Read MORE.
Washington Post, Aug 10: July 2022’s Nights Were Hottest In U.S. history
“Unseasonably hot July days turned into uncomfortably warm nights over large areas of the Lower 48 states, as average overnight temperatures hit their highest level in recorded history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Although it was the nation’s third-hottest July on record taking into account daytime temperatures, the nighttime warmth was unsurpassed — not just for July, but any month in 128 years of record-keeping, as first reported by meteorologist Bob Henson at Yale Climate Connections. A trend toward warmer nights is one of the leading indicators of human-caused climate change, reflecting both the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and urbanization.” Learn MORE.
Washington Post: EPA warns toxic ‘forever chemicals’ more dangerous than once thought
“The Environmental Protection Agency warned Wednesday that a group of human-made chemicals, PFAs, found in the drinking water, cosmetics and food packaging used by millions of Americans poses a greater danger to human health than regulators previously thought. Manufacturers have used these highly durable compounds to make nonstick cookware, moisture-repellent fabrics and flame-retardant equipment. EPA officials assessed two of the most common ones, PFOA and PFOS, in recent human health studies and announced that lifetime exposure at staggeringly low levels of 0.004 and 0.02 parts per trillion, respectively, can compromise the immune and cardiovascular systems and are linked to decreased birth weights. Those drinking-water concentrations represent “really sharp reductions” from previous health advisories set at 70 parts per trillion in 2016.” Read MORE.
YES! Magazine: Why “Solarpunk” Gives Me Hope for a More Sustainable Future, Sarah Lazarovic
“One of my most oft-repeated climate maxims is “paint the positive future.” We need to visualize what a sustainable, decarbonized world looks like if we’re going to get people excited about climate action (cue jazz hands and zero-carbon fireworks). But while there are a few great examples hither and thither, these positive visions of the future are not as plentiful as they ought to be. And if the virality of the lovely poet Amanda Gorman tells us anything, it is that we have been starved of beautiful inspiration these past few years.
Which is why I’m intrigued by solarpunk. What is it?” Read ON!
YES! Magazine: In ‘Gather,’ Indigenous Food Sovereignty Is on the Menu, 2 minute film
“A new film follows food activists seeking to restore salmon, buffalo, and the nourishing legacy of Native cultures. Like the movement it documents, Gather is wide-ranging, addressing both systemic issues and small-scale solutions. A American myth is that the first Thanksgiving was a feast that symbolized an abiding pact between European colonists and Indigenous people to share the abundance of the land. But the reality of both historical and ongoing colonization, says Nephi Craig, White Mountain Apache, is that if you “want to attack a people and wipe them out – attack their food.” Consider the buffalo. The slaughter of 60 million buffalo was an intentional strategy to conquer tribes through starvation, says Fred DuBray, Cheyenne River Lakota.” Watch film HERE.
New Yorker: “American Scar”: The Environmental Tragedy of the Border Wall, 13 Min. Video
“Trump’s wall hasn’t stopped people from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico, but it has wreaked havoc on the wildlife populations and natural systems of the borderlands. Construction projects of this size typically have enormous environmental impacts. But funding the project from the D.O.D.’s budget and classifying it as a matter of national security offered the Trump Administration a way around protections: it made the wall’s construction exempt from the stipulations of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and more than eighty other laws and statutes. The film features striking drone footage from the photographer John Kurc of the tops of mountains being blown off.” Devastating impact on wildlife. Watch HERE while it is still free.
Canary Media, July 13: We need to talk about permafrost and its impact on the climate
“In the Global North, up to 15% of the earth’s surface is covered in permafrost. Permafrost is a frozen layer of rocks, soil, ice and partially decomposed plants — and it’s a massive carbon sink. The earth’s permafrost layer contains 1.5 trillion metric tons of carbon. That’s twice the amount currently in the earth’s atmosphere. And, no surprise, it is melting at an accelerated rate due to climate change. The decline of permafrost is bad for the atmosphere and Arctic communities. And because it’s historically been so difficult to predict, the climate impact is not being fully taken into consideration by policymakers. New research could change our understanding of the problem.” Learn more HERE.
EcoWatch: Yet Another Reason to Cut Sugar Consumption
“The processing of sugarcane has an enormous impact on the environment due to the emissions, wastewater runoff and solid waste produced by sugar mills. It also causes biodiversity loss when animal and plant habitat is destroyed to make way for sugarcane cultivation, according to the World Wildlife Fund website. It makes sense then that the reduction of sugar consumption, leading to the reduction of sugar production, would have positive impacts on the environment, according to a new study by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB).” Learn MORE.
Ecology Letters: UCSC Research Shows Destruction and Recovery of Kelp Forests Driven by Changes in Sea Urchin Movement
“A dramatic outbreak of kelp-eating sea urchins along the Central Coast of California in 2014, leading to a significant reduction in the region’s kelp forests, was driven primarily by the emergence of sea urchins from their hiding places rather than an increase in the urchin population. In subsequent years, sea urchin movements enabled kelp forest recovery at sites that had been denuded “urchin barrens.” Normally sea urchins hide from predators in the cracks and crevices of the rocky reef and feed on kelp detritus that drifts their way on the currents. With reduced kelp productivity due to the warm water, the usual food deliveries weren’t happening, while at the same time a known sea urchin predator, sunflower sea stars, had disappeared.
Nevertheless, the researchers found that kelp forests can recover if sea urchins move off of a reef. In 2018, for example, they went out to a site that had been an urchin barren the previous year and found a kelp forest. The sea urchins had moved away from the reef, which they had stripped of kelp, into shallower water where there was an abundance of red foliose algae.” Learn MORE.
Native Animal Rescue: To Rescue Or Not To Rescue, That Is The Question
“How can you tell when to rescue a baby? First, carefully observe. If one of the following is true, the baby will need to be rescued: Is the animal clearly sick or injured? Are you certain the parent is dead? Is the baby in immediate danger (predator activity, out of the nest too soon, unsafe location)? In some situations, babies may just need a helping hand to be reunited with their parent(s), such as when their nest has fallen out of a tree. For more info on when to rescue wildlife babies and how to return them to their nests if they’ve fallen, please consult our website HERE. If you ever need help determining if a baby needs to be rescued, call us at 462-0726.”
Carbon Brief: Graphic Illustration of Why Scientists Think Global Warming Is 100% Due to Humans
“Scientists measure the various factors that affect the amount of energy that reaches and remains in the Earth’s climate. They are known as “radiative forcings”. These forcings include greenhouse gases, which trap outgoing heat, aerosols – both from human activities and volcanic eruptions – that reflect incoming sunlight and influence cloud formation, changes in solar output, changes in the reflectivity of the Earth’s surface associated with land use, and many other factors. The video illustrates that, of all the radiative forcings analysed, only increases in greenhouse gas emissions produce the magnitude of warming experienced over the past 150 years.” Read more and watch this compelling 1 minute video HERE.
NPR: California Single Use Plastic Bill Signed Into Law
Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (SB 54) into law. Companies selling shampoo, food and other products wrapped in plastic have a decade to cut down on their use of the polluting material if they want their wares on California store shelves. Major legislation passed and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on June 30 aims to significantly reduce single-use plastic packaging in the state and drastically boost recycling rates for what remains. Under the bill, plastic producers would have to reduce plastics in single-use products 10% by 2027, increasing to 25% by 2032. While these regulations were significantly watered down, they are the nation’s most stringent requirements for the use of plastic packaging, with lawmakers saying they hope it sets a precedent for other states to follow. Read MORE.
Project Drawdown: Climate Solution Videos
“This series of 6 short (10- to 30-minute) videos covers the basics of climate change — including how humanity can solve it before it’s too late — in clear, compelling language. Supplementary video interviews with climate experts from around the world and downloadable graphics you can share with students add compelling color to the series. The materials are available free of charge! Check them out now and share them with family & friends. Most everyone can learn from this series.” Access HERE.
EcoWatch, June 20: Mangroves and Coral Reefs Yield Positive Return on Investment for Flood Protection, UCSC Study Finds
“We use risk-industry methods (benefit-risk analysis) and find that coral reef and mangrove restoration could yield strong Return on Investment (ROI) for flood risk reduction on shorelines across more than 20 Caribbean countries. Restored natural infrastructure can provide $100,000s/ha in flood protection benefits over project lifetimes. These rigorous valuations of natural defenses open new opportunities to fund coastal restoration.” Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News: California Released a Bold Climate Plan, but Critics Say It Will Harm Vulnerable Communities and Undermine Its Goals
“Environmental justice and climate advocacy groups say the draft plan relies too heavily on carbon capture and could increase pollution in low-income neighborhoods. In particular, the groups point to a proposal in the plan that would not only keep all of the state’s natural gas power plants online through 2045, but would add an additional 10 gigawatts of new gas-fired generating capacity. Recent research has shown that California’s gas power plants are disproportionately located near communities with high, cumulative socioeconomic and environmental burdens. And any new gas turbines are likely to be added to existing plants, rather than building new plants to accommodate them.” This is a big deal for Californians – Learn MORE.
Friends Of The Earth Europe: Environmental Impacts Of Lithium Mining
In the “Lithium Triangle”, an area spanning parts of Argentina, Bolivia & Chile, “lithium is found in the brine of salt flats. Holes are drilled into the salt flats and the brine is pumped to the surface, leaving it to evaporate in ponds. This allows lithium carbonate to be extracted through a chemical process. The extraction of lithium has significant environmental and social impacts, especially due to water pollution and depletion (in these arid regions). In addition, toxic chemicals are needed to process lithium. The release of such chemicals through leaching, spills or air emissions can harm communities, ecosystems and food production. Moreover, lithium extraction inevitably harms the soil and also causes air contamination.” Learn MORE.
Project Drawdown: Announcing 11 New Climate Solutions
“After two years of study, Project Drawdown just released an update of our 82 climate solutions and added analyses of 11 additional technologies and practices with the proven ability to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Five of the new solutions (Improved Aquaculture, Improved Fisheries, Macroalgae Protection and Restoration, Seafloor Protection, and Seaweed Farming) quantify ocean-related carbon sinks and ways of avoiding emissions. Three (Improved Cattle Feed, Improved Manure Management, and Methane Leak Management) highlight the potential to reduce methane emissions. And three (Recycled Metals, Recycled Plastics, and Reduced Plastics) explore ways to reduce industrial emissions.” Learn more about all 93 solutions HERE.
Environment America: USPS To Reassess Plan to Purchase 40,000 Gas Mail Trucks
“Your actions made a difference: the U.S. Postal Service is starting to bend to the public outcry around its plan to buy hundreds of thousands of gas-guzzling trucks. The White House, Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups have called on the Postal Service to redo its environmental assessment for its new fleet of delivery vehicles. Now, Postmaster General DeJoy has announced that the Postal Service will redo its analysis of the environmental impact of investing $11.3 billion in new delivery trucks. While this is good news, we can’t let up until USPS follows through with a real commitment to electric vehicles.” Thank to all of you who wrote emails protesting the planned purchase of 40,000 gas trucks and just 10,000 electric trucks!
Grist, June 17: Red Alert: Portions of the Arctic are Warming Much Faster Than We Thought
“Scientists revealed new measurements this week that show parts of the Arctic are warming five to seven times faster than the rest of the world, warming that could bring about even more extreme weather in the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute compiled surface air temperatures from islands in the northern Barents Sea from 1981 to 2020. In findings published Wednesday in the journal Scientific Reports, they wrote that annual average temperatures there are rising by up to 2.7 degrees Celsius per decade, making it the fastest warming region known on Earth.” Learn more HERE so you can educate others!
2021 Water Use
New York Times: Some California Counties Using Double the State Average. (Santa Cruz Rocks!)
“The average Californian used 83 gallons of water per day in April, compared with 73 in April 2020. That’s far from the 15 percent decrease that Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for as our reservoirs and the snowpack dwindle. (This underperformance has persisted since January.) One factor is spring weather: April was unusually dry in Southern California, while it rained in the Sacramento, Bay Area and North Coast regions, so savings were largely concentrated in the northern part of the state.”
New York Times, June 9: As the Great Salt Lake Dries Up, Utah Faces An ‘Environmental Nuclear Bomb’
“Salt Lake City facing risk of arsenic poisoning as Salt Lake dries out. Utah’s Great Salt Lake has already shrunk by two-thirds as increasing demands for water from a growing population meets the decreasing supply of water due to climate change. As a result, the lake’s brine shrimp face a risk of die-off this summer, which in turn threatens millions of birds who depend on them to power their migration. “Most alarming,” New York Times’ Chris Flavelle reports, “the air surrounding Salt Lake City would occasionally turn poisonous. The lake bed contains high levels of arsenic and as more of it becomes exposed, wind storms carry that arsenic into the lungs of nearby residents, who make up three-quarters of Utah’s population.”
The Revelator: Actions to halt biodiversity loss generally benefit the climate
“The dire message from a study published in April in the journal Science, found that continuing to emit greenhouse gases unchecked could trigger a mass die-off of ocean animals that rivals the worst extinction events in Earth’s history. The findings serve as just the latest reminder that climate change and biodiversity loss are interconnected crises. The Science study came with a dose of hopeful news: Action to curb greenhouse gas emissions and keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius could cut that extinction risk by 70%. “Many instances of conservation actions intended to slow, halt or reverse biodiversity loss can simultaneously slow anthropogenic climate change,” the researchers wrote in the study.” Learn MORE.
The Guardian, June 10: Cocktail of chemical pollutants linked to falling sperm quality
“A cocktail of chemical pollutants measured in people’s bodies has been linked to falling semen quality by new research. Chemicals such as bisphenols and dioxins are thought to interfere with hormones and damage sperm quality, and the study found combinations of these compounds are present at “astonishing” levels, up to 100 times those considered safe. Bisphenol A (BPA) was responsible for the highest risks, the scientists said. The chemical is found in milk and tinned food as it leaches from the linings of the packaging. Sperm counts and concentration had undergone an alarming decline in western countries for decades, the scientists said, with sperm counts halving in the last 40 years.” Learn MORE.
Bioneers: Daughters for Earth – Women And The Climate Change Movement – Video
“As climate change and the destruction of Earth’s lands, waters and wildlife accelerate, women around the world are the most impacted, but they are also the frontline warriors fighting to protect our future. Unfortunately, their work and leadership are often not seen, appreciated, or funded. In order to address that marginalization, female leaders in the women’s rights, environmental and philanthropic sectors came together to found Daughters for Earth. In this presentation, Zainab explores the interconnection between our personal search for healing and how we face the challenges of climate change. Watch HERE.
The Guardian, May 25: Indigenous activists among Goldman Environmental Prize winners
“The recipients of this year’s Goldman Prize demonstrate the power of unified community action, perseverance and the courts in the battle to save the planet from environmental collapse. The winners include a former fossil fuel insider turned climate entrepreneur who harnessed public participation and a pioneering legal strategy to successfully sue the Dutch government for failing to protect its citizens from the climate crisis. In Latin America, the joint winners are Alex Lucitante, 29 and Alexandra Narváez, 30, who spearheaded an Indigenous movement to protect the Cofán people’s ancestral territory from goldmining. It took almost two decades for Chima Williams, the African winner from Nigeria, to secure a ruling in The Hague that finally holds Royal Dutch Shell accountable for oil spills by its subsidiary that caused widespread ecological, social and economic damage in the Niger Delta.” Learn MORE.
Bill McKibben, The Crucial Years, June 6: Big Heat Pump Victory Today
“Earlier today, President Biden signed an order which mandates the use of the 1950 Defense Production Act to spur the production of heat pumps, because, as he puts it in the text, “ensuring a robust, resilient, and sustainable domestic industrial base to meet the requirements of the clean energy economy is essential to our national security, a resilient energy sector, and the preservation of domestic critical infrastructure…. I find that action to expand the domestic production capability for electric heat pumps is necessary to avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability.” Read MORE.
NY Times, May 18: Do Airline Climate Offsets Really Work?
“Carbon offset programs… (offer) an appealing proposition — the promise that, for a trivial amount of money, you can go about your business with no climate guilt. But if it sounds too good to be true, that’s because, at least for now, it is. A pair of studies published in 2019 and 2021 examined California’s forest carbon offsets program and found that it was likely to have overstated its total emission reductions by 80 percent or more. Part of the appeal of carbon offsets is the notion that it’s possible to meaningfully combat climate change while living our lives and structuring our society in the same way we always have. For that reason, some experts see carbon offsets as actively damaging, inasmuch as they give people cover to avoid reducing emissions at the source.” Read more HERE.
The Revelator: Ten New Environmental Books Offering Inspiration, Insight and Ideas
“April’s best new eco-books look toward solutions to the extinction crisis, climate change, water shortages, environmental justice and more. These books — all published this month (April) — cover heady topics like climate change, environmental justice, biodiversity loss and more. Some are intended for people just learning the basics, while others speak to dedicated environmental professions. Many provide a window into the wonders of the natural world. All offer a vision not just for April, but far into the future.” Keep READING.
Climate 202: The Push To Overhaul The Mining Act of 1872
“Prominent congressional Democrats are pushing to update the nation’s 150-year-old mining law, as President Biden seeks to spur the production of critical minerals used in electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies. House Natural Resources Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz. – pictured bove) introduced the Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act on April 26. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) has introduced similar legislation in the Senate. The measure would modernize and reform the Mining Law of 1872, which has remained virtually unchanged since its enactment more than a century ago. The legislation would require mining companies to pay royalties for new and existing operations on federal lands. Currently, mining companies pay no royalties to the federal government. The bill would also set stronger environmental standards under the mining law, and it would require the government to consult with Indigenous tribes before permitting mines near tribal communities. Read MORE.
The Guardian, May 7: ‘Forever chemicals’ found in nearly 60% of children’s ‘waterproof’ or ‘stain-resistant’ textiles.
“PFAS, or per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of more than 9,000 compounds typically used across dozens of industries to make products water-, stain- or heat-resistant. A study found PFAS substances in clothing, pillow protectors, bedding and furniture, some labeled ‘environmentally friendly’. Nearly 60% of children’s textiles labeled “waterproof”, “stain-resistant”, or “environmentally friendly” that were tested as part of a new study contained toxic PFAS substances known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment. Among products checked were clothing, pillow protectors, bedding and furniture. “It’s definitely a concern because these toxic chemicals can make their way into children’s bodies,” said Laurel Schaider, one of the study’s authors.” Learn MORE.
Science.org, April 20: Global warming is speeding up ocean currents. Here’s why.
“Two years ago, oceanographers made a surprising discovery: Not only have oceans been warming because of human-driven climate change, but the currents that flow through them have accelerated—by some 15% per decade from 1990 to 2013. At the time, many scientists suspected faster ocean winds were driving the speedup. But a new modeling study fingers another culprit: the ocean’s own tendency to warm from top to bottom, leading to constricted surface layers where water flows faster.” Learn MORE.
Medscape, May 5: New Toolkit Offers Help for Climate Change Anxiety
“A new toolkit provides coping strategies for people who are anxious about climate change. These strategies include volunteering, building a community, discussing emotions with others, practicing mindfulness, and seeking therapy. The toolkit, developed by nursing experts (including Natania Abebe, pictured above) at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, also offers reflection questions and a film with diverse voices for people to examine their values, emotions, and behaviors in relation to the environment.” Read ON.
Interesting Engineering, May 8: Study Estimates That Replacing 20% Of Beef and Lamb Consumption With Microbial Protein Could Reduce CO2 pollution By 80%
“Conventional meat production is known to destroy CO2-absorbing tropical forests to replace them with grazing pastures and cattle feed crops while belching cows produce significant amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than CO2. This spells disaster for an already struggling environment. The research found that replacing just 20 percent of global beef and lamb consumption with meat alternatives could see reductions in tree loss and related CO2 pollution of more than 80 percent. That’s an impressive amount! Better yet, microbe-based faux meat is rich in protein and amino acids, making it an ideal substitute for regular meat.” Read MORE.
Sunflower Alliance: Contra Costa Considering Converting Oil Refineries To Biofuel
“The Contra Costa Board of Supervisors meets May 3 to discuss the proposed conversion of the Marathon refinery in Martinez and the much larger-scale proposed conversion of the Phillips 66 refinery in Rodeo from refining petroleum to refining “biofuel”. Growing enough crops for biofuels has the potential to divert agricultural land from food crops, raising global food prices. There is also a danger that demand for biofuel feedstock will lead to increased deforestation. Refining biofuels creates potential local and global hazards. It requires larger amounts of hydrogen, usually produced in a process that releases methane, a toxic gas that is a more powerful GHG than carbon dioxide.” Learn MORE.
Bioneers: Nature + Justice + Women’s Leadership: A Strategic Trio for Effective Change – Video
“Ecological destruction, climate destabilization, the global pandemic, and many forms of historical and current injustice are converging to initiate a near-death experience for our species. In this inspiring session, some exemplary activists and leaders — Naelyn Pike, Amisha Ghadiali, Nina Simons, and Osprey Orielle Lake — explore why the combination of honoring and learning from nature, a deep quest for justice, and cultivating the leadership of women can provide a potent, three-pronged strategic path for getting us to a world we want.” Access video HERE.
Science Direct – One Earth: Which of the plethora of tree-growing projects to support? Karen Hill (UCSC) and Pedro Brancalion
“The vast sums of money being spent on planting trees have the potential to transform landscapes and slow global warming but will accomplish little if trees do not survive and grow. We discuss ten key questions to decide which of the numerous tree-growing projects are most likely to succeed. (For example,) ask what an organization’s targets are for the number of trees that are alive in 5, 10, or 20 years rather than how many trees they will plant.” Learn more HERE.
Canary Media, April 19: Biofuels are accelerating the food crisis — and the climate crisis, too
“It’s crazy to put more food in our fuel tanks when there’s a war on. Or when there isn’t. The amount of corn it takes to fill an SUV with ethanol could feed a person for a year, and the U.S. and Europe could immediately replace the lost grain exports from Ukraine’s breadbasket by cutting their biofuel production in half. A bunch of studies have confirmed that biofuel mandates were a leading driver of the 2008 food crisis, driving up prices by driving up demand for grain and vegetable oil. Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News, April 13: Six Takeaways About Tropical Cyclones and Hurricanes From The New IPCC Report
“Coastal regions can brace for more intense, wetter and windier tropical storms in a warming world. The federal government counts 52 tropical cyclones since 1980 that, with the cost adjusted for inflation, have caused, on average, $20 billion in damages in the United States. There were a record seven so-called “billion dollar” cyclones just last year. With climate change helping produce a global horror film of extreme weather disasters this summer, and the peak Atlantic hurricane and Western fire seasons just arriving, a new landmark United Nations climate report by the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change offers the most thorough evaluation of the physical science associated with global warming so far.” Learn MORE.
Seafood Watch Warns Against Consuming Lobster, Snow Crab, to Help Save Right Whales
“The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program recommends that consumers avoid eating any lobster or snow crab caught in the U.S. and Canada, as commercial fishing has put the endangered North Atlantic right whales at further risk of extinction. There are about 70 reproductively active females left of the species, as reported by NRDC, and fewer than 340 North Atlantic right whales exist. From 2015 to 2019, there was an average decline of 31 deaths and critical injuries per year. The population declined an additional 8% from 2019 to 2020. While these whales face many challenges to survival, one major threat is entanglement in fishing gear, particularly fixed-bottom fishing equipment used for commercial fishing of lobster and crabs. Entanglement can lead to death.” Learn MORE.
Emergence Magazine: The Eternal Tree, Essay by Jori Lewis
“Throughout, the trees remained — steadfast and rooted. How could people not see such beings as ancestors, as holders of secrets from the great beyond?” As long-lived beings, trees serve as rooted witnesses to the shifting landscapes around them. But with land development, drought, insect outbreaks, and rising temperatures, many of the world’s most ancient trees are ailing. In this essay, paired with tree portraits from photographer Beth Moon, writer Jori Lewis ventures out from her urban home in Senegal, drawn to the wisdom and resiliency of Africa’s baobab trees: ancient arks of biodiversity that have migrated across the landscape, enduring for millennia. Read essay HERE.
Interesting Engineering, March 24: Microplastics are confirmed in human blood for the first time.
“The ravages of plastic waste aren’t finished with us. Unfortunately, the worst might only be beginning. In a world-first, scientists have detected microplastics in human blood — with tiny particles found in nearly 80 percent of tested human participants. The researchers looked at blood samples from 22 anonymous, healthy, and adult donors — and 17 had plastic particles in their bodies. PET plastic, which is typically found in drinking bottles, was discovered in half of the samples. Another third of the participants’ bodies had polystyrene, which is used to package food and other goods. One-quarter of the blood samples had polyethylene, the primary material of plastic carrier bags. These tiny particles can move freely throughout the body, and become stuck in organs — which could cause significant health issues. But now that we know, scientists are on watch to understand the full scope of effects — both short- and long-term, on human health.” Read MORE.
Guardian, March 20: Heatwaves at Both of Earth’s Poles Alarm Climate Scientists
“Antarctic areas reach 40C above normal at same time as north pole regions hit 30C above usual levels. Startling heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles are causing alarm among climate scientists, who have warned the “unprecedented” events could signal faster and abrupt climate breakdown. Temperatures in Antarctica reached record levels at the weekend, an astonishing 40C above normal in places. At the same time, weather stations near the north pole also showed signs of melting, with some temperatures 30C above normal, hitting levels normally attained far later in the year. At this time of year, the Antarctic should be rapidly cooling after its summer, and the Arctic only slowly emerging from its winter, as days lengthen. For both poles to show such heating at once is unprecedented.” Learn MORE.
Endangered Earth: USDA Program Killed 400,000 Native Animals in 2021
“A federal program called Wildlife Services, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, just announced it killed 404,538 native animals last year. According to its new report — which probably underestimates the real number — in 2021 the secretive, multimillion-dollar program massacred 324 gray wolves, 64,131 coyotes, 433 black bears, 200 mountain lions, 605 bobcats, 3,014 foxes, 24,687 beavers, and 714 river otters. It also unintentionally killed at least 2,746 animals, from bears to bobcats to songbirds — and even pet dogs. “Killing carnivores to supposedly benefit the livestock industry just leads to more conflicts and more killing,” said Collette Adkins, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Carnivore Conservation program. “This is a stomach-churning, truly vicious cycle, and we’ll continue to demand change from Wildlife Services.” Learn MORE.
YES! Magazine, March 16: How to Get Past Despair to Powerful Action on Climate Change
“Our species is in a race with climate change, and a lot of people want to know, “Can I really make a difference?” This question concerns what’s known as agency. Its meaning is complex, but in a nutshell, it means being able to do what you set out to do and believing you can succeed. How well people exercise their agency will determine the severity of global warming—and its consequences. The evidence is clear that people are changing the climate dramatically. But human actions can also affect the climate for the better by reducing fossil fuel burning and carbon emissions. It’s not too late to avert the worst effects of climate change, but time is running out.” Read this article HERE.
Inside Climate News, March 7: Is the Amazon Approaching a Tipping Point?
“A new study shows the rainforest growing less resilient. Beset by worsening drought and more fires, the forest could become a savannah within decades. A study co-author says it is losing the ability “to restore itself back to a stable state.” The world’s largest rainforest is losing its ability to bounce back from droughts and fires, pushing it farther toward a threshold where it could transform into arid savannah, releasing dangerous amounts of greenhouse gases in the process. A study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change found that the Amazon has become less resilient as deforestation has continued and rising temperatures have worsened drought. The authors said the rainforest’s ability to recover from such events has diminished across three-quarters of its area in the last two decades, especially in parts that are closer to human activity, like urban areas and croplands.” Learn MORE.
YES! Magazine: Six Badass Acts Of Resistance Erased From History
“Number 1: The Children’s Crusade. In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, was a hotbed of activity for the civil rights movement. By spring, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) had organized massive actions against anti-Black violence. Many organizers, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were arrested. The general public scorned these protests. Time magazine described them as “poorly timed.” Many didn’t want to continue these marches because “adults feared losing jobs or mortgages if they joined in the protests.” An SCLC organizer, James Bevel, came up with an idea to reinvigorate the protests: have the youth march. Young people were eager to protest. The SCLC held secret workshops to prepare them in non-violent actions. On May 2, hundreds of young people left school and gathered at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Together, they marched towards City Hall, kicking off weeklong protests. Altogether, thousands of young people marched. Led by Bull Connor, the Birmingham police attacked these young people and arrested hundreds of children, holding them in cells overnight. One of the youngest protesters, Audrey Faye Hendricks, was 9 years old.” Learn about the other 5 acts of resistance HERE.
The Hill: High gas prices are a bad problem; suspending the gas tax is a bad solution
“Economists are mixed on whether or not gas tax holidays actually lower gas prices. More than 300 economists, including six Nobel laureates, noted in a 2008 letter that “a tax holiday would provide very little relief to families feeling squeezed.” Economists note that a full suspension of the gas tax would not lower the price of gasoline by the full amount of the tax because producers bear some of the tax burden. In previous state-level gas tax holidays in Indiana and Illinois, researchers found that consumers don’t get the full benefit of the gas tax suspension; some of their savings flow to oil producers. A suspension of the gas tax might result in some level of short-term price reduction, but the long-term impact on the federal budget could be significant.” Learn MORE.
Center For Biological Diversity: Vast Pesticide Volume Used to Feed Factory Farms
“A study just released by the Center and our partner reveals that one-fifth of pesticides used in the United States every year go on corn and soy crops grown to feed factory-farmed animals. About 235 million pounds of herbicides and insecticides doused those crops in 2018 alone, according to our new report Collateral Damage — all of them known to hurt wildlife. “This is the cost of cheap meat,” said Lori Ann Burd, the Center’s environmental health director. “Monarch butterflies, San Joaquin kit foxes and whooping cranes are threatened by these pesticides every day just to fuel the cruel and unsustainable factory farm industry.” See report HERE.
Center For Biological Diversity: Habitat-Fed Beef – Separating Facts From Fiction on Grass-Fed and “Regenerative” Beef, March 23, 9 am
“Everyone from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fast-food companies is seeking solutions to the environmental harms caused by beef production — experimenting with carbon sequestration, regenerative grazing systems, and technologies to address emissions. Grass-fed beef has been touted as the answer to the problem of factory farms. But how do we ensure that conversations about soil health and carbon sequestration don’t lose the holistic view of how cattle interact with wildlife and wild places? In the US, which consumes four times the global average in beef, culture wars shape the way we talk about, think about, study, and address how much beef we eat and how it’s produced. The beef industry, infamous for a powerful lobby and increasing consolidation, is embracing “regenerative” language. Yet exactly what’s required to make a beef producer sustainable — and whether sustainable beef is even possible — remains unclear.” Info & registration HERE.
The Amount of CO2 Emissions Per Unit of Electricity Generated by Each State
“The Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) contains average annual values of emissions, generation, heat input, and emission rates, as well as facility attribute data and a wealth of other information for every region, every state and virtually every power plant in the U.S.” Go to the EPA’s interactive eGRID Data Explorer.
EarthJustice: The Biden Administration Must Act on Coal Leasing on Public Lands
“President Biden came into office promising the most ambitious climate agenda in our nation’s history. Many of those commitments were due to sustained pressure from Tribes and tribal activists, climate activists, and environmental justice groups who demanded meaningful action on the campaign trail. For those of us who have worked on fossil fuel leasing on public lands, it has been especially infuriating to see the Biden administration’s U.S. BLM defend a Trump-era policy overturning a 2016 coal-leasing moratorium. The administration is not exercising any control over its coal policy, and as a result, the policy is no different from the coal-friendly days of Trump.” Learn MORE.
EcoWatch, Feb 10: Toxic Weedkiller Chemicals Detected in Nearly 40% of People Tested in U.S. Study
If you need more incentive to buy organic. “A new study has found detectable levels of toxic weedkillers in about 40% of respondents in a U.S. nationwide survey. The survey found levels of 2,4-D, an herbicide that has been linked to cancer, in one in three people. Researchers at George Washington University analyzed the 2001 to 2014 results from the annual National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 14,395 people across the U.S. ages 6 and older. In 2001 to 2002, they found evidence of about 17% human exposure. For 2011 to 2012, human exposure increased to 39.6%, the highest level of human exposure recorded for this herbicide.” Learn MORE.
NYT Climate Forward, March 4: What Putin’s War Could Mean for Fossil Fuels
“How do you ensure energy security on a hotter planet? That’s the thorny new question that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presents to many countries, most immediately in Europe. The leaders of the European Union are expected to announce a proposal next week that would “accelerate the clean energy transition and reduce permanently our dependence on imports of natural gas.” If it goes through, it could significantly blunt one of the Kremlin’s most formidable economic weapons: piped gas to heat and power the continent. The 26-page E.U. draft proposal, seen by The New York Times, proposes to swiftly renovate old, leaky buildings to reduce energy demand, simplify regulations to attract investments in renewable energy, encourage more rooftop solar installations and produce more energy from biomass.” Learn MORE
Interesting Engineering, Feb 19: Moss Landing Power Plant Battery Storage Goes Offline Due to Overheating, for the Second Time
“An energy storage facility owned by Vistra Energy in Moss Landing houses the largest lithium-ion battery in the world. The only problem is the battery packs keep on melting. On February 13, the facility experienced another meltdown, the second in five months, according to local broadcaster KSBW. What could be going wrong? It all began when four fire trucks responded to a fire alarm at the energy company’s site. When they arrived the fire had been subdued by the facility’s fire suppression system. There were no flames but ten lithium-ion battery packs had been melted.” Learn MORE.
Center For Biological Diversity: The Call For National Forest Policy to Protect Mature, Old-Growth, Trees, Forests
“A coalition of more than 70 groups launched a new campaign February 15 called the Climate Forests Campaign and called on the Biden administration to take executive action to protect mature trees and forests on federal lands, which are critical in the fight against climate change. “It’s completely unacceptable that federal land managers lack strong policies to protect old trees and forests, given all we know about how critical they are to our climate and biodiversity,” said Randi Spivak, public lands program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re calling on President Biden to safeguard these beautiful, life-giving ecosystems to have a shot at a livable planet. It’s cheaper, smarter and quicker than logging them. We just need to let them grow.” Learn MORE.
Climate Forward, NYT, Feb 22: The Unsung Heroes of Carbon Storage
“Here’s an amazing fact: Peatlands, soggy ground like bogs and fens, make up just 3 percent of land on Earth, but they store twice as much planet-warming carbon as all the world’s forests combined. The bad news is that humans have often treated peatlands as a nuisance. They’re too soft to build houses, too wet for agricultural crops and they make an excellent home for mosquitoes. In some climates, that brings a high risk of malaria. As a result, about 15 percent of the world’s peatlands have been drained. That’s a problem because damaged peatlands, rather than storing carbon, can become major emitters of greenhouse gases.” It’s all explained in this article in The Times.
Inside Climate News, Feb 24: Greenhouse Gases Released by the Oil and Gas Industry Far Exceed What Regulators Think They Know
“Over much of the last decade, oil and gas operators in Texas and a dozen other U.S. states have flared, or burned off, at least 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to an analysis of satellite data by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism. That’s the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent of nearly 42 million cars driving for a year. The industry has also directly released unknown amounts of gas into the atmosphere through a process called venting. But regulators are largely unaware of the amount of gas being flared and vented, the Howard Center found. It’s a blind spot that’s developed from limited federal oversight, a patchwork of state regulations, lax enforcement and inconsistent data collection.” Learn MORE
Lookout Santa Cruz: No ifs, ands or butts: California bill would ban single-use smoking products like cigarette filters
“California could see fewer cigarette butts and vape pods on the streets under a measure introduced January 25. Assembly Bill 1690 would ban single-use cigarette filters, e-cigarettes and vape products in the state with the aim of benefiting the environment and public health. “For more than half a century, tobacco filters have caused a public and environmental health crisis that found renewed vigor in recent years as the tobacco industry began to sell electronic vape products,” Assemblymember Luz Rivas, who introduced the bill, said in a news release Tuesday. “Our planet is at a critical tipping point — cigarette filters destroy our environment unlike any other discarded waste, and the toxic chemicals found in electronic vapes seep into our fragile ecosystems, all while also damaging individuals’ health with hazardous smoke,” Rivas said.” Read MORE.
Turtle Island Restoration Network: 2021 Ocean Temperatures Highest On Record
“Since measurements began over six decades ago, oceans were the hottest ever recorded this past year. In a study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, researchers say the increased warmth was spurred by increased anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations. Resulting from human activities, the greenhouse gas concentrations trap heat within the climate system. Incoming solar radiation is greater than outgoing energy, creating what the researchers call Earth’s Energy Imbalance. Over 90% of this imbalance of increased heat is stored in the planet’s oceans, resulting in higher temperatures in the water. Researchers found oceans are steadily increasing in temperature. Warming has occurred since 1958, with each decade warmer than the last. Worryingly, warming has significantly increased since the 1980s.” Learn MORE.
Guardian, Feb 9: Tyson Foods Massive Crop Feed Footprint
“Tyson Foods utilizes between nine and 10 million acres of farmland – an area almost twice the size of New Jersey – to produce corn and soybeans to feed the more than 2 billion animals it processes every year in the US alone, according to new research. The study by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) published on Wednesday also estimates that only about 5% of this land, 408,000 acres, has been enrolled in sustainable farming programs announced by Tyson in 2018. Most consumers do not appreciate how much land is needed exclusively to support industrial animal farming and the wider environmental impacts of that, said Marcia DeLonge, a senior scientist at the UCS. “We are using this land in a way that creates a lot of pollution and a lot of problems that contribute to climate change,” DeLonge said.” Read MORE.
The Revelator, Jan 26: This Unsung Aquatic Hero Could Get a Big Boost From Dam Removals
“Freshwater mussels are some of the most imperiled species in North America. Experts say we can change that by rethinking our infrastructure. North America boasts nearly one third of the world’s 900 freshwater mussel species. But pollution, invasive species, and changes in stream flows and water quality from development have all taken their toll on mussel populations. One of the biggest factors in the U.S. decline has been the construction of dams — more than 84,000 of them, which has fragmented rivers and altered water flows, sediment, habitat and temperatures. The mollusks act as tiny, but efficient water filters, helping to improve water quality as they consume algae, phytoplankton, bacteria and organic particles from their surroundings.” Learn MORE.
Interesting Engineering, Jan 31: Shell’s Carbon Capture Plant Creates More Emissions Than It Captures
“Oil giant Shell’s Quest plant in Alberta, Canada was designed to capture carbon emissions from oil sands operations and store them underground. But according to a new study from the watchdog group Global Witness, the facility actually emits more emissions than it captures.
Since 2015, it has prevented the release of 5.5 million tons (5 million metric tons) of CO2 into the atmosphere, but it has also released a further 8.2 million tons (7.5 million metric tons). To put that in perspective, Shell’s plant appears to have the same carbon footprint as 1.2 million gasoline-powered cars each year.” Learn MORE.
Valley Women’s Club: The Butt Stops Here
“The Butt Stops Here is an ongoing cigarette butt watershed pollution reduction and education program that was initiated in 2010 by The Valley Women’s Club of San Lorenzo Valley’s Environmental Committee for the SLV. The program is intended to improve the health of the watershed by reducing the amount of cigarette butt litter entering it from streets that feed to storm drains that discharge to streams, creeks and the river, and ultimately to the ocean. This will be accomplished through education and public outreach, press releases, and media events; and by making highly recognizable cigarette butt receptacles available at key locations in populated areas, and by painting watershed creatures on or around curbside storm drain openings.” Learn more HERE.
Emergence Magazine: Lovely Monster by Camille Seaman
This photo essay captures the beauty, awe, and fear of the natural world through portraits of storms from across the American landscape. View HERE.
Phys.org: Dimming Sun’s Rays Should Be Off-limits, Say Experts
“Planetary-scale engineering schemes designed to cool Earth’s surface and lessen the impact of global heating are potentially dangerous and should be blocked by governments, more than 60 policy experts and scientists said. Even if injecting billions of sulphur particles into the middle atmosphere — the most hotly debated plan for so-called solar radiation modification (SRM) — turned back a critical fraction of the Sun’s rays as intended, the consequences could outweigh any benefits, they argued in an open letter.” Read about the several reasons given to reject these large scale geo-engineering schemes HERE.
Patagonia: Restoring the Balance Film
“In the mid 1800s, a few axis deer were brought from India to Hawai’i as a gift. With no natural predators, the deer population exploded, decimating the land and contributing to the erosion that endangers marine life. The team at Maui Nui has a solution.” Watch 5-minute video HERE.
The Guardian, Jan 26: Carbon Offsetting is not Warding Off Environmental Collapse – It’s Accelerating It
“Something that should be a great force for good has turned into a corporate gold rush, trading in carbon credits. A carbon credit represents one tonne of greenhouse gases, deemed to have been avoided or removed from the atmosphere. Over the past few months, the market for these credits has boomed. There are two legitimate uses of nature-based solutions (restoring living systems): removing historic carbon from the air, and counteracting a small residue of unavoidable emissions once we have decarbonised the rest of the economy. Instead, carbon credits are being widely used as an alternative for effective action. Rather than committing to leave fossil fuels in the ground, oil and gas firms continue to prospect for new reserves while claiming that the credits they buy have turned them “carbon neutral”.” Learn MORE.
The Crucial Years, Bill McKibben: Worse Living Through Chemistry
From the journal of Environmental Science and Technology. “The novel entities that have so suffused Earth’s air, water, ecosystems and biodiversity, wildlife, and human bodies comprise 350,000 synthetic chemicals — including persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — found in plastics, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, industrial and manufacturing compounds, antibiotics, degreasers, cleaning agents, and many other commodities. Only a tiny fraction of those 350,000 compounds has been assessed for safety, yet many are now found in human tissues.”“There has been a fiftyfold increase in the production of chemicals since 1950 and this is projected to triple again by 2050,” said Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez, a PhD candidate at the Stockholm center who was part of the study team. “The pace that societies are producing and releasing new chemicals into the environment is not consistent with staying within a safe operating space for humanity.” Learn MORE.
The Guardian, Jan 11: 2021 Ocean Temperatures Were Warmest on Record
“The world’s oceans reached record temperatures in 2021, despite a La Niña event that typically has a cooling influence. The new record was announced in a study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences Tuesday. This is the sixth year in a row that the ocean heat record has been broken. “The ocean heat content is relentlessly increasing, globally, and this is a primary indicator of human-induced climate change,” said study co-author and National Center for Atmospheric Research climate scientist Kevin Trenberth.” Learn MORE.
The Crucial Years, Bill McKibben, Jan 7: The Happiest Number I’ve Heard In Years
“(S)omething very close to forty percent of all the shipping on earth is just devoted to getting oil and coal and gas (and now some wood pellets) back and forth across the ocean. That’s a remarkable snapshot: almost half of what we move around the seas is not finished products (cars) nor even the raw materials to make them (steel), but simply the stuff that we burn to power those transformations, and to keep ourselves warmed, cooled, and lit. Which is great news. Because it means that if and when we make the transition to solar power and windpower, we will not just stop pouring carbon into the atmosphere, and not just save money—we will also reduce the number of ships sailing back and forth by almost half. So if you’re worried about almost anything at all that’s going wrong on the high seas – piracy, say, or the hideous sonic effects of all those ships on whales (or tanker shipwrecks) – then you can cut that in half as well.” Subscribe to The Crucial Years HERE.
Bay Nature, Jan 4: Capturing the Flood in California’s Ancient Underground Waterways
“Tens of thousands of years ago, California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains’ waterways flowed down from the highlands to meander across the plateau of the Central Valley. Spurred by sea levels about 400 feet lower than today and climate and glacial processes, the rivers cut valleys 100 feet deep and a mile wide through sediment on the valley floor, as runoff from glacial melt scoured the land, pushing downstream loosened gravel, sand, and silt. Later in the glacial cycle, as sea levels rose and the streams flattened out, they lost momentum. Gravel and sediment dropped out of the water column, backfilling the cut canyons with this coarse material. These events repeated themselves over the last million or so years, as glaciers crept down from the north, then retreated. Four of these events have left imprints of their icy ebb and flow below the valley floor. Called paleo valleys, these buried historic riverbeds are still the paths water wants to travel underground, like slow-motion rivers.” Learn more HERE about these potentially important resources!
Center For Biological Diversity Report: Wool key contributor to biodiversity loss, climate change
“The CBD report, titled ‘Wool, Fashion and the Biodiversity Crisis’ says wool is not a fibre simply provided by nature, but a product of modern industrial, chemical, ecological and genetic intervention that’s anything but eco-friendly. “The industry has been pulling the wool over our eyes for decades, claiming that wool is a sustainable fibre,” says Stephanie Feldstein, CBD population and sustainability director and co-author of the report. “Wool clothing comes with a heavy price tag of greenhouse gas emissions, land use, biodiversity loss and pollution. Nothing about wool is sustainable.” The report says compared to other materials used in similar types of clothing, the average climate cost of sheep’s wool is three times more than acrylic and more than five times higher than conventionally-grown cotton. Wool uses 367 times more land per bale than cotton, and the chemically intensive process of cleaning shorn wool kills aquatic life and pollutes waterways, the report points out.” Learn MORE.
EcoWatch: Latin America does not want the U.S.’s plastic waste.
“As data shows that U.S. plastic exports to some countries in the region more than doubled during 2020, more than 70 organizations from around the world called for an end to this trade, and for the U.S. to manage its own waste. “Crossborder plastic waste trade is perhaps one of the most nefarious expressions of the commercialization of common goods and the colonial occupation of territories of the geopolitical south to turn them into sacrifice zones,” Fernanda Soliz, health area director at Simón Bolívar University, Ecuador, said in the letter. “Latin America and the Caribbean are not the backyards of the United States. We are sovereign territories, and we demand the respect of the rights of Nature and our peoples.” Read MORE.
LA Times, Dec 26: California’s new composting law — a game changer for food waste
“Californians will ring in the new year with the unfurling of a groundbreaking law that will change how they dispose of their organic waste, particularly leftover food and kitchen scraps. Senate Bill 1383 requires all residents and businesses to separate such “green” waste from other trash, but the program will be rolled out gradually for homes and businesses in the coming months, with the actual startup date varying, depending on the location of your home or business. Fines can be levied for failing to separate organic refuse from other trash. But those charges aren’t scheduled to begin until 2024. CalRecycle, the state agency overseeing the change, has lots of information about the new requirements on its website.”
Optimist Daily, Dec 16: These 17 “super trees” make cities vastly more livable
“Creating more green space in urban areas is a highly effective way to lower temperatures and improve health outcomes during heat waves, but when it comes to tree planting in cities, not all trees are created equal. New research from Rice University finds that 17 “super trees” are most powerful in terms of making cities more livable in a changing climate. In assessing tree species, the researchers focused on four key factors: the ability to capture carbon and pollutants, the ability to capture water, flood mitigation power, and heat mitigation power. After narrowing down their selection, the researchers planted 7,500 of the identified “super trees” on several sites near the Clinton Park neighborhood and adjacent to the Houston Ship Channel. Data from these trees allowed them to finalize the list and rankings.” Read ON.
EcoWatch, Dec 22: California Sues Walmart for Dumping Hazardous Waste in Landfills
“Corporate giant Walmart is being sued by the state of California for allegedly dumping 159,600 pounds of hazardous waste a year in the state’s landfills. The products, which include pesticides, toxic cleaning supplies, batteries, aerosol cans, latex paints and LED lightbulbs, are not materials the landfills are equipped to handle. Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, and a dozen of the state’s district attorneys alleged that Walmart violated the state’s environmental laws and regulations by dumping the materials, which also included “confidential customer information,” according to the press release. “Walmart’s own audits found that the company is dumping hazardous waste at local landfills at a rate of more than one million items each year. (When) we’re talking about tens of thousands of batteries, cleaning supplies, and other hazardous waste, the impact to our environment and our communities can be huge.” Learn MORE.
Center On Race, Poverty & The Environment: Groups File Federal Lawsuit to Address California’s San Joaquin Valley Clean Air Crisis
A coalition of environmental justice, public health, and conservation groups filed a lawsuit (Nov 10) challenging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its decision not to intervene following California’s repeated failures to meet decades-old air pollution targets for fine particulate matter (PM-2.5) in the San Joaquin Valley. “For decades, EPA has excused California’s failure to follow the law and develop timely, effective plans to clean up the air in the Valley,” explained Greg Muren, an attorney with Earthjustice. “Now, the Clean Air Act requires EPA to step in and develop a plan of its own that will actually work. EPA should follow through on its stated commitment to environmental justice and give residents the bare minimum that they deserve: air that is safe to breathe.” The most basic need safe air! Learn MORE.
American Chemical Society, Dec 22: Analysis of Microplastics in Human Feces Reveals a Correlation between Fecal Microplastics and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Status
“Human ingestion of microplastics (MPs) is inevitable due to the ubiquity of MPs in various foods and drinking water. Whether the ingestion of MPs poses a substantial risk to human health is far from understood. Here, by analyzing the characteristics of MPs in the feces of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and healthy people, for the first time, we found that the fecal MP concentration in IBD patients (41.8 items/g dm) was significantly higher than that in healthy people (28.0 items/g dm). Furthermore, the positive correlation between fecal MPs and IBD status suggests that MP exposure may be related to the disease process or that IBD exacerbates the retention of MPs. The relative mechanisms deserve further studies.” Read MORE.
Save The Waves: Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve
The Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve, dedicated 4/28/12, is located on the northern side of Monterey Bay along California’s Central Coast within the protected coastal waters of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The Reserve stretches approximately 7 miles from Natural Bridges State Park on the west end of the City of Santa Cruz eastward along the city and county coast to the Opal Cliffs, just east of Pleasure Point. At least 23 consistent surf breaks are sited along this coast, including the world-class breaks of Steamer Lane and Pleasure Point. The breaks are rated from “expert” to “beginner” and are used by surfers throughout the year. Surfing contests from pros to clubs to schools are frequent and popular. Beach and surf access is generally good along this coast and most of the beach areas in the Reserve are overseen by the California State Parks, the City of Santa Cruz, or Santa Cruz County. Learn MORE.
One Zoom: Tree Of Life Explorer
The tree of life shows how all life on earth is related. Each leaf represents a different species. The branches show how these many species evolved from common ancestors over billions of years. In our interactive tree of life you can explore the relationships between 2,235,322 species and wonder at 105,295 images on a single zoomable page. Check it out HERE.
Bloomberg Green, Dec 13: California Rocks Solar Industry With Rollback Plan on Incentives
California regulators proposed sharply lowering subsidies and adding new fees for home solar users, rattling a solar industry that was benefiting from the wildly successful program to help customers go green. Residential solar customers would get a lower credit (possibly 2/3 less) for their excess electricity sent to the grid….. according to a proposed decision issued Monday by a judge at the California Public Utilities Commission. In addition, rooftop solar users would have to pay a new grid-connection fee that would average $40 a month. The solar industry said the proposal would gut the subsidy plan, impose the highest solar fees in the U.S., threaten thousands of jobs and tarnish California’s clean energy legacy. The changes will deter many from installing rooftop solar and storage and slow clean energy development in the state, argue solar advocates and the main industry group. Read San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s commentary HERE.
CNN What Matters: How Climate Change May Effect Tornado Events
“First of all, there have been many different studies on severe weather in the aggregate. And we’re talking about flooding, ocean surges, forest fires and hurricane intensity. So we have some very good documentation, many peer-reviewed studies on all of that. What we don’t have is something comparable with tornadoes. What we do know is we’re not getting more tornadoes, but we do know that hot weather helps spawn tornadoes, particularly when there’s a meeting of hot and cold fronts coming together. They cause swirls and that’s very well-known and documented. And in this case of the horrible tornadoes — the tornado, the longest one so far in history — we do know that it was in the 70s to near 80s Friday afternoon. And that is very out of character for December in that area”, Scott Sklar, Energy Director of George Washington University’s Environment & Energy Management Institute. Subscribe to What Matters free newsletter HERE.
Save Our Shores 2021 Waves & Wildlife Photo Winner
1ST Place: “Cormorant vs. Cabezon” at Elkhorn Slough State Marine Conservation Area by Jon Anderson. See more winners HERE.
Inside Climate News, Dec 1: A Commonsense Proposal to Deal With Plastics Pollution – Stop Making So Much Plastic
A report from leading scientists found that the U.S. is the world’s leading generator of plastic waste, at 287 pounds per capita. It’s clogging the oceans, and poisoning plankton and whales. The United States….needs a comprehensive strategy by the end of next year to curb its devastating impacts on ocean health, marine wildlife and communities, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concludes. A committee of academic experts who wrote the report at the request of Congress described an environmental crisis that will only get worse as plastic production, nearly all from fossil fuels, continues to soar. In fact, the first of the study’s main recommendations is to stop making so much plastic — especially plastic materials that are not reusable or practically recyclable. Learn MORE.
Drawdown Policy Brief: Girls’ Education, Family Planning, and Climate Adaptation
“Girls’ Education and Family Planning: Essential Components of Climate Adaptation and Resilience — a Drawdown Lift policy brief — makes the case for recognizing family planning and girls’ education as effective long-term climate adaptation strategies. Both should be integrated into climate deliberations, funding priorities, and country-level actions. Today, both universal education and sexual and reproductive health and rights are severely underfunded, particularly for women and girls in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). Dedicating climate adaptation financing to include girls’ education and modern voluntary family planning as part of multisectoral climate adaptation approaches would help ensure that those most vulnerable to climate change and its impacts have access to basic human rights.” Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News, Nov 24: Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Includes Money for Recycling, But the Debate Over Plastics Rages On
“The plastics and chemical industries see “advanced recycling,” or “chemical recycling,” as the solution to the global plastics crisis. Environmental advocates see opportunities for greenwashing and more production of fossil fuels. The industry sees bipartisan support for “sustainable” plastics, while environmentalists call that an oxymoron and say the funding will have limited impact. The industry has been simultaneously fighting to prevent plastics bans and trying to push solutions that allow plastics production to keep growing, while promoting what it calls “advanced recycling,” or the chemical conversion of plastic waste into feedstocks for other products. Many environmental advocates are rallying around the Break Free From Plastics Act, the substance of which did not make it into the bipartisan infrastructure bill.” Read MORE.
YES! Magazine, Nov 19: Queering Climate Activism
Like many environmentalists in the 1960s, Byron Kennard’s awareness of humans’ impact on the natural world was awakened by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring: “I was reading it in bed, and I remember sitting up and saying, ‘I’ve got to do something about this.’” He worked with First Lady Lady Bird Johnson’s beautification initiative and the Jimmy Carter presidential campaign, helped create the first Earth Day in 1970, and led a nonprofit advocating for sustainable development through small businesses. Through decades of activism, Kennard never hid his identity as a gay man. He realized that progress wasn’t fast, nor always linear, whether it be the environmental rollbacks that started in the 1980s or having to wait until 2014 to marry his partner of 50 years. Learn MORE.
The Dodo: Wild Tiger Shark Recognizes Her Human Best Friend After 20 Year Separation
Watch this amazing 3-minute video of the beautiful story of this friendship and reunion. Link HERE.
How do cow hides from illegal farms in the Amazon end up in U.S. SUVs?
“My colleagues in Brazil, Manuela Andreoni, a reporter, and Victor Moriyama, a photographer, went deep into the Jaci-Paraná reserve in Rondônia State to investigate a complex supply chain that links the leather used for seats in high-end trucks and cars to illegal deforestation. Traveling hours on a leaky boat and on winding dirt roads, they found and interviewed rubber tappers who are being driven from their homes, cattle ranchers profiting from the stolen land, and middlemen who help obscure the animals’ links to deforestation. They also tracked the leather to slaughterhouses and tanneries operated by some of Brazil’s largest corporations.” Learn MORE.
Native Land Digital: Map of Indigenous Peoples
Native Land Digital strives to create and foster conversations about the history of colonialism, Indigenous ways of knowing, and settler-Indigenous relations, through educational resources such as our map and Territory Acknowledgement Guide. We strive to go beyond old ways of talking about Indigenous people and to develop a platform where Indigenous communities can represent themselves and their histories on their own terms. In doing so, Native Land Digital creates spaces where non-Indigenous people can be invited and challenged to learn more about the lands they inhabit, the history of those lands, and how to actively be part of a better future going forward together. Explore the world map HERE.
American Bird Conservancy: SpaceX Operations in Texas Threaten Key Bird Habitat
Since 2014, rocket debris, fires, and construction activities at SpaceX’s launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, have damaged surrounding federal and state lands that host hundreds of thousands of birds annually. Among those species affected are the federally Threatened Piping Plover and Red Knot, and the Endangered Northern Aplomado Falcon. The situation is likely to continue as SpaceX expands operations, including tests of a rocket far larger than originally authorized. ABC is calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to require a new Environmental Impact Statement that would include all SpaceX activities in Boca Chica. Read MORE.
Surfrider Foundation: 2021 State Of The Beach Report
We’re pleased to release our 2021 State of the Beach Report, which grades 30 U.S. coastal and Great Lakes states, in addition to Puerto Rico. We rate each state based on their policies to protect their beaches from coastal erosion, sea level rise and poorly planned development. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly. Read on HERE.
Santa Cruz Permaculture is starting a farm!
We’re looking for land to expand our educational programs and farming operations, including a farm & wilderness immersion, and growing fruits, flowers, vegetables, herbs, and a small scale nursery. Do you have land or know a site that’s a good fit? We’d like to lease or purchase land: as close to Santa Cruz as possible – or in the Santa Cruz – San Jose corridor; a minimum of 1 acre of sunny, flat land (but more is better!); a good well; and space for many students to come and go daily. Please email Dave Shaw at info.santacruzpermaculture@gmail.com or call 831-216-8208.
YouTube: Barbados PM Mia Mottley’s Powerful Speech at COP26
“The pandemic has taught us that national solutions to the global problems do not work, we come to Glasgow with global ambition to save our people and planet, but we now find gaps” says prime minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados. “We come to Glasgow with global ambition to save our planet and people. But we now find gaps, on mitigation, climate pledges. Without more, we will leave the world on a pathway to 2.7 degrees and with more, we are still likely to get 2 degrees. These commitments are made by some are based on technologies yet to be developed. These are at best, reckless and at worst, dangerous.” Watch it HERE.
Coastal Watershed Council: Learn More About Native Plants of the Lower San Lorenzo River
In the spirit of learning, the Coastal Watershed Council invites you to explore and learn more about native plants growing along the lower San Lorenzo River. The Lower San Lorenzo River Plant Guide contains beautiful images of native shrubs, herbs and grasses. Download the Guide HERE.
New York Times: Greta Thunberg Has Given Up On Politicians – Video
“All political and economic systems have failed, but humanity has not yet failed.”
Watch this powerful 7 minute video HERE.
Beyond Plastics: Plastics Could Release More Emissions Than Coal by 2030
“Plastic has infiltrated every aspect of our lives and planet, with microplastics in our tea bags and even plastic pollution found in some of the most remote parts of the world. It’s no secret that our reliance on these fossil fuel-based products and packages is damaging Earth, but a new report from Beyond Plastics shows just how detrimental plastic can be. The report, The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change, says that plastic is on its way to outpacing coal plants in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, plastic could have a larger carbon footprint than coal by the end of the decade. “As of 2020, the U.S. plastics industry is responsible for at least 232 million tons of CO2e gas emissions per year,” the report highlighted. “This amount is equivalent to the average emissions from 116 average-sized (500-megawatt) coal-fired power plants.” Read MORE.
YES! Magazine: The Emotional Lives Of Animals
“Scientific research shows that many animals are very intelligent and have sensory and motor abilities that dwarf ours. Dogs are able to detect diseases such as cancer and diabetes and warn humans of impending heart attacks and strokes. Elephants, whales, hippopotamuses, giraffes, and alligators use low-frequency sounds to communicate over long distances, often miles. And bats, dolphins, whales, frogs, and various rodents use high-frequency sounds to find food, communicate with others, and navigate.
I once happened upon what seemed to be a magpie funeral service. A magpie had been hit by a car. Four of his flock mates stood around him silently and pecked gently at his body. One, then another, flew off and brought back pine needles and twigs and laid them by his body. They all stood vigil for a time, nodded their heads, and flew off.” Read MORE.
Inside Climate News: Unchecked Oil and Gas Wastewater Threatens California Groundwater
California has a reputation as a leader on climate and environmental policy. So it doesn’t advertise the fact that it allows the oil and gas industry to store wastewater produced during drilling and extraction in unlined pits in the ground, a practice that began in the early 1900s. Now, though, researchers have revealed the environmental costs of California’s failure to regulate how its $111 billion oil and gas industry manages the wastewater, known as produced water. Over a 50-year period, according to a study published in Environmental Science & Technology this month, oil and gas developers poured more than 16 billion barrels of produced water into unlined earthen disposal “ponds,” releasing high concentrations of contaminants into groundwater. “California jumps out as being the only state that allows this disposal practice, which has been going on for over 100 years,” said study leader Dominic DiGiulio. Read MORE.
Climate Nexus, Oct 19: Greater than 99% consensus on human caused climate change in the peer-reviewed scientific literature
Review of 88,000 Studies finds 99.9% scientific consensus on human-caused climate change as impacts ravage the globe. The scientific community’s level of certainty on humans’ causation of climate change is now on par with its agreement on evolution and plate tectonics. A review of scientific literature, published in Environmental Research Letters, found just 28 papers linked to climate skepticism in its trawl of more than 88,000. The findings support the IPCC’s declaration in August that the science of human influence on the heating atmosphere is “unequivocal,” and refute the concerted disinformation campaign by fossil fuel interests seeking to sow doubt and uncertainty about their products’ causation of the crisis — the impacts of which are visible around the world. Learn MORE.
EcoWatch, Oct 18 : Phthalates in Food Packaging Lead to 100,000 Deaths in U.S. Each Year
A new study (Environmental Pollution, 10/12/21)) has found that chemicals known as phthalates (PFAS) found in plastic food packaging and other consumer goods are killing 91,000 to 107,000 older adults in the U.S. each year. The study, published in Environmental Pollution on Oct.12, 2021, outlines the dangers of phthalates in food packaging, although these chemicals are also found in shampoos, nail polish, creams, and even baby lotions. The researchers found that adults aged 55 to 64 with the highest exposure to phthalates are more likely to die from all causes, particularly cardiovascular disease, compared to their counterparts with lower exposure. They found that 90,761 to 107,283 people in this age group with heightened exposure had died. Read MORE.
Inside Climate News: Raging Flood Waters Threaten Trans-Alaska Pipeline
In August, the surging water jumped the Sagavanirtok riverbank in Alaska (an unusually harsh downpour that was likely supercharged by climate change) and chewed away 100 feet of the land on the west side of the Sag, to within 30 feet of a buried segment of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, the four-foot diameter conduit that carries an average of 20 million gallons of crude oil a day from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Two months after the flood, that close call prompted the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, a syndicate of oil companies that owns and operates the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), to seek state authorization to fortify the banks of the Sag to protect the pipeline from floodwaters. Alyeska also is in the midst of a project to install ground chillers below an elevated segment of the pipeline 57 miles northwest of Fairbanks to halt the thaw of permafrost that has deformed several of the braces holding up the pipeline!! Learn more HERE.
The Guardian, Oct 14: The Climate Disaster Is Here
Earth is already becoming unlivable. Will governments act to stop this disaster from getting worse? The enormous, unprecedented pain and turmoil caused by the climate crisis is often discussed alongside what can seem like surprisingly small temperature increases – 1.5C or 2C hotter than it was in the era just before the car replaced the horse and cart. These temperature thresholds will again be the focus of upcoming UN climate talks at the COP26 summit in Scotland as countries variously dawdle or scramble to avert climate catastrophe. But the single digit numbers obscure huge ramifications at stake. Until now, human civilization has operated within a narrow, stable band of temperature. Through the burning of fossil fuels, we have now unmoored ourselves from our past, as if we have transplanted ourselves onto another planet. The last time it was hotter than now was at least 125,000 years ago, while the atmosphere has more heat-trapping carbon dioxide in it than any time in the past two million years, perhaps more. Learn MORE.
Science News: The first step in using trees to slow climate change
And that is: by protecting ” the trees we have by holding onto the big, old trees, more carbon will stay sequestered. Planting trees by the millions and trillions is basking in round-the-world enthusiasm right now. Yet saving the forests we already have ranks higher in priority and in payoff, say a variety of scientists. How to preserve forests may be a harder question than why. Success takes strong legal protections with full government support. It also takes a village, literally. A forest’s most intimate neighbors must wholeheartedly want it saved, one generation after another. That theme repeats in places as different as rural Madagascar and suburban New Jersey.” Learn MORE.
Grist: You thought the U.S. fire season was bad. Russia’s is much worse.
“Fires in California this year stunned forest stewards with their size and intensity. But they look puny compared to the fires raging in Siberia. We don’t yet know how much land has been consumed by wildfires this season, that satellite data is still coming in. A report from Greenpeace, based on statistics from Russian fire services, estimates that 65,000 square miles have burned — more than six times the area burned in the United States so far this year. At their peak, in August, 190 blazes were spreading across Sakha and Chukotka, Russia’s farthest northeastern regions. In July and August, wildfires in northeastern Russia released 806 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to a new report from Copernicus, the European Union’s satellite program. “That’s more carbon than the emissions of the entire country of Germany, one of the largest economies in the world,” observed James MacCarthy, a mapping expert who keeps an eye on the state of the world’s woodlands for Global Forest Watch.” Learn MORE.
Restoring Amah Mutsun stewardship to the Pajaro River Valley
“When we think of the Pajaro River Valley, many of us probably envision verdant row crops and plastic greenhouses where farmworkers tend berries and other high-value produce for consumers around the world. Given its character today, it can be hard to fathom just how drastically colonization and settlement over the last few centuries has transformed this region. Detailed historical ecological research, however, illustrates that the first Spaniards passing through this region encountered expansive wetlands and freshwater ponds, seasonally wet alkali meadows, and braided and meandering watercourses fringed by willow and sycamore groves. The area was also densely populated by the ancestors of the Amah Mutsun and neighboring tribes, whose lifeways were intricately linked to the plants and animals that these varied waterways supported. Another crucial aspect of the healing process entails the re-connection of Native people to these places and what Tribal Chairman Valentin Lopez refers to as the “restoration of sacredness” through the return of Indigenous ceremony and stewardship. With this in mind, Amah Mutsun Tribal Council has prioritized reengagement with the Tribe’s ancestral territory in the Pajaro River Valley and has been working through its Land Trust (AMLT) to return Mutsun stewardship and presence to the region for the long term.” Read MORE.
Inside Climate News, Oct 10: With a Warming Climate, Coastal Fog Around the World Is Declining
“Fog is a defining element of summer in Santa Cruz, obscuring the view of day trippers descending the hills to the coast and prompting kids to bundle up to hop on their bikes for summer adventures. Its fingerprints are visible in the vast coastal forests, even when it isn’t hanging in the air. The redwood trees towering in a clear blue sky soak up moisture from the fog on gray days. It is often their only source of water for months at a time. Fog is essential for plants and animals, agriculture and human health, not only in California but in coastal zones around the world. But many scientists believe that fog is declining, another casualty of global warming. In California, dissipating “June gloom” could bring a dismal future for some of the state’s redwoods and Torrey pines.” Learn MORE.
Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate: “GDP Increase Is In Contrast With The Fight Against Global Warming”
Ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change scheduled in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November, the Italian winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Giorgio Parisi, has delivered a very strong message for the global economy: “Gross national product is not a good measure of the economy. It captures the quantity but not the quality of growth.”. Many different indices have been proposed – recalled Parisi – including the human development index and the sustainable economic well-being index”. But, he noted, “if gross national product remains the center of attention, our future will be grim. Politicians, journalists, economists who plan our future and monitor the progress that has been made, must use an index that considers other aspects besides the gross national product “. Read more in Italy News.
Nature Conservancy: Insurance – Protecting Nature, So Nature Can Protect Us
Insuring California means protecting the natural systems we all rely on. As California confronts another devastating fire season, our state is beginning to recognize that conservation is about more than protecting nature. It’s about making sure that nature can protect us. Until recently, the insurance industry treated natural disasters like any other “act of God” or accident outside human control. Government insurance programs can sometimes mask the true costs of living in harm’s way by subsidizing homeowners to rebuild in the same place, such as within a floodplain, instead of more secure areas. In the case of wildfire, the cost of insurance can skyrocket if disaster strikes multiple times, leading some to continue living in high-risk areas without any insurance at all. But what if we could use nature to help reduce the risks to people and property, and make them more insurable? Together with our partners, The Nature Conservancy is making it possible. Read MORE.
Inside Climate News: Preventing Ecocide – Video
Legal and environmental experts push to criminalize the destruction of the environment, “ecocide”, could have major consequences for both government and business. How could a new legal definition transform climate action? This week David Sassoon, founder and publisher of Inside Climate News, moderated a panel discussion on this question for the World Economic Forum. Watch now as David and expert speakers Veronica Scotti, Phillippe Sands, and Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim address the campaign to make “ecocide” an international crime. 40 minute video HERE.
Interesting Engineering, Sept 18: How Ocean Waves Can Generate Electricity
“Did you know that according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the theoretical annual energy potential of waves off the coasts of the United States is estimated to be as much as 2.64 trillion kilowatt-hours or the equivalent of about 64 percent of total U.S. electricity generation in 2019? All this power is emissions-free and renewable and clean energy firms such as Eco Wave Power are making the most of it. The company claims to have developed an innovative technology for generating clean electricity from the ocean and sea waves, using a simple yet smart design in which their floaters are attached to existing human-made structures.” Read MORE.
Bill McKibben, Sept 22: I think that I shall never see/An urban cooling device as effective as a tree
“More trees growing in Brooklyn please–but with some care, and with the participation of the people who really need them. Normally, when people talk about trees and climate change, they use very big numbers, putting forward plans to plant tens of millions or billions or trillions of trees to soak up carbon dioxide and slow the rise of the planet’s temperature. But there is one kind of tree-planting plan that seems both achievable and clearly helpful — the kind that could happen not on vast steppes or savannahs but in a crowded place like New York. Since people in poor neighborhoods are already more likely to suffer from asthma, cardiovascular disease and obesity, and less likely to have air-conditioning, there’s a mulitiplier effect here too: we lack trees where we need them most. Recently, the sidewalk along Central Park West (think the Dakota) was 31 degrees cooler than a street in East Harlem less than two miles away.” Read MORE.
EcoMotion: Decarbonizing Shipping
“A Swedish consortium has unveiled Oceanbird, an innovative sailing cargo vessel that aims to revolutionize maritime transport in the Atlantic Ocean. The massive ocean-going vessel has a load capacity of 32,000 tons. It is 656 feet long, 131 feet wide, and can carry up to 7,000 cars. Traditional sails have been dramatically changed with a series of vertical blades that emulate the design and performance of aircraft wings. The masts that carry the “sails” are 262 feet tall. When the masts are fully extended to 344 feet above the water line, the Oceanbird may be the tallest ship in the world. The sails are made of steel and composite materials and turn 360 degrees to catch the wind in optimal ways. Telescopic construction allows the tops of the sails to be lowered from 344 feet to 148 feet when the vessel needs to pass under a bridge or if strong winds make it necessary to reduce sail surface to reduce speed.” Learn MORE on CNN.
Lakota People’s Law Project: Ruby Montoya, Water Protector, Accused of Terrorism
Ruby Montoya (above right), a schoolteacher and NoDAPL resistor is being prosecuted as a terrorist by the U.S. government. She’s accused of putting four tiny holes into Dakota Access Pipeline pipes before it was carrying oil — and for this, she’s facing the prospect of up to 20 years in federal prison. That’s far from acceptable, and it’s why we’re aiding her defense. Last week, Daphne Silverman, Ruby’s new attorney, submitted a motion to change Ruby’s prior guilty plea to not guilty based on crucial new discoveries. . In their new video, Ruby and Chase Iron Eyes talk about water protectors being labeled and prosecuted as terrorists. Watch it HERE.
National Resources Defense Council: The Salinas Teen Scientists Tackling Toxic Cleaning Products
“Currently there is no federal law in the United States that requires companies to disclose all the ingredients in regular household cleaning products. That list can include chemicals like benzene, which can cause cancer and birth defects. Or phthalates, which can disrupt hormones. And while California is a major exception, thanks to the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017, those most impacted — disproportionately Latinos —often remain unaware of the hazards. Now a group of young Latino researchers is helping bridge the gap with a three-year study that centers on Latina women from Salinas. Through their work, they inform Latinas, who make up 81 percent of California’s professional cleaning workforce, about the potentially harmful chemicals they’re routinely exposed to and how to reduce the threat. Their study’s results showed significant reductions in chemicals associated with increased risk of cancer when the women switched to the “green” products.” Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News, Sept 15: The Rate of Global Warming During Next 25 Years Could Double
“James Hansen, a climate scientist who shook Washington when he told Congress 33 years ago that human emissions of greenhouse gases were cooking the planet, is now warning that he expects the rate of global warming to double in the next 20 years. While still warning that it is carbon dioxide and methane that are driving global warming, Hansen said that, in this case, warming is being accelerated by the decline of other industrial pollutants that they’ve cleaned from it. Declining sulfate aerosols makes some clouds less reflective, enabling more solar radiation to reach and warm land and ocean surfaces. Plunging sulfate aerosol emissions from industrial sources, particularly shipping, could lead global temperatures to surge well beyond the levels prescribed by the Paris Climate Agreement as soon as 2040 “unless appropriate countermeasures are taken,” Hansen wrote.” Read MORE.
Audubon: Honeyeaters Steal Fur From Koalas to Build Nests
“Despite their cuddly appearance, koalas aren’t shy about using their sharp claws to defend their territory. But they seem to have made an exception for honeyeaters. When it’s nest-building time, this Australian family of birds likes to land on the slumbering marsupials, rip out their fur, and use it as insulation. And the koalas don’t mind a bit.” Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News, Sept 8: To Meet Paris Accord Goal, Most of the World’s Fossil Fuel Reserves Must Stay in the Ground
“A new study in Nature reports that oil, gas and coal production must begin falling immediately to have even a 50 percent chance of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. While the research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, is only the latest to argue that meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement goals to limit warming requires a rapid pivot to clean energy, it lays out with clear and specific figures exactly how far from those targets the world remains. “The inescapable evidence that hopefully we’ve shown and that successive reports have shown is that if you want to meet 1.5 degrees, then global production has to start declining,” said Daniel Welsby, a researcher at University College London, in the United Kingdom, and the study’s lead author.” Learn MORE.
National Geo: In Wyoming, fences are coming down to make way for wildlife
“On a warm July morning, roughly two dozen volunteers gathered at a ranch outside Cody, Wyoming, carrying wire cutters, gloves, buckets, and bottles of water. The goal was to take down several miles of barbed wire that had not been used to fence livestock for many years—and were now a useless and even dangerous blemish on the landscape. Scientists conservatively estimate that more than 600,000 miles of fences crisscross the American West, and that’s without counting property fencing in cities and suburbs. In just one Wyoming county, researchers mapped roughly 4,500 miles of fences — longer than the U.S. border with Mexico. But land managers and conservation groups in the United States are increasingly aware of how fences can harm wild animals, and they are beginning to push for fence removal or replacement as a solution that many otherwise-at-odds constituents can get behind. “Everyone can agree on this,” says Tony Mong, a wildlife biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Mong is chair of the Absaroka Fence Initiative, a local organization that organized the fence takedown outside Cody last month.” Learn MORE.
YES! Magazine: Imagine a World of Climate Solutions
“In his latest novel, The Ministry For The Future, Kim Stanley Robinson urges us to imagine the series of actions that could save the world and achieve the future we want, rather than the future we’re bumbling toward. His latest novel, The Ministry for the Future, is a must-read for climate activists and of real significance to the climate movement. But it’s a good read for anyone, and a riveting fictional introduction to the task of pulling back global warming, the ultimate true-life adventure of our time. The story starts in 2025 in India, where a heat wave reaches temperatures beyond human endurance, power systems fail, and 20 million people die within a few days. The plot makes use of many such crisis “pry points” to envision how worldwide society—countries, political parties, technology, mass movements, and rogue elements—could respond to climate change, lurching along intersecting paths toward solutions and finally, global survival.” Read MORE.
Inside Climate News, Aug 17: Fossil Fuel Companies Selling Carbon Capture
“Fossil fuel companies are quietly scoring big money for their preferred climate solution: Carbon Capture and Storage. The industry has been pushing through policies devoting billions of dollars to the technology, and much more is likely to come with legislation pending before Congress. Over the last year, energy companies, electrical utilities and other industrial sectors have been quietly pushing through a suite of policies to support a technology that stands to yield tens of billions of dollars for corporate polluters, but may do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The bipartisan infrastructure legislation that passed the Senate last week and is now headed to the House of Representatives—includes more than $12 billion in direct support for carbon capture, and could unlock billions more through other programs, according to the recent drafts. Many environmental advocates argue that the massive government support would be better spent on proven climate solutions like wind and solar energy, which receive far less in direct funding under the infrastructure bill.” Read MORE.
MIT Press, August 2021: They Knew – The U.S. Federal Government’s Fifty-Year Role in Causing the Climate Crisis
In a damning new expose, James Gustave Speth – former Chair of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality during the Carter Administration and an expert witness in Juliana v. U.S. – proves that presidential administrations from Carter to Trump possessed conclusive data on the apocalyptic approach of a climate crisis caused by fossil fuels – but still chose to ignore that data for decades and increase the aggressive promotion and support of a fossil fuel-based energy system. All proceeds from this book go to funding Our Children’s Trust’s youth-led, rights-based climate litigation! Learn MORE.
NYT, August 9: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Sixth Assessment Report
“Nations have delayed curbing their fossil-fuel emissions for so long that they can no longer stop global warming from intensifying over the next 30 years, though there is still a short window to prevent the most harrowing future, a major new United Nations scientific report has concluded. Humans have already heated the planet by roughly 1.1 degrees Celsius, or 2 degrees Fahrenheit, since the 19th century, largely by burning coal, oil and gas for energy. And the consequences can be felt across the globe: This summer alone, blistering heat waves have killed hundreds of people in the United States and Canada, floods have devastated Germany and China, and wildfires have raged out of control in Siberia, Turkey and Greece. But that’s only the beginning, according to the Report, issued on Monday by the IPCC, a body of scientists convened by the United Nations. Even if nations started sharply cutting emissions today, total global warming is likely to rise around 1.5 degrees Celsius within the next two decades, a hotter future that is now essentially locked in. Not all is lost, however, and humanity can still prevent the planet from getting even hotter. Doing so would require a coordinated effort among countries to stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by around 2050, which would entail a rapid shift away from fossil fuels starting immediately, as well as potentially removing vast amounts of carbon from the air.” Learn MORE.
YES! Magazine, Aug 24: An Aspirational Vision of Life After Fossil Fuels
“What will life be like after peak oil, in an age of major climate shifts? Hollywood movies often depict it as a bleak, dystopian world where each day is a struggle to survive after every system we depend on has been stripped away. But what if, instead, a post-peak-oil lifestyle was something we aspired to? It’s a radical idea that involves reimagining existing societal structures and what constitutes progress. The Transition movement is built around this concept; it’s a worldwide web of local, community-based efforts to reduce fossil fuel reliance and relocalize economies.” Read the full story HERE.
Wired: The Biblical Flood That Will Drown California
“The Great Flood of 1861–1862 was a preview of what scientists expect to see again, and soon. The 1861-1862 cataclysm caused 1000s of deaths, swamped the state’s new capital, and submerged the entire Central Valley under as much as 15 feet of water. Yet in modern-day California the nearly forgotten biblical-scale flood has largely vanished from the public imagination, replaced by traumatic memories of more recent earthquakes and fires. But emerging science demonstrates that floods of even greater magnitude occurred every 100 to 200 years in California’s precolonial history. Climate change will make them more frequent still. In other words, the Great Flood was a preview of what scientists expect to see again, and soon. And this time, given California’s emergence as agricultural and economic powerhouse (food production = $46B/year), the effects will be all the more devastating.” Read MORE.
Sustainable Human: May The Earth Feel Your Love – Music Video
“In a beautiful three-way artistic collaboration, the amazing Sustainable Human has created an achingly emotional music video for Michael Brunnock’s song “A Blessing for Anyone” based on a poem I wrote of the same name. I’m so grateful to everyone who made this possible, and I’m so thrilled to share it here. I really hope to see this kind of free and easy online collaboration between artists become more common in the future. Let the art flow! Let’s wrest culture from the artless middlemen and forge a new and healthy path for ourselves,” Caitlin Johnstone. Watch it HERE.
Turtle Island Restoration Network: California Agency Recommends Listing Leatherback Sea Turtles as Endangered
“The California Department of Fish and Wildlife released its recommendation to protect leatherback sea turtles as endangered under the state’s Endangered Species Act. The status review precedes an October 2021 vote by the California Fish and Game Commission on whether to list the turtles. The action came in response to a petition from Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Center for Biological Diversity. Scientists estimate that leatherback sea turtles have declined in abundance off California by 5.6% annually over nearly 30 years. An estimated 50 Pacific leatherbacks now forage in California waters annually, as compared to 178 Pacific leatherbacks during the years 1990-2003.” Learn MORE.
Santa Cruz Local, July 27: Cotoni-Coast Dairies trails & bike plans face appeals
More than nine square miles of rolling grasslands and windswept hills on the North Coast are set to open to the public next year at the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument, but a few recent appeals to a Bureau of Land Management plan could change the way the land is used.
This recent addition to the California Coastal National Monument (stretches) from Laguna Creek to just north of Swanton Road near Davenport. The BLM now plans to open the property to hiking, mountain biking and horse trails in the summer or fall of 2022. Some county residents are excited for the new access, but some North Coast farmers and other residents fear that the plan inadequately prepares for visitors’ impact on traffic, agriculture and wildlife. Appeals were filed with the Bureau of Land Management by its late July deadline. One of the major complaints is the bureau’s proposed locations for parking lots and their potential impact on habitat and residents. Go to Lookout Santa Cruz to learn more HERE.
Gizmodo, August 12: Big Oil’s New ‘Clean’ Fuel Is Dirtier Than They Say
“New research finds that ‘blue hydrogen’, touted by fossil fuel producers as a climate solution, actually has a 20% larger greenhouse gas footprint than just using natural gas. The study, published Thursday in Energy Science & Engineering, gives some important context on a much-hyped new fuel, one that happens to be the “clean energy” apple of the fossil fuel industry’s eye. Unfortunately for the oil and gas industry, closely looking at the creation process of blue hydrogen uncovers some uncomfortable truths. Howarth’s study found that blue hydrogen has only a slightly lower carbon footprint than gray hydrogen—and, in terms of methane, the picture is a lot worse. “While CO2 emissions are less for blue than for gray hydrogen, methane emissions are greater,” Howarth said. “That is because more natural gas is consumed to make the blue hydrogen, as energy is needed to power the CO2 capture, and this energy comes from natural gas.” Learn MORE.
Clean Technica: IPCC 6 Report Says Slash Methane Or Die. Any Questions?
“Countries must make ‘strong, rapid and sustained’ methane pollution reductions to slow global warming and stave off the most dire impacts of climate change, the IPCC warned in its landmark report Monday. The focus on methane by the UN’s consensus-setting Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is new, as past reports have focused mainly on CO2, and highlights a major opportunity to slow rising temperatures. Methane is a much more potent heat-trapping gas than CO2, and it also breaks down in the atmosphere much quicker, so methane pollution cuts could have significant and more short-term effects on temperatures. Atmospheric methane levels are higher than at any point in the last 800,000 years, the report says, and the growth in methane pollution since 2007 is ‘largely driven by emissions from the fossil fuels and agriculture’ sectors.” Learn more HERE.
New Yorker, Aug 9: The Lost Canyon Under Lake Powell
Lake Powell, which some people consider the most beautiful place on earth and others view as an abomination, lies in slickrock country, about two hundred and fifty miles south of Salt Lake City. Lake Powell, which isn’t actually a lake, is an invention of the United States Bureau of Reclamation. In the early nineteen-sixties, the bureau erected a seven-hundred-and-ten-foot-tall concrete arch dam on the Colorado River, near where it crosses from Utah into Arizona. The bureau named the dam for the stretch of the river that it was submerging—Glen Canyon. In the six decades since the dam was built, the living memory of Glen Canyon has mostly been lost. Relatively few people visited the canyon when it could still be run by raft, and all but a handful of them are now dead. In the meantime, the place has acquired an almost mythical status. It was a kind of Eden, more spectacular than the Grand Canyon and, at the same time, more peaceful. It was a fairy-tale maze of side canyons, and side canyons with their own side canyons, each one offering a different marvel. Edward Abbey, who was one of several writers and artists to float through Glen Canyon shortly before its inundation, called the closing of the dam’s gates a “crime.” Read MORE.
Sierra Club, August 5: California’s Cities Lead the Way to a Gas-Free Future
Cities and counties in California serve as guiding lights as the state navigates a transition from gas to clean-energy buildings. Motivated by the climate crisis, worsening air pollution, escalating gas rates, and safety risks from gas, a new cohort of local government leaders is emerging in California. Over 50 cities and counties across the state are considering policies to support all-electric new construction. The Town of Fairfax recently became the 49th city to commit to phase out gas in new buildings. Santa Cruz was the 30th City to require all electric new construction with exemptions for projects that are deemed to be in the public interest and for restaurant cooking. Approved 3/24/2020. Read more HERE.
Reuters, Aug 5: Study Shows Atlantic Ocean currents weaken & Could Lead to RaDical global weather changes
“The Atlantic Ocean’s current system, an engine of the Northern Hemsiphere’s climate, could be weakening to such an extent that it could soon bring big changes to the world’s weather, a scientific study said. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a large system of ocean currents which transports warm water from the tropics northwards into the North Atlantic. As the atmosphere warms due to increased greenhouse gas emissions, the surface ocean beneath retains more of heat. A potential collapse of the system could have severe consequences for the world’s weather systems. Climate models have shown that the AMOC is at its weakest in more than a 1,000 years.” Learn MORE.
EcoWatch, July 30: Extreme Ice Melt In Greenland
“Ice in Greenland is melting so rapidly due to high temperatures in the Arctic that enough ice melted this past Tuesday to cover all of Florida in two inches of water. Greenland has lost 18.4 billion tons of surface mass since last Sunday. While not as bad as 2019, this is the third instance of extreme melting in the past decade and the scientists say the area of land melting is larger this time. Researchers predict that as warming in the region continues, events like the one from earlier this week will become more frequent. In 2019, Greenland lost more than 500 billion tons of ice and global sea levels rose permanently by 1.5 millimeters from the ice melt.” Read MORE.
Guardian, The Observer, Dave Goulson, July 25: The insect apocalypse
“I have been fascinated by insects all my life. One of my earliest memories is of finding, at the age of five or six, some stripy yellow-and-black caterpillars feeding on weeds in the school playground. I put them in my empty lunchbox, and took them home. Eventually they transformed into handsome magenta and black moths. This seemed like magic to me – and still does.
But I am haunted by the knowledge that (insects) are in decline. It is 50 years since I first collected those caterpillars in the school playground, and every year that has passed there have been slightly fewer butterflies, fewer bumblebees – fewer of almost all the myriad little beasts that make the world go round. These fascinating and beautiful creatures are disappearing, ant by ant, bee by bee, day by day. Estimates vary and are imprecise, but it seems likely that insects have declined in abundance by 75% or more since I was five years old.” Read MORE.
Inside Climate News, Jul 19: Climate-Driven Changes in Clouds are Likely to Amplify Global Warming
“New research, using machine learning, helps project how the buildup of greenhouse gases will change clouds in ways that further heat the planet. Scientists know that global warming is changing clouds, but they haven’t been sure whether those changes would heat or cool the planet overall. It’s an important question, because clouds have been the main source of uncertainty in projecting just how sensitive the climate is to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, and because clouds have a huge effect on the climate system. Just a 20 percent change in their extent or reflectivity would have more of an impact than all the greenhouse gases released by human activities. In a new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers analyzed 20 years of cloud data from satellites and found that it was 97.5 percent certain that changes in clouds brought about by climate change will amplify warming.” Learn MORE.
Ecowatch, July 26: 1972 Warning of Civilizational Collapse Was on Point, New Study Finds
“In 1972, a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientists published an alarming prediction: If industrial society continued to grow unchecked, it would exhaust Earth’s resources and lead to civilizational collapse by the middle of the 21st century. That study, called The Limits to Growth, sparked controversy and concern when it first emerged. But now, new research published in the Yale Journal of Industrial Ecology says we are currently on track to living out its warnings. “The MIT scientists said we needed to act now to achieve a smooth transition and avoid costs,” Gaya Herrington, the author of the new study, told The Guardian. “That didn’t happen, so we’re seeing the impact of climate change.” The original Limits to Growth paper used a model called World3 to ….. show different potential scenarios for the future, some leading to collapse, or a steep decline in social, economic and environmental conditions.” Read MORE.
Biodiversity For A Livable Climate: Featured Creature
What creature has no mouth, is known for colorful patterns, and is famous for mimicking a deadly predator?
The Atlas Moth! Atlas moths live throughout India, China, Indonesia and Malaysia. The name “Atlas” likely came from the moth’s vibrant, unique patterns that resemble geological formations shown on a map, or atlas. The Atlas moth is the largest moth due to its massive wing surface area. Females are larger than males, and they can measure up to 12 in, reaching a surface area of 62 in2 – that’s one huge moth! (Another) theory behind the Atlas moth’s name is the Cantonese translation, which means “snake’s head moth,” and that refers to the distinct snake face shape on the tip of the moth’s wings. Can you see it? The Atlas moth uses this snake head pattern to its advantage. If the moth feels threatened while in a resting position, it will quickly begin flapping its wings to mimic a moving snake head. I’m sure snakes must appreciate the Atlas moth’s methods. After all, mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery.
YES! Magazine: The Gift of Ecological Humility
“These Afro-Indigenous practices challenge ideas of human supremacy… In contrast to the materialism and individualism of the West, Ifa indigenous practice requires that we ask permission of the Forces of Nature (Orisas) before any major undertaking. Further, this tradition views nature as divine. As explained by Professor Wande Abimbola, the Awise Awo ni Agbaye (World Spokesperson for Ifa), in his book Ifa Will Mend Our Broken World, ‘All the rivers of Yorubaland are divinities. All of the hills and mountains are divinities, and they are worshipped by the people. The Earth itself is sacred! As a matter of fact, the Earth is a divinity.’ Today, Black farmers continue to take a leadership role in regenerative agriculture and soil stewardship. We look to farmers like Leonardo Diggs, who manages a 418-acre carbon-neutral regenerative incubator farm in California; Keisha Cameron, who is reviving fiber farming in a sustainable silvopasture system in Georgia; and Germaine Genkins, who has enhanced the organic matter in her South Carolina urban farm so as to avert the need for irrigation.” Read MORE.
Bioneers: Ecological Literacy: Teaching the Next Generation About Sustainable Development
“Ecological literacy nurtures and expands the development of youth’s understanding of the world and its interdependent relationships. As we move toward harnessing a more sustainable relationship with the natural world, ecological literacy lays a solid foundation for remaking our future. Fritjof Capra is a scientist, activist, educator and author of numerous books including “Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World”. In this excerpt from his book, Capra advocates for a shift in how we think about the environment to recognize the collective interactions that sustain the environment.” Read More.
Bright Green Lies: How The Environmental Movement Lost It’s Way and What We Can Do About It
“Bright Green Lies lays out in heartbreaking and sometimes disgusting detail the simple fact that to maintain the growth of techno-industrial civilization by replacing fossil fuels with solar panels, wind turbines, hydro-power, electric cars, and whatever other green machines we might construct still requires the continuing rape of Mother Earth and the poisoning of her water, air, soil, wildlife, and human populations. The authors tell us unequivocally: Green growth is a doomed enterprise, and there is no future for humankind living in harmony with nature in which we fail to recognize that unlimited economic and population growth on a finite planet is ecological suicide.” Read REVIEW.
YES! Magazine: In Detroit, A New Type of Agricultural Neighborhood Has Emerged
“A decade ago, a resurgence of urban gardens and farms sprouted a new agricultural trend around the country. And while many of them continue to thrive, in the past five years, another trend has entered the urban agricultural scene: agrihoods, short for agricultural neighborhoods. Within the city of Detroit, home to nearly 1,400 community gardens and farms, there is one officially designated agrihood, Michigan Urban Farming Initiative. The nonprofit in the North End neighborhood, just north of the recently gentrified Midtown area, calls itself America’s First Sustainable Urban Agrihood. The Michigan initiative is a 3-acre farm focusing on food insecurity in one of Detroit’s historic communities that was once home to a thriving Black middle class. Now the median home value is under $25,000, and about 35% of the residents are homeowners. Co-founder Tyson Gersh said at the time, “Over the last four years, we’ve grown from an urban garden that provides fresh produce for our residents to a diverse, agricultural campus that has helped sustain the neighborhood, attracted new residents and area investment.” Learn MORE.
BBC: Companies back moratorium on deep sea mining
A long-running dispute over plans to start mining the ocean floor has flared up. For years it was only environmental groups that objected to the idea of digging up metals from the deep sea. But now BMW, Volvo, Google and Samsung are lending their weight to calls for a moratorium on the proposals. The concept, first envisaged in the 1960s, is to extract billions of potato-sized rocks called nodules from the abyssal plains of the oceans several miles deep. Rich in valuable minerals, these nodules have long been prized as the source of a new kind of gold rush that could supply the global economy for centuries. Interest in them has intensified because many contain cobalt and other metals needed for the countless batteries that will power the electric vehicles of a zero-carbon economy. Prof Rachel Mills, U of Southhampton says, I now realize that this level of disruption to the fragile aquatic environment could lead to an enormous level of impact.” She now supports the call for a moratorium until more research is carried out into the organisms that live on the nodules and the role they play, and she’s delighted by the move by BMW and the other companies that are calling for a moratorium. Learn MORE.
Drawdown: Climate Solutions 101
This Course is 100% free, full of hope, and streaming today. Filled with the latest need-to-know science and fascinating insights from global leaders in climate policy, research, investment, and beyond, this video series is the world’s first major educational effort focused solely on solutions. Rather than rehashing well-known climate challenges, Project Drawdown highlights game-changing climate action based on its own rigorous scientific review and assessment. This course, presented in a six-part video series along with in-depth conversations, combines our trusted resources with the expertise of inspiring thought leaders from around the world. Enjoy a brain-shift toward a brighter climate reality—and spread the word. Watch HERE!
Watsonville: The Nature Center Has Reopened!
For more than 15 years, the Nature Center has focused on informing and empowering Watsonville residents of all ages to conserve natural resources and appreciate our wetlands and the diverse wildlife that inhabits our area. The Nature Center is a community hub that presents the dynamic relationship of our day-to-day usage of resources in our local environment and beyond. We offer hands-on learning opportunities for all ages, natural history learning activities, and free resource conservation tools. 30 Harkins Slough Road
YES! Magazine, July 6 : Rights for Rivers – Fighting for the Legal Rights of Nature
“In 2017, the Whanganui River — the longest navigable river in New Zealand—became a legal person. The Whanganui had been controlled by colonial and national governments since the mid-1800s, but the indigenous Māori people had never willingly given up their historical claim to the river, and it had become the subject of one of the country’s longest-running court battles. After Māori legal scholar Jacinta Ruru and her student James Morris noted in a 2010 article that Stone’s concept of legal standing for natural objects (see article for background) resembled the Māori concept of rivers as living beings, government officials and Māori leaders took up the idea: If they couldn’t resolve who owned the river, maybe the river should, in a sense, own itself. In 2014, the parties reached a settlement that recognized the Whanganui, its tributaries, and ‘all its physical and metaphysical elements’ as ‘a living and indivisible whole.’” Read more about history of rights for nature HERE.
Science Daily: Rising greenhouse gases pose continued threat to Arctic ozone layer
There is a race going on high in the atmosphere above the Arctic, and the ozone layer that protects Earth from damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation will lose the race if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reduced quickly enough. A new study from an international team of scientists, including University of Maryland Professor Ross Salawitch, shows that extremely low winter temperatures high in the atmosphere over the arctic are becoming more frequent and more extreme because of climate patterns associated with global warming. The study also shows that those extreme low temperatures are causing reactions among chemicals humans pumped into the air decades ago, leading to greater ozone losses. Learn MORE.
Nature Communications, June 29: 410 Million People at Risk From Sea Level Rise by 2100
“Close to half a billion people are at risk from sea level rise by 2100, a first-of-its-kind analysis recently found. A new study in Nature Communications found that 267 million people currently live on land that is less than two meters (approximately 6.6 feet) above sea level, a range that is extremely vulnerable to rising water levels. And as tides rise, that number climbs to 410 million people by 2100. Lower resource communities in the global South are especially at risk, researchers found. Researchers in the Netherlands used the first-ever model of worldwide elevation based on satellite LiDAR data — a method for measuring elevation by pulsing laser light onto the planet’s surface. With the data, researchers found that areas around Indonesia and the Niger Delta were going to be severely impacted in the future.” Learn MORE.
Guardian, July 2: 40 Years Ago Oil Industry Researchers Predicted Global Warming
“As early as 1958, the oil industry was hiring scientists and engineers to research the role that burning fossil fuels plays in global warming. The goal at the time was to help the major oil conglomerates understand how changes in the Earth’s atmosphere may affect the industry – and their bottom line. But what top executives gained was an early preview of the climate crisis, decades before the issue reached public consciousness. What those scientists discovered – and what the oil companies did with that information – is at the heart of two dozen lawsuits attempting to hold the fossil fuel industry responsible for their role in climate change. Many of those cases hinge on the industry’s own internal documents that show how, 40 years ago, researchers predicted the rising global temperatures with stunning accuracy.” Learn MORE.
Greenpeace, Unearthed: ExxonMobil Uses Shadow Groups To Fight Climate Science
“ExxonMobil continues to fight efforts to tackle climate change in the United States, despite publicly claiming to support the Paris climate agreement, an undercover investigation by Unearthed has found. A senior lobbyist for Exxon told an undercover reporter that the company had been working to weaken key aspects of President Joe Biden’s flagship initiative on climate change, the American Jobs Plan. ‘Did we aggressively fight against some of the science? Yes.’, Keith McCoy, Exxon lobbyist. He… admitted that the company had aggressively fought early climate science through “shadow groups” to protect its investments.” Read more HERE.
One Earth: Why women are the key to solving the climate crisis
“Research shows that women are more likely to be impacted by climate change, and they are also our best advocates to fight it. Women and girls in every society are responding more effectively in times of crisis and actively working towards the creation of a more just and sustainable world. Yet, large structural gaps in inequality remain. By acknowledging the benefits women bring to the table, we can start to close these gaps and accelerate action to solve the climate crisis. Our newest article summarizes these recent research findings. Read more about the eight major reasons why we need to target resources to women climate leaders.”
Patagonia: “So, You Want to Be a Regenerative Hemp Farmer?”, by Doug Fine
“When you’re in a hemp field, the terpenes take over. Small bits of fragrant hydrocarbons that live on your crop’s flowers pass into your body with essences of pine or mango and tell you, ‘Get ready to activate the ol’ endocannabinoid system.’ That’s the obvious good news—when you farm hemp, you start to get happier. The more challenging news is that you’re going to need the full energetic assistance of those terpenes. That’s partly because hemp farming, like most gigs if you’re dedicated to doing them well, is difficult. What’s new to many farmers is that your hemp season isn’t over when you harvest. Whereas a greatly relieved (if often underpaid and pretty sore) farmer used to kick back and mend harness in the fall, now she’s also a processor, marketer and chief spokesperson. The farmer plays all of these roles because this farm-based renaissance is going to be run by the actual farmers.” Read MORE.
Pacific Forest Trust: Climate-smart Water Management is Vital
“The most cost-efficient and immediate tool to (increase water security) is restoring watershed function and resilience.Federal funding for water infrastructure programs in the western reclamation states, the Water Infrastructure Investment for the Nation (WIIN) program, has not included watersheds as eligible investments. A new bill introduced by Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) aims to change that. The FUTURE Act, or Western Water Infrastructure and Drought Resiliency Act, was introduced by Mr. Huffman, and co-sponsored by legislators from Colorado and Arizona as well as California, in late May. It would specifically include watershed restoration and conservation projects as eligible for investments precisely because these projects are cost-effective, near term, and yield so many other co-benefits. Watershed restoration reduces fire risk, enhances wildlife and recreation opportunities, increases resilience, and is a major source of rural employment. PFT is proud to have worked with Mr. Huffman, who was a speaker in our recent Forest Fete, in crafting this important legislation, focusing on the inclusion of natural water infrastructure for climate-smart water management. Learn more about PFT’s work in watersheds and water security” HERE.
CALPIRG: Why recycling isn’t enough
Despite many Americans placing their plastics into recycling bins, fewer than 10 percent of all plastics are recycled. Most plastic products simply aren’t designed to be recyclable, and their quality degrades with each re-manufacturing. Another reason that recycling isn’t working is that many items become contaminated when items are placed in the wrong bin, or when a dirty container is placed among recyclables. Companies often falsely label plastic products as recyclable, which leads to the contamination of otherwise recyclable items. Other times, certain facilities won’t be able to process the collected materials. As early as the 1970s, oil industry insiders predicted that recycling wouldn’t keep single-use plastics out of landfills. But they depicted recycling as feasible in advertisements, and launched feel-good projects, telling the public to recycle plastics. The plastics industry funded sorting machines and recycling centers. Each of these efforts promoted the narrative that plastic waste was resolvable through recycling alone. And they succeeded in keeping single-use products on shelves across the country, even as pollution accumulated in landfills and waterways. Learn MORE.
Conservation International: Nature Is Speaking Videos
Very powerful series of 12 2-minute videos with stunning imagery and potent narration.
Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford and Ian Somerhalder all join forces to give nature a voice. Watch and listen HERE.
Phys.org, June 23: Crushing climate impacts to hit sooner than feared – draft UN report
Climate change will fundamentally reshape life on Earth in the coming decades, even if humans can tame planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, according to a landmark draft report from the UN’s climate science advisors obtained by AFP. Species extinction, more widespread disease, unliveable heat, ecosystem collapse, cities menaced by rising seas—these and other devastating climate impacts are accelerating and bound to become painfully obvious before a child born today turns 30. The choices societies make now will determine whether our species thrives or simply survives as the 21st century unfolds, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says in a draft report seen exclusively by AFP. This is a crucial READ.
YES! Magazine: How To Grow A Wildflower Apothecary
An enchanting blanket of wildflower medicine adorns the continent. Carefully cultivated by Indigenous inhabitants for hundreds of years—often thousands—these blossoms, leaves, roots, and fruits generously cure the commonwealth in return. Each plant carries its own unique gift and healing stories. Deepening root systems and enhancing the health of the soil make these perennials and self-sowing annuals a wise investment for backyard and container gardens. Indigenous Americans reference fauna and flora as a People. Through this lens, paradigms shift. Considering our plant neighbors a People requires a different type of relationship, one of reciprocity and respect, the necessary mindset to see the reciprocity as we tend to each other. Meet seven deserving medicinal wildflowers to invite into your world. Read MORE.
European Geosciences Union: Interacting tipping elements increase risk of climate domino effects under global warming
With progressing global warming, there is an increased risk that one or several tipping elements in the climate system might cross a critical threshold, resulting in severe consequences for the global climate, ecosystems and human societies. While the underlying processes are fairly well-understood, it is unclear how their interactions might impact the overall stability of the Earth’s climate system. As of yet, this cannot be fully analyzed with state-of-the-art Earth system models due to computational constraints as well as some missing and uncertain process representations of certain tipping elements. Here, we explicitly study the effects of known physical interactions among the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and the Amazon rainforest using a conceptual network approach. We analyse the risk of domino effects being triggered by each of the individual tipping elements under global warming in equilibrium experiments. Learn MORE.
Bioneers: She is the Ocean
“She is the Ocean is a documentary that explores the lives of nine astonishing women from the four corners of the globe who share in their love for the Sea. In showing how it has shaped and given direction to their lives, She is the Ocean captures a love so profound that these women have chosen to make the Sea the center of their physical, philosophical and professional lives. She is the Ocean is available to stream on all of your favorite platforms!” Watch the trailer HERE.
New York Times, May 26: Drought is Ravaging the West
The U.S. Drought Monitor produces a map of the United States every Thursday that shows drought-stricken areas in various colors, and recent ones have been alarming. Not only is almost the entire Western half of the country in one shade or another, indicating some level of drought, about half of the West is colored red or brown, the most severe levels. Learn MORE.
NPR, June 7: Carbon Dioxide, Which Drives Climate Change, Reaches Highest Level In 4 Million Years, 419 ppm
The last time the atmosphere held similar amounts of carbon dioxide was during the Pliocene period, NOAA said, about 4.1 to 4.5 million years ago. At that time, sea levels were 78 feet higher. The planet was an average of 7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer, and large forests might have grown in what is today’s Arctic tundra. Homo erectus, an early human ancestor, emerged about two million years ago on a much cooler planet. At the time, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels averaged about 230 parts per million — a bit over half of today’s levels. Read MORE.
Santa Cruz Children’s Museum Of Discovery: Now open
Celebrate Museum Month this May with the return of your favorite galleries, museums, and cultural institutions. To mark the occasion, we’re excited to offer a special $5 admission fee for non-members. MOD will be open in a reduced-capacity beginning May 1. You can visit the Museum on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 10am to 12pm or 1pm to 3pm (closed for cleaning noon – 1 pm). We are still limiting the number of visitors in our space to enable social-distancing, so pre-book tickets to ensure there is space for you on your chosen date and time. Register HERE.
Scientific American: The World’s Northernmost Town Is the Most Climate-Changed Place on Earth
Since 1971 temperatures on Svalbard Archipelago have risen by roughly 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit), five times faster than the global average. In winter it is more than 7 degrees C (13 degrees F) warmer than it was 50 years ago. Last summer Svalbard recorded its hottest temperature ever —21.7 degrees C (71 degrees F) — following 111 months of above-average heat. It’s now the Earth’s fastest-warming place. That’s spawned deadly avalanches, which, with melting permafrost, have rendered many homes uninhabitable. Where once it snowed every month, it now rains in January. Read MORE.
Guardian: Vital soil organisms being harmed by pesticides
“Pesticides are causing widespread damage to the tiny creatures that keep soils healthy and underpin all life on land, according to the first comprehensive review of the issue. The researchers found the measured impacts of farm chemicals on earthworms, beetles, springtails and other organisms were overwhelmingly negative. Other scientists said the findings were alarming, given the importance of these “unsung heroes”. The analysis warned that soil organisms are rarely considered when assessing the environmental impact of pesticides. The US, for example, only tests chemicals on honey bees, which may never come into contact with soil, an approach described as “crazy”. Prof Dave Goulson, at the University of Sussex, UK, and not part of the study team, said: “The findings of harmful effects on soil organisms from the large majority of pesticides tested is alarming, given the vital importance of these ‘unsung heroes’ in keeping the soil healthy.” Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News, May 20: Growing Concern about Climate impacts of Black Carbon
“The Arctic is now warming three times as fast as the global average, and faces an ongoing barrage of dangerous climate and environmental pollutants, Arctic Council experts warned at the start of their meetings in Reykjavik, Iceland this week. Black carbon, or soot, remains high on the list of concerns because of its negative effect on human health and because it accelerates the Arctic meltdown by darkening snow. Updated reports from several of the council’s working groups highlighted black carbon from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and plants as an increasing problem. But it also presents an opportunity, they said, noting that reducing black carbon quickly could help to significantly slow Arctic melting over the next 20 to 30 years. “Reducing black carbon and methane emissions is particularly important,” United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Thursday during the council’s closing session. He added that the U.S. has cut black carbon emissions by 34 percent, the most of any Arctic Council member nation.” Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News, May 11: Air Pollution From Raising Livestock Accounts for Most of the 16,000 US Deaths Each Year Tied to Food Production, Study Finds
“Food production, primarily the raising of livestock, causes poor air quality that is responsible for about 16,000 deaths a year in the United States, roughly the same number from other sources of air pollution, including transportation and electricity generation, according to research published Monday. Many of those deaths were in areas with high concentrations of livestock production and CAFOs—concentrated animal feeding operations—including North Carolina and areas in the Upper Midwestern Corn Belt, especially east of Iowa where wind blows in to large population centers from the state’s hog-producing areas. The study, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, is the first ever to look at the air quality impacts of specific foods and production systems, and comes as livestock agriculture is increasingly scrutinized for its climate-warming impacts. Substituting poultry for red meat could prevent 6,300 deaths, the study found, and a shift to vegetarian, vegan or flexitarian diets could save 10,700.” Learn MORE.
Unearthed: Airline Carbon Offset Claims Can’t be Verified
“The aviation sector, which has pledged to cut emissions in half by 2050, while still allowing more and more people to fly, desperately needs to find ways to reduce its carbon footprint quickly. Increasingly airlines are turning to offset programs to help achieve this — including reduced deforestation projects where companies buy carbon credits from projects that promise to preserve forests. But a detailed examination of how these schemes calculate their carbon savings by Unearthed and the Guardian, with SourceMaterial, has found evidence that raises serious doubts about the ability of these projects to offset emissions in line with the claims of major airlines. We analyzed 10 reduced deforestation offsetting projects relied on by major airlines as part of their emissions reduction pledges and certified by Verra, the biggest issuer of carbon credits in the world. The investigation revealed that, although projects often provide benefits to the environment and local communities, attempts to quantify, commodify and market the resulting carbon savings as a “carbon offset” are based on shaky foundations.” Read MORE.
YES! Magazine, May 12: Three Climate Activists Making Change in Their Frontline Communities
“Activists agree climate justice will not come from corporations or market schemes because these are the structures responsible for causing the crisis in the first place. BIPOC communities and youth are leading visionary solutions proportional to the emergency at hand. From mutual aid efforts and record-breaking voter turnout to successfully halting pipelines, grassroots BIPOC leadership shows that collectively we can build a just world that will sustain us. Teen Vogue spoke with young women on the front lines of the climate crisis who are dedicated to supporting their communities to not only survive, but thrive.” Read ON.
Biodiversity For A Livable Climate: Featured Creature
“What creature can survive outer space, extreme temperatures, water scarcity, and even mass extinctions? Tardigrades! These ancient beings, which have existed on earth for over 500 million years, are hardier than even the infamously indestructible cockroach. Known as “water bears” or “moss piglets,” these microscopic creatures can be quite cute. They like watery places, like bodies of freshwater, mossy areas (hence the term “moss piglets”), but they’ve been found in more extreme locations, from geothermal hot springs to the Mariana Trench. Tardigrades survive by entering an extreme sort of hibernation – they undergo “cryptobiosis” (a state where nearly all metabolic function stops), expelling water from their bodies and curling up into dormant balls called “tuns” that are able to withstand the harshest conditions. In tun state, they experience about 0.01% of their usual metabolic function, and in this stasis, they do not need water or its oxygen to survive. They can stay like this for decades until conditions become more hospitable.” Watch video HERE.
CBS News, April 26: Climate tipping points may have been reached already, 5 minute Video
“Through decades of research, and now lived experience, it has become clear that the impacts of climate change will have drastic and far-reaching consequences on our planet. The pace at which these unfold and their eventual severity hinge on what happens with key linchpins in the climate system, called tipping points. A tipping point is a threshold or point of no return in the climate system that once passed can no longer be reversed. Passing a tipping point does not necessarily mean immediate, drastic consequences, but it does mean those consequences become unavoidable, and over time the impacts may be dramatic. In a 2019 paper, Professor Timothy Lenton, a global leader on the subject, identified nine climate tipping points, from melting permafrost in the Arctic to the loss of tropical coral reefs. Here we will focus on what he deems the three most critical tipping points: the Amazon rainforest, the West Antarctic ice sheet and the Gulf Stream system.” Watch HERE.
YES! Magazine: Environmental Activists of Color
“Young Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color at the center of environmental justice movements are often overlooked. This was evident in 2019 during Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg’s whirlwind visit to the United States. Thunberg, who recently addressed world leaders at the World Economic Forum, often finds herself in the spotlight. Here are three activists of color who deserve their own spotlight. When water activist Makaśa Looking Horse, Mohawk Wolf Clan and Lakota, in Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario, Canada, learned that Swiss multinational food and drink corporation Nestlé was removing 4.7 million liters of water daily from her community’s aquifers without their knowledge, she had to act.” Read MORE!
The Conversation, April 27: Arbor Day should be about growing trees, not just planting them
“For 149 years, Americans have marked Arbor Day on the last Friday in April by planting trees. Now business leaders, politicians, YouTubers and celebrities are calling for the planting of millions, billions or even trillions of trees to slow climate change. As ecologists who study forest restoration, we know that trees store carbon, provide habitat for animals and plants, prevent erosion and create shade in cities. But as we have explained elsewhere in detail, planting trees is not a silver bullet for solving complex environmental and social problems. And for trees to produce benefits, they need to be planted correctly – which often is not the case. It is impossible for humanity to plant its way out of climate change, as some advocates have suggested, although trees are one part of the solution. Scientific assessments show that avoiding the worst consequences of climate change will require …. rapid and drastic efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, planting trees in the wrong place can have unintended consequences. For example, planting trees into native grasslands, such as North American prairies or African savannas, can damage these valuable ecosystems.” Authors: Karen Holl, UCSC and Pedro Brancalion, Universidade de São Paulo. Learn MORE!
EcoWatch, May 11: Last Hope for the Reefs
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Monday, warned that unless we drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions soon, the world’s coral reefs will stop growing by the end of this century. The study also analyzed how the world’s reefs would fare under a low, medium and high emissions scenario. There are two major ways that the climate crisis and high emissions hurts the growth of coral reefs. First, the increase of carbon dioxide in the ocean causes ocean acidification, which makes it harder for corals to form calcium carbonate skeletons. Secondly, warming ocean temperatures means a higher risk of coral bleaching, when corals expel the algae that give them food and color. Learn more HERE.
Biodiversity For A Livable Climate: Featured Creature”
“Which creature existed before the dinosaurs, is an aerial genius, and can detect things we can only witness through slow-motion cameras? The dragonfly!
Predecessors to the dinosaurs – dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, about 300 million years ago. When they first evolved, their wingspans measured up to two feet! In contrast, today’s dragonflies have wingspans of about two to five inches. Although we speak of dragonflies in a general sense, there are more than 5,000 known species of them, each with its own characteristics. Dragonflies begin as larvae. During this almost 2-year stage, they live in wetlands such as lakes or ponds across every continent except Antarctica. In their larval to nymph stages, they will eat anything they can grasp including tadpoles, other insect larvae, small fish, mosquitos, and even other dragonfly larvae. After their nymph stage, dragonflies emerge as if they were reviving from the dead. They crawl out of the water, split open their body along their abdomen, and reveal their four wings- along with their new identity. Then, they spend hours to days drying themselves before they can take to the skies as the insects we know and love.”
Surfrider: Comprehensive Interactive Map of U.S. Plastic Reduction Laws
Surfrider is proud to debut the beta version of our Plastic Reduction Policy Map, the most comprehensive tool of its kind in the United States. Drawing on the efforts of Surfrider’s grassroots chapter network, we have compiled a dataset that includes over 1,000 U.S. plastic reduction laws. This map is the first visualization of our dataset and currently features bag, polystyrene, and straw laws. These items are among the top items found at our beach cleanups. The next version of Surfrider’s U.S. map, expected late this summer, will include even more policy types and details. Adopting local plastic reduction policies in the U.S. is vital to stopping this flow of plastic into the ocean. Surfrider already offers policy guidance through our extensive plastic pollution reduction policy toolkits. Learn MORE.
San Lorenzo Valley Museum: “Look. Act. Inspire.” In-person viewing Now Open! Until June 30.
Look. Act. Inspire: Sustaining and Expanding the Community of Naturalists in Santa Cruz County. Look Act Inspire features a diverse array of naturalists in Santa Cruz County. Come visit the in-person exhibit, featuring many interviews, artifacts, and displays about these wonderful naturalists. The exhibit is open for in-person visits by reservation only on Thursday and Saturday from 1-4 PM, and open without reservations on Fridays 4-7 PM and Sundays 1-4PM. Capacity is limited to 6 people, and will increase when the county enters “orange.” Register to visit the in-person Look Act Inspire exhibit at the San Lorenzo Valley Museum in Felton! Register HERE.
Bioneers: Re-Weaving the Web of Belonging – “The Inside is Not, and the Outside is Too”
“As author Michael Pollan observes: “The two biggest crises humanity faces today are tribalism and the environmental crisis. They both involve the objectifying of the other – whether that other is nature or other people.” How do we re-weave that web of relationships, and focus on our likenesses rather than our differences? In this program, racial justice advocates Eriel Deranger, john a. powell, and Anita Sanchez explore how overcoming the illusion of separateness from nature and each other requires building bridges rather than burning them. They say the fate of the world depends on it.” Listen HERE.
Modern Farmer: Climate-Fueled Drought Threatens High-Gluten Wheat
“Massive drought across the Upper Midwest, Northern Plains states, and Prairie provinces of Canada is putting the spring wheat crop at risk, Modern Farmer reports. That region — which, unlike California, relies on precipitation for soil moisture — is crucial for higher-gluten wheat varieties used for pasta and as part of all-purpose flour. Corn, soybean, and canola crops are also under threat. North Dakota and Manitoba have both seen their driest springs in over a century, and the hottest April temperatures in decades are further pulling moisture from the soil, creating dry and dusty conditions. Climate change makes droughts more likely to occur and more severe when they do, which also fuels more intense wildfires.” Learn MORE.
Sempervirens Fund, April 14: Wildflowers After Wildfire – A guide for the Santa Cruz Mountains
“From fire comes life. Fire can have a remarkable power to reset natural systems, making them healthier and more resilient. Wildfires in 2020 were devastating, but as the ash enriches the soil with nutrients, certain plants—some long dormant—will burst forth in a dazzling display of life. These “fire followers” will be a sight to behold. Access this free guide to learn about three ecosystems in the Santa Cruz Mountains (sand hills, chaparral & redwood forest) and the rare and special plants and flowers that are likely to flourish this Spring.” Access HERE.
NY Times, April 14: NFTs have a climate problem
“You’ve probably noticed a lot of buzz over the past few weeks about nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, the digital artworks that are stamped with unique codes. Last month, one of them sold for more than $69 million at a Christie’s online auction. Unfortunately, the prices for NFTs aren’t the only thing that’s huge: They come with an astonishing environmental footprint. According to one estimate, the creation of a single NFT, on average, produces as much greenhouse gas as a 500-mile trip in a typical American gasoline-powered car. The culprit is blockchain technology, which underpins these digital tokens and is also the basis for Bitcoin. It relies on specialized computers racing to solve complex equations by making quintillions of guesses a second. Researchers at Cambridge University have estimated that Bitcoin mining alone, not even counting NFTs, uses more electricity than entire countries like Argentina or Sweden.” Read MORE.
Washington Post, April 18: Super Typhoon Surigae: Strongest April Typhoon On Record
“On April 17, Surigae explosively strengthened to the first super typhoon of 2021 and one of the most intense tropical cyclone in history while edging closer to the Philippines. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu indicated its peak winds had risen to 190 mph as of Saturday afternoon, equivalent to a high-end Category 5 hurricane. In 36 hours, the storm’s peak wind increased from 90 mph to 190 mph, an astonishing rate of intensification. Scientists have linked an increasing tendency for storm’s to strengthen at such haste to climate change. It is the strongest super typhoon ever observed in the northwestern Pacific or anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere during the month of April and so early in the calendar year. Fortunately it swung past the Philippines.” Read MORE.
Inside Climate News,April 13: An Unusual Coalition Is Calling for Quickly Phasing Out Super-Polluting Refrigerants
“A coalition of U.S. manufacturers and environmental organizations is calling on the federal government to quickly phase out the worst climate super-polluting chemicals currently used in air conditioners, refrigerators and other appliances, as well as in aerosols and foam insulation. The five, closely related petitions filed with the agency on Tuesday mark an unusual case in which business and environmental interests have aligned to address climate change. Specifically, the groups are calling on the EPA to ban the use of certain hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), chemical refrigerants used in air conditioning, refrigeration systems and other applications that contribute to climate change. The hydroflourocarbons, or HFCs, are potent greenhouse gases and easily replaced in air conditioners and refrigerators.” Read MORE.
The New Yorker, April 14: Thwaites Glacier Destabilizing
“We’re reaching the endgame on the climate crisis, as news from both poles made clear this week. In the Antarctic, researchers reported first data from uncrewed submarine trips beneath the crucial Thwaites Glacier: “Our observations show warm water impinging from all sides on pinning points critical to ice-shelf stability, a scenario that may lead to unpinning and retreat.” (Thwaites was already known as the “doomsday glacier” because its collapse could raise global sea levels by as much as three feet.) Meanwhile, an analysis of satellite data suggests that, as Alaska and Siberia warm, summer lightning over the tundra could increase a hundred and fifty per cent by 2100, igniting fires in the vast peatlands. “Burning peat can release 2.5 to 3.5 kilograms (5.5 to 7.7 pounds) of carbon per square meter of ground,” a researcher told Inside Climate News. “That’s a lot, two or three times as much as from a fire in the savanna or the Mediterranean.” Read MORE.
Climate Nexus: Spiking Atmospheric Methane Levels ‘Very Scary Indeed’
“A dramatic and surprising surge in atmospheric methane has emerged over the past several years. If not mitigated, this new trend could off-set the gains anticipated from the Paris Climate Agreement. In response, scientists have begun ringing alarm bells in several high-profile peer-reviewed publications. Several sources have been identified as significant contributors to the surge, including U.S. production of oil and gas. Atmospheric methane levels surged in 2020, a new report from NOAA shows, accelerating an increasing trend, alarming scientists, and possibly auguring a vicious cycle of global heating. NOAA also announced global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are higher than at any point in the last 3.6 million years. “It is very scary indeed,” Euan Nisbet, professor of earth sciences at Royal Holloway University of London, told the Financial Times. About 60% of methane emissions are caused by human activity, and U.S. oil and gas (fracking) operations are a major driver of recent methane pollution increases.” Learn MORE.
Guardian, April 9: Loggers say blockades threaten their livelihoods as activists build fortifications and vow to remain
Hundreds of activists are digging in at logging road blockades across a swath of southern Vancouver Island, vowing to stay as long as it takes to pressure the provincial government to immediately halt cutting of what they say is the last 3% of giant old growth trees left in the province. The situation echoes the 1993 “war in the woods” in nearby Clayoquot Sound, which saw nearly 1,000 people arrested at similar logging blockades in the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. The movement started more than eight months ago, when an impromptu blockade of 12 people sprang up to stop road building into the headwaters of the Fairy Creek watershed, one of the last untouched watersheds in the region. But what started as a campaign to stop logging in a single watershed has grown thanks to widespread frustration with the British Columbia government’s broader approach to old-growth logging. Read MORE.
Pew Charitable Trusts, April 5: States Are Growing Fewer Trees. Forest Owners Say That’s a Problem.
“When wildfires ripped through Oregon last Labor Day, they burned huge swaths of forest, including 63,000 acres of smaller, private lands. Oregon state law requires forest owners to replant their land within two years of a wildfire, but many haven’t been able to: They used to rely heavily on state-run tree nurseries, but Oregon closed its nursery more than a decade ago. Seedlings are hard to come by. Large, commercial nurseries typically grow large tree orders on contract, supplying industrial timber companies that plan operations years in advance. State-run nurseries provide a more diverse array of species to landowners, allowing smaller orders on short notice. Many of the family foresters hit by the Oregon fires have struggled to obtain seedlings from the private sector. Eight states have closed their nurseries, most in the past two decades, according to a survey by the National Association of State Foresters. Twenty-nine states still operate nursery programs, though many have closed some of their facilities. The declining state production has hurt small landowners, who own the largest share of the nation’s forests.” Learn MORE.
Citizens Climate Lobby: The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2021
This legislation was just re-introduced and it “will reduce America’s carbon pollution to net zero by 2050. It puts a fee on carbon pollution, creating a level playing field for clean energy. The money collected from fossil fuel companies goes to Americans in the form of a monthly ‘carbon cash back’ payment so that everyone can afford the transition. How it Works. Carbon Fee: This policy puts a fee on fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. It starts low, and grows over time. This will drive down carbon pollution because energy companies, leading industries, and American consumers will move toward cleaner, cheaper options. Carbon Dividend: The money collected from the carbon fee is allocated in equal shares every month to the American people to spend as they see fit. Program administrative costs are paid from the fees collected. The government does not keep any of the money from the carbon fee. Border Carbon Adjustment: To protect U.S. manufacturers and jobs, imported goods will pay a border carbon adjustment, and goods exported from the United States will receive a refund under this policy.” Learn MORE.
Oceana: Why ‘blue forests’ are an overlooked ally in the fight against climate change
When human activities like the burning of fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide, where do those emissions go? Some of that CO2 lingers in the atmosphere and drives climate change. Some ends up being absorbed by trees and plants through a process known as carbon sequestration. In our oceans, kelp, seagrass, mangroves, and algae make up “blue forests” that can absorb 20 times more carbon-based emissions than land-based forests per acre. Watch to learn more about blue forests. Watch this 1 1/2 minute VIDEO to learn more.
Optimist Daily, April 2: UCLA Archive of Healing promotes and protects indigenous folk medicine
As western medicine expands, we’ve lost sight of some of the natural healing methods that indigenous communities have used for thousands of years. This ancient medicinal wisdom which humanity relied on for thousands of years before the institutionalization of medicine is often overlooked, meaning some of this knowledge risks being lost forever. This includes medicinal folklore, herbal treatments, and ritual healing from a plentitude of cultures across the globe. To preserve this valuable knowledge, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have created an online platform called the Archive of Healing which features thousands of previously delegitimized traditional therapies spanning seven continents and 200 years. David Shorter, director of the digital archive, states that their priority “is to democratize what we think of as healing and knowledge about healing and take it across cultures in a way that’s respectful and gives attention to intellectual property rights.” Learn MORE.
Optimist Daily, April 2, Three proposed solutions for California’s purple sea urchin crisis
“If you dive under the waters of the Pacfic Ocean along the California coast, you’ll see the seafloor coated in small, spiny, purple creatures. These sea urchins are eating up local kelp forests at alarming rates, leaving behind a “purple carpet” wasteland in their wake. West coast divers are now looking at three primary strategies to deal with this crisis. Solution #1 Gather the urchins: As commercial divers began to notice decreases in catch volume due to kelp bed habitat loss, they teamed up with Reef Check California to collect these urchins one by one. Volunteer divers headed out to fill nets with as many urchins as possible. The group targeted a particularly devastated area and, in one session, were able to clean an area the size of three football fields, collecting about 20,000 pounds of urchins. The urchins were then brought to a composting facility and another dive is scheduled for the near future to ensure the population doesn’t return. Solution #2, Revitalize predator populations: Part of the reason urchin populations exploded in the first place was the decline of the sunflower sea star, urchins’ primary natural predator. These stars are now endangered, so researchers at the University of Washington have launched a captive breeding program in an attempt to reintroduce the species in the near future. Sea otters are another key urchin eater and, although populations are on the rise, the near decimation of the species for fur in the 1800s took a real toll on California sea otters. Conservationists are exploring the possibility of reintroducing the otters to places like the Bay Area where they were once native species. Solution #3, Harvest them: The collected urchins in our first solution were composted, but urchin meat is also considered a delicacy. Found on many sushi menus, “uni” is the yellow reproductive organ of urchins. Although most restaurants serve uni from red urchins, seafood vendors on the California coast have begun tapping into the uni market as a way to not only find a use for the invasive urchins they clear, but also to make some money off their removal.” Read MORE.
Nature Conservancy, March 23: New Platform Charts Ambitious, Bipartisan Course to Revive, Restore America’s National Forests
“America’s national forests need crucial new investments in ecologically appropriate, climate-informed reforestation and management to ensure they can weather the challenges they face and endure for future generations, according to a new policy platform from the National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy and American Forests. The platform urges substantial new investments in the U.S. Forest Service’s budget alongside other solutions, such as creating a carbon storage goal for national forests, improving forest health and addressing climate change and other root causes of the problems forests face. National forests should be part of any early-2021 infrastructure investments that put people back to work restoring our landscapes.” Read MORE.
Sky News, March 24: plastic pollution is shrinking penises and making men infertile
“In a new book called Count Down, Dr Shanna Swan writes that humanity is facing an “existential crisis” due to phthalates, a chemical used in the plastic manufacturing process which disrupts the endocrine system. A growing number of babies are being born with small penises as a result of phthalate syndrome, something that has been observed in rats when they are exposed to the chemical in tests. Human babies are being exposed to the chemical in the womb, causing a shorter anogenital distance which correlates to penis size. “Phathalates mimic the hormone oestrogen and thus disrupt the natural production of hormones in the human body, which researchers have linked to interference in sexual development in infants and behaviors in adults,” reports Sky News. The chemical, which is used to make plastics more flexible, is being transmitted to humans via toys, food and other items. Swan cautions that “our modern world is threatening sperm counts, altering male and female reproductive development, and imperiling the future of the human race.” She warned that by 2045, most men won’t be able to produce sperm.” Learn MORE.
The New Yorker, Bill McKibben, March 17: H.R. 1 Is About Climate, Too
“The most important climate legislation that Congress may consider in the months ahead says nothing at all about carbon emissions or solar panels. Instead, H.R. 1, known as the For the People Act, is all about mail-in ballots and early voting and automatic registration—about making sure that every citizen gets to take part in our democracy. It passed the House on March 3rd. If it passes the Senate, there may be a chance, in the next decade, to build the consistent majorities necessary to tackle the hardest problem we’ve ever faced (as the advocacy group RepresentUs makes clear in a handy little video); if it doesn’t, minority rule will continue and, because the oil industry underwrites that minority, change will be halting at best.” Learn MORE.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Risk of tipping the overturning circulation due to increasing rates of ice melt
Ongoing greenhouse gas emissions put elements of the Earth system at risk for crossing critical thresholds (tipping points), leading to abrupt irreversible climate change. Measures for reducing emissions should keep Earth in the safe operating space away from tipping points. Here we show that increasing rates of change of ice melt can induce a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in a global ocean model, while no critical threshold in ice melt is crossed and slower increases to the same level of ice melt do not induce tipping. Moreover, the chaotic dynamics of the climate make such a collapse hard to predict. This shows that the safe operating space of the Earth system might be smaller than previously thought. Vital info HERE.
Smithsonian: Deep-sea, Volcano-dwelling Snail Wears Iron Shoe
At the bottom of the ocean, near the rims of underwater volcanoes, roams a snail with a shell made of iron sulfide. It glides around hydrothermal vents on a foot covered in iron plates. Picture the famous sword-studded Iron Throne — except it can move. And it has a squishy gastropod center. This scaly-footed snail, called the sea pangolin, lives in an extreme environment of crushing pressure and temperatures that reach over 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists believe it doesn’t actually eat but relies on energy produced by bacteria in a large gland. Sadly, its iron armor can’t protect this snail from mining companies awaiting the technology that will let them exploit its home. In 2019, due to its niche habitat and fears raised by deep sea mining exploration, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature declared the snail endangered. Read MORE.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: Twenty Million Displaced Each Year By Climate Disasters
Disasters and the adverse impacts of climate change are already leading to the forced
displacement of more than 20 million people each year. The vast majority of this
displacement (more than 80 percent) occurs in the Asia Pacific region. The adverse
impacts of climate change are expected to further increase the numbers of people
forced to flee their homes and lands. People and communities displaced by disasters
and climate change often face a critical humanitarian situation – with needs ranging
from emergency shelter, clean water and sanitation to health care and protection.
Many displaced people also require support to rebuild their lives and livelihoods, and to
achieve safe, voluntary and dignified durable solutions. Learn MORE.
Guardian, March 17: Bottom trawling releases as much carbon as air travel
“Dragging heavy nets across seabed disturbs marine sediments, world’s largest carbon sink, scientists report. Fishing boats that trawl the ocean floor release as much carbon dioxide as the entire aviation industry, according to a groundbreaking study. Bottom trawling, a widespread practice in which heavy nets are dragged along the seabed, pumps out 1 gigaton of carbon every year, says the study written by 26 marine biologists, climate experts and economists and published in Nature (on March 17, 2021). The carbon is released from the seabed sediment into the water, and can increase ocean acidification, as well as adversely affecting productivity and biodiversity, the study said. Marine sediments are the largest pool of carbon storage in the world.” Learn MORE.
Patagonia Short Film: Vjosa Forever
Join the movement calling for permanent protection of Europe’s largest undammed river in Albania. Watch this 6 minute beautiful and compelling video about saving this river system from dams by creating an Albanian National Park. Video HERE.
Audubon California: First Snowy Plover Eggs Spotted
It’s official! The first Western Snowy Plover nests with eggs have been spotted along California’s beaches. Plover nests are like works of beach art. The eggs are camouflaged to look like sand and many nests are right out on the open sand! Plovers also nest near kelp or driftwood and might adorn their nests with shells or pebbles – a beautiful sight to behold. There are typically three eggs in each nest. Each one is critical to the recovery of this Threatened species. Learn MORE about protecting them.
The Hill, March 10: Senate Confirms Michael Regan For EPA Chief
By a vote of 66-34 on March 10, the Senate confirmed Michael Regan to head the Environmental Protection Agency. He will be the first Black man to lead the EPA in the agency’s 50-year history. Regan, known for his bipartisan approach as head of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, won the support of 16 Senate Republicans in addition to every Democrat. He will now face the difficult work of rebuilding a gutted environmental agency, as he did in North Carolina, and enacting ambitious new rules to advance President Biden’s climate goals. He will also play a major role in efforts to get the U.S. on track to achieve a carbon-free power sector by 2035 and overall carbon neutrality by 2050. Learn MORE.
ABC News, March 2: Exxon Mobil ordered to pay $14.25M penalty in pollution case
HOUSTON — A federal judge ordered Exxon Mobil to pay a $14.25 million civil penalty Tuesday in an 11-year-old lawsuit alleging it violated the Clean Air Act for eight years at its flagship Baytown, Texas, refinery. The group Environment Texas sued the Irving, Texas-based company in 2010. “Exxon has been fighting this case for 11 years now, refusing to take any responsibility for spewing millions of pounds of illegal pollution into Texas communities,” Metzger said in a statement. “We call on Exxon to finally stop its scorched-earth litigation tactics, pay its penalty and drop these endless appeals.” In his latest opinion, filed Tuesday, Hittner said Environment Texas, the Sierra Club and the National Environmental Law Center had proved thousands of instances of illegal flaring and unauthorized releases of pollutants causing smoke, chemical odors, ground-level ozone, and respiratory problems. Learn MORE.
EcoWatch, March 1: Bitcoin’s ‘Staggering’ Energy Consumption Raises Climate Concerns
“As bitcoin’s fortunes and prominence rise, so do concerns about its environmental impact. The process of mining the cryptocurrency is enormously energy intensive, so much so that it consumes more electricity in a year than Argentina or the Ukraine, according to the latest data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. Its energy hunger even led to a warning from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last week, as CNBC reported. “It’s an extremely inefficient way of conducting transactions,” Yellen said, “and the amount of energy that’s consumed in processing those transactions is staggering.” Read MORE.
Biodiversity For a Livable Climate: Which creature looks like a snake, is actually a fish, and has shocking abilities?
The Electric Eel! Electric eels are not actually eels. They are a type of (scaleless) freshwater fish found mostly in the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers of South America. They live along coastal plains and swamps, in very muddy water. Add to this dark environment the fact that they’re nocturnal and have poor eyesight, and you might wonder how they find their way to food. Evolution to the rescue, for they have a stellar sense of smell. These muddy waters are generally low-oxygen, so electric eels surface every 10 minutes or so to breathe. That’s right – a scaleless, air-breathing fish! Learn MORE.
EcoWatch, March 10: Will the Race for Electric Vehicles Endanger the Earth’s Most Sensitive Ecosystem?
“As pressure mounts to claim terrestrial minerals (for EV car batteries), commercial interest is growing to extract resources from the deep seabed, where there’s an abundance of metals like copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese, lead and lithium. But along with that focus comes increased warnings about the damage such extraction could do to ocean health, and whether the sacrifice is even necessary. The high seas are “areas beyond national jurisdiction,” and mining their depths will be managed by an intergovernmental body called the International Seabed Authority. The group has already approved 28 mining contracts covering more than a million square kilometers (360,000 square miles). It’s still drafting the standards and regulations for operations, but when companies get the go-ahead they’ll be after three different mineral-rich targets: potato-sized polymetallic nodules, seafloor massive sulphides and cobalt-rich crusts. But there’s also concern that we still don’t adequately understand the risks of operating giant underwater tractors along the seafloor. There are now more than 90 NGOs that have come out and said that we need a moratorium on ocean mining and we shouldn’t be sprinting to do this until we are able to answer some of the serious questions about the impact of mining on ocean health.” Learn MORE.
The Scientist: Atlantic Circulation Weakest in More Than a Millennium
“An oceanic “conveyer belt” that pulls warm water from tropical regions up into the northern Atlantic and cold water back toward the south is now the weakest it’s been in more than 1,000 years, a new study finds. The work, published (February 25) in Nature Geosciences, aligns with earlier predictions and findings about the effects of climate change on what’s known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), but uses proxy measures to go further back in time and confirm the unprecedented nature of these recent changes. Ice sheet projections that exclude ocean-induced undercutting may underestimate mass loss by at least a factor of 2. Together, these data consistently show that the modern AMOC slowdown is unprecedented in over a thousand years. Improved understanding of this slowdown is urgently needed. The next step is to resolve which components and pathways of the AMOC have altered, how, and why—no small feat, and requiring a community effort that combines observational, modeling and paleoclimatological approaches. Researchers have predicted that this slowdown will affect fisheries, and could lead to sea level rise and more frequent hurricanes on the East Coast of the US, as well as more extreme weather events in Europe.” Learn MORE.
The Revelator: The Staggering Decline of Oceanic Sharks and Rays
New research shows that oceanic shark and ray abundance has declined by nearly three-quarters since 1970, and industrialized fishing is to blame. Oceanic sharks and rays live so far from land that the average person is unlikely to ever see them. But these species, which live in the vast open ocean, are also among the most revered, and include the great white shark and the giant manta ray. For millennia, their remoteness has allowed these species to largely avoid humans. But since the early 1950s, industrial-scale fishing fleets have been able to reach distant waters and gradually spread to exploit the entire global ocean. Rising demand over the same period for shark and ray meat, as well as fins, gill plates and liver oil, has caused catches of the 30 or so oceanic species to soar. Marine biologists have been raising the alarm for several decades now, but their warnings were often limited to what regional trends showed. Now, new research has brought together disparate threads of data into a single, global analysis of shark and ray populations in the open ocean.
Worldwide, oceanic shark and ray abundance has declined by 71% since 1970. More than half of the 31 species examined are now considered to be endangered, or even critically endangered! Read MORE.
Senators introduce bill to ban fracking in California, Feb 22
While California is known for its progressive reputation on environmental issues, oil continues to be produced in the state using destructive methods such as fracking and acid well stimulation. To put an end to these environmentally-damaging practices, California state senators have introduced a new bill that seeks to ban fracking and other controversial oil and gas extraction techniques by 2027. In addition, the bill would outlaw the government from issuing new fracking permits or renewing old ones as of Jan. 1, 2022. “Fracking & other destructive oil extraction methods are deeply harmful to our environment & public health,” Sen. Scott Wiener, who introduced the bill with fellow Democratic Senator Monique Limón. “They contaminate water, increase particulate in the air, & make people sick. And oil is at the heart of climate change. California must lead on climate & public health.” The senators also plan to amend the bill, SB467, to include restrictions on any new oil or gas production near schools, hospitals, and places of long-term accommodation such as prisons. Whether the bill will pass or not will have to be seen. The oil and gas industry has a powerful lobby, even in California, and the industry is already arguing that banning such extraction methods will eliminate thousands of “highly-skilled, union careers that cannot be replaced by low-skilled and temporary jobs in the renewable industry.” Learn MORE.
EcoWatch, Feb 22: Israeli Oil Spill Is a ‘Severe Ecological Disaster’
A mysterious oil spill began to wash up on Israel’s coast last week, closing beaches and harming wildlife. The Israeli government urged people not to visit a wide stretch of beach on Sunday, Haaretz reported. Of Israel’s 119 miles of beach, 105 were impacted by the disaster, according to CNN. That’s 40 percent of Israel’s coastline, Haaretz noted. “The enormous amounts of tar emitted in recent days to the shores of Israel from south to north caused one of the most severe ecological disasters to hit Israel,” the country’s Nature and Parks Authority said Sunday, CNN reported. Read MORE.
Global Change Biology, Feb 25: Combating Ecosystem Collapse from the Tropics to the Antarctic
Globally, collapse of ecosystems — potentially irreversible change to ecosystem structure, composition and function — imperils biodiversity, human health and well‐being. We examine the current state and recent trajectories of 19 ecosystems, spanning 58° of latitude across 7.7 M km2, from Australia’s coral reefs to terrestrial Antarctica. Pressures from global climate change and regional human impacts, occurring as chronic ‘presses’ and/or acute ‘pulses’, drive ecosystem collapse. Ecosystem responses to 5–17 pressures were categorized as four collapse profiles — abrupt, smooth, stepped and fluctuating. The manifestation of widespread ecosystem collapse is a stark warning of the necessity to take action.
Learn MORE.
Audubon California: How Ranchers Can Help Save Grassland Birds
California is poised to change the fate of grassland birds. Grassland bird species are the most imperiled in the United States, having declined 53 percent over the past 50 years. We are proud to announce that Senator Jon Laird (D-Santa Cruz) and a number of Senate and Assembly coauthors recently introduced Audubon-sponsored Senate Bill 322 which aims to protect and restore California’s grasslands and birds. This bill would offer incentives to ranchers to implement regenerative grazing practices, which restore grassland habitat, improve soil health, sequester carbon, and increase biodiversity. Learn MORE.
That’s Wild: More Skinks = Less Lyme Disease?
“Black-legged ticks, aka deer ticks, are the main vector spreading Lyme disease to humans. Although Lyme disease is found throughout the United States, cases aren’t distributed evenly. Scientists have long observed a sharp north-south divide, with the Northeast reporting many more cases than the Sunbelt. Why? According to new research, the answer (may be) skinks. Deer ticks in the north typically latch onto small mammals like mice, while south of the Mason-Dixon line, they prefer to feed on lizard blood — especially skink blood. While mice are notorious for transmitting Lyme disease to people, skinks are poor transmitters. That means that in the skinky South, Lyme disease is a lot less likely to move from ticks to people. Skinks aren’t just adorable — they’re also heroes.” Read MORE.
EcoWatch, Feb 15: What Exactly Is the Polar Vortex?
“As atmospheric scientists, we cringe when the term polar vortex is used to loosely refer to blasts of cold weather. The actual polar vortex can’t put snow in your backyard, but changes in the polar vortex can load the dice for wintry weather – and this year, the dice rolled Yahtzee. The polar vortex is an enormous, three-dimensional ring of winds that surrounds the North and South poles during each hemisphere’s winter. These winds are located about 10 to 30 miles above Earth’s surface, in the layer of the atmosphere known as the stratosphere. They blow from west to east with sustained speeds easily exceeding 100 mph. In the darkness of the winter polar night, temperatures within the polar vortex can easily get lower than minus 110 F. Fortunately for everyone, the stratospheric polar vortex itself won’t appear outside your front door. The strength of the polar vortex can vary widely during winter, and these variations can lead to shifts in the strength and position of the jet stream, the fast-flowing river of air in the troposphere beneath the polar vortex. When the jet stream changes, it affects the movement of weather systems, causing different parts of the world to see much warmer or colder, or much wetter or drier conditions.” Read MORE.
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: Featured Creatures
“What invertebrate has blue blood and multiple brains? Octopuses have a distributed nervous system, with nerve bundles in each arm in addition to a central brain in the head, for a total of nine brains. Up to two thirds of all of their nerves are in their tentacles, and the decentralized structure allows each arm to be responsible for its own coordination, potentially allowing for spontaneous reactions in different tentacles. Good for multitasking!
(As for the blue blood) just like humans have hemoglobin in our bloodstream to carry oxygen through our bodies, octopuses have the copper-based protein hemocyanin in their blood. Hemocyanin is well-adapted to circulation in very cold ocean environments, where some species of octopus dwell, and as the “cyan” in the name suggests, it causes the blood to turn blue.”
YES! Magazine: Climate Justice Is Racial Justice Is Gender Justice, Bill McKibben
There’s nothing like the giant oil companies to provide us all with lessons about power and prejudice. The climate crisis offers a lens to understand many of the inherent injustices on this planet: There’s an almost perfect inverse relationship between how much of the problem you caused and how much of the pain you’re feeling. Furthermore, it offers the best chance to actually right some of these wrongs: The economic rearrangement that must accompany any successful effort to fix the planet’s climate system is an opportunity to make sure that the people who’ve always been left out won’t be put at the back of the all-electric bus. Jacqueline Patterson is the director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program. She says she recognized environmental injustice decades ago while working in Jamaica, where Shell Oil contaminated community water supplies. Then later, while volunteering in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, she saw another side of the inequity in climate disaster response. Patterson co-founded Women of Color United and has served as a senior women’s rights policy analyst for ActionAid, integrating a women’s rights lens for food rights, macroeconomics, and climate change. Learn MORE.
YES! Magazine, Spring 2021: Toward an Ecological Civilization
“Without human disruption, ecosystems can thrive in rich abundance for millions of years, remaining resilient in the face of adversity. Clearly, there is much to learn from nature’s wisdom about how to organize ourselves. Can we do so before it’s too late? This is the fundamental idea underlying an ecological civilization: using nature’s own design principles to reimagine the basis of our civilization. Changing our civilization’s operating system to one that naturally leads to life-affirming policies and practices rather than rampant extraction and devastation. An ecological civilization is both a new and ancient idea. While the notion of structuring human society on an ecological basis might seem radical, Indigenous peoples around the world have organized themselves from time immemorial on life-affirming principles.” Read MORE.
Nat Geo: The Last Ice – Documentary
A new race is afoot in the waters between Canada and Greenland, where steadily melting sea ice is opening up the potential for faster shipping, increased oil extraction, and other commercial pursuits. As industries vie for space in the newly open waters, indigenous communities are rallying to protect the Arctic as they long have known it. Taking home the Wild and Scenic Film Festival’s ”Best of the Fest” award, The Last Ice follows the personal journeys of several Inuit people whose lives are fundamentally tied to the land and wildlife, including a young man with dreams of being a hunter, who is deeply devoted to his sled dogs, and a woman working to keep her culture’s ancient traditions alive, one text at a time. Mixing in archival footage and current science and political news, the film traces the threads of globalization that led to this moment over the past century, from the first forced resettlements of Inuit communities, to container ships cutting ever-more swiftly through the ice. See TRAILER.
Younger Lagoon Reserve’s Virtual Tour Available Now
This virtual tour takes visitors into Younger Lagoon Reserve adjacent to the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. Part of the University of California Natural Reserve System, Younger Lagoon Reserve contains diverse coastal habitat and is home to birds of prey, migrating sea birds, bobcats, and other wildlife. Come and see what scientists are doing to track local mammals, restore native habitat, and learn about the workings of one of California’s rare coastal lagoons. Here you can learn about the history, diverse habitats and restorative work at this coastal reserve! This tour is composed of 16 unique stops, each with their own video. Watch them HERE.
EcoWatch, Feb 4: Immediate Climate Action Can Save U.S. $3.5 Trillion Over Time
Promptly implementing the aggressive actions necessary to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas pollution to net-zero by 2050 would save the U.S. at least $3.5 trillion compared to the cost of waiting until 2030 to start achieving that goal, a report published Wednesday by Energy Innovation found. The savings, the authors emphasize, only consider the spending required to slash U.S. emissions and thus do not include the savings that would be incurred by the public health benefits of reducing fossil fuel extraction and combustion or the avoided costs associated with extreme weather which delayed climate action could worsen. “To meet climate goals, it is imperative to start climate action today,” Megan Mahajan, one of the co-authors of the report, told Earther. “In particular, it is urgent to quickly transition to electric vehicles and building components, because polluting equipment sold today will last for decades.” Read MORE.
Save The Redwoods League: Buffalo Soldiers made their mark in the giant sequoia groves
More than a century ago, African Americans played a critical, pioneering role managing and stewarding Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada. It’s a fascinating story that is an important part of the legacy of giant sequoia conservation. The National Park Service wasn’t created until 1916, so before then, management of park facilities largely fell to the military. At the beginning of the 20th century, Yosemite and Sequoia national parks were administered by the U.S. Army, which rotated regiments out of the Presidio in San Francisco. In 1899, 1903, and 1904, soldiers from the 24th Infantry and 9th Cavalry managed these two parks. These groups were among the four African-American regiments created by Congress after the Civil War, which came to be known as the Buffalo Soldiers during their deployment in the American West. Learn MORE.
Harvard, Feb 9: Deaths from fossil fuel emissions higher than previously thought
More than 8 million people died in 2018 from fossil fuel pollution, significantly higher than previous research suggested, according to new research from Harvard University, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester and University College London. Researchers estimated that exposure to particulate matter from fossil fuel emissions accounted for 18 percent of total global deaths in 2018 — a little less than 1 out of 5. Regions with the highest concentrations of fossil fuel-related air pollution — including Eastern North America, Europe, and South-East Asia — have the highest rates of mortality, according to the study published in the journal Environmental Research. The study greatly increases estimates of the numbers killed by air pollution. The most recent Global Burden of Disease Study, the largest and most comprehensive study on the causes of global mortality, put the total number of global deaths from all outdoor airborne particulate matter — including dust and smoke from wildfires and agricultural burns — at 4.2 million. Read MORE.
BBC One: A Perfect Planet, A David Attenborough Series
“Planet Earth is perfect. Everything about our world – its size, its distance from the Sun, its spin and tilt, its moon – is perfectly suited to our existence, and our planet’s natural forces perfectly nurture life. A global weather system circulates and distributes fresh water to all corners of the globe, marine currents deliver nutrients to even the deepest reaches of the ocean, sunlight warms and energizes everything it touches, and powerful volcanoes create and fertilize the land. As a result, there is literally no part of our planet where life can’t be found. A Perfect Planet is a unique fusion of blue chip natural history and earth science that explains how our living planet operates. This five-part series will show how the forces of nature drive, shape and support Earth’s great diversity of wildlife.” View on Discovery Plus. See PREVIEW.
New York Times, Feb 4: Toxic Metals Found In Popular Brands of Baby Food
A U.S. Congressional investigation found that “ingredients in many baby foods, including some organic fare, are contaminated with heavy metals like arsenic, lead and cadmium at levels that are far higher than those allowed in products like bottled water, congressional investigators said on Thursday. Their report underscored the federal government’s persistently lax approach to overseeing the safety of baby food, some experts said, despite clear risks to infants and toddlers. Exposure to heavy metals in particular has been linked to behavioral impairments, brain damage and even death. “This is an endemic problem that’s been swept under the rug and never addressed,” said Tracey Woodruff, director of the program on reproductive health and the environment at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the preparation of the congressional report.” Read MORE.
Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, Camille Dungy
Black Nature is the first anthology to focus on nature writing by African American poets, a genre that until now has not commonly been counted as one in which African American poets have participated. Black poets have a long tradition of incorporating treatments of the natural world into their work, but it is often read as political, historical, or protest poetry―anything but nature poetry. This is particularly true when the definition of what constitutes nature writing is limited to work about the pastoral or the wild. Camille T. Dungy has selected 180 poems from 93 poets that provide unique perspectives on American social and literary history to broaden our concept of nature poetry and African American poetics. Black Nature brings to the fore a neglected and vital means of considering poetry by African Americans and nature-related poetry as a whole. Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News, Jan 25: Global Ice Loss on Pace to Drive Worst-Case Sea Level Rise
From the polar caps to the glaciers of Europe, Asia and South America, global warming is melting the planet’s ice faster than ever and speeding the inundation of the world’s coastlines. New research shows the annual melt rate grew from 0.8 trillion tons in the 1990s to 1.3 trillion tons by 2017, and has accelerated most in the places with the most ice—the Greenland and Antarctic ice shelves and sheets. Those massive systems of land and sea-based ice are melting as fast as the worst-case climate scenarios in major global climate reports, said Thomas Slater, a co-author of the new study in The Cryosphere that measured the meltdown from 1994 to 2017, which covers a timespan when every decade was warmer than the previous one and also includes the 20 warmest years on record. Learn MORE.
Inside Climate News, Jan 11: The Radical Case for Growing Huge Swaths of Bamboo in North America
“The grass has a bad rap in the U.S. as an invasive nuisance, but the plant can quickly sequester at least double—and maybe even six times—the amount of carbon as a similar stand of trees. By late spring, I was obsessively researching carbon sinks and trying to find people across North America who were going all-in on the sink of their choice, like greening abandoned farmland or protecting super-wet landscapes. In a fortunate piece of timing, Paul Hawken’s team released a spring 2020 update to their climate solutions list, The Drawdown Review. A big chunk of it was about sinks, ranked by gigatons (to picture that: one gigaton of carbon dioxide would fill a billion bathtubs). My eyes searched the dozens of top-ranking sinks—the big one is tropical forest protection— and landed curiously on bamboo.” Learn MORE.
EcoWatch, Jan 27: ’Earthrise’ Video by Inauguration Day Poet Amanda Gorman
Poet Amanda Gorman got well-deserved rave reviews for her dramatic reading of her six-minute “The Hill We Climb” poem January 20 before a global TV and online inauguration day audience. But what if Gorman, 22, the nation’s youth poet laureate, could bring her poetic, presentation skills, and grace to the issue of climate change? In fact, she’s done just that. In December 2018, Gorman presented her original “Earthrise” four-minute poem as part of a Climate Reality Project “24 hours of reality” campaign. Experience this HERE.
EcoWatch, Jan 22: Trillions of Brood X Cicadas to Emerge in 15 States This Spring
Fifteen states are in for an unusually noisy spring. Brood X, the largest and most widespread colony of cicadas in the U.S., is due to emerge from their 17-year hibernation, Michigan State University entomologist Gary Parsons explained. The bugs typically emerge as early as mid-May, and the sound of their mating can reach 100 decibels, Newsweek reported. And there will be lots of them. “Densities can be as great as 1.5 million per acre. So, between Georgia and New York there will surely be trillions emerging,” emeritus professor of entomology at the University of Maryland Michael J. Raupp told Newsweek. Learn MORE.
PBS: Power Trip Documentary – The obstacles to and opportunities of Rooftop Solar
“Solar energy evangelist and “Property Brother” Jonathan Scott journeys all across the U.S. to uncover why clean, renewable energy isn’t available to all. While traveling to learn both the obstacles and opportunities for achieving energy freedom, Jonathan talks with conservatives fighting for solar freedom; sits down with farmers struggling to make ends meet; engages coal workers desperate for a new, healthy means of making an income; the Navajo Nation who built a utility-scale solar plant; religious leaders who made a desperate attempt to help meet their community’s energy needs; and politicians at the forefront of the battle for energy freedom.” See TRAILER.
Finding The Mother Tree, Suzanne Simard, Available May 4
From the world’s leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest–a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery. Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; she’s been compared to Rachel Carson, hailed as a scientist who conveys complex, technical ideas in a way that is dazzling and profound. Her work has influenced filmmakers (the Tree of Souls of James Cameron’s Avatar) and her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide. Now, in her first book, Simard brings us into her world, the intimate world of the trees, in which she brilliantly illuminates the fascinating and vital truths–that trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but are a complex, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks by which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities with communal lives not that different from our own. Read MORE.
EcoWatch, Jan 13: Scientists Sound Alarm About Insect Apocalypse
A collection of new scientific papers authored by 56 experts from around the world reiterates rising concerns about bug declines and urges people and governments to take urgent action to address a biodiversity crisis dubbed the “insect apocalypse.” “The Global Decline of Insects in the Anthropocene Special Feature,” which includes an introduction and 11 papers, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. “Nature is under siege,” the scientists warn. “Insects are suffering from ‘death by a thousand cuts.'” As the new package and below graphic explain, human stressors that experts have tied to bug declines include agricultural practices; chemical, light, and sound pollution; invasive species; land-use changes; nitrification; pesticides; and urbanization. Read MORE.
Frontiers In Conservation Science, Jan 13: Scientists Warn Humanity of Looming ‘Collapse of Civilization as We Know It’
“We report three major and confronting environmental issues that have received little attention and require urgent action. First, we review the evidence that future environmental conditions will be far more dangerous than currently believed. The scale of the threats to the biosphere and all its lifeforms—including humanity—is in fact so great that it is difficult to grasp for even well-informed experts. Second, we ask what political or economic system, or leadership, is prepared to handle the predicted disasters, or even capable of such action. Third, this dire situation places an extraordinary responsibility on scientists to speak out candidly and accurately when engaging with government, business, and the public. We especially draw attention to the lack of appreciation of the enormous challenges to creating a sustainable future.” Learn MORE!
Photo: Nina Koocher
Santa Cruz Museum Of Natural History: 2020 Vision Photography Virtual Exhibit
As a community, Santa Cruz County residents found healing and solace in nature throughout 2020, but always with the stark reminder that natural phenomena can completely alter our ways of life. These images, and their stories, explore how our community has captured and reflected upon this unique year.View exhibit HERE.
Watsonville Wetlands Watch: Great Trails And Hikes
“Watsonville is blessed with some of the largest coastal freshwater wetlands in the State! There are many ways to appreciate this rare habitat. For us, spending time in the wetlands always holds an adventure. Today, we, at Watsonville Wetlands Watch, are sharing a few of our favorite places to enjoy the wetlands this season. Read about trails HERE. Or if you prefer to write your own adventure, check out our trail maps.”
YES! Magazine: Native Family Values – Writing “The Whale Child”
Once upon a time, a child is born into love, beauty, and balance. But an existential threat looms, and the child has to go out into the world to meet it. Along the way, the child is transformed, and in some ways, the world changes, too.
That’s the basic story arc of The Whale Child (North Atlantic Books, 2020), a children’s book by brother-and-sister team Keith and Chenoa Egawa. It’s a universal structure, comforting and familiar in its timelessness. But in other ways, this illustrated book for 7-12 year olds is something new. In drawing from their Lummi and S’Klallam background, the Egawas bring a Native perspective that is relatively new to inclusion in children’s book publishing. And the story they tell, about the threat to Earth from pollution and global warming, is the most urgent issue of our time. More HERE.
The Guardian: Birds ‘falling out of the sky’ in mass die-off in south-western US
The mass die-off of thousands of songbirds in south-western US was caused by long-term starvation, made worse by unseasonably cold weather probably linked to the climate crisis, scientists have said. Flycatchers, swallows and warblers were among the migratory birds “falling out of the sky” in September, with carcasses found in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Arizona and Nebraska. A USGS National Wildlife Health Center necropsy has found 80% of specimens showed typical signs of starvation. Nearly 10,000 dead birds were reported to the wildlife mortality database by citizens, and previous estimates suggest hundreds of thousands may have died. Read MORE.
EcoWatch, Dec 29: 11 Top Books on the Environment and Conservation Published in 2020
Books have provided a welcome refuge in 2020. The global pandemic has, in many cases, turned even routine travel into a risk not worth taking, and it has left many longing for the day when we will once again set off for a new destination. At the same time, this year has also been a time to reflect on the sense of place and what home means to each of us. This year’s conservation book list draws on those two themes. Satisfying the urge to light out into the unknown, several authors share tales and observations from the field. Others delve deeply into a single spot, examining its importance to a people and the way we as a species fit into it, however uncomfortably. In the end, each reinforces a lesson that the pandemic has laid bare: Pull a thread on the web of life and even distant strands will reverberate as a result. Access book list HERE.
Jungle Mystery: Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon Video
“Archaeologists have discovered tens of thousands of prehistoric paintings of animals and humans in a remote area of Colombia. Some now-extinct animals are depicted, meaning the art is likely more than 12,500 years old. These paintings prove that people lived in the area as far back as 19,000 years ago and decorated rock faces with scenes of hunting, dancing and eating. In addition to depictions of humans, there are also images of deer and elk, porcupines, snakes, birds, monkeys and insects. Animals that have long since become extinct, such as giant sloths, Ice Age horses, or the palaeolama, a type of ancient camel, are also depicted. There is even a picture of a mastodon, a prehistoric relative of the elephant that has not inhabited South America for the last 12,000 years.” Watch Trailer HERE.
EcoWatch, Dec 24: Trump Administration Sued Over ‘Outrageous Assault’ on Tongass National Forest Protections
“A coalition of Indigenous groups, businesses, and conservation organizations on Wednesday sued the Trump administration over its “arbitrary and reckless” removal of roadless protections for the nearly 17 million-acre Tongass National Forest in Alaska, warning that the rollback could devastate local communities, wildlife, and the climate. Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Alaska on behalf of regional tribes, businesses, and conservation groups. The complaint notes that the largest national forest, located in Southeast Alaska, “is central to the life ways of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people who have lived in and depended on the forest since time immemorial.” The U.S. Forest Service’s move to exempt the forest from the Roadless Rule, finalized just days before President Donald Trump lost reelection to President-elect Joe Biden, would open up more than nine million acres of the Tongass — with its centuries-old trees that provide crucial carbon sequestration — to logging and roadbuilding.” Learn MORE.
Sea Shepherd: Scientists Spot Beaked Whale Believed to Be New Species
When a trio of beaked whales surfaced off Mexico’s Pacific coast, researchers thought they’d found the elusive Perrin’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon perrini), an endangered species that’s never been officially sighted alive. But upon closer inspection, the researchers realized they may have stumbled upon something even rarer — a new species of beaked whale altogether. On Nov. 17, the research team was sailing aboard the Martin Sheen, a vessel operated by conservation group Sea Shepherd, when they spotted the three beaked whales about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Mexico’s San Benito Islands. They managed to capture photos and video recordings of the animals, and also dropped a specialized microphone underwater to record the animals’ acoustic signals. Read MORE.
Peninsula Open Space Trust: 2021 Hiking Calendar
The best hikes for each month of the year! All new featured hikes for 2021. Discover beautiful places in the Bay Area. Know when and where to see the wildflowers bloom, wildlife and more! Download your free seasonal guide to Peninsula and South Bay trails HERE.
Patagonia: Big Wave Risk Assessment Group Video
This is about humans who love the sea learning how to save lives in and out of the ocean.
“Sion Milosky’s death at Mavericks in 2011 left the big wave surfing community reeling from the loss of another talented surfer. It was a wake-up call. Big wave surfing was advancing faster than safety protocols, and something had to change. Later that year, a group of surfers led by Kohl Christensen and Danilo Couto gathered in Kohl’s barn on the North Shore of Oʻahu and held a CPR course taught by a veteran emergency room nurse. This was the first unofficial meeting of the Big Wave Risk Assessment Group (BWRAG). The following year, BWRAG held its first public summit at Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore, expanding its teachings from CPR to first aid, water rescue skills and more.” Watch video HERE.
NOAA, Dec 8: The Arctic Is Drastically Changing Due to Climate Change.
Global warming is rapidly changing the Arctic into a region that is, “warmer, less frozen, and biologically changed in ways that are scarcely imaginable even a generation ago,” according to NOAA’s annual Arctic report card. While the whole planet is warming because of emissions of heat-trapping gases through burning of fossil fuels and other human activity, the Arctic is heating up more than twice as quickly as other regions. That warming has cascading effects elsewhere, raising sea levels, influencing ocean circulation and, scientists increasingly suggest, playing a role in extreme weather. Watch NOAA’s new (4 minute) video – ANNUAL ARCTIC REPORT CARD
Nat Geo: Lynx Epic Trek
In Alaska, encounters with this striking feline, with tufted ears and mitten-like feet, are usually rare. Until recently. In Anchorage, Alaska’s most populous city, the normally elusive cats are making regular appearances. Lynx run-ins are likely on the rise because populations of their favorite prey, the snowshoe hare, are at their peak. Hares experience a natural boom-and-bust population cycle that can last between eight to 11 years, and when hares are plentiful—as is the case now—so are lynx. One of the project’s star travelers, nicknamed Hobo, was radio-collared in Alaska’s Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge in March 2017, just over the border from the Yukon. Hobo took off from his home range in June 2017, and, by July 2018 had traveled a whopping 2,174 miles, across mountains and often powerful rivers. (Photo: Peter Mather) Learn MORE.
Conservation International: Trove of new species discovered in hidden Bolivian valley
Nestled in the Andes, the forests of Bolivia’s Zongo Valley are shrouded in pillowy clouds more than 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) above sea level. But for a team of researchers who hiked for two weeks through the valley’s rugged terrain, the mist and fog could no longer hide the treasures within. In the heart of the cloud forest, they discovered 20 species new to science, and rediscovered several species that had not been seen for decades. Co-led by biologist Trond Larsen, the expedition was part of Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program, which assembles “ecological SWAT teams” to assess the health of ecosystems around the world in a fraction of the time it can typically take. Learn MORE.
ClearPath: The Many Types Of Carbon Capture
Carbon capture, utilization and storage, aka “CCS” or “CCUS”, refers to the removal of carbon dioxide from the waste streams of industrial processes or from the atmosphere, for storage underground or “recycling” into new products. Much like the term “energy efficiency”, carbon capture is an umbrella term for many technologies. This overview describes the main technology types. As reducing global greenhouse gas emissions has become an international priority, more R&D is being devoted to reduce capture costs from lower concentration sources such as power plants, chemical facilities and even directly from the air. Policies that support carbon capture deployment, including the expanded U.S. carbon capture tax credit and emerging state incentives, have been major commercial drivers. Learn MORE.
City Of Santa Cruz: Climate Action Plan 2030 Survey
The City of Santa Cruz Climate Action Plan (CAP) was adopted in 2012. The CAP outlines the actions the City will take between 2012 and 2020 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% from a 1990 baseline. The City is embarking upon an equitable, community-driven Climate Action Plan 2030 process! Please take our first community survey on engagement preferences and if you would like to be added to the mailing list for this project. Be sure to click the “submit” button! Survey open through February 1, 2021. Please take the survey and share widely! SURVEY.
National Park Service: Do You Know This Seal’s Name?
This “sea mammal can be best described with one word, unique. (They) have four rings….. of white to light brown fur on their bodies. An unusual organ, an air sac, is found near their trachea. Its function is unknown, but is thought to help ribbon seals when they dive to depths of 1950 feet (590 m)! Even how this seal moves across ice is unique. They alternate their front flippers to move forward, rather than wiggle their bodies like other seal species.” Find out MORE.
Restore Our Climate: Iron salt aerosols cooled the planet during the ice ages
“Over the past million years, naturally occurring Iron Salt Aerosol (ISA) has significantly depleted atmospheric methane. It exists in airborne dust particles originating largely from deserts and glacial rock erosion. In the presence of sunlight, ISA breaks down methane molecules through a series of chemical reactions. This iron-containing dust quickly washes out with rain, becoming a nutrient for aquatic and plant life. focused on Iron Salt Aerosol (ISA), a technique inspired by the Earth’s natural corrective mechanisms to stabilize its climate. This technology still needs laboratory testing and atmospheric modeling as well as field trials, but many experts believe it to be the most promising method available. This video gives an excellent introduction to our work.” Watch VIDEO.
EcoWatch, Dec 11: Abandoned Oil Wells Leak Untold Methane From Gulf Floor
More than 30,000 abandoned oil and gas wells litter the floor of the Gulf of Mexico in federal waters, the vast majority of those permanently — with many likely leaking methane and other pollutants in perpetuity, the Environmental Health Network reports. The 28,232 permanently abandoned or decommissioned wells on the floor of the Gulf should be permanently plugged and capped when they are decommissioned. Federal oversight is inadequate, however, and the state of wells after they are decommissioned or abandoned is not monitored. In addition to methane, a greenhouse gas 84 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a 20 year period, abandoned oil and gas wells spew benzene, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, and other pollutants. Learn MORE.
YES! Magazine: How Ancient Grains Are Helping to Empower Indian Women
Until 15 years ago, residents of the semi-arid Vizianagaram district in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh did not cultivate any millets. For that matter, they did not cultivate any food crops.
“Many people here were disconnected from their fields. They would work in nearby towns as daily-wage labor and depended on the public distribution system for subsidized but nutrient-sparse white rice,” says K. Saraswathi, executive secretary of SABALA, a nonprofit that aims to strengthen community food security via millet farming, describing the scene she encountered when her organization first began working in the district. “A few farmers who were growing rice had lost their entire crop due to the absence of rain. People sorely felt the lack of food and livelihood security.” Today, SABALA works with nearly 2,000 female farmers in the district who are cultivating millets, mainly for their own consumption. Learn MORE.
New York Times: What’s Killing California’s Sea Otters? House Cats
For a sea otter, a bad infection with the Toxoplasma parasite may feel a bit like drowning. “The brain is no longer able to function and tell the body how to swim,” said Dr. Karen Shapiro, a veterinarian and pathologist at the University of California, Davis. The parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, enters the otter orally and makes its way to the brain, where it can cause swelling, weakness, seizures, disorientation and death. If the parasite doesn’t kill the otter directly, it can render it more likely to be hit by a boat or eaten by a shark. Among California sea otters, a protected species whose numbers are closely monitored, Toxoplasma infections contribute to the deaths of 8 percent of otters that are found dead, and is the primary cause of death in 3 percent. Scientists have been working to determine where the Toxoplasma comes from and how to keep it from striking sea otters. They have long viewed one potential culprit with suspicion, and a study published last week identified the offender definitively: house cats. “This is the ultimate proof that strains that are killing sea otters are coming from domestic cats,” said Dr. Shapiro, a lead author of the study. Read MORE.
EcoWatch: Returning the ‘Three Sisters’ – Corn, Beans and Squash – to Native American Farms Nourishes People, Land and Cultures
“Historically, Native people throughout the Americas bred indigenous plant varieties specific to the growing conditions of their homelands. They selected seeds for many different traits, such as flavor, texture and color. Native growers knew that planting corn, beans, squash and sunflowers together produced mutual benefits. Corn stalks created a trellis for beans to climb, and beans’ twining vines secured the corn in high winds. They also certainly observed that corn and bean plants growing together tended to be healthier than when raised separately. Today we know the reason: Bacteria living on bean plant roots pull nitrogen – an essential plant nutrient – from the air and convert it to a form that both beans and corn can use.
Squash plants contributed by shading the ground with their broad leaves, preventing weeds from growing and retaining water in the soil. Heritage squash varieties also had spines that discouraged deer and raccoons from visiting the garden for a snack. And sunflowers planted around the edges of the garden created a natural fence, protecting other plants from wind and animals and attracting pollinators.” Read MORE.
EcoWatch, Nov 23: Invasive Tegu Lizard Threatens Endangered Species
These black-and-white lizards could be the punchline of a joke, except the situation is no laughing matter. That’s because the Argentine black-and-white tegu is an invasive species of dog-sized lizards that scientists worry could pose a threat to endangered species across the Southeast. The tegus first came to the region as escaped or released pets and began to spread in South Florida more than a decade ago, National Geographic reported. But they are now reaching other states in the region and have been spotted in Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama. “[T]he entire southeast portion of the United States is at risk,” reports USGS biologist Amy Yackel Adams. “Much of this area has a climate that is suitable for tegus.” Learn MORE.
YES! Magazine: Bien Vivir
“Ecuador’s Cotacachi Canton (is) home to two of the world’s 36 internationally recognized biodiversity hotspots. It is also home to a people fiercely committed to their own social and environmental well-being. Cotacacheños are guided by what they call Buen Vivir in Spanish, or sumak kawsay in the Kichwa language, which loosely translates as “the Good Life.” It is for them both a philosophy and a lived practice. A direct and critical response to Western ideas of sustainable development, Buen Vivir is about respecting the rights and responsibilities of communities to protect and promote their own social and environmental well-being by driving grassroots change. Cotacacheños have been engaged in resistance against large-scale mining operations in the region for more than three decades in the name of Buen Vivir, because the destructive nature of mining is in conflict with their vision of environmental reciprocity. Peruvian local Indigenous community leader David Torres explains, “Buen Vivir signifies first and foremost protecting our environment, more than anything.” The lessons from this Andean canton can be applied to help transform communities across the globe, at a time where that’s more necessary than ever. Learn MORE.
Wild Salmon Center: On Northern California’s Klamath River, dams have brought spring Chinook to the brink. To save the species, Indigenous knowledge is key.
The dams’ longevity has muddied the salmon restoration argument for dam removal. Since the 1910s, no ocean-returning fish on the Klamath River could climb higher than Copco 1. Maybe, asked some opponents, salmon never reached Klamath Lake in the first place? Indigenous knowledge was mostly ignored. And old newspapers, settler accounts, ethnographic accounts indicating that salmon migrated above the dams, the skeptics just dismissed. “Dam removal skeptics found it easy to create confusion later, because the dams went in before western scientists had “hard data” on salmon numbers,” says Dr. Sloat. “Indigenous knowledge was mostly ignored. Then archeologists found the middens.” Read MORE.
Medium, Tenderly Mag: 37 Pictures of Majestic Animals Being Incorrigible Goofs
“For the last three years, the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards (CWPA) has been single-mindedly focused on showcasing a profoundly underserved aspect of wildlife photography: Pictures that show the goofy side of our animal friends. It turns out that, contrary to what National Geographic might want you to think not every wild animal wakes up looking like their Instagram photos. In fact, for every picture where these guys are being majestic and proud and flat-out awe-inspiring, there’s one where they’re just as awkward and absurd as we are. And the CWPA is committed to uncovering the very best of those moments while highlighting an important message of wildlife conservation in partnership with The Born Free Foundation. Here are some of the extremely relatable finalists from this year’s awards.” Learn more at Medium.
Optimist Daily: Rare Black Rhino Birth
The population of the critically endangered eastern black rhino has just gotten bigger, thanks to the birth of a healthy calf at Chester Zoo in the UK. Following 15 months of pregnancy, the celebratory event was caught on the zoo’s security camera which shows the young calf suckling from her mother, Ema Elsa, just 10 minutes after she was born. “The birth of a critically endangered eastern black rhino is always very special,” said Andrew McKenzie, team manager of rhinos at the zoo. “And to be able to watch on camera as a calf is born is an incredible privilege – with rhino numbers so, so low it, sadly, isn’t something that’s captured very often. Watch video HERE.
Daily Kos, Nov 17: Why Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Matter
Among the action items on President-elect Biden’s early agenda is the restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. The monuments encompass vast swaths of the spectacular red rock terrain that comprises much of south-central and southeastern Utah’s canyon and mesa landscape. These monuments need restoration because in December 2017 the Trump administration, in an historically unprecedented move, drastically slashed their size — Bears Ears by about 85% and Grand Staircase Escalante by nearly half. President Biden can and will quickly reverse those actions. The ambitious Biden-Harris Plan For Tribal Nations emphasizes that “As President, Biden will take immediate steps to reverse the Trump administration’s assault on America’s natural treasures, including by reversing Trump’s attacks on…Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.”
The significance of restoring—and in the case of Bears Ears, one hopes also expanding—these monuments can hardly be understated. Restoring the protected status of these lands is not just about preserving scenic beauty and the economic benefits landscape tourism provides—as important as that is—but is a crucial action for the advancement of social justice. The Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition—a coalition of the Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute, Diné and Ute tribes—note that these lands are staggeringly rich in archeological sites—over 100,000—and remain essential for ongoing cultural practices. Bears Ears lands, explain the coalition, are “a unique cultural place where we visit and practice our traditional religions for the purpose of attaining or resuming health for ourselves, our communities and our natural world.” If the lands are protected, they allow for traditional practices like the gathering of plants (such as pinon nuts), medicinal herbs, wood for ceremonial and heating purposes, and hunting. Learn MORE.
Regeneration International: Trails of Regeneration – A Brief History of Agroforestry
“Watch the latest episode in our “Trails of Regeneration” series features agroforestry, with expert Patrick Worms of the World Agroforestry. Here we explore the roots of agroforestry and how industrial agriculture has pushed aside ancient farming practices that produce healthy food while also caring for the environment. The old saying “nature knows best” rings true when it comes to agriculture. Working with nature instead of against it is a mindset that dates back early in human history when farmers relied on ancestral knowledge and traditions to grow food. The introduction of modern agriculture technology — think pesticides, synthetic fertilizers + farming equipment — has in many ways brought thousands of years of agricultural evolution using trees to a standstill.” Watch HERE.
Science Advances, Nov 11: Assembly of the algal CO2-fixing organelle, the pyrenoid, is guided by a Rubisco-binding motif
Brain exercise! First sentence is surprising. “Approximately one-third of the Earth’s photosynthetic CO2 assimilation occurs in (algae’s) pyrenoid, an organelle containing the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco. How constituent proteins are recruited to the pyrenoid and how the organelle’s subcompartments — membrane tubules, a surrounding phase-separated Rubisco matrix, and a peripheral starch sheath — are held together is unknown. Using the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, we found that pyrenoid proteins share a sequence motif. We show that the motif is necessary and sufficient to target proteins to the pyrenoid and that the motif binds to Rubisco, suggesting a mechanism for targeting. The presence of the Rubisco-binding motif on proteins that localize to the tubules and on proteins that localize to the matrix–starch sheath interface suggests that the motif holds the pyrenoid’s three subcompartments together. Our findings advance our understanding of pyrenoid biogenesis and illustrate how a single protein motif can underlie the architecture of a complex multilayered phase-separated organelle.” LINK
EcoMotion News: Offshore Wind “Floaters” for Deep Water Locations
Walter Musial, a principal engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) expects that offshore wind – using floating wind turbines known as “floaters” – will be cost-competitive with fixed-bottom models by 2024. This is thanks in part to the work being done to reduce the barriers to offshore wind production. One means to reduce costs and streamline development is through the development of a robust port infrastructure where the turbines can be assembled then towed out to sea. Once towed to their locations, the “floaters” are then be held in place by mooring lines attached to anchors in deep waters. Musial notes that 80% of the world’s offshore waters suitable for wind turbines near major population centers are in deep water. Thus floating turbines have huge application. Subscribe to monthly EcoMotion News.
Phys.org: Study of ancient climate suggests future warming could accelerate
The rate at which the planet warms in response to the ongoing buildup of heat-trapping carbon dioxide gas could increase in the future, according to new simulations of a comparable warm period more than 50 million years ago. Researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Arizona used a state-of-the-art climate model to successfully simulate—for the first time—the extreme warming of the Early Eocene Period, which is considered an analog for Earth’s future climate. They found that the rate of warming increased dramatically as carbon dioxide levels rose, a finding with far-reaching implications for Earth’s future climate. Learn MORE.
Museum of Natural History: Nature News – Updates on the Natural World Around You
Some plants depend on fire for their survival. The Santa Cruz cypress (Hesperocyparis abramsiana) is so limited in its range that there are only a few stands left in the Santa Cruz mountains, all of which are located in the fire zone of the CZU lightning complex. Though the trees themselves aren’t resilient to fire like the coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), they do depend on fire to reproduce. Heat causes the cones to open and drop their seeds, which require sunlight and bare mineral soil to germinate. Seed viability reduces as the trees age, meaning that if large disturbances occur too infrequently, the trees won’t reproduce often enough to maintain population size. After the 2008 Martin Fire burned and killed a large portion of the trees in the Bonny Doon population, regeneration was abundant. Time will tell how the Santa Cruz cypress will respond to this more recent fire event.
World Economic Forum, Oct 30: The best way to restore our forests is to let nature take its course
“Planting new forests is recognised as a powerful natural climate solution, but the best way to achieve this is still a matter for debate. New research suggests natural regrowth could be the most effective approach. Letting nature take its course promotes native species and biodiversity at a fraction of the cost of manual tree-planting. Trees are having a moment in the limelight as people increasingly recognize their ability to soak up CO2 from the atmosphere and store it for long periods of time. While new forests represent a powerful natural climate solution, there is a lot of confusion and controversy about how to best establish those new forests.” One of authors is Dr. Karen Holl, UCSC. Read more HERE.
Honor The Earth: LN3 FILM: SEVEN TEACHINGS OF THE ANISHINAABE IN RESISTANCE
A 38-minute frontline documentary on the effort to stop the dirty tar sands oil pipeline (Line 3) through Minnesota and encourage real energy security. Predatory industry hijacked the US regulatory system in 2019, placing ancient food systems and a fifth of the world’s freshwater in imminent danger. LN3 features indigenous firebrands Winona Laduke, Tara Houska, and poet-hip hop artist ThomasX, as they lead an alliance to take on Big Oil and their enablers at the institutional level, and on the frontlines. This is the battle for Earth. Watch for free HERE.
“David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet”
Celebrated British naturalist Sir David Attenborough has a broadcasting career spanning over six decades. He has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and bringing the wonders of the living world to audiences worldwide through ground-breaking natural history series. During his lifetime, Sir David Attenborough has seen first-hand the monumental scale of environmental change caused by human actions. Now for the first time, he reflects on the devastating changes he’s witnessed and reveals how together we can address the biggest challenges facing life on our planet. You will want everyone to see this film on Netflix and be inspired to act. See TRAILER.
New York Times: Trump Administration is Reversing 100 Environmental Rules
The Trump Administration in 4 years has completed 68 reversals of environmental rules. They have 32 more in progress. That’s exactly 100 rules stripped away that were made to protect the Earth. 27 of those rules have to do with air pollution and emissions — like weakening fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for cars. 19 of those rules have to do with drilling and oil extraction — like lifting the drilling ban in the Arctic. The other 54 rules range from protections of animal life to water pollution to infrastructure and so much more. Read More.
Audubon: Report details financial resources needed to preserve biodiversity.
There can be little doubt that biodiversity is in free fall. Here in North America there are now almost three billion fewer birds than there were in the 1970s. One million species worldwide are threatened with extinction. A recent World Wildlife Fund report found that there has been a nearly 70 percent average decline in wildlife populations around the globe since 1970. A new report, “Financing Nature: Closing the Global Biodiversity Financing Gap,” by the Paulson Institute, The Nature Conservancy, and Cornell University, now (provides) an authoritative analysis of the financial resources needed to stop and reverse the catastrophic biodiversity declines happening across the globe. This is a crisis the world can afford to address. Learn MORE.
Clean Energy States Alliance: Virtual Power Plants
Utilities across the country are beginning to tap into hundreds, sometimes thousands, of devices in homes and businesses to create virtual power plants (VPP). These VPPs can deliver many of the same services as traditional power plants but they’re powered by distributed resources, including water heaters, smart thermostats, and, increasingly, solar and battery storage (home and EV). This webinar covers the basics of what a virtual power plant is and how it can create value for both utilities and customers, with examples from real-world programs. Presenters include the software company Virtual Peaker and Portland General Electric Company (PGE). PGE recently launched a new VPP pilot program that will incentivize the installation of more than 500 residential battery storage systems, representing up to four megawatts of energy. Watch for free HERE.
Patagonia Film: Run the Red, 9 minutes
A trail running race in southwest Wyoming brings attention to the importance of protecting the largest unfenced area in the contiguous United States. The Red Desert is a place of harsh, wind-scoured beauty, a vast patchwork of public, state and private lands spread across the southwestern belly of Wyoming. The boundaries shift depending on who you’re talking to, but estimates put it around 6 million acres of mostly Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. It’s defined by both pristine wildness and sporadic human development—roughly a dozen federally designated wilderness study areas sit like islands of preservation amid lands leased for energy and scarred by a long history of human use. “Run the Red was really birthed from this idea: how can we build an activity or showcase this place in a way that allows people to experience it the way wilderness should be experienced,” said Shaleas Harrison. Watch film HERE.
Kiss The Ground Documentary
Kiss the Ground is a full-length documentary narrated by Woody Harrelson that sheds light on an alternative approach to farming called “regenerative agriculture” that has the potential to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. TRAILER. It is now streaming on Netflix, and the exclusive Live Q&A with Gisele Bündchen, Woody Harrelson and Ian Somerhalder, plus the filmmakers, farmers and activists behind the regenerative movement, is right HERE.
Food Revolution Summit: Free Access To All 25 Programs for 2 Days
In these times it’s more important than ever to get informed, so you can take care of your health and the health of those you love. Now is the time to put the healing power of food to work for you, so you can be truly and deeply nourished, and have the resiliency to meet whatever challenges come your way. John Robbins, one of the food movements most beloved leaders and author of Diet For A New America, interviews 25 amazing food & health experts. Sign up HERE.
Nat Geo: Yellowstone Bacteria Provide Key Ingredient in Coronavirus Test
Microbiologist Thomas Brock was tramping through Yellowstone in the 1960s when he stumbled upon a species of bacteria that would transform medical science. Brock was investigating the tiny life-forms that manage to eke out a living in the superheated waters of the park’s thermal pools. There, he and a student found golden mats of stringy growth in Yellowstone’s Mushroom Spring containing a microbe that produces unusual heat-resistant enzymes.
Today, those enzymes are a key component in polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, a method used widely in labs around the world to study small samples of genetic material by making millions of copies. This technique, which would have been impossible without the discovery of heat-resistant bacteria more than half a century ago, is now being used to boost the signal of viruses in most of the available tests for COVID-19. Learn MORE.
My Octopus Teacher: Documentary Film
A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world. “One day, while exploring a deep blue pool whose waters were calmed by the density of the kelp surrounding it, Craig saw a strange shape on the ocean floor: an octopus balled up and covered with an armor of rocks and shells. In an eyeblink, it abandoned its quasi-shell and rocketed away. “There’s something to learn here,” he remembers thinking. He returned, found the female octopus’ den, and visited it daily as it huddled in its little cave. Eventually, the creature realized Craig wasn’t a threat. It reaches out a curious tentacle and touches his hand, its suckers exploring his skin. He enjoys the moment as long as his lungs will allow, gently detaches and heads up to the surface for air.” (The Decider.com) Watch trailer HERE.
“Infinite Potential: The Life and Ideas of David Bohm”, Documentary
This powerful and inspiring film is about the man Einstein called his “spiritual son” and the Dalai Lama his “science guru.” Infinite Potential explores the revolutionary theories of David Bohm, the maverick physicist who turned to Eastern wisdom to develop groundbreaking insights into the profound interconnectedness of the Universe and our place within it. This mystical and scientific journey into the nature of life and reality includes the final post-screening event in a series of interactive, virtual discussions inspired by the film and will include a very special group of panelists: Reverend Dr. Michael B. Beckwith, Spiritual Director Agape International Spiritual Center; Audrey Kitagawa, Board Chair Parliament of World Religions; Reverend Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr., Civil Rights Leader; Bob Roth, CEO of the David Lynch Foundation; Marianne Williamson, bestselling author, political activist and spiritual thought leader; and Dr. Dot Maver (moderator), Global Silent Minute. Watch HERE.
Lake Charles, LA. A woman lost consciousness in a parking lot after Hurricane Laura left her without electricity or air-conditioning for several days.
New York Times: HOW CLIMATE MIGRATION WILL RESHAPE AMERICA, Abrahm Lustgarten
“Millions will be displaced. Where will they go? For two years, I have been studying how climate change will influence global migration. My sense was that of all the devastating consequences of a warming planet — changing landscapes, pandemics, mass extinctions — the potential movement of hundreds of millions of climate refugees across the planet stands to be among the most important. I traveled across four countries to witness how rising temperatures were driving climate refugees away from some of the poorest and hottest parts of the world. I had also helped create an enormous computer simulation to analyze how global demographics might shift, and now I was working on a data-mapping project about migration here in the United States.” Learn MORE.
Amah Mutsun Ethnobotany: t’ott’oni
Mutsun Name: t’ott’oni, tyottyoni; English Name: toyon; Botanical Name: Heteromeles arbutifolia. Toyon is an evergreen shrub that grows in the foothills surrounding the Central Valley throughout California. Berries are ripe in the Fall but may be eaten by birds or start to have mold. Toyon responds to fire and resprouts vigorously following fire. It has been observed to sprout 4-5 feet tall 4.5 years after a wildfire. Berries are cooked, dried, or made into flour, eaten fresh, roasted, or boiled. Berries are sometimes baked in an earth oven for two or three days or stored in baskets for two months. Berries can also be used to make cider. Ohlone used a toyon leaf as a blood purifier and to regulate menses. Used by some for arrows, cooking instruments, and hairpins. Berries should be monitored to assess best times to gather before berries succumb to mold, disease, or are eaten by other animals. Learn more HERE.
Space.com, Sept 19: Tropical storms and billowing wildfire smoke rage in the same NASA satellite photo
A satellite spotted several tropical storms and dozens of wildfires ravaging the United States together in one image. NASA’s Aqua satellite captured six tropical storms and more than 100 different U.S. wildfires in a single photo snapped on Sept. 15. The wildfires, which have particularly scoured California, have now burned about 4 million acres (over 16,000 square kilometers) across 10 states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. When the photo was taken, there were six named storms total — Sally off the Gulf Coast, Paulette, Rene, Teddy and Vicky in the Atlantic Ocean and Karina in the Pacific. Learn MORE.
Science, Sep. 8: To survive frigid nights, hummingbirds cool themselves to record-low temperatures
High in the Andes, thousands of meters above sea level, speedy hummingbirds defy near-freezing temperatures. These tiny flyers endure the cold with a counterintuitive trick: They lower their body temperature—sometimes as much as 33°C—for hours at a time, new research suggests. Among vertebrates, hummingbirds have the highest metabolism for their size. With a metabolic rate roughly 77 times that of an average human, they need to feed nearly continuously. But when it gets too cold or dark to forage, maintaining a normal body temperature is energetically draining. Instead, the small animals can cool their internal temperature by 10°C to 30°C. This slows their metabolism by as much as 95% and protects them from starvation. In this state, called torpor, a bird is motionless and unresponsive. “You wouldn’t even know it was alive if you picked it up,” Wolf says. But when the morning comes and it’s time to feed, he says, the birds quickly warm themselves back up again. “It’s like hibernation but regulated on an even tighter schedule.” Read MORE.
Politico, Sept 8: Climate Change Major Risk to Financial System
“A massive, first-of-its-kind report, commissioned by Trump appointees and compiled by dozens of analysts from firms across the economy, says “climate change poses a major risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system and to its ability to sustain the American economy.” The findings themselves are not entirely new, but the fact that they were published by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the regulatory body charged with overseeing the complex financial instruments that set the prices of commodities like corn, wheat, and oil, carries significant importance. This is the first federal government report of its kind to focus on the effects of climate change on financial markets” Learn MORE.
NPR, Sept 11: How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled
The industry’s awareness that recycling wouldn’t keep plastic out of landfills and the environment dates to the program’s earliest days, we found. “There is serious doubt that [recycling plastic] can ever be made viable on an economic basis,” one industry insider wrote in a 1974 speech. Yet the industry spent millions telling people to recycle, because, as one former top industry insider told NPR, selling recycling sold plastic, even if it wasn’t true. “If the public thinks that recycling is working, then they are not going to be as concerned about the environment,” Larry Thomas, former president of the Society of the Plastics Industry, told NPR. Learn MORE.
EcoWatch: Aviation Accounts for 3.5% of Global Warming Caused by Humans
A new international study that used unprecedented calculations to pinpoint how much global air travel contributes to the heating of the atmosphere found that aviation makes up 3.5 percent of all the activities that contribute to the climate crisis, according to the University of Reading in the UK where some of the research was conducted. It turns out that in the last 20 years, air travel has doubled its contribution as a driver of the climate crisis. The study looked at the time frame from 2000 to 2018, so it did not account for the current slowdown in air travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. And yet, Lee said that the current slowdown will be just a blip compared to the long-term damage that has already been done by air travel. Learn MORE.
EcoWatch: Meet the ‘Women Warriors’ Protecting the Amazon Forest
On an early December morning last year in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, half a dozen members of the Indigenous Guajajara people packed their bags with food, maps and drone equipment to get ready for a patrol. They said goodbye to their children, uncertain when, or whether, they would see them again. Then, they hoisted their bags over their shoulders and set out to patrol a section of the 173,000 hectares (428,000 acres) of the primary rainforest they call home. This is the Caru Indigenous Territory, near the northeastern coast of Brazil, and it contains some of the last stretches of intact, contiguous forest in Maranhão. It is also under increasing threat: this part of Brazil has been ravaged by some of the country’s highest rates of deforestation and land conflicts over the past decade. Patrols led by Indigenous groups like theirs, known often by the moniker of “Forest Guardians,” have been instrumental in enforcing protections and preventing loggers from entering Indigenous territories. Learn more HERE.
The Guardian: Earth has lost 28 trillion tons of ice since 1994
That is stunning conclusion of UK scientists who have analyzed satellite surveys of the planet’s poles, mountains and glaciers to measure how much ice coverage lost because of global heating triggered by rising greenhouse gas emissions. The scientists – based at Leeds and Edinburgh universities and University College London – describe the level of ice loss as “staggering” and warn that their analysis indicates that sea level rises, triggered by melting glaciers and ice sheets, could reach a meter by the end of the century. “To put that in context, every centimeter of sea level rise means about a million people will be displaced from their low-lying homelands,” said Professor Andy Shepherd, director of Leeds University’s Centre for Polar Observation and Modeling. The level of ice loss revealed by the group matches the worst-case-scenario predictions outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), he added.
The scientists also warn that the melting of ice in these quantities is now seriously reducing the planet’s ability to reflect solar radiation back into space. White ice is disappearing and the dark sea or soil exposed beneath it is absorbing more and more heat, further increasing the warming of the planet. RESEARCH THIS
Washington Post, July 22: Major new climate study rules out less severe global warming scenarios
An analysis finds the most likely range of warming from doubling (of atmospheric) carbon dioxide to be between 4.1 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit. The current pace of human-caused carbon emissions is increasingly likely to trigger irreversible damage to the planet, according to a comprehensive international study released Wednesday. Researchers studying one of the most important and vexing topics in climate science — how sensitive the Earth’s climate is to a doubling of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — found that warming is extremely unlikely to be on the low end of estimates.
These scientists now say it is likely that if human activities — such as burning oil, gas and coal along with deforestation — push carbon dioxide to such levels, the Earth’s global average temperature will most likely increase between 4.1 and 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit (2.3 and 4.5 degrees Celsius). The previous and long-standing estimated range of climate sensitivity, as first laid out in a 1979 report, was 2.7 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 to 4.5 Celsius). Keep informed HERE.
Nat Geo: These people of color transformed U.S. national parks
“When I began exploring the outdoors, I had no idea that Black people had played a vital role in the creation of Yosemite, one of my favorite national parks,” reports
James Edward Mills. “I had never heard the story of the park’s connection with Charles Young and the Buffalo Soldiers (pictured above, at Yosemite), and when I finally did, at age 42, it came to me as a complete surprise. In the 10 years since, I’ve learned the stories of Stephen Bishop and Mammoth Caves, Lancelot Jones and Biscayne Bay, and many other people of color who have influenced national parks. Their narratives have long been obscured or ignored by history.” Read MORE.
LifeLab: Pollinator Observations Backyard Activity
Use a tally sheet to observe pollinators visiting a flower. If you want to be a “citizen scientist” upload your data to the Great Sunflower Project. Ages 6+, 15 min+
This activity is perfect for window-watching or outdoor quiet and reflective time. Find a place where pollinators such as bees or hummingbirds frequently visit and get a comfortable spot nearby so you can observe. You can use our pollinator tally sheet or if you don’t have access to a printer, copy down the data in a notebook or piece of paper on a clipboard. Learn more HERE.
Surfrider Releases Foodware Policy Toolkit
The Surfrider Foundation’s Plastic Pollution Initiative is excited to announce our newest policy toolkit, the Comprehensive Foodware Policy Toolkit. After over a decade of successfully advocating for and passing plastic policies such as bag, straw, and styrofoam bans, this toolkit focuses on the next generation of foodware bills that address plastic pollution in a more holistic and innovative manner. Foodware makes up a large proportion of solid waste and litter, and we see comprehensive foodware laws as the next step in making a larger impact. Foodware laws have evolved over the last decade from being simple bans on expanded polystyrene (EPS) foodware to comprehensive legislation. Access the Toolkit!
Optimist Daily: Indigenous People Play Key Role In Preserving Ecosystems
Environmentalists typically turn to rigorous scientific research to preserve ecosystems, but a recent study shows that grassroots knowledge from Indigenous people can play an equally important role in conservation efforts. The new study from Rutgers University collected more than 300 indicators developed by Indigenous people to monitor ecosystem change, and most revealed negative trends, such as the health of wild animals and increasing populations of invasive species that disrupt a healthy balance in the ecosystem. Such local knowledge influences decisions about where and how to hunt benefits ecosystem management and is important for scientific monitoring on a global scale. Learn more HERE.
EcoWatch: 90% Chance of Society Collapsing Within Decades
Deforestation coupled with the rampant destruction of natural resources will soon have devastating effects on the future of society as we know it, according to two theoretical physicists who study complex systems and have concluded that greed has put us on a path to irreversible collapse within the next two to four decades. The research by the two physicists, one from Chile and the other from the UK, was published last week in Nature Scientific Reports. The researchers used advance statistical modeling to look at how a growing human population can cope with the loss of resources, mainly due to deforestation. After crunching the numbers, the scientists came up with a fairly bleak assessment of society’s chance of surviving the climate crisis.
“Based on the current resource consumption rates and best estimate of technological rate growth our study shows that we have very low probability, less than 10 percent in most optimistic estimate, to survive without a catastrophic collapse,” the authors write. Learn more about the forecast for our future HERE.
Nat Geo: Formed by Megafloods, This Place Fooled Scientists for Decades
Defenders Of Wildlife: Doughnut economics: A visual framework for sustainable development
Oxford economist Kate Raworth shows us that it is far more practical though – both our environmental and human concerns create the literal boundaries within which we must proceed. Raworth’s Doughnut shows the upper and lower boundaries of the Safe and Just Space for Humanity. The Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries (2017) Raworth’s Doughnut shows the upper and lower boundaries of the Safe and Just Space for Humanity.
After decades of practical work with the United Nations, Oxfam and Oxford, Raworth developed her Doughnut Economics theory. It’s easiest to show it rather than explain it, but there are 17 criteria that need to be met to keep our society functioning at minimum, thriving if possible. Within the upper and lower limits is where she finds us our Safe and Just Space for Humanity. By addressing the 9 environmental concerns and the 17 critical human needs, we have empirical evidence for the limits of the Spaceship we’re all sharing.
The Hill: Latest Climate Study Indicates Worst-Case scenario more Likely
A new four-year study, published July 22 in the journal Review of Geophysics by an international team of 25 top experts, indicates average global temperatures are now very likely to increase 4.1 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s at the high end of the range consistently predicted by major climate studies going back to 1979. The study indicates a 95 percent certainty that a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations — which we’re on target to hit in the next 50 years or so — would exceed the 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees celsius) worst-case goal that most nations agreed to in the Paris climate accord. Beyond that threshold, climate scientists predict sea-level rise that will flood many coastal cities, intolerable heat waves and other extreme weather conditions and permanent damage to many ecosystems. Learn more about your future HERE.
Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance: Indigenous Seed Keeper Network
Indigenous Seed Keeper Network (ISKN) is an initiative of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance (NAFSA), a non-profit organization aimed at leveraging resources to support tribal food sovereignty projects. The mission of the Network is to nourish and assist the growing seed sovereignty movement across Turtle Island (North America). ISKN provides educational resources, mentorship training, outreach, and advocacy support on seed policy issues, and organizes convenings to connect communities engaged in this work. Sierra Seeds, a nonprofit sister program to ISKN, also uses mentorship and education to create greater sustainability in food and seed systems by sharing essential practical skills and promoting seed literacy. Learn more HERE.
Seymour Center: Deep-Sea Coral digital mixed media project
This virtual exhibit is artistically designed to merge art and marine science. Locked within the skeleton of deep-sea corals are records of past environmental and climate variability. Because of the longevity of deep-sea coral, their organic skeletons recovered near Hawai’i clearly show climatic changes over the past 1,000 years. The mesopelagic, otherwise known as the ocean’s twilight zone, extends from 200 to 1,000 meters below the surface of the ocean. Linking all of the world’s oceans, it is the largest continuous ecosystem and biome on Earth. The mesopelagic is home to familiar-looking creatures such as seastars and urchins, as well as to unique and alien-looking life such as mid-water gelatinous creatures and deep-sea corals.
Many of the deep-sea corals and related biota have colonial lifespans of one hundred or more years. Colonies of some genera have continuously added growth from new individuals for thousands of years. Although this realm is out of sight of most humans, our actions and choices can have a dramatic impact on these delicate and important ecosystems. View HERE
Audubon: How To be A Bird-friendly Beachgoer
While many of us have strong connections to beaches, coastal areas also play a vital role for many species of birds. On many beaches in North America, it is not uncommon to come across terns, skimmers, oystercatchers, or plovers nesting and trying to raise their chicks. For other birds species, these coastal regions serve as rich sources of food for migratory stopovers. As we head into the summer season, keep in mind that birds need beaches too. Fortunately, there are some easy but key steps we can all take to be good shore stewards, ensuring that both birds and people will enjoy this vital resource for years to come. Learn more HERE.
Patagonia: The Refuge
Documentary film on the fight to save the Arctic Refuge. For hundreds of generations, the Gwich’in people of Alaska and northern Canada have depended on the caribou that migrate through the Arctic Refuge. With their traditional culture now threatened by oil extraction and climate change, two Gwich’in women continue a decades-long fight to protect their land and future. Go here to watch 15 minute FILM.
Arboretum Gardens are open!
The UCSC Arboretum & Botanic Garden is very happy to announce that our gardens have reopened. Our hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., every day. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children, and free to our members and volunteers. Please follow social distancing protocols, wear a mask, and bring your own drinking water.
In addition to donations, the Arboretum relies heavily on memberships, plant sales, and admissions to fund our vital operations, including maintaining our collections, plant propagation, and conservation seed banking. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to hold our Spring Plant Sale and have been closed to the public, resulting in a significant loss of income over the last three months.
We are in desperate need of your support! If you would like to become a member, or renew, you can do so HERE.
Press Banner: Discover A New Park!
If you’re feeling penned in these days, you should check out a new park! Discovery Park, located next to the new Felton Library, is now open! Nancy Gerdt, President of the Felton Library Friends and Friends of Santa Cruz County Parks’ board member, was eager to share more details with me. “When we began our whole library campaign in 2005, it went through many iterations. It wasn’t until 2015, when the county bought land on the other side of Bull Creek that we thought of a new park, which worked so well with our theme of environmental conservation.” Read more HERE.
Save The Redwoods League: Behold the Stag Tree
Take a minute to inhale Alder Creek’s Stagg Tree, the fifth largest known tree in the world. Strength and resilience in the face of many challenges. View 1 minute video HERE.
Coastal Watershed Council: San Lorenzo River Scavenger Hunts
Walking and bicycling along the Santa Cruz Riverwalk is really fun, but wouldn’t it be more fun with a scavenger hunt in hand? Notice things you haven’t seen before, stop and listen in new places, observe wildlife, and more! Each scavenger hunt is a loop about 1.5 miles and takes 30 minutes minimum, perfect for an evening walk or a stop-and-go bike ride. One can complete these two scavenger hunts separately, check a few items off the list whenever you visit the Riverwalk, or even go big and do them both in one long adventure!
Both of these kid friendly, interactive searches along the Santa Cruz Riverwalk can be viewed by clicking HERE.
BioScience: World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency
“Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to “tell it like it is.” On the basis of this obligation and the graphical indicators presented below, we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.
Over 40 years ago, scientists from 50 nations met at the First World Climate Conference (in Geneva 1979) and agreed that alarming trends for climate change made it urgently necessary to act. Since then, similar alarms have been made through the 1992 Rio Summit, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and the 2015 Paris Agreement, as well as scores of other global assemblies and scientists’ explicit warnings of insufficient progress (Ripple et al. 2017). Yet greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are still rapidly rising, with increasingly damaging effects on the Earth’s climate. An immense increase of scale in endeavors to conserve our biosphere is needed to avoid untold suffering due to the climate crisis (IPCC 2018).” Learn more HERE.
Science: Pools in the Mexican desert are a window into Earth’s early life, Rodrigo Pérez Ortega, Jun. 30
Valeria Souza Saldívar never planned to devote her life to a remote and ancient oasis more than 1000 kilometers north of her laboratory in Mexico City. But a call in early 1999 changed that. “It’s one of the best cold calls I’ve ever made,” says James Elser, a limnologist at the University of Montana. He had picked up the phone to invite Souza Saldívar to join a NASA-funded astrobiology project in Cuatro Ciénegas—a butterfly-shaped basin with colorful pools, or pozas, in the middle of Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert.The landscape—more than 300 turquoise-blue pozas scattered across 800 square kilometers, among marshes and majestic mountains—wasn’t the only draw. The waters, whose chemistry resembled that of Earth’s ancient seas, teemed with microbes; unusual bacterial mats and formations called stromatolites carpeted the shallows. Read more HERE.
Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Paul Schaafsma, Climate Shock In Africa
To understand what climate change might bring for us, look at what has already happened in Africa. In Southern Africa, 5 years of severe drought have led to water supplies disappearing, massive levels of crop failure and 45 million human beings going hungry. Landslides and floods in East Africa impacted 3 million lives in just the last 3 months of 2019. The floods in turn helped spawn a plague of locusts, that are devouring the crops that survived previous shocks, threatening the food supply of tens of millions. Back to back cyclones ravaged Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi last Spring, leaving 2.5 million in dire need of humanitarian relief in Mozambique alone. Never in recorded history have cyclones struck there twice in one season.
Learn more HERE.
International Dark-Sky Association
The night sky, filled with stars, is celebrated and protected around the world as a shared heritage benefiting all living things. Our purpose is to protect the night from light pollution. We will realize our vision by guiding strategy, monitoring results, and supporting aligned actions among IDA chapters, volunteers, and other stakeholders. By providing leadership, tools and resources for individuals, policymakers, and industry, we will reduce light pollution and promote responsible outdoor lighting that is beautiful, healthy, and functional. Learn more HERE.
Indigenous Environmental Network: A People’s Orientation to a Regenerative Economy
“This … guides us collectively into a sustainable future, wherein Indigenous sovereignty and values are front and center. This is important because in order to visualize a better path forward, we must reconceptualize our framing away from the capitalistic systems that harm our Grandmother Earth, our Father Sky, our communities, our families, and our futures. We must recognize the way governmental infrastructure, jobs, the environment, and our communities are being negatively impacted by not only the climate crisis and demise of capitalism, but also the way these impacts are exacerbated by a global pandemic with Covid-19. It is our stance that the problems created and perpetuated by colonization and capitalism cannot find solutions in those same frames.” More HERE.
New York Times, Cara Giaimo, July 2: White-Throated Sparrow’s Song Changed
Even if you’re not a bird person, you probably know the jaunty song of the white-throated sparrow. It plays on loop in North America’s boreal forests, a classic as familiar as the chickadee’s trill and the mourning dove’s dirge. It even has its own mnemonic, “Old Sam Peabody-Peabody-Peabody.” But over the past half-century, the song’s hook — its triplet ending — has changed, replaced by a new, doublet-ended variant, according to a paper published Thursday in Current Biology. It seems the sparrows want to sing something new. Go HERE to listen.
Life Lab: BackPocket Activities for Home or Garden
“BackPocket” Activities are easy to do, minimal materials needed, no screen, engaging for kids. Activities are not screen-based (with exception of some instructional videos). They encourage outdoor exploration such as on your porch, yard, or garden. Most everything you need to do these activities you already have. Healthy, plant-based recipes with easily accessible ingredients. Plus tried and true recipes.
YES! Magazine: Learn What Kelp Forests Can Do for the Climate
The capacity to draw CO2 from the atmosphere has added “climate mitigation” to kelp’s list of benefits. When we talk about ways oceans can sequester carbon, the conversation typically revolves around mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows. But “the magnitude of carbon sequestered by algal forests is comparable to that of all those three habitats together,” says Carlos Duarte, a professor of marine science at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. “Algal forests should not be left behind. They have been hidden for much too long.” This story HERE.
MONTEREY BAY ALGAE GUIDE, FREE
Dip your toes into the world of algae with this illustrated guide to local species and foraging ethics. Download HERE.
National Geo: Murmation, Flight of the Starlings
We know a lot of factual information about the starling—its size and voice, where it lives, how it breeds and migrates—but what remains a mystery is how it flies in murmurations, or flocks, without colliding. This short film by Jan van IJken was shot in the Netherlands, and it captures the birds gathering at dusk, just about to start their “performance.” Listen well and you’ll be able to hear how this beautiful phenomenon got its name. On YouTube.
YES! Magazine: Robin Wall Kimmerer, “Nature Needs A New Pronoun” (Excerpts)
“To stop the age of extinction, let’s ditch the “it”.
Let me make here a modest proposal for the transformation of the English language, a kind of reverse linguistic imperialism, a shift in worldview through the humble work of the pronoun. Might the path to sustainability be marked by grammar?
Inspired by the grammar of animacy and with full recognition of its Anishinaabe roots, might we hear the new pronoun at the end of Bemaadiziiaaki, nestled in the part of the word that means land?
“Ki” to signify a being of the living Earth. Not “he” or “she,” but “ki.” So that when we speak of Sugar Maple, we say, ‘Oh that beautiful tree, ki is giving us sap again this spring.” And we’ll need a plural pronoun, too, for those Earth beings. Let’s make that new pronoun “kin.” So we can now refer to birds and trees not as things, but as our earthly relatives. On a crisp October morning we can look up at the geese and say, “Look, kin are flying south for the winter. Come back soon.”
Language can be a tool for cultural transformation. Make no mistake: “Ki” and “kin” are revolutionary pronouns. Words have power to shape our thoughts and our actions. On behalf of the living world, let us learn the grammar of animacy.”
Patagonia: Learn About Regenerative Organic Farming
Regenerative Organic (RO) is the highest organic standard; it goes beyond “doing less harm” to rehabilitate soil, protect animals and improve the lives of workers. Together, these results represent a more natural way of producing food, a way that’s worked for thousands of years in the past, and one that we need for our future. Instead of adding carbon to the atmosphere, as industrial agriculture does, regenerative organic farming draws carbon out of the air and stores it in the ground. Because healthy soil traps significantly more carbon, regenerative organic agriculture could be the key to helping stop climate change. Learn MORE.
Learn About the Environmental Justice Movement
The environmental justice movement emerged in the late 1980s when a blistering report exposed massive disparities in the burden of environmental degradation and pollution facing minority and low-income communities. These issues existed and had been recognized previously, most notably in 1982 in Warren County, North Carolina, where thousands of tons of PCB-ridden soil was intentionally dumped in a facility in an African American community despite the community’s protest (see photo above). This incident and others sparked research into the environmental and health burden born by these communities, culminating with the publishing of the study Toxic Wastes and Race in 1987. Championed primarily by African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and Pacific Islanders and Native Americans, the environmental justice movement addresses a statistical fact: people who live, work and play in America’s most polluted environments are commonly people of color and the poor. Environmental justice advocates have shown that this is no accident. Communities of color, which are often poor, are routinely targeted to host facilities that have negative environmental impacts — say, a landfill, dirty industrial plant or truck depot. The statistics provide clear evidence of what the movement rightly calls “environmental racism.” Communities of color have been battling this injustice for decades. Learn more HERE.
Image from Grist
Sierra Club: What is A Green New Deal?
“A Green New Deal is a big, bold transformation of the economy to tackle the twin crises of inequality and climate change. It would mobilize vast public resources to help us transition from an economy built on exploitation and fossil fuels to one driven by dignified work and clean energy.
The status quo economy leaves millions behind. While padding the pockets of corporate polluters and billionaires, it exposes working class families, communities of color, and others to stagnant wages, toxic pollution, and dead-end jobs. The climate crisis only magnifies these systemic injustices, as hard-hit communities are hit even harder by storms, droughts, and flooding. Entrenched inequality, meanwhile, exacerbates the climate crisis by depriving frontline communities of the resources needed to adapt and cope. Climate change and inequality are inextricably linked. We cannot tackle one without addressing the other. A Green New Deal would take on both.” More HERE.
Coastal Watershed Council: Action Projects Guide
There are several ways we can all help protect our San Lorenzo River, habitat for hundreds of incredible plant and animal species. This Guide provides opportunities to learn about, explore, and protect the San Lorenzo River from inside your home, around your neighborhood, and along the Santa Cruz Riverwalk! All-ages activities for youth, adults, and families. Some activities require adult supervision.
The guide includes opportunities to: learn about river protection and create a poster to share with your family and neighbors; and to research animals and plants of the San Lorenzo River and create an art project to share information with your community.