Tag Archives: wiley

There’s a lot of confusion at the Department of the Interior, and it’s not just about doors.

by roz3edl Posted on March 9, 2018

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There’s a lot of confusion at the Department of the Interior, and it’s not just about doors.

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Residents of an Alabama town are saying the EPA doesn’t care about black people.

by DaltonGoodman Posted on March 7, 2018

In a ruling this week, Judge William Alsup said that plaintiffs can sue greenhouse-gas emitters in federal court. That’s a big reversal. So far, the courts have held that it’s up to the EPA and lawmakers — not judges — to bring polluters into line.

In this case, the cities of Oakland and San Francisco sued a bunch of oil companies for contributing to climate change, raising sea levels and damaging their waterfronts. Because federal courts had previously said they wouldn’t regulate polluters, the cities were trying to move their lawsuit into the California court. If federal court wouldn’t punish polluters, the lawyers figured, maybe state court would.

Alsup denied the cities’ motion to move to state court. But instead of bowing to precedent and punting responsibility over to the EPA, he’s letting the lawsuit go to trial — in federal court.

“[The oil companies] got what they wanted; but they may be sorry they did,” said Ken Adams, lawyer for the Center for Climate Integrity, in a statement.

Of course, after opening this door, the courts could very well slam it shut again. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 2011 that it’s the job of Congress and regulators, not the court, to police emissions. But that decision concerned an American electric utility. Alsup said this case was different because the cities are suing international corporations.

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Residents of an Alabama town are saying the EPA doesn’t care about black people.

Posted in alo, Anchor, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, Monterey, Northeastern, ONA, OXO, The Atlantic, Uncategorized, Wiley | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Residents of an Alabama town are saying the EPA doesn’t care about black people.

Cape Town may have conserved enough water to avoid running out this year.

by FranklyPonce Posted on March 7, 2018

In a ruling this week, Judge William Alsup said that plaintiffs can sue greenhouse-gas emitters in federal court. That’s a big reversal. So far, the courts have held that it’s up to the EPA and lawmakers — not judges — to bring polluters into line.

In this case, the cities of Oakland and San Francisco sued a bunch of oil companies for contributing to climate change, raising sea levels and damaging their waterfronts. Because federal courts had previously said they wouldn’t regulate polluters, the cities were trying to move their lawsuit into the California court. If federal court wouldn’t punish polluters, the lawyers figured, maybe state court would.

Alsup denied the cities’ motion to move to state court. But instead of bowing to precedent and punting responsibility over to the EPA, he’s letting the lawsuit go to trial — in federal court.

“[The oil companies] got what they wanted; but they may be sorry they did,” said Ken Adams, lawyer for the Center for Climate Integrity, in a statement.

Of course, after opening this door, the courts could very well slam it shut again. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 2011 that it’s the job of Congress and regulators, not the court, to police emissions. But that decision concerned an American electric utility. Alsup said this case was different because the cities are suing international corporations.

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Cape Town may have conserved enough water to avoid running out this year.

Posted in alo, Anchor, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, Monterey, Northeastern, ONA, OXO, The Atlantic, Uncategorized, Wiley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Cape Town may have conserved enough water to avoid running out this year.

Melting ice could unleash hazardous waste from abandoned Cold War project

by HopeUJXWtwmhw Posted on February 24, 2018

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Melting ice could unleash hazardous waste from abandoned Cold War project

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Lasko, LG, ONA, Uncategorized, Wiley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Melting ice could unleash hazardous waste from abandoned Cold War project

Hopi and Navajo miners protest the closure of the largest coal plant in the West.

by JerryKeynes8 Posted on February 7, 2018

Which, by the way, is melting.

“This discovery is a game-changer,” said Paul Schuster, lead author of a new study that quantified the total mercury in the Arctic’s frozen permafrost.

And it’s a lot of mercury! To be precise, 793 gigagrams — more than 15 million gallons — of the stuff is currently locked up in frozen northern soils. That’s by far the biggest reservoir of mercury on the planet — almost twice the amount held by the rest of the world’s earth, oceans, and atmosphere combined.

This wouldn’t be a problem if the permafrost stayed, well, permanently frosty. But, as previous research has outlined, it’s not.

Mercury is a toxin that can cause birth defects and neurological damage in animals, including humans. And mercury levels accumulate as you go up the food chain, which is why king-of-the-jungle species like tuna and whale can be unsafe to eat in large quantities.

As thawing permafrost releases more mercury into the atmosphere and oceans, the implications for human health are troubling. Locally, many northern communities rely on subsistence hunting and fishing, two sources of possible mercury contamination. Globally, the toxin could travel great distances and collect in distant ecosystems.

As if we didn’t already have enough reasons to want permafrost to stay frozen.

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Hopi and Navajo miners protest the closure of the largest coal plant in the West.

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, LG, ONA, Oster, solar, solar panels, solar power, Uncategorized, Wiley | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Hopi and Navajo miners protest the closure of the largest coal plant in the West.

13 universities band together to fight climate change.

by samilia_102009 Posted on February 6, 2018

Which, by the way, is melting.

“This discovery is a game-changer,” said Paul Schuster, lead author of a new study that quantified the total mercury in the Arctic’s frozen permafrost.

And it’s a lot of mercury! To be precise, 793 gigagrams — more than 15 million gallons — of the stuff is currently locked up in frozen northern soils. That’s by far the biggest reservoir of mercury on the planet — almost twice the amount held by the rest of the world’s earth, oceans, and atmosphere combined.

This wouldn’t be a problem if the permafrost stayed, well, permanently frosty. But, as previous research has outlined, it’s not.

Mercury is a toxin that can cause birth effects and neurological damage in animals, including humans. And mercury levels accumulate as you go up the food chain, which is why king-of-the-jungle species like tuna and whale can be unsafe to eat in large quantities.

As thawing permafrost releases more mercury into the atmosphere and oceans, the implications for human health are troubling. Locally, many northern communities rely on subsistence hunting and fishing, two sources of possible mercury contamination. Globally, the toxin could travel great distances and collect in distant ecosystems.

As if we didn’t already have enough reasons to want permafrost to stay frozen.

More – 

13 universities band together to fight climate change.

Posted in alo, Anchor, Citizen, FF, G & F, GE, ONA, Oster, PUR, solar, solar panels, Uncategorized, Wiley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 13 universities band together to fight climate change.

Urban hunters are pretty delighted by the coyote takeover.

by AHVCarinatd Posted on December 27, 2017

It started with the cinematic, widely serenaded death of spunky little spacebot Cassini, closing out a 13-year mission to Saturn with a headlong dive into the planet’s gaseous atmosphere.

Meanwhile, back on a more familiar planet, an orbiting satellite named DMSP F19 quietly blinked out. The DMSP weather-tracking satellites have meticulously recorded Arctic sea ice coverage since 1978, which makes them one of our longest-running climate observations. But in 2015, Congress voted to mothball the last satellite in the series. Now, on the cusp of the biggest planetary shift humans have ever seen, we stand to lose one of our best means for understanding it.

Also this year, I started following LandsatBot, a project by Welsh glaciologist Martin O’Leary that tweets out random satellite views of Earth’s surface hourly. Like a geographic Chat Roulette, LandsatBot scratches the same imaginative itch that high-def images of Saturn’s rings do, but its alien views are all terrestrial. From satellite height, every landscape looks like an abstract painting, all fractal rivers and impressionist daubs of cloud.

These days, amidst an unending torrent of Game of Thrones gifs, signs of the end of democracy, and variations on that distracted boyfriend meme, I sometimes come across a Landsat image dropped without comment into the clutter. I stop and stare. Whether it’s an astroturf-green wedge of land somewhere in the Indonesian archipelago or the Crest-colored swirl of icy Antarctic seas, I try to imagine the world down there: A place I will probably never go, without landmarks or footprints, but irrevocably changed by us. Whether you recognize it or not, it’s home.

Amelia Urry is an associate editor at Grist.

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Urban hunters are pretty delighted by the coyote takeover.

Posted in alo, Anchor, Annies, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, Hipe, Landmark, ONA, PUR, sustainable energy, Uncategorized, Wiley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Urban hunters are pretty delighted by the coyote takeover.

California is preparing for a weekend of wintertime wildfires.

by CoyHargrove Posted on December 15, 2017

Forests in the American West are having a harder time recovering from wildfires because of (what else?) climate change, according to new research published in Ecology Letters.

Researchers measured the growth of seedlings in 1,500 wildfire-scorched areas in Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Across the board, they found “significant decreases” in tree regeneration, a benchmark for forest resilience. In one-third of the sites, researchers found zero seedlings.

The warmest, driest forests were hit especially hard.

“Seedlings are more sensitive to warm, dry conditions than mature trees, so if the right conditions don’t exist within a few years following a wildfire, tree seedlings may not establish,” said Philip Higuera, a coauthor of the study.

Earlier this month, a separate study found that ponderosa pine and pinyon forests in the West are becoming less resilient due to droughts and warmer temperatures. Researchers told the New York Times that as trees disappear, some forests could shift to entirely different ecosystems, like grasslands or shrublands.

You’d think the rapid reconfiguration of entire ecosystems would really light a fire under us to deal with climate change, wouldn’t you?

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California is preparing for a weekend of wintertime wildfires.

Posted in alo, Anchor, Eureka, FF, G & F, GE, Jason, LAI, ONA, organic, solar, solar power, Uncategorized, Wiley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on California is preparing for a weekend of wintertime wildfires.

Trump’s pick to head chemical safety at the EPA is no longer in the running.

by GabrielleKaur0 Posted on December 14, 2017

Forests in the American West are having a harder time recovering from wildfires because of (what else?) climate change, according to new research published in Ecology Letters.

Researchers measured the growth of seedlings in 1,500 wildfire-scorched areas in Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Across the board, they found “significant decreases” in tree regeneration, a benchmark for forest resilience. In one-third of the sites, researchers found zero seedlings.

The warmest, driest forests were hit especially hard.

“Seedlings are more sensitive to warm, dry conditions than mature trees, so if the right conditions don’t exist within a few years following a wildfire, tree seedlings may not establish,” said Philip Higuera, a coauthor of the study.

Earlier this month, a separate study found that ponderosa pine and pinyon forests in the West are becoming less resilient due to droughts and warmer temperatures. Researchers told the New York Times that as trees disappear, some forests could shift to entirely different ecosystems, like grasslands or shrublands.

You’d think the rapid reconfiguration of entire ecosystems would really light a fire under us to deal with climate change, wouldn’t you?

Link:  

Trump’s pick to head chemical safety at the EPA is no longer in the running.

Posted in alo, Anchor, Eureka, FF, G & F, GE, Jason, LAI, ONA, organic, solar, solar power, Uncategorized, Wiley | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Trump’s pick to head chemical safety at the EPA is no longer in the running.

2 independent studies say climate change worsened Hurricane Harvey’s rains.

by Cliff0270471665 Posted on December 13, 2017

Called “Build Back Better,” the plan focuses on providing immediate relief while also making the island’s energy infrastructure more resilient to future storms. That means fortifying the electric transmission system and bulking up defenses at power plants and substations.

The plan also envisions a Puerto Rico dotted with solar farms and wind turbines, linked by more than 150 microgrids. Of the 470,000 homes destroyed in Maria’s high winds, the report points out many could be built back with rooftop solar. New battery storage systems would allow hospitals, fire stations, water treatment plants, airports, and other critical facilities to keep the lights on without power from the grid.

Overall, $1.5 billion of the plan’s budget would go to these distributed renewable energy resources.

The plan was concocted by a bunch of industry and government groups working together, including the federal Department of Energy, Puerto Rico’s utility, several other state power authorities, and private utility companies like ConEd. If enacted, it would take the next 10 years to complete.

With a $94 billion Puerto Rico relief plan in Congress right now, it’s actually possible that $17 billion of that could go to building a renewable, resilient energy system for the future. It’d be a steal.

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2 independent studies say climate change worsened Hurricane Harvey’s rains.

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, organic, Prepara, solar, solar power, Uncategorized, Wiley, wind energy, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 2 independent studies say climate change worsened Hurricane Harvey’s rains.