AP: “The Environmental Protection Agency hit a 30-year low in 2018 in the number of pollution cases it referred for criminal prosecution, Justice Department data show. EPA said in a statement that it is directing “its resources to the most significant and impactful cases.” But the 166 cases referred for prosecution in the last fiscal year is the lowest number since 1988, when Ronald Reagan was president and 151 cases were referred, according to Justice Department data obtained by the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility advocacy group and released Tuesday…”
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Category Archives: Climate Change
A Year of (Literal and Figurative) Ups and Downs for Our Waterways
Casey Trees: “Every other year, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation releases a State of the Bay. Similar to our annual efforts with the Tree Report Card, this report is a comprehensive measure of the Bay’s health based on 13 indicators in three categories: pollution, habitat, and fisheries. The report finds the bay “dangerously out of balance,”… Continue Reading
Corrections to ocean data reflect 40% increase in warming
The New York Times: “Scientists say the world’s oceans are warming far more quickly than previously thought, a finding with dire implications for climate change because almost all the excess heat absorbed by the planet ends up stored in their waters. A new analysis, published Thursday in the journal Science, found that the oceans are… Continue Reading
National parks report on climate change finally released, uncensored
Reveal – Elizabeth Shogren: “Backing away from attempts at censorship, the National Park Service today released a report charting the risks to national parks from sea level rise and storms. Drafts of the report obtained earlier this year by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting showed park service officials had deleted every mention of… Continue Reading
Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress
EveryCRSReport.com – Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, December 13, 2018: “The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region’s future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests… Continue Reading
Plants of the World Online portal
“In 2015, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew launched its first Science Strategy establishing its vision to document and understand global plant and fungal diversity and their uses, bringing authoritative expertise to bear on the critical challenges facing humanity today. The Science Strategy also committed Kew to delivering nine strategic outputs with the overarching aim to… Continue Reading
LIVE Eagle Cam – Washington, DC – Earth Conservation Corps.
“Liberty and Justice are a pair of bald eagles who have raised young for eleven years in a nest one hundred ten feet up an oak tree at the Metropolitan Police Academy in SE, Washington, DC. Liberty, the female, has primary responsibility for incubating her eggs and caring for the young chicks (once they hatch!). Justice, the male,… Continue Reading
The Story of 2018 Was Climate Change
New York Times opinion columnist David Leonhard: “Our best hope may be the weather. For a long time, many people thought that it was a mistake to use the weather as evidence of climate change. Weather patterns contain a lot of randomness. Even as the earth warms and extreme weather becomes more common, some years… Continue Reading
Nearly 75% Of Coastal States Aren’t Prepared For Sea Level Rise
Forbes: “…As climate change progresses, storms will increase in strength, sea levels will rise more rapidly, U.S. coasts will flood more frequently, and shoreline properties will disappear. Each year, $500 million worth of coastal structures are lost as coastlines disappear. The federal government spends nearly $150 million each year to manage the loss of beaches and coastal real estate. Two-thirds of… Continue Reading
Bill Sets the ‘Strongest Clean Energy Requirement in the Nation
CityLab – “Washington, D.C. is positioning itself on the climate policy fast track. The District of Columbia city council voted unanimously last week to approve an expansive climate bill requiring utility providers to generate 100 percent of their energy supply from renewable sources by 2032. If D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signs the legislation as expected,… Continue Reading
California Knew the Carr Wildfire Could Happen. It Failed to Prevent it.
ProPublica: “Dozens of interviews and a review of local, state and federal records show that virtually every aspect of what came to be known as the Carr Fire — where it ignited; how and where it exploded in dimension and ferocity; the toll in private property — had been forecast and worried over for years.… Continue Reading
Abstract Aerial Photographs Reveal the Beauty of Meandering Waterways
Colassal: “The project Water.Shapes.Earth uses aerial photography and storytelling to bring an understanding to the complex and diverse ways water inhabits our planet, from a radioactive water pond in Huelva, Spain to mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan. The images provide an abstract look at Earth’s surface, presenting purple-hued veins of a divergent river or an icy… Continue Reading
