National Intelligence Estimate – Climate Change and International Responses Increasing Challenges to US National Security Through 2040. October 21, 2021. “We assess that climate change will increasingly exacerbate risks to US national security interests as the physical impacts increase and geopolitical tensions mount about how to respond to the challenge. Global momentum is growing for more… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: October 2021
Librarians to the Defense
The Progressive Magazine: “…Among other things, public libraries across the country serve as summer meal sites for hungry kids and many loan out films, music, and technical equipment in addition to books and periodicals. Computers and WiFi are available to those who lack access, whether to search for a job or to search for the… Continue Reading
7 of the Best Sites to Sell Basically Anything
Lifehacker: “Is your closet brimming with stuff you don’t wear anymore? Maybe your shelves are overflowing with knick-knacks that seemed a good idea at the time, but now only trigger an existential crisis? Maybe you just need money, fast (you know why)? Whatever your reason, it’s probably time to simplify your life and sell some… Continue Reading
8 TikTok accounts to follow if you’re tired of COVID misinformation
Mashable – “…Increasingly, medical professionals are using the app to share myth-busting information about things like the COVID-19 vaccine, rates of infection, and COVID treatments, all through succinct, engaging videos that will hopefully reach the people who need them. At the very least, they offer a link for other viewers to send to their more… Continue Reading
The best way to convert annoying WebP images into versatile JPEGs
PopSci: “The story often starts the same way: you find a funny picture on the internet and want to add it to your work presentation or turn it into a meme to share with your friends. You download the image and realize there’s not much you can do with it because your platform of choice… Continue Reading
FDA OKs mixing COVID vaccines; backs Moderna, J&J boosters
AP: “U.S. regulators on Wednesday signed off on extending COVID-19 boosters to Americans who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine and said anyone eligible for an extra dose can get a brand different from the one they received initially. The Food and Drug Administration’s decisions mark a big step toward expanding the U.S.… Continue Reading
Governments’ planned fossil fuel production remains dangerously out of sync with Paris Agreement limits
UN – The Production Gap:”Governments still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than what would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, in stark contrast to increased climate ambitions and net-zero commitments. This report first introduced and quantified the “production gap” in 2019, finding that the world’s governments planned to… Continue Reading
Humans did not cause woolly mammoths to go extinct climate change did
Phys.org: “For five million years, woolly mammoths roamed the earth until they vanished for good nearly 4,000 years ago—and scientists have finally proved why. The hairy cousins of today’s elephants lived alongside early humans and were a regular staple of their diet—their skeletons were used to build shelters, harpoons were carved from their giant tusks,… Continue Reading
Rising Arctic Temperatures Mean Migrating North No Longer Worth It for Many Species
Yale Environment 360: “As temperatures rise in northern regions, migrating species are seeing less benefit from migrating north for the summer months, according to scientists who reviewed 25 recent studies. In the warm months, birds, mammals, and insects head north to access food, escape predators, and avoid diseases made worse by summer heat. But with… Continue Reading
Librarians and Professional Labeling: What’s in a Name?
InfoToday / Dave Shumaker: At a recent professional meeting, I was dismayed to find myself witnessing yet another discussion on whether those present should call themselves “librarians.” The program that hosted this discussion opened with the observation that library spaces are shrinking in the post-pandemic world and the question of whether the participants might stop… Continue Reading
What’s the best way to get plastic out of the ocean?
Fast Company: “…Solving the plastic problem will require rethinking how the material is used in the beginning, so it isn’t landing in the ocean in the first place. That means a long list of changes, from consumers and companies moving away from single-use plastic and governments making brands responsible for the trash they create to… Continue Reading
People in the Eastern U.S. might be nearly as susceptible to the dangers of wildfire smoke as those in the Western U.S.
Estimated Mortality and Morbidity Attributable to Smoke Plumes in the United States: Not Just a Western US Problem, First published: 21 August 2021, GeoHealth, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GH000457 – “The pollutants from landscape (wild, prescribed, and agricultural) fires are expected to have an increasing impact on air quality and health in the United States (US) across the current… Continue Reading
