Mapping the Unequal Distribution of Global Precipitation – On average, nearly one meter (39 inches) of rain or snow falls on the Earth in a year. However, differences in latitude, winds, changes in the Earth’s surface, and the planet’s tilt, make for an unequal distribution of global precipitation. Cartographer Perrin Remonté uses data from Chelsea… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Environmental Law
BirdWeather
“What is BirdWeather? BirdWeather is a visualization platform that, using the BirdNET artificial neural network (a type of machine learning algorithm), is continuously listening to over 200 active audio stations around the world and is actively plotting their results in a user-friendly map interface. We built BirdWeather to be a living library of bird vocalizations accessible to users via online… Continue Reading
On the evidence for non-human intelligence, awareness, and emotion
The New Atlantis: Do Elephants Have Souls?: “One of the major clues that elephants have something we would recognize as inner lives is their extraordinary memories. This is attested to by outward indicators ranging from the practical — a matriarch’s recollection of a locale, critical to leading her family to food and water — to… Continue Reading
The one thing I wish more people understood about flower pollination
Prof. Jeff Ollerton – ecological scientist and author : “…In both cases it seems to have been forgotten that bees are collecting pollen to feed their larvae and pollen that ends up in scopae is generally not available for pollination. That’s the purpose of the Venn diagram at the top of this short post, to… Continue Reading
This Is What Happens to All the Stuff You Don’t Want
The Atlantic [free to read] “…When you order a pair of sweatpants online and don’t want to keep them, a colossal, mostly opaque system of labor and machinery creaks into motion to find them a new place in the world. From the outside, you see fairly little of it—the software interface that lets you tick… Continue Reading
‘Forever Chemicals’ Found in Freshwater Fish, Yet Most States Don’t Warn Residents
KFF Health News: “…But in recent years, he has been wary about a group of chemicals known as PFAS, also referred to as “forever chemicals,” which don’t break down quickly in the environment and accumulate in soil, water, fish, and our bodies. The chemicals have spewed from manufacturing plants and landfills into local ecosystems, polluting… Continue Reading
How Central Park Was Created Entirely By Design & Not By Nature
Oepn Culture: An Architect Breaks Down America’s Greatest Urban Park – “New Yorkers have a variety of sayings about how they want nothing to do with nature, just as nature wants nothing to do with them. As a counterpoint, one might adduce Central Park, whose 843 acres of trees, grass, and water have occupied the… Continue Reading
What Happened to the Milky Way?
Video by The Atlantic – “Can you see the stars at night? Only a few centuries ago, the Milky Way was visible from almost anywhere in America. Today, more than 99 percent of the population in the continental U.S. live in light-polluted areas. It’s impossible to see the Milky Way in more than two-thirds of… Continue Reading
Wastewater COVID-19 National and Regional Trends
CDC – “Wastewater (sewage) can be tested to detect traces of infectious diseases circulating in a community, even if people don’t have symptoms. You can use these data as an early warning that levels of infections may be increasing or decreasing in your community. About CDC’s Wastewater Program (NWSS) How Wastewater Monitoring Work Continue Reading
The Best Inventions of 2023
TIME: “Every year for over two decades, TIME editors have highlighted the most impactful new products and ideas in TIME’s Best Inventions issue. To compile this year’s list, we solicited nominations from TIME’s editors and correspondents around the world, and through an online application process, paying special attention to growing fields—such as AI, green energy,… Continue Reading
Does your home’s drinking water contain lead?
Fast Company: “Millions of Americans are at risk of lead exposure in their drinking water. Last week, in an effort to reduce that risk, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to require water systems across the country to replace lead service lines—the pipes that carry water from a city’s main line into a home… Continue Reading
CDC revamps wastewater COVID data reporting
CIDRIP: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently unveiled new wastewater data tracking dashboard to make it easier to track local and national trends, even by variant. Wastewater tracking is one of the early indicators health officials use to gauge the activity of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses. Called the National Wastewater Surveillance Program,… Continue Reading
