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Category Archives: Environment
New Look at Rivers Reveals The Toll of Human Activity
New Look at Rivers Reveals The Toll of Human Activity Bob Matcuk/Flickr The Yellowstone River as it flows through Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. A recent outbreak of a deadly fish parasite on the Yellowstone River may have seemed unremarkable. But a new wave of research shows the episode was likely linked to the cumulative impact […]
What Have We Learned From the Lac-Megantic Oil Train Disaster?
What Have We Learned From the Lac-Megantic Oil Train Disaster? Brian Stevens first learned about the Lac-Megantic disaster — in which an unattended oil train caught fire and exploded, killing 47 people in the Quebec town — when he saw the news reports on TV. Stevens is currently National Rail Director for Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, but […]
Yes, the Arctic’s Freakishly Warm Winter is Due to Humans’ Climate Influence
Yes, the Arctic’s Freakishly Warm Winter is Due to Humans’ Climate Influence For the Arctic, like the globe as a whole, 2016 has been exceptionally warm. For much of the year, Arctic temperatures have been much higher than normal, and sea ice concentrations have been at record low levels. The Arctic’s seasonal cycle means that the lowest […]
Arctic Drilling Ban Reveals Crucial Difference Between Obama and Trudeau on Climate
Arctic Drilling Ban Reveals Crucial Difference Between Obama and Trudeau on Climate The historic announcement by President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau that both countries would ban oil and gas development in Arctic and Atlantic waters was a major victory to protect our oceans and the people who depend on them, and a real victory for our climate. But […]
Forget Monte Paschi, Italy May Have A Far Bigger Problem
Forget Monte Paschi, Italy May Have A Far Bigger Problem While the metaphorical ‘earthquake’ of a systemic banking crisis is coming to a head, it appears Italy may have a far more existential problem on its hands. As The Independent reports, one of the world’s most dangerous supervolcanoes is showing signs of reawakening under the Italian city […]
Heal the Planet for Profit
Heal the Planet for Profit Parisians duck down to evade German sniper fire following Nazi surrender of Paris, 1945If you ever wondered what the odds are of mankind surviving, let alone ‘defeating’, climate change, look no further than the essay the Guardian published this week, written by Michael Bloomberg and Mark Carney. It proves beyond a […]
Mass Extinction and Mass Insanity
Mass Extinction and Mass Insanity Caters Extremely rare albino elephant, Kruger National Park in South AfricaEverything dies, baby, that’s a fact But maybe everything that dies someday comes back … Springsteen, Atlantic City “Erwin Schrodinger (1945) has described life as a system in steady-state thermodynamic disequilibrium that maintains its constant distance from equilibrium (death) by feeding […]
Trudeau Approves Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline As Part of Canada’s ‘Climate Plan’
Trudeau Approves Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline As Part of Canada’s ‘Climate Plan’ Justin Trudeau announced the approval of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline Tuesday, saying the project is integral to meeting Canada’s climate commitments. “Today’s decision is an integral part of our plan to uphold the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions while creating jobs and […]
Radical Realism About Climate Change
Radical Realism About Climate Change BERLIN – Mainstream politics, by definition, is ill equipped to imagine fundamental change. But last December in Paris, 196 governments agreed on the need to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels – an objective that holds the promise of delivering precisely such a transformation. Achieving it will require overcoming […]
The Rhizosphere
THE RHIZOSPHERE The rhizosphere is the word used to describe the area of soil surrounding plant roots. It is the most biologically active layer of the soil; populated with micro organisms interacting and benefiting from chemicals released by plant roots (1,2,7). There are more micro organisms present in a teaspoon of soil than there are […]
What a Trump Win Means For the Global Climate Fight
What a Trump Win Means For the Global Climate Fight Donald Trump’s ascension to the presidency signals an end to American leadership on international climate policy. With the withdrawal of U.S. support, efforts to implement the Paris agreement and avoid the most devastating consequences of global warming have suffered a huge blow. With the unexpected triumph […]
Fruit and nut crops decline as climate change melts fog
Fruit and nut crops decline as climate change melts fog Fimrite, P. May 22, 2014. As Central Valley fog disappears, fruit, nut crops decline. San Francisco Chronicle. California produces 95% of U.S. fruit and nut crops that depend on disappearing Tule fog. The soupy thick tule fog that regularly blanketed the Central Valley has been slowly […]
Alexandra Morton Sues DFO for Allegedly Failing to Protect Wild Salmon
Alexandra Morton Sues DFO for Allegedly Failing to Protect Wild Salmon Lack of measures to prevent transfer of deadly disease from farmed fish breaks law, suit charges. Alexandra Morton: DFO ignoring law, putting salmon farmers ahead of wild stocks. Salmon advocate and biologist Alexandra Morton is suing the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, alleging the […]
Deepwater Horizon and our emerging ‘normal’ catastrophes
Deepwater Horizon and our emerging ‘normal’ catastrophes While watching the recently released film “Deepwater Horizon” about the catastrophic well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico that caused the largest oil spill in U.S. history, I remembered the term “fail-dangerous,” a term I first encountered in correspondence with a risk consultant for the oil and gas industry. We’ve […]
Considering the Coming Megadrought in the American Southwest
Considering the Coming Megadrought in the American Southwest Drought status in the U.S. as of 2015. Note the color-coded legend in the lower-right portion of the graphic (source; click to enlarge) I’ve written in the past about two of the most climate-vulnerable regions of the U.S., Florida and the American Southwest. (A third region, the […]
