Absurdity to a New Level: Pruitt and EPA to Test Climate Science
“Scott Pruitt, the head of the EPA, plans to convene a team of researchers to test the scientific premise of human-caused climate change, he told coal industry executives….” He told a lobbying group for coal companies that he is creating a “red team – blue...
12 August, 2017China’s Great Contaminated Soil Disaster
China’s smog is notorious, being at least ten times greater than the WHO’s maximum safe level. Water pollution is equally bad, in addition to water shortages. But the buried bomb is its contaminated soil. Toxins in the earth remain there for centuries “and are hugely...
11 August, 2017Biological Annihilation Underway
A study published July 10, 2017 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says new research indicates that an irreversible era of mass extinction is underway. It “calls the current decline in animal populations a ‘global epidemic’ and part of the ‘ongoing sixth...
10 August, 2017Climate Change and Dependence on Fertilizers are Creating Dead Zones in Bays and Oceans
Heavier rains are causing greater urban and agricultural runoff, filling rivers, lakes and oceans with choking algae and, ultimately, creating more dead zones globally. Science published an article on July 22, 2017 saying this will increase because of “warmer temperatures”. These changes in rainfa
10 August, 2017Yet Another Rejection to Ban Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear nations, including the U.S., have boycotted a United Nations nuclear weapons disarmament panel crafting a proposed global treaty. The argument for the boycott is the assertion that the threat of retaliation is the best deterrence. The treaty effort is supported by at least 120...
23 May, 2017China Launching Largest Infrastructure Effort in Human History
This endeavor means more ground paved over, more biodiversity destroyed, more pollution in areas not affected before, more population growth, more shoreline destroyed. It is China declaring it is no longer isolationist, no longer looking inward, as it has for centuries. It will be a...
22 May, 2017Trump Administration Score Card to Date… and they’re just getting started
Feb. 14: legislation signed, ending the Surface Mining’s Stream Protection Rule which protected waterways from mining waste. Feb. 15: Congressional Review Act signed, undoing a financial disclosure requirement for energy companies March 2: EPA withdrew request for companies to provide detailed infor
21 May, 2017Oil Companies Under Increasing Pressure From Shareholders
Occidental Petroleum shareholders called for an annual report, beginning in 2018, to include an assessment of the risks the company could face due to global warming, specifically a temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius. Prior to the vote, in its proxy statement to shareholders, the...
14 May, 2017The Arctic will never be the same, or the planet
Sea ice is disappearing, more seawater exposed, melting more ice. Permafrost is melting, releasing more carbon dioxide and, worse, methane. As a result of warming air, the northern jet stream is more erratic, resulting in more exaggerated oscillations leading to blizzards and heat waves in...
29 April, 2017Changing climate hitting hard, as deniers persist
Want to experience a changing climate first hand? Go to Homer, Alaska. There is less snow, therefore less drinking water in the reservoir; streams are lower and warmer, hugely impacting Cook Inlet’s billion dollar salmon industry. Warmer water has increased toxic phytoplankton blooms, impacting oyst
07 April, 2017Armed Nerds In Combat To Preserve the Amazon
The Specialized Inspection Group (GEF) of Brazil’s environmental protection agency, has become one of Latin America’s most feared elite fighting units. It uses cutting edge technology but also armed patrols on the ground, deep in the jungle, in some of the most lawless swaths of...
07 April, 2017Arctic Sea Ice Keep Melting
As climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe said, “the Arctic is the canary in the climate’s coal mine…. What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic.” 2016 was another historic year for sea ice (i.e. floating ice) melting. As the spring and summer seasons start,...
23 March, 2017We are now the global outlier in the community of nations.
It didn’t take long. In span of less than 60 days, the Trump Administration named a climate change denier, Scott Pruitt, as Administrator of the EPA, submitted a budget to cut the EPA by 51%, set-out to re-write the Clean Power Plan, reversed executive orders...
22 March, 2017
