We’ve complained about nauseous smells in Long Beach coming from the harbor, the cement factories, and the dreaded petroleum refineries for some time. After years of complaints, AQMD is investigating the recurring stench.
Okay, I am going to go out on a limb here, but I will make a prediction: If the Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, Donald Trump will not be president when the new House is sworn in. The famous op-ed piece that appeared anonymously in The New York
When Will Trump Be Gone? Read More 👉
Rachel Carson’s influential book Silent Spring, which documented the effects of the indiscriminate widespread use of pesticides on the environment, was published back in 1962, nearly 60 years ago now. Since that time, the book has often been cited as one of the drivers behind environmental action and regulation of various kinds. Following the release,
Sometimes, new products get invented by accident. Potato chips, for example. The microwave, the ink jet printer, and the implantable pacemaker are on the list. My personal favorite involves scientists searching for a powerful new adhesive that could be used to glue airplanes together. They failed miserably and created one of the weakest adhesives ever
Teenage Mutant Ninja Enzyme Chews Through Plastic Waste Read More 👉
An ocean dead zone is an area where there is not enough oxygen dissolved in the water to allow aquatic creatures to breath. To put it in perspective, imagine a person locked in a sealed chamber in which the level of oxygen is slowly but steadily decreased until they lie gasping for breath until they
Ocean Dead Zones Multiplying Rapidly, Threatening Food Source For Hundreds Of Millions Read More 👉
Everyone who has ever ridden a motorcycle or a bicycle is familiar with this situation. You are riding along, minding your own business and enjoying the sunshine, when suddenly a car pulls into your lane or pulls out right in front of you or turns directly in your path. It’s like the driver of the
Motorcycles & Bicycles Really Are “Invisible” To Many Drivers Read More 👉
Much of the Middle East is now slated to essentially turn to desert over the coming decades and centuries owing to climate change, and exacerbated by poor human judgment and short-sighted activities. It bears remembering that much of what is now the Middle East and the Mediterranean was before the human population expansion of the
The air pollution problems facing Iran, in particular those facing the country’s populous capital Tehran, seem to be growing rapidly based on recent events. As the result of dangerous levels of air pollution, schools in Tehran and in many other large cities throughout the country as well, were closed last week state media reported at
Iran’s Air Pollution Problems Are Growing Fast, As Evidenced By Recent Events Read More 👉
The growing use of heavy oils, tar sands, bitumen, petroleum coke, etc., by industry since 2000 or so has resulted in rapidly surging levels of vanadium emissions, according to a new study from Duke University. To be more specific, human-related emissions of vanadium now surpass those of natural sources by a factor of 1.7 —
With the legislative and executive branches of government firmly committed to pretending climate change doesn’t exist, will the courts act to protect the environment and the citizens of America? Don’t bet on it. Here’s why.
Cassandra To Courts — USA’s Activist Battle To Save The Climate Read More 👉
It is estimated that since the advent of the agricultural revolution Earth lost approximately half of its trees, and according to a recent survey as reported by Nature (the magazine), earth currently has only about three trillion trees. Image by UNclimatechange (some rights reserved) There are several organizations that are hard at work to plant back
Mapping The Global Efforts To Restore The World’s Forests! Read More 👉
New algorithms make it possible for scientists to predict the effect of injecting sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere to cool the planet. Is that a good thing?
New Algorithms Improve Accuracy Of Geoengineering Projections. Is That A Good Thing? Read More 👉
A new report released by a groups of over 50 US government scientists asserts that the rapid pace at which modern climate change is occurring is almost definitely driven by human activity — making for a blunt contradiction of the stance taken by many members of the current administration of President Donald Trump. In particular,
The US Environmental Protection Agency will begin barring select scientists from serving on independent advisory boards — a move possibly intended to clear the path towards the installation of industry-friendly advisors on the panel in question, according to critics. The new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ban-list is focused on scientists who have won agency-awarded grants
US EPA To Bar Certain Scientists From Serving On Independent Advisory Boards Read More 👉
Atmospheric methane levels rose fairly rapidly in 2016, as did atmospheric carbon dioxide levels (which saw the yearly average rise up to 403.3 parts per million), according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Image: methane leaks in Boston, via Duke University The scientists involved in the report claim to not know
Atmospheric Methane Levels Rose Rapidly In 2016, Scientists Claim To Not Understand Why Read More 👉
Australia’s largest cities could begin experiencing extreme heatwaves with +50° Celsius temperatures within the relatively near term (within the next ~20 years), even if international climate change and greenhouse gas emissions reductions goals are met, according to a recent study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. To be more specific, the recent study dealt
+50° Celsius Heatwaves Coming For Australia? Read More 👉
Two major drought indices in Europe are deviating from each other in a way that’s consistent with many climate change simulations — further gaining ground in the march towards the attribution of major events like droughts to climate change — according to a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Image via NOAA/Earth System
Drought In Europe — Another Effect of Climate Change Read More 👉
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels grew at a record pace in 2016, to 403.3 parts per million (ppm), up from 400.0 in 2015, the UN World Meteorological Organization just revealed as part of its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. The growth rate in atmospheric carbon dioxide in 2016 was thus around 50% faster than the average of
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Levels Grew At Record Pace In 2016, UN Says Read More 👉
Hello, my name is Zach Shahan, and I have a problem. I’m a political nut. More seriously, I’ll admit that I’m strongly drawn to politics, follow policy & politics closely (some might say obsessively), and have sometimes struggled with how much time and emotion I invest into all of that. If I step back a
Why Republican Policy Sucks Read More 👉
While everyone is talking about electric cars and autonomy as a huge disruptor to the global economy, there is another elephant in the room that not many people seem to notice — lab-grown meat! A few days ago news broke that China bought $300 million worth of lab-grown meat from three Israeli-based companies — SuperMeat,
Talk About Disruption — Lab-Grown Meat Has Arrived! Read More 👉
The modern world has a problem of overspecialization. The limits of extrapolating generalized truths from what can be observed in limited contexts and over limited periods of times have become more and more apparent in recent years as the blowback of the industrialized way of life, and its associated ways of thinking and interacting with
When you think of insecticides you probably think of dangerous chemical compounds that allow modern industrial agriculture (and its high yields) to occur, but that also have some negative effects on the environment and also on human/animal health. The effects of a certain class of insecticides on honeybees, for instance, may well be what comes
While many people have pointed out the reality that cutting one’s consumption of meat is a notable means of reducing one’s carbon footprint, I haven’t heard many people bring up the subject of meat consumption by pets… Image by Patricia Marroquin/UCLA Considering how the practice of keeping a “pet” dog or cat has become vastly
Cats & Dogs Create Insane Amount Of Global Warming Emissions Read More 👉
Our #FakePresident has removed the United States for the Paris climate accords, leading some Americans to experience ecoanxiety. That’s a relatively new term that American Psychological Association used to describe the feelings of dread and helplessness the follow from “watching the slow and seemingly irrevocable impacts of climate change unfold, and worrying about the future
Beans For Beef: The Climate Change Initiative That Anyone Can Do Read More 👉
A dead zone larger than New Jersey is expected to appear in the Gulf of Mexico later this year. Similar dead zones are found in the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay. A report by Mighty, a global environmental group headed by Henry Waxman, a former US Congressman, claims the dead zones are the result
Massive Dead Zone In Gulf Of Mexico Blamed On Meat Industry Read More 👉
Honeybees that are exposed to field-realistic (real-world, in other words) levels of neonicotinoid pesticides die earlier than those that are not — thereby reducing overall colony health — according to a new study led by York University. “A worker honeybee has been fitted with a RFID on its back so researchers can record when it
There are now more than 2 billion people worldwide who are overweight or obese, according to a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. So, to put that in a different sort of light, there are now roughly the same number of people in the world who are overweight or obese as
Study: Over 2.2 Billion People Overweight Or Obese Worldwide Read More 👉
Extra-virgin olive oil consumption protects against the loss of memory and lean ring capacity, and also against the formation of amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain (markers for Alzheimer’s disease), according to new research from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM). The new findings are detailed in a paper
Republican politicians are an interesting breed of liars…. Politicians are supposed to explain to the voting public why their complicated, detailed policies are worth supporting and good for the country as a whole, or at least their constituents. But Republican politicians push one kind of policy obsessively, the kind that gives more money to the
Republicans Want To Rob America … To Cut Taxes On The Rich Read More 👉
Arguments for and against the use of genetic modification techniques in the agricultural and healthcare/disease-prevention sectors typically focus on potential impacts to human health, and/or to wider ecosystems and natural services (a much more important area to watch, in my opinion than human health). My issue with genetic modification and the use of genetically modified
Many Insects Resistant To Genetic Manipulation Via CRISPR Editing Tool, Research Finds Read More 👉
What happened with people who sided with Hitler and the Nazis in their quest to murder countless humans? As their crowd rose to the heights of power and prestige, many people who supported them must have thought their futures were looking up and they were setting up some kind of positive family reputation for future generations. To
On The Wrong Side Of History … Read More 👉
Ocean acidification created by continuing anthropogenic climate change will result in a collapsing food web, according to new research from the University of Adelaide. The new findings are the result of analysis focused around determining the effects of climate change on the world’s fisheries, and on overall marine biodiversity. Image via NOAA “Humans rely heavily
Ocean Acidification To Bring Collapsing Food Web Read More 👉
In a bit of news that shouldn’t be all that surprising to those who have taken a real look at the evidence, new finds at a site in San Diego have shown that humans have been living in North America for at least 130,000 years now. The new finds at the “Ice Age paleontological-turned-archaeological site in
Humans Have Been In North America At Least 130,000 Years New Finds Show Read More 👉
Over 600 people responded to a question on Ask Reddit to explain why they changed their minds about the dangers of climate change.
Confessions Of Former Climate Change Deniers Read More 👉
The United States. “We” elected a man who for decades has had a reputation as a con man. What could go wrong?… ♠ He talked about bringing all Americans health care — more affordable and cheaper health care. Turns out, after trying to push through a health care plan that would result in ~20 million Americans losing
When You Elect A Con Man, You Probably Got Conned Read More 👉
Forest elephant populations in Central Africa’s most important nature preserve, Gabon’s Minkébé National Park, have declined by between 78^ and 81% over recent times as a result of poaching, new research from Duke University has found. So, even in Central Africa’s largest nature preserve, poaching is still enough of a problem that forest elephants are
In conjunction with the decline of practically every other megafauna animal still in the world, giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) numbers have fallen by around 40% over just the last 30 years, according to new data from the IUCN. To put that quantitatively — there were between 151,702-163,452 giraffes in 1985; and around 97,562 giraffes in 2015.
Giraffe Numbers Have Fallen By ~40% Over The Last 30 Years, IUCN Reports Read More 👉
The iconic ring-tailed lemur of Madagascar (the only place that the primates known as “true lemurs” have ever existed) is rapidly headed towards extinction, according to new research from the University of Victoria in British Columbia and CU Boulder. The research found that as a result of growing levels of: habitat destruction, deforestation, open-pit mining,
Ring-Tailed Lemurs Declining Rapidly, Now Fewer Than 2,500 Left, Research Finds Read More 👉
There are now only 7,100 cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) left in the world, according to a new study from the Zoological Society of London, Panthera, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The causes? The same ones as always — habitat loss and fragmentation, the “pet” trade, desertification (often driven by deforestation), and the over hunting of prey
Only 7,100 Cheetahs Left In The World, Study Finds Read More 👉
Despite some common presumptions on the matter, it seems that most deforestation occurring in the Congo Basin is the result of only a small share of locals, and those that are taking part aren’t doing so for self-sufficiency but rather to “increase their quality of life,” according to a new study from the University of
The ocean acidification that’s now occurring, as a result of increasing anthropogenic levels of carbon dioxide emissions, will led to cascading losses of biodiversity in many marine habitats and ecosystems, according to new research from the University of British Columbia and its partners. The new work is some of the first to investigate the likely
Specific coral genotypes (“individuals”) can live for more than 5,000 years (at the least) according to new research from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Penn State, and Dial Cordy & Associates. The findings — based on research focused on elkhorn corals (Acropora palmata) living around Florida and in the Caribbean — mean that corals are
The USGS estimates that 10 million tons of CO2 was released over the 9 hour eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. That’s a pretty huge number, but passenger vehicles in the USA alone emit as much CO2 as a Mt St. Helens eruption happening somewhere in America every 3 days.
The coconut crab has the strongest pinching force of all crustaceans — with the force applied during pinching actually being greater than the biting force of all living terrestrial animals except for alligators — according to new research detailed in a paper published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. Notably, the research found that that
While farming has long been a known phenomenon amongst various ant species, there’s much that remains unknown. With that in mind, new research has revealed some interesting things about the symbiotic partnership and farming that goes on between the ant species Philidris nagasau and at least 6 types of plant within the genus Squamellaria on
Bob Walker, a senior Trump adviser, says the new administration will slash funding for NASA to study climate change. He says half of all climate scientists doubt climate change is real.
Trump Will End Politicized Climate Change Science Says Key Adviser Read More 👉
Many people find the bright, vibrant colors of various fruits and vegetables to be culinarily appealing, and an apparent appetite stimulant. Interestingly, new research has suggested that these same compounds, that give plants their visual appeal (to the eyes of humans, and various other animals), help to improve brain-functioning in older adults. The new research,
Deforestation events and mass tree deaths — whether through drought, heat, and insect infestations — can have significant effects on global climate patterns, according to new research from the University of Washington. To put that another way, while deforestation and mass-deaths of trees can cause the complete upheaval of the local environment, effects also include