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Washington Post: “The current pace of human-caused carbon emissions is increasingly likely to trigger irreversible damage to the planet, according to a comprehensive international study released Wednesday. Researchers studying one of the most important and vexing topics in climate science — how sensitive the Earth’s climate is to a doubling of the amount of carbon …
MIT Technology Review: “When lockdown started in March, the world went instantly, strangely silent. City streets emptied. Joggers and families disappeared from parks. Construction projects froze. Stores closed. Now a network of seismic monitoring stations around the world has quantified this unprecedented period of quiet. The resulting research into “seismic silence,” published in Science today, …
CNET – “To help people get around this summer in an eco-friendly — and healthy — way, Google Maps has added new features to its offerings for cyclists. Users can now access the most up-to-date bike routes generated by machine learning algorithms, as well as data from government authorities and community contributions. In addition, Google …
This summer has brought with it record breaking heat throughout the country. Use the National Weather Service site to locate accurate advisories and alerts for by Local forecast by “City, St” or ZIP code (see the search box at the upper left hand side of the homepage].
CNBC: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday finalized a rollback to the country’s landmark environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act, by speeding up approval for federal projects like pipelines, highways and power plants. NEPA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon 50 years ago and requires federal agencies to consider the environmental consequences of infrastructure projects before …
Wired – “When you drive, tiny bits of plastic fly off your tires and brakes. Now scientists have shown how all that road muck is blowing into “pristine” environments like the Arctic. “…Today in the journal Nature Communications, researchers model how microplastics from our cars are traveling from densely populated regions into the environment. These …
University of Syndey: “How is COVID-19 impacting people and the planet and what are the implications for a post-pandemic world? This world-first study led by the University of Sydney quantifies the socio-economic losses and environmental gains. The first comprehensive study of the pandemic shows consumption losses amount to more than US$3.8 trillion, triggering full-time equivalent …
Vox: “…A lot of these terms are confusing (even to the scientists), and they don’t answer the question laypeople care about: Which air is safe to breathe in during the Covid-19 pandemic, and which air is not safe? To answer that question, it’s helpful to understand two different scientific perspectives on the matter. One is: …
CBS News: “A newly-discovered comet is giving skywatchers quite the show during the month of July. Early risers may have already caught a glimpse of the comet Neowise as it streaks across the sky, but don’t worry — some of the best viewing moments have yet to come. What is NEOWISE? Astronomers discovered the comet, …
Dear Readers, Colleagues and Friends: I have not reached out for quite some time, so no time like the present. I created BeSpacific in 2002, and have continued to provide daily research to readers, with no pay wall, for 22 years. I am passionate about law and technology and the myriad ways that knowledge created …
Audubon.org: “Every spring, the judges of the Audubon Photography Awards gather at Audubon’s headquarters in Manhattan to review their favorite images and select the finalists. But as with much of life in 2020, this year’s awards had to be handled differently due to pandemic-related travel, work, and social-distancing restrictions. So, for our 11th annual awards, …
“From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology e-newsletter: Public Comment Period Open: The federal government is moving ahead with removing protections for birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The American Ornithological Society has this summary, and you can provide public comments through July 20. The AOS statement (July 1) begins: In March, we published a blog post on the Migratory Bird …
