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Motherboard – “We know of no other example in rails, or of birds in general, that demonstrates this phenomenon so evidently.” “…According to a study published Wednesday in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, the rail is an example of a rarely observed phenomenon called iterative evolution, in which the same ancestral lineage produces …
Follow up to my previous posting on April 6, 2019 – Report – Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’ – Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’ – via The Atlantic – “Entrants in this year’s contest were invited to submit images that showcase Earth’s biodiversity and show some of the mounting threats to the natural world. These images originally appeared …
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) – Current global response insufficient; – ‘Transformative changes’ needed to restore and protect nature; Opposition from vested interests can be overcome for public good – Most comprehensive assessment of its kind; 1,000,000 species threatened with extinction: “Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history …
The Decolonial Atlas – Names and Locations of the Top 100 People Killing the Planet – “Just 100 companies are responsible for more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. The guys who run those companies – and they are mostly guys – have gotten rich on the backs of literally all life …
Grist: “The world is on fire, and so is our vocabulary. Merriam-Webster added 640 new words to its online dictionary last week. The additions include swole (“extremely muscular”), new meanings for snowflake (someone who is “treated as unique or special” or “overly sensitive”) and, you guessed it, a whole batch of neologisms tied to the …
Washington Post – “The fear of losing everything in a natural disaster sits in the back of our minds no matter where we live. The same diverse physical geography that gives us sunny beaches and crisp mountain air also generates devastating storms and wildfires. Climate change is only making things worse. Data collection for these …
wtop.com – Montgomery County is the latest to offer library cardholders something that is not only unusual but also useful: thermal imaging cameras to monitor home energy use. “These days, some libraries offer musical instruments, power tools and board games. And Montgomery County is the latest to offer library cardholders something that is not only …
Yale Environment 360: “There is enough room in the world’s existing parks, forests, and abandoned land to plant 1.2 trillion additional trees, which would have the CO2 storage capacity to cancel out a decade of carbon dioxide emissions, according to a new analysis by ecologist Thomas Crowther and colleagues at ETH Zurich, a Swiss university. …
Guidance about Planning for Natural Disaster Debris – “The Planning for Natural Disaster Debris (PDF)(150 pp, 6 MB, April 2019, EPA-F-19-003) guidance is an update to the version that EPA published in March 2008. It is designed to help all communities (including cities, counties, territories, tribes, etc.) create disaster debris management plans, which EPA strongly …
Agence France Presse: “Up to one million species face extinction due to human influence, according to a draft UN report obtained by AFP that painstakingly catalogues how humanity has undermined the natural resources upon which its very survival depends. The accelerating loss of clean air, drinkable water, CO2-absorbing forests, pollinating insects, protein-rich fish and storm-blocking …
American Lung Association: “The “State of the Air” 2019 found that, in 2015-2017, more cities had high days of ozone and short-term particle pollution compared to 2014-2016 and many cities measured increased levels of year-round particle pollution. The “State of the Air” 2019 report shows that too many cities [enter your zip code for the …
Adventure Journal: “In honor of National Parks Week, which runs through April 28, Google Earth has launched a stunning virtual tour of 31 parks. Obviously, you’d rather be in those parks, but if you can’t, this is a pretty novel use of eye-opening technology to bring you there. The tours are part of Google Earth’s …
