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“The Ocean Cleanup develops technologies to extract, prevent, and intercept plastic pollution. The Ocean Cleanup’s goal is to fuel the world’s fight against oceanic plastic pollution, by initiating the largest cleanup in history…The plastic pollution problem: Millions of tons of plastic have entered the oceans (UNEP 2005) Plastic concentrates in five rotating currents, called gyres …
MIT Technology Review – By David Talbot on December 16, 2014 “By 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will suffer from water scarcity. Even in drought-stricken California, San Diego stands out. It gets less rain than parched Los Angeles or Fresno. The region has less groundwater than many other parts of the state. And more …
“Resources for the Future has teamed up with Stanford University to conduct an in-depth survey of American perceptions of climate change and energy policies. The most recent poll was released in January 2015 in partnership with The New York Times. The survey asked respondents questions on a range of topics, including: How serious a problem …
FACT SHEET: Taking Action to Protect Communities and Reduce the Cost of Future Flood Disasters “Across the country, extreme weather and other impacts of climate change are threatening the health, safety, and prosperity of our communities. This month, NOAA and NASA announced that 2014 was the hottest global year on record. And as the planet …
Newsweek: “As the world warms, glaciers around the world are rapidly hemorrhaging ice and threatening catastrophic sea level rise. But melting glaciers also pose another kind of menace: the release of vast amounts of stored organic carbon into waterways. Florida State University assistant professor Robert Spencer and his colleagues have spent nearly a decade researching …
Committee on Guidance for NSF on National Ocean Science Research Priorities: Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences; Ocean Studies Board; Division on Earth and Life Studies; National Research Council “Ocean science connects a global community of scientists in many disciplines – physics, chemistry, biology, geology and geophysics. New observational and computational technologies are transforming the ability …
“Changes in geochemistry from the natural breakdown of petroleum hydrocarbons in groundwater promote mobilization of naturally occurring arsenic from aquifer sediments into groundwater. This geochemical change can result in potentially significant and overlooked arsenic groundwater contamination. Arsenic is a toxin and carcinogen linked to numerous forms of skin, bladder, and lung cancer. Of particular concern …
By Cathleen Kelly & Miranda Peterson |Why the U.S. Must Lead in the High North |Thursday, January 22, 2015: “While many Americans do not consider the United States to be an Arctic nation, Alaska—which constitutes 16 percent of the country’s landmass and sits on the Arctic Circle—puts the country solidly in that category. Consequently, it …
EurekAlert: “A simple column of common soil can reverse the toxic effects of urban runoff that otherwise quickly kills young coho salmon and their insect prey, according to new research by Washington State University, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The affordable and remarkably effective treatment offers new promise for controlling toxic …
NOAA: “Since the 1980s, the amount of perennial ice in the Arctic has declined. This animation tracks the relative amount of ice of different ages from 1987 through early November 2014. The oldest ice is white; the youngest (seasonal) ice is dark blue. Key patterns are the export of ice from the Arctic through Fram …
Environmental Litigation: Impact of Deadline Suits on EPA’s Rulemaking Is Limited, GAO-15-34: Published: Dec 15, 2014. Publicly Released: Jan 14, 2015. Iranian Commercial Activities Update: Foreign Firms Reported to Have Engaged in Iran’s Energy or Communications Sectors, GAO-15-258R: Published: Jan 13, 2015. Publicly Released: Jan 13, 2015.
CRS – Human-Induced Earthquakes from Deep-Well Injection: A Brief Overview. Peter Folger, Specialist in Energy and Natural Resources Policy; Mary Tiemann; Specialist in Environmental Policy. December 22, 2014. “The development of unconventional oil and natural gas resources using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has created new demand for wastewater disposal wells that inject waste fluids into deep geologic strata. An increasing concern …
