Where have all the insects gone? “We can cause massive damage to biodiversity — damage that harms us”

By Gretchen Vogel10 May 2017 (Science) – Entomologists call it the windshield phenomenon. “If you talk to people, they have a gut feeling. They remember how insects used to smash on your windscreen,” says Wolfgang Wägele, director of the Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity in Bonn, Germany. Today, drivers spend less time scraping and scrubbing. […]

The Mystery of the Wasting House-Cats – Feline hyperthyroidism was virtually nonexistent, but now it’s an epidemic, and some scientists think a class of everyday chemicals is to blame

By Emily Anthes16 May 2017 (The New York Times Magazine) – Most days, the back room of the Animal Endocrine Clinic in Manhattan is home to half a dozen cats convalescing in feline luxury. They lounge in their own individual “condos,” each equipped with a plush bed, a raised perch and a cozy box for […]

The plant next door: A Louisiana town plagued by pollution shows why cuts to the EPA will be measured in illnesses and deaths

By Sharon Lerner24 March 2017 (The Intercept) – When the Environmental Protection Agency informed people in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, last July that the local neoprene plant was emitting a chemical that gave them the highest risk of cancer from air pollution in the country, the information was received not just with horror […]

No escaping ocean plastic: 37 million bits of litter on one of world’s remotest islands

By Kacey Deamer15 May 2017 (Live Science) – A tiny, uninhabited piece of land in the South Pacific Ocean, called Henderson Island, is considered one of the most remote islands in the world. But now, researchers say it has earned a much more worrisome new title: the world’s most polluted island. Henderson Island is so […]

EPA asked the public which regulations to gut — and got an earful about leaving them alone

By Brady Dennis16 May 2017 (The Washington Post) – Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency put out a call for comments about what regulations are in need of repeal, replacement or modification. The effort stemmed from an executive order issued by President Trump earlier this year instructing agencies to reexamine regulations that “eliminate jobs, or […]

All the trees will die, and then so will you – Fusarium dieback is on track to kill 26.8 million trees across Southern California

By Adam Rogers9 May 2017 (Wired) – The polyphagous shot hole borer, a brown-black beetle from southeast Asia, never gets bigger than a tenth of an inch. It breeds inside trees; pregnant females drill into trunks to create networks of tunnels where they lay their eggs. The beetles also carry a fungus called Fusarium; it […]

Human noise pollution is everywhere, even in the national parks

By Sarah Kaplan 4 May 2017 (The Washington Post) – In wintertime, the sounds of nature are so subtle they’re almost imperceptible: The whistling of the wind though craggy mountaintops, the whispering branches of the trees; the soft, delicate patter of an unseen animal’s paws across snowy ground. “It’s a really quiet experience,” said Rachel […]

A giant beached whale sculpture illustrates the plastic pollution problem

12 May 2017 (Plastic Pollution Coalition) – Greenpeace Philippines recently created and installed a giant whale art piece made out of plastic pollution at the Sea Side Beach Resort in Naic, Cavite. The 50-foot installation will be on display until 14 May 2017. “Listen to the dead whale’s wake-up call, look closer and see what […]

China’s severe winter haze tied to climate change – “The very rapid change in polar warming is really having a large impact on China”

By John Toon15 March 2017 ATLANTA, GA (Geirgia Tech) – China’s severe winter air pollution problems may be worsened by changes in atmospheric circulation prompted by Arctic sea ice loss and increased Eurasian snowfall – both caused by global climate change. Modeling and data analysis done by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology suggest […]

Trump’s EPA chief recuses himself from climate, water rule cases

By Timothy Cama5 May 2017 (The Hill) – The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is recusing himself from matters involving numerous major lawsuits he filed against his own agency. Scott Pruitt filed a recusal statement Thursday, saying that he will stay away from cases challenging the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, the Clean Water […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial