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Dogs are usually balls of joy but even man’s best friend can get stressed. Do you know how to spot the signs of a nervous, stressed, or otherwise unhappy dog? Take it from a canine behaviorist. Also, coronavirus can infect cats — dogs, not so much. But scientists say it’s unclear whether felines can spread the virus to […]
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The Washington Post did a beautiful piece on the importance of preserving wildlife corridors in the face of climate change and other man-made threats. Interstate 80 is a vital transportation link that connects the east and west coasts, but it also blocks the historic migration routes through the Rocky Mountains for mule deer, elk, and pronghorn — some of the most iconic species of wildlife in the American West.
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We wrote 3 weeks ago that the COVID-19 outbreak could prove to be a serious impediment to global efforts to curb climate change and promote conservation, and this concern has been realized as yesterday the 2020 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, has been rescheduled for 2021. Why This Matters: COP26 was […]
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With oil prices plummeting to 18-year lows, oil and gas companies are scaling back by cutting workers, halting infrastructure investments, and drastically reducing oil and gas production. But will the natural gas industry finally get their outrageous methane leaks under control?
Why This Matters: Methane is the most potent greenhouse gas in terms of its short term impact. The Trump Administration made flaring methane even easier.
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According to The Wall Street Journal, there are growing issues surrounding seasonal workers entering (or not) the U.S., protecting farmworkers from becoming ill, and if they do, finding replacements to ensure crops are harvested before they go bad.
Why This Matters: The lack of resilience in our food system is showing. The Trump administration has created worker shortages when in the past it restricted the H-2A visa program out of concerns over illegal immigration. The pandemic has only made this concern worse.
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A new study published in the journal Nature has revealed that oceans are remarkably resilient and could be restored to health by 2050 if “major pressures—including climate change—are mitigated.” As the BBC reported, the researchers identified nine components that are key to rebuilding the oceans: salt marshes, mangroves, seagrasses, coral reefs, kelp, oyster reefs, fisheries, […]
Continue Reading 417 wordsby Zoey Shipley and Miro Korenha NPR and PBS Frontline recently announced a new joint investigation which has revealed that since the 1980s, “the plastics industry spent tens of millions of dollars promoting recycling through ads, recycling projects, and public relations, telling people plastic could be and should be recycled” all in an effort to […]
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Yesterday, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Vice Chair Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) sent a letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt urging him to close Grand Canyon National Park and other national parks and public lands at risk of spreading coronavirus due to continued crowding and high visitation levels. In the midst […]
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This year’s warm winter through most of the Lower 48 states has been great, right? Yes, but, but, but — the warm weather in the southeast was caused by the fact that the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are about 3 degrees warmer than usual, and that also increases the prospect for a very active spring tornado season and summer hurricane season.
Why This Matters: It was less than a month ago that a deadly cluster of severe tornadoes hit Nashville. What if the city had been battling the surge of the virus at the time?
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The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that under the Oil Pollution Act and the terms of its contract with the shipping company, CITGO Asphalt Refinery must repay the government and the shipper for the $133 million they spent to clean up the 6000 barrel oil spill that occurred when the oil tanker hit an abandoned […]
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Bloomberg News reported last week that U.S. pipeline operators are requesting oil producers to cut back on production — a “clear sign” that the oil market is reaching a breaking point when the amount of crude oil is at capacity in storage tanks and pipelines due to the oil glut caused by the global price war. Meanwhile, the Governors of Kentucky, West Virginia and South Dakota recently signed laws effectively making it a crime to protest a pipeline — imposing stiff fines and penalties for anyone causing “damage, destruction, vandalization, defacing or tampering” to pipelines because they are deemed to be “critical infrastructure.”
Continue Reading 425 wordsAs Mother Nature Network reported, Ecuador has become the first country in the world to build a “quiet park,” a lush stretch of land straddling the Zabalo River where silence is protected like a natural resource. There are no transport routes here. Nor residential and commercial developments. You can’t even hear the hum of power […]
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