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The Environment This Month – December 2018

December 31, 2018 By Captain Maiel

Welcome back for another round up for The Environment This Month.

This round up is going to be the last on the blog. There is a lot of information to gather, and it takes up a lot of room each month. A much easier format to handle is through a social media interface. Thus, I am going to be carrying on the environmental news commentary on my Political K page. Please follow the page to stay up to date with all your news needs.

Let’s get started on our final run…

It’s December and this segment of the blog is coming to a close as we enter into a new format for the 2019 season. Don’t worry, you can find posts like this on my Political K page, where I can monitor environmental news more frequently, without culling a huge number of the stories from around the world that deserve your attention as well.

Next up, a giant orange man-baby spouting baloney to his worshippers, who will buy anything he says, because he’s a great, failed businessman. Of course, he said this…

During a rally in Tupelo, Mississippi aimed at boosting support for U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), who faces a runoff election tomorrow (Nov. 27) against Democratic candidate Mike Espy, Trump hailed the touchdown of the $850 million InSight lander, though not by name.

Trump Touts Mars Landing, Space Force at Mississippi Rally

What an apt subject to follow that bloated sack of blanc mange….beached whales.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — More than 140 pilot whales died after beaching themselves in southern New Zealand, with half being euthanized by conservation workers in a “deeply saddening” decision after their discovery came too late to rescue them, officials said Monday.

More Than 140 Whales Die in New Zealand After Mass Beaching – The New York Times

Closure:

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – A Honduran court found seven people guilty of participating in the 2016 murder of prize-winning indigenous and environmental rights activist Berta Caceres, while acquitting an eighth suspect in a case that has drawn international attention.

7 found guilty in killing of Honduran environmental activist | Fox News

Well, here’s one way corporations could fight the destruction of the current American administration…

Patagonia, the popular outdoor gear brand, plans to donate $10 million to environmental groups using the money it’s saving from the Trump corporate tax cuts this year. The California-based company’s chief executive officer, Rose Marcario, announced the move in a Linkedin post Wednesday afternoon.

Patagonia donating its $10 million Trump corporate tax cut to environmental groups – CBS News

As you’ll recall, this is the month that one of the few living American Presidents, passed away, having survived his wife by months. Although I have found his policies problematic, I can say that his leadership is a far cry from the insanity we are now experiencing (no doubt it helped build to this point, but it would be better to be back there, than where we are now, at such a critical moment).

In June 1989 President Bush proposed sweeping revisions to the Clean Air Act. Building on Congressional proposals advanced during the 1980s, the President proposed legislation designed to curb three major threats to the nation’s environment and to the health of millions of Americans: acid rain, urban air pollution, and toxic air emissions. The proposal also called for establishing a national permits program to make the law more workable, and an improved enforcement program to help ensure better compliance with the Act.

The Surprising Climate And Environmental Legacy Of President George H. W. Bush

And, there is no love loss between Republicans, let alone Democrats:

Landmark Environmental Protections Being Rolled Back – NBC Southern California

In these strange times, are eel snorting seals really that out of the ordinary?

An endangered Hawaiian monk seal was spotted with an eel lodged up its nostril in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Endangered seals are baffling conservationists with an unlikely predicament — getting eels stuck up their noses.

The Honolulu-based Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program (HMSRP), part of the United States’ NOAA Fisheries agency, posted a photo on its Facebook page Monday that showed a seal with the slippery creature lodged firmly in its right nostril.

This undignified incident is just the latest in a long (and wriggly) line of eel invasions to strike the Hawaiian monk seals — a phenomenon that was first spotted in the summer of 2016 off Hawaii’s Lisianski Island.

Hawaiian monk seals get eels stuck up their noses – CNN

A lot of families are doing their part to make a difference while their governments and other leaders are stalling on action. They understand the need, because they have children who will reap the cost of inaction later. So what is something we can do? Understand that everything you do has an impact of some kind, and then think about creative ways to limit it. Stop punishing yourself for not being completely free of impact. That is not possible.

Most people observe holidays that align with the solar calendar. Some of the most significant of those coincide with the shortest days of the year, around the winter solstice Dec. 21.

Those solstice-related holidays often include a festive meal. An internet search of “traditional holiday dinners” returns recipes and sumptuous photos of perfect standing rib roasts, glazed hams and turkeys.

Tradition meets the future if you plan your holiday meal with climate change in mind.

Not all foods have the same environmental impact or cost. Production of equal amounts of some foods emits many more greenhouse gases and other environmental threats than others.

Biology: Holiday feasts can vary in environmental effect – News – The Columbus Dispatch – Columbus, OH

Lack of regulation blamed for pollution in Shan State, where many Chinese companies are investing in hazardous mining.

Myanmar coal mining ‘causing environmental disasters’ | Myanmar News | Al Jazeera

Conservative Trash heap The Washington Examiner admits that Trump’s border wall construction will be an environmental disaster (even if by a roundabout story claiming the drugs and criminals bull shit line).

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from a trio of conservation and environmental groups seeking to block construction of President Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Supreme Court rejects request to hear environmental challenge to Trump’s border wall construction

12 years left and they’re still having summits to decide what to do. This should go well…

Countries have agreed that Chile will host next year’s U.N. climate summit.

Delegates at this year’s talks in Poland agreed Friday that the South American nation will stage the meeting after Brazil dropped out. Costa Rica, which had been also been in the running, will host a preliminary event.

The Latest: Chile to Host Next Year’s UN Climate Summit | Business News | US News

Let’s reiterate that belief doesn’t matter to scientific fact. You don’t believe in science and it’s findings. They exist and are fact. Belief doesn’t matter. So when someone says they don’t believe in Climate Change, remind them that it is a decided fact with evidence, not a mystery man in the sky stroking his beard and deciding who to strike with lightning.

Over the past three decades of global warming, the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has declined by a stunning 95 percent, according the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual Arctic Report Card.

The finding suggests that the sea at the top of the world has already morphed into a new and very different state, with major implications not only for creatures such as walruses and polar bears but, in the long term, perhaps for the pace of global warming itself.

The oldest ice can be thought of as a kind of glue that holds the Arctic together and, through its relative permanence, helps keep the Arctic cold even in long summers.

The Arctic Ocean has lost 95 percent of its oldest ice — a startling sign of what’s to come – The Washington Post

Good-fucking-bye, jack hole.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a key figure in President Trump’s sweeping plan to reshape the nation’s environmental framework, resigned under pressure on Saturday as he faces numerous ethics investigations into his business dealings, travel and policy decisions.

“Secretary of the Interior @RyanZinke will be leaving the Administration at the end of the year after having served for a period of almost two years,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “Ryan has accomplished much during his tenure and I want to thank him for his service to our Nation.” The president said he would name a replacement this coming week.

Ryan Zinke, Face of Trump Environmental Rollbacks, Is Leaving Interior Department – The New York Times

The hope was and will always be with the people. Governments, leaders, and moneyed interests are concerned by themselves and the works of the rich, which do not coincide with the needs of our planet or the beings living upon it. Your actions, no matter how small, are what sustains the continued movement.

Environmental groups sued the Trump administration Tuesday over offshore drilling tests, launching a legal fight against a proposal that has drawn bipartisan opposition along the Atlantic Coast.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Charleston, South Carolina, claims the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act when it issued five permits for the use of seismic air guns.

Lawsuit filed over Trump plans for offshore drilling tests – ABC News

Your vigilance is ever needed.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The Trump administration wants to reclassify some radioactive waste left from the production of nuclear weapons to lower its threat level and make disposal cheaper and easier.

The proposal by the U.S. Department of Energy would lower the status of some high-level radioactive waste in several places around the nation, including the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state — the most contaminated nuclear site in the country.

Reclassifying the material to low-level could save the agency billions of dollars and decades of work by essentially leaving the material in the ground, critics say.

The proposal joins a long list of Trump administration efforts to loosen environmental protections. Just last week, the Environmental Protection Agency acted to ease rules on the sagging U.S. coal industry.

Trump plan to reclassify nuclear waste alarms environmental groups

For perspective, let’s look at a naturally occurring environmental change. Please note that it will take 100 million years to process, not a few centuries…

‘We estimate that this ‘ring rain’ drains an amount of water products that could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool from Saturn’s rings in half an hour,’ said James O’Donoghue of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

‘From this alone, the entire ring system will be gone in 300 million years, but add to this the Cassini-spacecraft measured ring-material detected falling into Saturn’s equator, and the rings have less than 100 million years to live.’

Saturn is losing its rings:They will have completely disappeared in 100 million years | Daily Mail Online

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone intends to launch investigations into the Trump administration’s handling of Obama-era environmental initiatives when Democrats take control of the U.S. House next month.

Pallone, a Democrat who has been representing the Bayshore and central New Jersey in Congress for nearly 30 years, will ascend to the chair of a powerful U.S. House committee, one that could play a significant role in shaping U.S. climate change policy.

Pallone will investigate Trump team over environmental rollbacks

And, with that, we bring The Environment This Month news roundup to a close. Thanks for reading! It was fun and meaningful for me to bring you the top stories each month. Don’t forget to join me at Political K, where this segment now lives on a more active basis.

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The Environment This Month – November 2018

November 30, 2018 By Captain Maiel

Welcome back for another round up for The Environment This Month.

The holidays are here again. Hoping your Turkey Day (if you’re an American) was a good one. It’s great to be thankful, but I always found an excessive feast to be an odd way of going about recognizing what we have. Then again, sharing the wealth with loved ones does make a lot of sense. I just wish we felt giving every day, and not just with a select few in our lives.

Sadly, people still believe that it is unsustainable to make sure everyone has enough—something sold for eons to the poor by the ruling classes to keep them in line.

Let’s get started, and enter December with a clearer understanding of what we face in the coming year. Next month we’ll wrap up the news roundup for a final 30 days on the blog. It will be moving to Facebook as part of my regular posts on Political K.

First up, a bit of good news that has been on my radar for sometime…

A U.S. district judge has issued an order blocking construction of the controversial transnational Keystone XL Pipeline until the State Department conducts further study of its impact on the environment.

Judge Brian Morris’ 54-page order, issued late Thursday, overturns the Trump administrations’s approval last year of the proposed 1,179-mile pipeline and at least temporarily prevents it from being built.

Although the decision does not permanently halt the pipeline’s construction, it nevertheless comes as TransCanada, the Canadian company that owns Keystone, is preparing to start construction in Montana, shipping pipe to various locations throughout the state, the Great Falls Tribune reports.

Keystone Pipeline Construction Blocked By Federal Judge : NPR

Speaking of being on the radar for a long time. This next item is something that has been going on for most of my lifetime. It’s good to know it should be resolved before much longer: another decade.

The ozone layer – which protects us from the sun’s harmful radiation – is slowly healing, the United Nations announced Monday.

“It’s really good news,” said NASA scientist Paul Newman, co-author of the U.N. report.

Over the northern half of the world, the layer should be completely repaired by the 2030s, the report said. The good news is due to decades of worldwide cooperation to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals.

Ozone layer healing, thanks to worldwide cooperation

Now that the good news shows you the benefit of working hard and not giving up, despite long and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, let us look at what we’re fighting against still…

A TRIO OF BALLOT measures aimed at addressing climate change fell short at the polls Tuesday…The ballot measures in Arizona, Colorado and Washington notably pitted environmental advocates against deep-pocketed oil and gas groups, which outspent the proposals’ proponents despite outside support from donors such as former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Voters Reject Environmental Measures in Washington, Arizona and Colorado | Politics | US News

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The Environment This Month – October 2018

October 29, 2018 By Captain Maiel

Welcome back for another round up for The Environment This Month.

Here we are, once again, saying good-bye to my favorite month. This roundup sends us into deep fall, staring down winter. The holidays are nigh. So are elections, so this roundup will be the most important for the year. Let’s not dawdle on this introduction, but get started on the important stuff.

Technology is advancing despite those who attempt to hold us back. Scientists are not waiting for consensus on climate change. And the backers aren’t either. The future is climate technology. We stand at the precipice, already past completely correcting the damage, so we will need to develop a means to survive in the new temperatures (which will affect our lives intimately). Take this satellite tech that helped Florence…

GOES stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, and there’s a new generation of them in space. GOES-East, the satellite watching the Eastern half of the western hemisphere, was launched in 2016 and is fully operational. It’s the satellite that kept a close watch on Florence. GOES-West went operational in March.

New GOES satellite shows its power in Hurricane Florence | AL.com

The next item, we already had strongly correlated, if not known.

he world’s most widely used weed killer may also be indirectly killing bees. New research from The University of Texas at Austin shows that honey bees exposed to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, lose some of the beneficial bacteria in their guts and are more susceptible to infection and death from harmful bacteria.

Scientists believe this is evidence that glyphosate might be contributing to the decline of honey bees and native bees around the world.

“We need better guidelines for glyphosate use, especially regarding bee exposure, because right now the guidelines assume bees are not harmed by the herbicide,” said Erick Motta, the graduate student who led the research, along with professor Nancy Moran. “Our study shows that’s not true.”

The findings are published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Common weed killer linked to bee deaths

If it weren’t bad enough that we may lose Roe V. Wade (and respect for women’s autonomy altogether), the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh brings with it more stagnation for environmental concerns. The Judge’s record on the environment is as irresponsible as his college days.

Unlike many elected Republicans, Kavanaugh recognized the reality of man-made climate change during his time on the bench in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. “The earth is warming,” he said two years ago. “Humans are contributing.”

However, in his opinions, the judge has been stingy in doling out more authority to the Environmental Protection Agency to address concerns about climate change, believing that government agencies should only have powers explicitly given them by Congress. And lawmakers haven’t passed any law that directly attempts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. Most of that action, to the chagrin of Republicans, took place within the executive branch under President Barack Obama.

But the courts, including the one on which Kavanaugh sits, haven’t always allowed the Democratic administration to implement regulations aimed at mitigating global warming. As recently as last year, for example, Kavanaugh ruled against an Obama-era effort at the EPA to rein in emissions of some of the most potent climate-warming gases, called hydrofluorocarbons.

The Energy 202: Don’t forget about Kavanaugh’s environmental record – The Washington Post

Tobacco has been a topic coming up more frequently again, at least in my corner of the world. Honestly, I don’t know many people who still smoke, unless you go outside to where the buses come through, and the smoke shop on that street. That’s still a very tiny segment, who apparently find it necessary to gather around pregnant women to blow like chimneys. At least it felt that way when I was pregnant and trying to catch a shuttle back to my car. The shelter and even the buildings have no smoking policies, but the smokers gathered close to me. I’d move, and they’d follow. What are you gonna do? I did my best to escape them. Once I had given birth, they no longer came near.

From this, I can understand how smoking affects the environment, beyond the health risks for smokers and those stuck breathing their smoke.

The World Health Organization says smoking not only kills about 7 million people every year, but has a devastating impact on the environment — contributing to deforestation, water and soil damage and acidification.

UN: Tobacco kills not just people, but the environment

Cultivation of land is one of the major problems for our planet. Humanity is failing at land management.

On 106 acres in Fishlake National Forest in Richfield, Utah, a 13-million-pound giant has been looming for thousands of years. But few people have ever heard of him.

This is “the Trembling Giant,” or Pando, from the Latin word for “I spread.” A single clone, and genetically male, he is the most massive organism on Earth. He is a forest of one: a grove of some 47,000 quivering aspen trees — Populus tremuloides — connected by a single root system, and all with the same DNA.

But this majestic behemoth may be more of a Goliath, suggests a study published Wednesday in PLOS ONE. Threatened by herds of hungry animals and human encroachment, Pando is fighting a losing battle.

Pando, the Most Massive Organism on Earth, Is Shrinking :: WRAL.com

The most important take away from this round up that you will ever find comes next. This is what you need to fight those who want to silence any talk on the climate. Tell them where they’re going to get hit in the wallet, their life, and so on. Make it personal. Show them the unrestrained devastation that is sure to come to their doorstep, and get them thinking about what they can do to help stop that from happening. People will always worry about and protect what is theirs.

Considering climate change as a transformative force rather than an environmental issue alone allows for discussion of how atmospheric changes impact many aspects of life and society

Climate change isn’t just an environmental issue anymore | MPR News

The following bit of information is unsurprising, but something you need to be aware of as we continue to resist…

Finalists for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Science Advisory Board include researchers who reject mainstream climate science and who have fought against environmental regulations for years.

Among them is an economist from the conservative Heritage Foundation whose work was cited by President Trump as a justification for withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. Another downplays the dangers of air pollution. Several scientists are from energy companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., and the list includes a researcher who argues that more carbon dioxide is good for the planet.

Climate change doubters are finalists for Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board | Science | AAAS

I’m not sure why the author of our next submission thinks that the environment isn’t at the top of the list, considering, but he does speak to the midterms and things that we need to keep on our radar as we prepare to vote. My question: Why are democrats waiting? If you’ve read my other political commentary, then you know that I’ve been tracking democratic patterns of waiting and minimizing, among other things, such as rigging primaries…

While none of this has pushed the environment over issues like healthcare or immigration in the minds of most voters, environmental groups and Democrats are hoping the recent string of natural disasters and the Trump administration’s efforts to rollback dozens of environmental laws will be key in November’s midterms – particularly in disaster-struck states like California and Florida, where a number of House seats are closely contested.

“People are seeing first-hand the devastating impacts that climate change is having,” says Tiernan Sittenfeld, the senior vice president for government affairs with the League of Conservation Voters. “And they’re going to be far more likely to support elected officials and candidates who are going to stand up for them and not with the corporate polluters the way that Donald Trump and the Republican leadership in Congress does over and over again.”

After Midterms, Democrats Hope To ‘Change The Narrative’ On Environmental Rollbacks . News | OPB

I have a video for you this month that you really need to check out. I stumbled upon this while checking my LinkedIn profile. It’s all about replacing plastic…

Thanks for reading! Until next time…

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The Environment This Month – September 2018

September 28, 2018 By Captain Maiel

Welcome back for another round up for The Environment This Month.

September rolls in again. This summer felt more like the summers I remember as a child, but the reports came in saying it’s been the hottest on record. The fall arrived like someone flipped a switch, turning that heat off. It’s always my hope that we will reach a point where we’ve made enough changes that the damage will start to recede. That, however, is not meant to be. Right now we are just negotiating how bad. We have those who spurn education and science to thank that, because they allowed themselves to be used as brakes by those profiting. The only thing to do now is demand the changes necessary, and cease the acceptance of contrary opinions that hold us back. Truth and facts. Let’s arm ourselves…

Earth-observing satellites use the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to measure the aerosol optical thickness from hundreds of kilometers above the Earth. These measurements are based on the fact that aerosols change the reflection and absorption of visible and infrared light in the atmosphere. NASA has now released a vivid image that shows the aerosol flow across the face of Earth. According to NASA, “An optical thickness of less than 0.1 (palest yellow) indicates a crystal clear sky with maximum visibility, whereas a value of 1 (reddish brown) indicates very hazy conditions.”

NASA shows aerosols around the world in one vibrant image – The Hindu

The next story reminds us of how interconnected the planet is. No corner will be unaffected. So why do we allow anyone to stop us from responding, and saving what we still can?

A new study led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and the Coral Reef Research Foundation (CRRF) in Palau describes a novel approach for predicting warm temperature-induced stress on corals from the sea surface through a deeper expanse ranging from 30-150 meters (100-500 feet) known as the mesophotic zone.

Corals at this depth are thought of by some in the science community as being safer from ocean warming than their shallow-water counterparts. But the Scripps Oceanography team found that even in the deep, corals are episodically exposed to thermal stress at intervals different than those corals near the surface.

Scientists find corals in deeper waters under stress too

Forbes addressed the effect on people with an economic spin, because we seem unable to reach conservatives unless we inform them of how their bank accounts will be affected by the changes in the climate. What’s in it for me, is a common question in training about teaching individuals new skills that may alter their day to day tasks. We all know, we humans are creatures of habit. Once we’re settled in a routine, we take it personally when someone wants to change it. Don’t ask me why we get so invested in the way we do things, like it’s fundamental to who we are as an individual. If someone can show me a better way, or a way that improves life for me and those around me, I’m going to listen and try to apply it.

Oddly enough, doesn’t it seem, the folks fighting efficient and smart change seem to be the same ones calling everyone else lazy?

“The bad news on climate change is almost a steady drumbeat. As such it can be too easy to grow numb to it, but it’s important to not lose sight of what’s happening and the urgency of it…Global warming, in short, remains urgent for the environment and the people who will bear the direct costs…Let me unpack this a bit. Energy price shocks are historically a contributor to modern recessions.”

Energy Is An Environmental And Macroeconomic Problem

You might wonder what the next link has to do with environmental concerns. History is the perspective from which you perceive the future, for one. But museums are also bastions of research and innovation. This fire was a major tragedy for the world.

The National Museum of Brazil, the country’s oldest scientific institution, has been engulfed by flames after a fire broke out on Sunday night.

The museum, which recently celebrated its 200-year anniversary, contains more than 20 million items in its collection, including artefacts from Egypt and the oldest human fossil ever discovered in Brazil.

Brazil’s 200-Year-Old National Museum Engulfed By Flames | HuffPost

I really miss when the following was the biggest problem facing the States…

Air pollution is now “the biggest environmental risk” to public health in Europe but governments are failing to adequately deal with the crisis, the EU Court of Auditors has found.

Europe’s air pollution limits are “much weaker” than WHO guidelines – and most EU countries do not comply with them anyway, according to the damning new report.

Air pollution is ‘biggest environmental health risk’ in Europe | Environment | The Guardian

As you know, I like to temper the roundup with some good news. This time, I have something very interesting to share. (Or, maybe, it’s just been on my radar as someone who loves marine biology.)

Great white sharks have led researchers to discover a secret, hidden oceanic void teeming with life.

Marine biologists began tagging sharks more than a decade ago but the predators’ month-long annual pilgrimage to a seemingly barren area in the mid-Pacific region from the coasts of California and Mexico had baffled scientists.

Now researchers from Stanford University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, have found that apparently empty stretch of ocean, known as the mid-water, is in fact teeming with life.

Mysterious great white shark lair discovered in Pacific Ocean | Daily Mail Online

You can’t have a roundup from this September without mentioning the big storm that came through the Southern United States. You’d think that voters in this area, who are far more likely to experience such storms, would be on board with protecting the environment, and thus not encouraging these natural disasters to grow beyond survivability. Perhaps they’re like 45, and get excited to rebuild every other year, and lose most if not all sentimental keepsakes, like family photos, grandma’s china, and so on. But, no. Once again, voting against one’s interests, and once again we have the same old results…

Twenty-seven of the 37 deaths attributed to the storm have been in North Carolina, where Florence and its floodwaters have caused significant damage in the state. First responders have made more than 4,000 rescues, approximately 10,000 people are in shelters, and the state has set up four mass-feeding kitchens.

Floodwaters Rise In Carolinas, Taking Lives And Prompting Environmental Concerns : NPR

Thanks for reading! Until next time…

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The Environment This Month – August 2018

August 31, 2018 By Captain Maiel

Welcome back for another round up for The Environment This Month.

They height of summer has passed. We’re entering the fall, and that usually means the general public forgetting exactly what climate change is, and that just because it’s getting colder doesn’t mean that the mean temperatures of the planet are not rising. The presence of cool temperatures or even snow is no indication that things are just fine. Now is also the time that scientists reflect on the mean temperature of the planet through the warm season. 2018 is record hottest, already. Frankly, there is no arguing this point. Climate change is fact and so is the cause of it being humanity.

So let’s get started on rounding up the important news from August of 2018, so we can make a difference…

First up is a reminder about strained resources on our planet. The same sect of humanity that thinks there is no climate change is under the impression that our finite planet is infinite on resources. I bet if you asked them how that is possible, they’d stutter quite a bit as the cognitive dissonance struggled to make an answer. See, that’s how you get these ridiculous right wing sound bites…

The planet’s been strained for so long that sometime ago, a group of scientists sought to rename the geological epoch we live in. They proposed that the current epoch Holocene, meaning ‘entirely recent’, be followed by Anthropocene (‘new man’). This, they argued, would reflect mankind’s terrestrial impacts: biodiversity loss, contaminated air, water and soil, global warming, plastic pollution and scattering of radioactive elements courtesy nuclear tests, to name a few.

Earth Overshoot Day: Planet of the ponzi

While 45’s policies are tearing things apart on the federal level, states are fighting the flood of bad doings by enforcing their own protections. Unfortunately for the entire United States, not every state is acting like New Jersey (California and New York, as well). If you’re lucky enough to have a left wing state, then your regulations and their enforcement will continue, but the minutes that changes, they will be slaughtered, and along with that safeties put in place for human health and our future.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, right, shook hands with a young man after a news conference announcing pollution lawsuits filed by the state on Wednesday in Newark, N.J.

New Jersey officials on Wednesday filed six lawsuits against companies accused of polluting, marking an increase in environmental enforcement under Gov. Phil Murphy.

Mr. Murphy, a Democrat, took office in January and has pledged to take a more progressive stance on environmental issues than former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican.

Environmentalists criticized many of Mr. Christie’s policies during his two terms in office, including his decision to pull the state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and his administration’s pollution settlement with Exxon Mobil Corp., which they felt let the company off easy.

Murphy Administration Amps Up Environmental Enforcement – WSJ

Next up, a reminder that keeping vigilant is vital to the fight. The moment you dare to look away, or look elsewhere, is the moment when you’ll be taken advantage of. I bet you thought this next thing was over with…

A new planned route for TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska would not have a major impact on the state’s water, land or wildlife, according to an updated environmental study produced by the Trump administration.

New Keystone XL route in Nebraska gets environmental OK | CBC News

In addition, you may be interested in this:

Federal judge orders environmental review of Keystone XL pipeline | Courts | omaha.com
Environmental groups ask court to review pipeline approval | The News Tribune

Speaking of vigilance—we also need to get more creative with where we are looking to find future problems. WOuld you think a cryptocurrency something to wreak havoc with the environment (outside of the shady deals it is used for that may impact environmental vulnerabilities).

Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer transaction verification is a polluting process, requiring machine hardware around the world to run at a high rate, 24 hours a day, producing vast amounts of heat and emissions. Credit: Elsevier, Energy Research & Social Science

A study published in Energy Research & Social Science warns that failure to lower the energy use by Bitcoin and similar Blockchain designs may prevent nations from reaching their climate change mitigation obligations under the Paris Agreement.

Energy-intensive Bitcoin transactions pose a growing environmental threat: New study assesses tax and regulatory options to incentivize the development of ‘green’ blockchain tech — ScienceDaily

With vigilance, for many, comes great danger. It is a privilege to be able to speak freely of these issues, and the worst you experience is ridicule or the loss of a friend. Many, especially people of color, pay with their lives.

Filipino activists are paying the price for defending the environment with their lives.A 2017 Global Witness report released on Tuesday revealed that the archipelago is the most dangerous country in Asia for environment defenders, with 48 killings recorded last year—a 71 per cent rise on 2016.

The Philippines—Asia’s most dangerous country for environmental defenders

Vigilance also requires that we reach out to those we may have traditionally viewed as enemies, because historically they have not been very helpful in our attempts to protect the planet and our species. However, this next story will make you think twice, and hopefully start to imagine ways that you can extend that olive branch and get the work we so desperately need done.

Younger generations of religious Americans tend to closely harbor concerns for the environment via stewardship more so than older parishioners, according to a study by a University of Kansas researcher.

“The best way to account for this upsurge from about 1980 and on is that a lot of religious groups have actually started to talk to their parishioners about creation care — a term used to avoid the political context attached to environmentalism,” said Lukas Szrot, a KU doctoral candidate in sociology. “Leaders felt that religious groups and churches needed to address this problem, and their members likely wanted to talk more about these issues.”

Environmental concerns stronger among younger religious Americans | EurekAlert! Science News

Proof is in the pudding, so they say. Have you ever been in the middle of a hot debate on how regulations have helped save the environment, only to have anecdotal evidence to share, and Google is being zero help locating that killer article that would shut the naysayer down? Look no further! (Why aren’t you using my blog as a resource? This would be a great tool to have in your back pocket.) The following article is one you’ll want to bookmark. There’s no weedling away from this one…

The study, forthcoming in the American Economic Review, found that polluting emissions from U.S. manufacturing fell by 60 percent between 1990 and 2008—a period in which manufacturing output grew significantly—primarily because manufacturers adopted cleaner production methods in tandem with increasingly strict environmental regulation.

Environmental regulations drove steep declines in U.S. factory pollution

I’m sharing this next article because it will serve to show how the United States is no longer leading the charge on environmental concerns. The current government of the US is hostile to other nations as well as it’s own regulatory infrastructure. The president signs orders weekly that reduce the work of decades, rolling back to SIlent Spring days.

Delegates from 53 African countries and China took the next step towards greater environmental progress under the framework of South-South Cooperation with the inauguration of the interim secretariat for a new China-Africa Environmental Cooperation Center to be based in Nairobi.

When it’s completed, the Center will provide a platform for capacity development, technical support, environmental policy dialogue and mobilization of funds for environmental projects and programmes.

Environmental groups ask court to review pipeline approval | The News Tribune

So let’s make sure we are off our butts and doing what we can to not fall behind.

Here’s another hit to your personal life, and one many didn’t think twice about. What are you going to do? You need to see, right?

Many people rely on contact lenses to improve their vision. But these sight-correcting devices don’t last forever — some are intended for a single day’s use — and they are eventually disposed of in various ways. Now, scientists are reporting that throwing these lenses down the drain at the end of their use could be contributing to microplastic pollution in waterways.

The environmental cost of contact lenses | EurekAlert! Science News

Unsurprisingly, I find scientists still calling us to the basics of environmental stewardship. The rally cry for richer diversity in ecosystems brought me all the way back to my Earth Club days in High School. (Shout out to Ballston High.)

To offset CO2 emissions, China is reforesting. If a mixture of tree species instead of monocultures were planted, much more carbon could be stored. An international team has shown that species-rich forest ecosystems take up more CO2 from the atmosphere and store more carbon in biomass and soil, making them more effective against climate change.

Species-rich forests better compensate environmental impacts — ScienceDaily

Remember your roots. they’re a great point to regroup and reenergize your activism.

Thanks for reading! Until next time…

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<img decoding="async" class="" src="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/foursmokestacks750-410x273.jpg" alt="four smokestacks emitting pollution" width="650" height="433" />

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