Global warming?

[rbkwp]

One of coronavirus’s lasting legacies: The end of work as we knew it

Coronavirus has shocked businesses into low-carbon practices. Will they stick?

Climate 101

Free, hands-on activities, videos, and discussion questions about the planet's most pressing issue

Coronavirus could cause the first big emissions drop in a decade

Coronavirus cleared the smog in NYC and LA. What about greenhouse gases?

When coronavirus cancels the school year, a father seeks some outside perspective

When you have to stay away from other humans, it’s a good time to get to know your non-human neighbors.

ADVERTISEMENT

What’s snack time got to do with climate change?

Here's how to cook for the climate -- with kids!

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Green transportation, from electric cars to walkable cities

How can we make transportation better for the planet?

Why is climate change so unfair?

Climate change is not fair. But here’s why it’s more unfair for some than others.

America’s heartland is expected to flood again — but this time amid coronavirus

FEMA isn’t prepared for the extreme weather ahead. But our food system is already adapting.

Farmworkers are risking their lives to feed a nation on lockdown

“You can’t pick strawberries over Zoom.”

A mom’s coronavirus coping strategy: Use your anger, mind your actions

Fixating on our environmental shortcomings can feel ridiculous in this pandemic. But our actions aren’t insignificant.

The 2020 census can help us fight climate change — if coronavirus doesn’t get in the way

A flawed census count would have ripple effects on environmental justice and plans to tackle climate change.

Be prepared: Key lessons from the coronavirus pandemic and climate change

Lessons from Bangladesh and Ethiopia.

How vulnerable is your community to coronavirus? These new maps reveal a familiar pattern.

"Our most heavily weighted and frequent determining risk factor was air quality."

I’m an advice columnist, and I don’t know how I can help right now

I don’t want to think about another global crisis! I don’t even want to think about tomorrow!

Amazon climate strikers demand stronger coronavirus protections for warehouse workers

This isn’t the first time Amazon's response to a global crisis has been criticized by its employees.

Coronavirus postpones crucial U.N. climate conference

The conference will be held instead in 2021.

Don’t be April fooled, Google did not just swear off funding climate deniers

The fake Google announcement is a prank from Extinction Rebellion.

Environmental destruction is making the next coronavirus more likely

Sprawling cities, habitat loss, and climate change are a dangerous mix. Sign up for Grist’s “Climate in the Time of Coronavirus” newsletter Sources: Grist| The frightening origins of the coronavirus WHO | Origins of the 2014 Ebola epidemic Jones, et …

 

[rbkwp]

work in together
forget about competing/comparisons
its that crap that makes one embarrassed to be a supposed adult



Coronavirus myth-busting: The truth about empty shelves and toilet paper shortages

Coronavirus myth-busting: The truth about empty shelves and toilet paper shortages

 

[rbkwp]

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
COVID-19
Coronavirus could cause the first big emissions drop in a decade
By Shannon Osaka on Apr 7, 2020


Coronavirus could cause the first big emissions drop in a decade


take it while its there

 

[rbkwp]

Thank you for supporting InsideClimate News!

In the 04/08/2020 edition:

• Unchecked Global Warming Could Collapse Whole Ecosystems, Maybe Within 10 Years

• Trump EPA’s ‘Secret Science’ Rule Would Dismiss Studies That Could Hold Clues to Covid-19

• In Alaska’s North, Covid-19 Has Not Stopped the Trump Administration’s Quest to Drill for Oil

Unchecked Global Warming Could Collapse Whole Ecosystems, Maybe Within 10 Years
A new study shows that as rising heat drives some key species extinct, it will affect other species, as well, in a domino effect.
BY BOB BERWYN

Global warming is about to tear big holes into Earth's delicate web of life, pushing temperatures beyond the tolerance of thousands of animals at the same time. As some key species go extinct, entire ecosystems like coral reefs and forests will crumble, and some will collapse abruptly, starting as soon as this decade, a new study in the journal Nature warns.

SEE ALSO:
Bumblebee Decline Linked With Extreme Heat Waves
Dead Birds Washing Up by the Thousands Send a Warning About Climate Change
Ocean Warming Is Speeding Up, with Devastating Consequences, Study Shows
In a Race Against Global Warming, Robins Are Migrating Earlier
read more



Trump EPA’s ‘Secret Science’ Rule Would Dismiss Studies That Could Hold Clues to Covid-19
The rule would disqualify some of the most valuable health science, critics say.
BY MARIANNE LAVELLE

In 2018, scientists published a study showing that doctor visits for respiratory infections increased with the air pollution that periodically settled into the urban valleys of northern Utah—research that could prove relevant as researchers try to unlock the mysteries of Covid-19.

SEE ALSO:
Trump’s Move to Suspend Enforcement of Environmental Laws is a Lifeline to the Oil Industry
Trump’s EPA Fast-Tracks a Controversial Rule That Would Restrict the Use of Health Science
How Trump’s ‘Secret Science’ Rule Would Put Patients’ Privacy at Risk
Trump’s Fuel Efficiency Reduction Would Be Largest Anti-Climate Rollback Ever
read more


In Alaska’s North, Covid-19 Has Not Stopped the Trump Administration’s Quest to Drill for Oil
The president’s plans for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may fall flat. But a massive ConocoPhillips project is moving full speed ahead.
BY SABRINA SHANKMAN

Along the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—the long-fought over stretch of wilderness that President Donald Trump has been working hard to open to drilling—a successful lease sale is looking less and less likely before the end of the year.

SEE ALSO:
Surrounded by Oil Fields, an Alaska Village Fears for Its Health
Trump Wants to Erase Protections in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, a Storehouse of Carbon
Alaska’s Big Whale Mystery: Where Are the Bowheads?
Alaska's Hottest Month on Record: Melting Sea Ice, Wildfires and Unexpected Die-Offs
read more

 

[rbkwp]

It’s Wednesday, April 8, and the coronavirus pandemic has the U.S. oil industry feeling ill.

Weeks before most Americans were aware that a pandemic would grind the United States economy to a halt, the Energy Information Administration predicted that carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. energy generation would fall by 2 percent this year and decrease another 1.5 percent in 2021.

That was in mid-January. On Tuesday, the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, put out a very different forecast: Energy-related carbon emissions will fall by 7.5 percent this year due to the COVID-19 crisis, a larger decrease than the one that occurred in the wake of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. The newly predicted emissions free fall can be attributed to an economy that’s suddenly in lockdown with millions of people staying home every day and industrial activity slowed.

On top of the new emissions forecast, the Energy Department has bad news for oil producers: U.S. officials will likely have to stop referring to the country as a net-exporter of oil, stymying a years-long march to become an international force in the crude oil game. The EIA estimates that U.S. oil production will drop by more than 1 million barrels per daydue to the novel coronavirus. Americans will consume 9 percent less gasoline to fuel motor vehicles compared to 2019, and jet fuel consumption will fall by 10 percent year over year.

These effects aren’t permanent — emissions are expected to jump 3.6 percent in 2021 as the economy comes back from the brink — but the pandemic is providing a timely reckoning for the fossil fuel industry.

— Zoya Teirstein

THE SMOG
Need-to-know basis

China is considering adding more coal plants to mitigate the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report. Analysts say the new plants would create jobs and help China hit its economic growth and energy security goals, but these high-polluting operations wouldn’t actually turn a profit; in China, as in many other countries around the world, coal plants are reliant on government subsidies.

New research suggests that residents of counties with high levels of air pollution are more likely to die from COVID-19. Scientists at Harvard analyzed COVID-19 death rates across the United States and found a correlation between fine particulate matter pollution (PM 2.5) and mortality.

Analysts say that global sales of electric vehicles could drop by 43 percent this year as the coronavirus slows the economy to a near-halt. Low oil prices are reducing the demand for EVs, and many consumers are waiting until the economy recovers to make big purchases.

— Shannon Osaka

MORE GRIST FOR YOUR MILL

A jail built on a landfill is at the center of America’s coronavirus outbreak

As of Tuesday morning, 287 New York City inmates and 406 jail staff had already tested positive for COVID-19.

Coronavirus myth-busting: The truth about empty shelves and toilet paper shortages

The sudden shift in the way Americans shop is stunning.

Here’s why the coronavirus pandemic has the U.S. oil industry feeling ill

Trump is about to lose his “the U.S. is a net exporter of oil” bragging rights due to the coronavirus.

This professor wants you to give up your climate guilt

Poli sci professor Leah Stokes explains why, when it comes to climate change, it’s actually not all about you.

One of coronavirus’s lasting legacies: The end of work as we knew it

Coronavirus has shocked businesses into low-carbon practices. Will they stick?

 

[rbkwp]

With humans in lockdown, animals flourish

With humans in lockdown, animals flourish

 

[rbkwp]

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Construction Begins on Keystone XL Pipeline in Montana

Coal Miners With Black Lung Brace for COVID-19

Coronavirus: Air Pollution Might Raise Risk of Fatality

Renewable Sources Made up 72% of New Energy Added in 2019

Here’s How to Clean Your Groceries During the COVID-19 Outbreak

We Need a Green New Deal for Farmland

 

[rbkwp]

Chile, which presided over the last round of climate talks, has joined only a handful of nations by publishing a more ambitious climate action plan for coming years.

Megan Darby reported on the news conference where a trio of Chilean ministers wore masks against coronavirus and promised the nation will peak its greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, two years earlier than mentioned in a draft proposal.

Chile has been among many campaigning for governments to submit stronger plans this year to the United Nations at the first five-year milestone of the 2015 Paris Agreement, although the exact legal requirements are murky.

So far, few have complied and the coronavirus pandemic is complicating many nations’ plans to raise ambition.

Before Chile, only the Marshall Islands, Suriname, Norway, Moldova, Japan and Singapore have submitted updated 2030 plans for action, according to a World Resources Institute tracker. Dominated by Japan, which faced criticism for largely reiterating pledges from 2015 – they represent 2.8% of global emissions.

The delay of this year’s climate summit, originally due to be held in Glasgow in November, to 2021 doesn’t affect the Paris request for all countries to submit plans “by 2020” – or 31 December.

This week’s top stories...

• Chile to peak emissions by 2025, under strengthened climate pledge
• Coronavirus lockdown gives a boost to citizen science projects
• Airlines urge UN body to ease climate goals for 2020s as traffic collapses
• Coronavirus: plane-free skies spur research into warming impact of aviation

...and climate conversations

• European Green Deal must be central to a resilient recovery after Covid-19
• The US election is even more crucial with UN climate talks delayed to 2021
• Japan’s woeful climate plan amounts to science denial

*** From We Mean Business Coalition ***
Build Back Better: Embed climate action into long-term economic stimulus

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments are mobilising emergency response plans and designing some of the biggest long-term economic stimulus packages ever seen. Read about how governments canboost economic growth, create good jobs, reduce emissions, ensure clean air and increase resilience to future shocks by applying a climate and resilience lens to economic stimulus.

Flights and emissions

Chloé Farand wrote about how airlines are seeking relief from new carbon emissions rules due to start in the 2020s after the coronavirus pandemic caused a collapse in international flights.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata), which represents the world’s airlines, wants to change the baseline from which CO2 emissions from traffic growth will be judged in coming years to dampen a likely rise in the 2020s, when traffic recovers from current depressed levels.

The move, it said, would “avoid an inappropriate economic burden on the sector”.

Contrails

The grounding of flights is giving scientists a rare chance to study clear skies and find out how contrails – white lines of vapour left behind jets – create high altitude clouds that stoke global warming. Cloud formation caused by air travel is one of the least understood areas of climate science.

The last time skies were as clear, at least over the United States, was after the 9/11 suicide hijacker attacks in 2001. Planes’ contrails could be contributing at least as much to climate change – by trapping heat – as carbon dioxide from the fuel they burn.

Counting penguins

People forced to stay home because of the coronavirus are contributing to citizen science in record numbers – from counting penguins to mapping solar panels.

Read Megan Darby’s intriguing and fun look at these lockdown projects. Zooniverse, which sets volunteers to work on subject matters ranging from literature to space exploration, recorded five million “classifications”, or images processed, last week – four times its usual number.

By the way, this Climate Weekly is coming to you a day early because of a long Easter break in Europe: maybe an opportunity to try some citizen science?

 

[rbkwp]

After the Coronavirus, Two Sharply Divergent Paths on Climate

In an Era of Pandemics and Fires, Global Action Is the Only Hope
In the San Francisco Bay Area, where the coronavirus is now eclipsing the dangers of drought and fire, the new pandemic is the starkest reminder yet of how connected we all are. To tackle both the virus and climate change, there is no option but global collaboration.

In an Era of Pandemics and Fires, Global Action Is the Only Hope

 

[rbkwp]

My state is holding a primary election despite coronavirus. Should I go vote?

Voting — and removing barriers for others to vote -- are two of the most important things you can do if you care about climate change.

No news or bad news? Many people choose ignorance over staying informed, study finds

So what does that mean for climate action?

Study: The tiniest bit of air pollution makes COVID-19 more deadly

While Trump lifts curbs on air pollution, researchers connect dirty air with coronavirus deaths.

A jail built on a landfill is at the center of America’s coronavirus outbreak

As of Tuesday morning, 287 New York City inmates and 406 jail staff had already tested positive for COVID-19.

Coronavirus myth-busting: The truth about empty shelves and toilet paper shortages

The sudden shift in the way Americans shop is stunning.

Dig it? If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here.

Here’s why the coronavirus pandemic has the U.S. oil industry feeling ill

Trump is about to lose his “the U.S. is a net exporter of oil” bragging rights due to the coronavirus.

Bernie Sanders, Candidate With Most Ambitious Climate Plan, Drops out of 2020 Race

Airlines Push to Loosen Carbon Restrictions Amid Pandemic

Cyclone Harold Batters Fiji, Tonga Could Be Next

Methane Levels Dramatically Increase

Voting During a Pandemic

 

[rbkwp]

Environmental Headlines

Through credible and accurate coverage of conservation and environmental issues, Mongabay inspires, educates, and informs the public, while enabling leaders to more effectively protect our planet's wildlife and ecosystems. Donate here

Excerpts:
Ocean optimism: Study says we can restore marine health

The future for the world’s oceans often looks grim. Fisheries are set to collapse by 2048, according to one study, and 8 million tons of plastic pollute the ocean every year, causing considerable damage to delicate marine ecosystems. Yet a new study in Nature offers an alternative, and more optimistic view on the ocean’s future: […]
Read on »

Great Barrier Reef suffers biggest bleaching event yet

When Terry Hughes peered through the window of a small plane gliding over the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, what he saw troubled him greatly. Instead of healthy reef systems, there was mile upon mile of bleached white coral. “It’s very confronting to see the scale of the bleaching, and to know that you’re going […]
Read on »

Will the next coronavirus come from Amazonia? Deforestation and the risk of infectious diseases (commentary)

The only positive effect of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is that it has generated public awareness of the risks of emerging diseases. One may hope that this will result in these risks being reflected in future public policies, such as those that promote deforestation in Amazonia. Tropical deforestation provides a bridge for new diseases to […]
Read on »

Cattle put Paraguay’s Chaco biome at high risk, but report offers hope

Ranching is booming in Paraguay’s Gran Chaco, destroying the biome, but the nation’s goal of breaking into sustainable beef and leather markets may offer a motive to curb deforestation.
Read on »

Hanging with Romi: Get to know our camera trap expert and host of Candid Animal Cam

Romina Castagnino is Mongabay’s resident conservation scientist, and in addition to her regular reporting duties, she’s taken on a new role: hosting our Candid Animal Cam video series, which shares fascinating footage of wild animals captured on camera traps. Though each short episode shares an amazing number of facts to complement the great footage Romi […]
Read on »

Brazilian government office responds to Fearnside’s BR-319 oil & gas commentary

On 9 March 2020, Mongabay published a commentary written by Philip M. Fearnside on the “Solimões Sedimentary Area”, an oil and gas project that would implant thousands of wells spread over the western portion of the Brazilian Amazon. EPE, the Brazilian Energy Research Office, sent a response to Mongabay claiming “conceptual mistakes.” Fearnside, now, comments on these claims.
Read on »

These blue macaws help grow the forest around them, a new study finds

A new study has revealed how the hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) and Lear's macaw (Anodorhynchus leari) help spread the seeds of 18 plant species in Brazil and Bolivia.
Read on »

Watchdogs lament palm oil giant Wilmar’s exit from forest conservation alliance

JAKARTA — Environmental watchdogs say the exit of the world’s largest refiner and trader of palm oil from a committee that helps identify forest areas for protection could hurt efforts to achieve greater sustainability in agribusiness. Singapore-listed agribusiness giant Wilmar International resigned April 2 from the steering group of the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), […]
Read on »

In Sumatra, an indigenous plea to stop a coal road carving up a forest

JAMBI, Indonesia — “If the forest is gone, where else can we live?” Teguh Santika is an indigenous woman from the Batin Sembilan community. Her home is in the Harapan forest in central Sumatra, one of the last remaining spans of lowland tropical rainforest left on the island, and a refuge for some of the […]
Read on »

Gold mining threatens indigenous forests in the Brazilian Amazon

Illegal gold mining led to deforestation of thousands of hectares of forests inside indigenous reserves in the Brazilian Amazon, according to new satellite image analysis by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP). Mongabay had exclusive access to the report prior to its release.
Read on »

 

[chrisrobin]

Tell Donald Trump.
He is more of threat to mankind.
He doesn't believe in science or his advisers - his only interest is his own pocket.

 

[rbkwp]

Friday, April 10, 2020

New York State Now Leads the World in Coronavirus Cases

Black and Hispanic Americans Suffer Disproportionate Coronavirus Infections

Climate-Driven Biodiversity Loss Will Be Sudden, Study Warns

Multiple Cougars Seen Wandering the Streets of Santiago Amid Coronavirus Lockdown

Express Gratitude – Not Because You'll Benefit From It, but Others Might

Cookbook Offers Plant-Based Recipes Inspired by Traditional Mexican and Central American Cui

 

[rbkwp]

was a neccessity in my life
shouldent be too hypocritical,now that i dont need/use/abuse it,as much,i geuss



LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS J. ABERCROMBIE, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
When oil was king: Today the world is awash in oil, but when Thomas J. Abercrombie traveled though Saudi Arabia in the 1970s and 1980s, the world constantly wanted more. Our senior photo archivist, Sara Manco, says she picked this 1980s image from the refinery at Ras Tanurah because it echoed another era. “The industrial nature of the scene harkens back to early 20th century photography, when machines only helped so much and people still provided much of the labor. The central figure laboriously turns a wheel in the middle of a complicated web of pipes leading to the fire in the background. Such images invoke the hard physical task of working in jobs like this.” The story linked below is another take on Saudi Arabia by Cynthia Gorney and Lynsey Addario from only four years ago, when there was measured optimism about change. This story, too, feels like a bit of a time capsule, amid a crash in oil prices and the nation’s violent, mercurial leadership.

Subscriber exclusive: The changing face of Saudi women

 

[rbkwp]

• Today's Climate
  04/10/2020
  
  
  Joe Biden Must Convince Climate Voters He’s a True Believer
  
  The departure of Bernie Sanders—and his progressive climate plan—from the presidential race has left hardcore global warming activists in mourning. And with Joe Biden all but set to receive the Democratic nomination, some still wonder where the former vice president stands on climate change, worrying he may be too close to the fossil fuel industry.
  
  (InsideClimate News)
  
  For the Ohio River Valley, an Ethane Storage Facility in Texas Is Either a Model or a Cautionary Tale
  
  If Mont Belvieu—a massive chemical distribution center near Houston—is a model for an Appalachian petrochemical renaissance, as industry leaders say, it also serves as a cautionary tale. The operation has a history of fires, explosions, leaks, excess emissions, fines for air and water pollution violations, and an oversized carbon footprint.
  
  (InsideClimate News)
  
  Cities Are Flouting Flood Rules. The Cost: $1 Billion
  
  It's a simple rule, designed to protect both homeowners and taxpayers: If you want publicly subsidized flood insurance, you can't build a home that's likely to flood. But local governments around the country, which are responsible for enforcing the rule, have flouted the requirements, accounting for as many as a quarter-million insurance policies in violation, The New York Times reports.
  
  (The New York Times)
  
  Tentative Deal Would Slash Global Oil Production by 10 Percent
  
  Oil-rich nations on Thursday cut a tentative deal to reduce production by 10 million barrels a day, cooling a trade war between Russia and Saudi Arabia as prices at the pump fall amid the coronavirus outbreak. The deal represents a 10 percent decrease in global oil production for May and June.
  
  (The Hill)
  
  Some of America’s Oil Refineries May Be on Brink of Shutting
  
  As the petroleum industry reels from the coronavirus outbreak and an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, some U.S. refineries that have already cut production way back could soon be stopping altogether. A refinery owned by oil giant Marathon Petroleum Corp. will be the first to shut down because of the pandemic, Bloomberg reports, but it likely won't be the last.
  
  (Bloomberg)
  
  Climate Change Activists Test Strict Singapore Protest Laws
  
  In an ominous development, young people protesting the use of fossil fuels in Singapore are being summoned by police for questioning and having their possessions confiscated. The low-lying island nation will likely be heavily impacted by rising seas, but the country's economy is built on the fossil fuel industry.
  
  (Al-Jazeera)
  
  ‘Europe’s Largest’ Solar Power Facility Comes Online as the Industry Faces Coronavirus Challenges
  
  A 500 megawatt solar photovoltaic plant in Spain that's described by its owner as "Europe's largest" came online this week, CNBC reports. The plant, which has over 1.4 million solar panels and will be able to supply energy to 250,000 people per year, is a welcome bright spot for an industry that will likely struggle in coming months due to coronavirus.
  
  (CNBC)
  
  
• For the Ohio River Valley, an Ethane Storage Facility in Texas Is Either a Model or a Cautionary Tale

• Joe Biden Must Convince Climate Voters He’s a True Believer

For the Ohio River Valley, an Ethane Storage Facility in Texas Is Either a Model or a Cautionary Tale
The massive petrochemical complex in Mont Belvieu outside Houston has a long history of environmental violations, leaks, fires and explosions.
BY JAMES BRUGGERS

The Trump administration and industry leaders have pointed to a major petrochemical storage complex outside Houston as a model for the upper Ohio River Valley.

SEE ALSO:
Congressional Democrats Join the Debate Over Plastics’ Booming Future
Booming Plastics Industry Faces Backlash as Data About Environmental Harm Grows
Appalachia’s Strip-Mined Mountains Face a Growing Climate Risk: Flooding
What’s Worrying the Plastics Industry? Your Reaction to All That Waste, for One
read more

 

[rbkwp]

was a neccessity in my life
shouldent be too hypocritical,now that i dont need/use/abuse it,as much,i geuss



LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS J. ABERCROMBIE, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
When oil was king: Today the world is awash in oil, but when Thomas J. Abercrombie traveled though Saudi Arabia in the 1970s and 1980s, the world constantly wanted more. Our senior photo archivist, Sara Manco, says she picked this 1980s image from the refinery at Ras Tanurah because it echoed another era. “The industrial nature of the scene harkens back to early 20th century photography, when machines only helped so much and people still provided much of the labor. The central figure laboriously turns a wheel in the middle of a complicated web of pipes leading to the fire in the background. Such images invoke the hard physical task of working in jobs like this.” The story linked below is another take on Saudi Arabia by Cynthia Gorney and Lynsey Addario from only four years ago, when there was measured optimism about change. This story, too, feels like a bit of a time capsule, amid a crash in oil prices and the nation’s violent, mercurial leadership.

Subscriber exclusive: The changing face of Saudi women

you dident have to be honest and like' my political transparency there ko haha
was a neccessity in my life
shouldent be too hypocritical,now that i dont need/use/abuse it,as much,i geuss
keenobserver likes this.

 

[rbkwp]

View the web version ~ Below: striped seaperch by Grant Callegari

Arctic Avarice, Forest Coral,
and Nice Neighbors



This Week’s Stories

We are gradually returning to our regular publishing schedule after slowing our schedule and shifting our resources. In addition to our regular stories, we will still keep you inspired with some nature-is-awesome content, produced by the stellar media team at the Hakai Institute. We hope you enjoy it.

Footprints of Extraction

The Svalbard Archipelago was uninhabited until humans came searching for resources. A historian follows their tracks.

by Bathsheba Demuth • 2,500 words / 13 mins

The Invisible Vector

Ships and their crews crisscross the planet, but their travels are largely unaccounted for in epidemiological modeling.

by Jackie Snow • 700 words / 3 mins

Could Giants Lurk Beneath Europa’s Icy Shell?

For some deep-sea and polar species, gigantism proved a useful evolutionary strategy—the same may be true if life exists on Jupiter’s moon.

by Doug Johnson • 650 words / 3 mins

One Great Shot: Neighborly Care

Our photographer glimpses a symbiotic gathering off Baja California.

by Henley Spiers • a quick read with one great photo

Lichens: Corals of the Forest

You’ve probably walked past them hundreds of times. Devil’s matchstick, frog pelt, lungwort, and, of course, fairy barf. While these sound like ingredients for a fictional witch’s potion, you can find these and more on a walk through the forests of British Columbia. Let us introduce you to a symbiotic relationship like no other—the lichens.

by the Hakai Institute • 3 mins 10 secs




What We’re Reading

Problems on their nesting habitats are sending seabirds to nest and raise their chicks in shopping centers and office buildings in Norwegian coastal cities. (National Geographic)

Extracting this 12-million-year-old crab fossil from a rock took 15 hours, but you can watch it in five minutes. (Mamlambo/YouTube)

In the Faroe Islands, a vet who normally tests salmon for viruses adapted his lab to test for COVID-19 among the island’s population. (The Guardian)

Parasitic worms may be just one more problem for endangered killer whales. (CTV News)

A new study points out conservation successes and bright spots of ocean resilience, and says that we have the knowledge to help marine species recover by 2050. The caveat: we have to act on that knowledge now. (The Guardian)

Canada temporarily eases the requirement to have at-sea observers in commercial fisheries to protect the health of observers and crews. (CBC)

What an attempt to remove a rotting whale carcass from an Oregon beach that went horribly wrong—yes, explosives were involved—can teach us about COVID-19. (Doncaster Council/Thread Reader)

The epic migration of the red knot, with original art. (Orion)

This fetching amphibian is a Pacific tree frog, also called a Pacific chorus frog. Even if you haven’t seen one of these walnut-sized frogs hopping about, you’ve probably heard the males’ classic “ribbit” mating calls in the spring if you live in British Columbia or the western continental United States. While this particular frog is bright green, Pacific tree frogs can also be brown or even reddish in color. Genetics plays a role in skin coloration, but some frogs can change over time to blend in better depending on their environmental conditions.

Photo by Josh Silberg

 

[rbkwp]

'Essential' but Unprotected, Farmworkers Live in Fear of Covid-19 but Keep Working
BY: EVELYN NIEVES
Already at high risk of disease and early death, workers are especially prone to respiratory illnesses, setting them up for the worst ravages of the coronavirus.
Read More


xxxxxxxxxx


Joe Biden Must Convince Climate Voters He’s a True Believer
BY: MARIANNE LAVELLE
Bernie Sanders’ departure from the presidential race left hardcore climate change activists in mourning—and wondering where the former vice president stands.
Read More

xxxxx


Trump EPA’s ‘Secret Science’ Rule Would Dismiss Studies That Could Hold Clues to Covid-19
BY: MARIANNE LAVELLE
The rule would disqualify some of the most valuable health science, critics say.
Read More

Unchecked Global Warming Could Collapse Whole Ecosystems, Maybe Within 10 Years
BY: BOB BERWYN
A new study shows that as rising heat drives some key species extinct, it will affect other species, as well, in a domino effect.
Read More

In Alaska’s North, Covid-19 Has Not Stopped the Trump Administration’s Quest to Drill for Oil
BY: SABRINA SHANKMAN
The president’s plans for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may fall flat. But a massive ConocoPhillips project is moving full speed ahead.
Read More

Alberta’s $5.3 Billion Backing of Keystone XL Signals Vulnerability of Canadian Oil
BY: NICHOLAS KUSNETZ
The province’s announcement comes after the private sector has shown little appetite for a pipeline project critical to the country’s tar sands industry.
Read More
Decades of Science Denial Related to Climate Change Has Led to Denial of the Coronavirus Pandemic
BY: NEELA BANERJEE AND DAVID HASEMYER
After the fossil fuel industry spent hundreds of millions of dollars undermining climate science, it’s easy to see how epidemiology came next. Read More
Inside Clean Energy: Rooftop Solar Wins Big in Kansas Court Ruling
BY: DAN GEARINO
The decision was so unexpected that one clean energy advocate called it “a cherry on the top of an ice cream sundae.” Read More
U.S. Appeals Court in D.C. Restores Limitations on Super-Polluting HFCs
BY: PHIL MCKENNA
The EPA failed to give public notice when it told businesses they could replace ozone-depleting refrigerants with HFCs instead of less polluting alternatives.Read More

BY: BOB BERWYN
A new tracking study suggests the birds are responding to the dwindling snow cover on their migratory flight path. Read More
For the Ohio River Valley, an Ethane Storage Facility in Texas Is Either a Model or a Cautionary Tale
BY: JAMES BRUGGERS
The massive petrochemical complex in Mont Belvieu outside Houston has a long history of environmental violations, leaks, fires and explosions. Read More
American Climate Video: Fighting a Fire That Wouldn’t Be Corralled
BY: KATELYN WEISBROD
Brian Alderman battled the Camp Fire for 30 hours straight in November 2018. Then he discovered his home was gone. Read More



The real reason we’re seeing more wildlife during the pandemic

 

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Saturday, April 11, 2020

Trump Signs Executive Order to Mine the Moon for Minerals

Rich Countries Are Buying up Medical Supplies, Leaving Poor Countries Stranded

Mutant Enzyme Recycles Plastic in Hours, Could Revolutionize Recycling Industry

Pope Francis Says Coronavirus May Be Symptom of Climate Crisis

Thousands of Migrating Birds Found Dead or Injured in Greece

Fossil Fuels Add to World’s Marine Dead Zones

What Does Recovered from Coronavirus Mean? Four Questions Answered

The Immune System's Fight Against the Coronavirus

 

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What storytelling means in times of crisis

Crises test our character, and what drives my reporting is the desire to understand how humans survive these tests.

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Join us for a conversation about climate, science, and COVID-19 uncertainty.

How coronavirus is changing electricity usage, in 3 charts

“Shelter in place” has shifted when we use electricity -- and how much we're using.

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Shifting gears: The climate protest movement in the age of coronavirus

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Fridays for Future, the youth climate campaign, was seeing numbers of protesters decline. Now, the movement is recalibrating its strategies.

As oil crashes, ‘America’s untapped energy giant’ could rise

The coronavirus oil crash could be good news for this renewable energy underdog.

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Don’t call it ‘flyover’: Meet 5 people making change beyond the coasts

Five members of the 2020 Grist 50 talk about making change from the heartland.

My state is holding a primary election despite coronavirus. Should I go vote?

Voting — and removing barriers for others to vote — are two of the most important things you can do if you care about climate change.