Conservation & Environment

19 of 20 World Leaders Just Pledged to Fight Climate Change. Trump Was the Lone Holdout.

Posted by on Dec 2, 2018 @ 8:37 am in Conservation | 0 comments

It is telling that on two of the most contentious topics at the Buenos Aires Group of 20 meeting, the United States eventually joined 19 other world leaders on trade, but when it comes to climate change, President Donald Trump remained firmly alone in his belief that it is a hoax.

Trump was the only holdout. While the communiqué affirms support for the Paris climate change agreement on the eve of the next round of climate talks in Poland, it includes a separate section for the US: “The United States reiterates its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and affirms its strong commitment to economic growth and energy access and security, utilizing all energy sources and technologies, while protecting the environment.”

Trump, of course, pledged in June 2016 to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, and the United States will officially stand alone in the world in rejecting climate action when Trump can fulfill that promise formally in 2020. In the meantime, the country remains a part of the UN climate negotiations, though now more often playing the spoiler role in talks.

The rest of the text, agreed upon by the 19 countries, recognizes “that the Paris Agreement is irreversible and commit to its full implementation, reflecting common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances. We will continue to tackle climate change, while promoting sustainable development and economic growth.”

Read full story…

 

What climate change will do to America, region by region

Posted by on Nov 30, 2018 @ 7:22 am in Conservation | 0 comments

What climate change will do to America, region by region

Look, at this point, even the most stubborn among us know that climate change is coming for us. We really don’t have much time until the climate plagues we’re already getting previews of — mega-wildfires, rising sea-levels, superstorm after superstorm — start increasing in frequency. The 4th National Climate Assessment says all that and much more is on its way.

Here’s the thing: Not all regions in the U.S. are going to experience climate change in the same way. Your backyard might suffer different climate consequences than my backyard. And, let’s be honest, we need to know what’s happening in our respective spaces so we can be prepared. I’m not saying it’s time to start prepping your bunker, but wouldn’t you like to know if your family should consider moving to higher ground or stock up on maple syrup.

Luckily, that new report — which Trump tried to bury on Black Friday — breaks down climate change’s likely impacts on 10 specific regions. Unluckily, the chapters are super dense.

So here’s the Cliffs Notes version from Grist…

 

Plan calls for Route 66 to become National Historic Trail

Posted by on Nov 29, 2018 @ 9:29 am in Conservation | 0 comments

Plan calls for Route 66 to become National Historic Trail

There’s a new proposal moving through Congress seeking to designate Route 66, the highway that connected Chicago to Los Angeles and was once an economic driver for small towns across a post-World War II United States, as a National Historic Trail.

U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Jim Inhofe announced this week the introduction of a bipartisan bill that would amend the National Trails System Act and include Route 66 in an effort to help revitalize cities and small towns that sit along the historic corridor.

The plan comes as cities and towns where the once busy Route 66 passed through have been working developing revitalization projects to rehabilitate aging buildings and landmarks to attract tourists.

Udall, a New Mexico Democrat, said in a statement that Route 66 symbolizes freedom that allowed motorists to visit mom-and-pop diners, small businesses, and scenic byways through eight states.

“Just as importantly, this bill would safeguard Route 66 as (a) cultural landmark, preserving its significance as the `Main Street of America’ for future generations of adventurers, migrants, hitchhikers, and tourists venturing westward,” Udall said.

Read full story…

 

Climate report details deep hits to the Southwest

Posted by on Nov 28, 2018 @ 9:10 am in Conservation | 0 comments

Climate report details deep hits to the Southwest

Climate change is here. It’s human-caused. And it’s going to deliver a blow to American prosperity. Already hard-hit by drought, wildfires and declining water supplies, the southwestern United States will continue to face those challenges — and new ones.

That’s the message from a federal report released over the holiday weekend about climate change and its impact on the U.S. economy and infrastructure.

Compiled by 13 federal agencies and more than 300 contributing authors, the peer-reviewed report reiterates much of what scientists have been explaining for decades. But it also clearly delineates the links between warming and extreme weather events — and warns of the increasingly expensive economic consequences that come from not addressing climate change.

The assessment is part of the United States Global Change Program, which has completed reports regularly since directed by Congress and then-President George H.W. Bush almost 30 years ago.

According to the assessment, rural and urban economies alike will suffer. Fisheries will decline, farming and ranching challenges will intensify and rising sea levels will push cities and neighborhoods back from the coasts. American infrastructure, from highways and rail lines to sea walls and electric grids, will also be affected by impacts from climate change. Even trade, including import and export prices, will be disrupted.

Read full story…

 

National Forest Foundation Plants a Record 2.6 Million Trees in 2018

Posted by on Nov 27, 2018 @ 10:01 am in Conservation | 0 comments

National Forest Foundation Plants a Record 2.6 Million Trees in 2018

In 2018, the largest number of trees were planted in a single year by the National Forest Foundation.

The NFF works with the U.S. Forest Service to restore priority sites on America’s 193-million-acres of National Forests and engages Americans across the country in stewarding and enjoying these landscapes. The NFF announced a campaign to plant 50 million trees on National Forests on Earth Day 2018. Every dollar donated to the NFF plants one tree on a National Forest. When considering your Giving Tuesday donations, perhaps keep the National Forest Foundation in mind.

The 2018 tree-planting projects occurred on 25 different forests across the country and reforested approximately 13,000 acres, an area equal to planting a forest across more than 10,000 football fields. These reforestation projects improved local watersheds and improved wildlife habitat for threatened and endangered species. These projects are also restoring thousands of acres that have been impacted by recent wildfires in the western U.S.

Each tree will sequester an average of 11 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year, meaning that in the next 100 years, these 2.6 million trees will sequester more than 13 million tons of carbon dioxide. That’s equal to the annual emissions from more than 280,000 cars.

Redlands tree planting professionals.

Cite…

 

Government climate report warns of worsening US disasters

Posted by on Nov 24, 2018 @ 6:36 am in Conservation | 0 comments

Government climate report warns of worsening US disasters

As California’s catastrophic wildfires recede and people rebuild after two hurricanes, a massive new federal report warns that these types of extreme weather disasters are worsening in the United States. The White House report quietly issued the Friday after Thanksgiving also frequently contradicts President Donald Trump.

The National Climate Assessment was written long before the deadly fires in California this month and Hurricanes Florence and Michael raked the East Coast and Florida. It says warming-charged extremes “have already become more frequent, intense, widespread or of long duration.”

The federal report says the last few years have smashed records for damaging weather in the U.S., costing nearly $400 billion since 2015. “Warmer and drier conditions have contributed to an increase in large forest fires in the western United States and interior Alaska,” according to the report.

The air pollution from wildfires combined with heat waves is a major future health risk for the West, the report says. During the fires in northern California, air quality hit “hazardous” levels, according to government air monitoring agencies.

The report is mandated by law every few years and is based on hundreds of previously research studies. It details how global warming from the burning of coal, oil and gas is hurting each region of United States and how it impacts different sectors of the economy, including energy and agriculture.

Read full story…

 

Climate change: Warming gas concentrations at new record high

Posted by on Nov 23, 2018 @ 7:12 am in Conservation | 0 comments

Climate change: Warming gas concentrations at new record high

Concentrations of key gases in the atmosphere that are driving up global temperatures reached a new high in 2017. In their annual greenhouse gas bulletin, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says there is no sign of reversal in this rising trend.

Carbon dioxide levels reached 405 parts per million (ppm) in 2017, a level not seen in 3-5 million years. Researchers also note the resurgence of a banned chlorofluorocarbon gas called CFC-11.

Concentrations differ from emissions in that they represent what remains in the atmosphere after some of the gases are absorbed by the seas, land and trees. Since 1990 the warming impact of these long lived gases on the climate has increased by 41%.

“I am very concerned that the three greenhouse gases most responsible for climate change (CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide) are all rising upwards unabated,” said Prof Corinne Le Quéré from the University of East Anglia. “CO2 concentrations are now well above 400ppm – levels were 321ppm when I was born, that is a big rise in a human lifetime!”

Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas, and about 60% of it in the atmosphere comes from human activities like cattle farming, rice cultivation and fossil fuel extraction. Levels in the atmosphere are now about 1,859 parts per billion – 257% of what they were before the industrial revolution, and the rate of increase is pretty constant over the last decade.

Cite…

 

Coast Guard orders cleanup of massive 14-year oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

Posted by on Nov 21, 2018 @ 9:16 am in Conservation | 0 comments

Coast Guard orders cleanup of massive 14-year oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

The federal government issued an ultimatum to an energy company to stop an oil spill that has been leaking thousands of gallons into the Gulf of Mexico every day for more than 14 years.

In an order issued by the U.S. Coast Guard, Taylor Energy Co. was told to “institute a … system to capture, contain, or remove oil” from the site or face a $40,000 per day fine for failing to comply. The order was issued after The Washington Post reported that the spill was far greater than Interior Department estimates, which were based on company data.

Up to 700 barrels of oil per day have leaked from Taylor Energy’s former site 12 miles off the coast of Louisiana since the platform was destroyed during Hurricane Ivan in 2004, according to an analysis issued by the Justice Department. Each barrel contains 42 gallons. Based on reports from contractors hired by Taylor Energy, the government had previously estimated that the spill amounted to zero to 55 barrels per day.

The spill so far amounts to at least 1.5 million barrels, and up to 3.5 million barrels. That would rival the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, the largest offshore spill in the nation’s history, which spewed 4 million barrels of oil into gulf waters.

Read full story…

 

It’s now cheaper to build a new wind farm than to keep a coal plant running

Posted by on Nov 20, 2018 @ 7:18 am in Conservation | 0 comments

It’s now cheaper to build a new wind farm than to keep a coal plant running

Inflation dictates that the cost of living will continue to rise — except, it seems, when it comes to renewable energy. The cost of building a new utility-scale solar or wind farm has now dropped below the cost of operating an existing coal plant, according to an analysis by the investment bank Lazard. Accounting for government tax credits and other energy incentives would bring the cost even lower.

“There are some scenarios, in some parts of the U.S., where it is cheaper to build and operate wind and solar than keep a coal plant running,” said a Lazard banker who was involved in the report. “You have seen coal plants shutting down because of this.”

Every year, the investment bank analyzes the cost of different types of energy using a metric called the levelized cost of energy, or LCOE. This analysis factors in the cost of components and the cost of operations, as well as the cost of debt, to come up with the smallest dollar amount, per unit of energy, for an investor in the project to see a 12 percent return.

The LCOE for coal this year is between $27 and $45 per megawatt. That figure is $29 to $56 for a wind farm and $31 to $44 for a solar farm, depending on the technology used.

Lazard also noted that wind and solar farms typically require fewer people to run than a coal or nuclear plant, further decreasing their cost.

Cite…

 

Duke Energy Begins Final Phase of Mt. Sterling Solar Project

Posted by on Nov 19, 2018 @ 3:08 pm in Conservation | 0 comments

Duke Energy Begins Final Phase of Mt. Sterling Solar Project

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced that Duke Energy will remove utility poles and overhead powerline along a 3.5-mile utility corridor that extends from the park boundary at Mt. Sterling Road (Hwy NC284) to the Mt. Sterling Fire Lookout Tower beginning Monday, November 19, 2018 through Friday, November 30. Work will not occur on weekends or the Thanksgiving holiday.

The overhead powerline is no longer needed due to the installation of a microgrid solar and battery facility that Duke Energy installed in 2017 to provide electrical power to park radio equipment located at the Mt. Sterling Fire Lookout Tower. This radio equipment is a vital component of the park’s emergency communication system, which serves both frontcountry and backcountry areas of the park. The overhead line has been decommissioned and the existing maintained corridor will return to a natural state.

Work crews will use chainsaws, off-road utility vehicles, and horses to remove the equipment. The area will remain open, but temporary restrictions are possible to ensure that hikers can safely pass thorough the work zone. Hikers should expect to hear noise associated with the work along the Mt. Sterling Trail and near the Mt. Sterling Fire Lookout Tower and backcountry campsite 38.

For more information about the Mt. Sterling Sustainable Energy Project, please visit the National Park Service’s Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website and following the link titled “Mt. Sterling Sustainable Energy Project” at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/grsm.

 

New permit system will limit hiking in Oregon’s Mount Jefferson, Three Sisters wilderness in 2020

Posted by on Nov 16, 2018 @ 6:56 am in Conservation, Hiking News | 0 comments

New permit system will limit hiking in Oregon’s Mount Jefferson, Three Sisters wilderness in 2020

Hiking and camping in three of Oregon’s most popular wilderness areas will be restricted starting in 2020, an attempt by outdoor officials to limit damage from growing crowds of visitors.

The U.S. Forest Service announced a decision to install a permit system limiting the number of people in the Mount Jefferson, Three Sisters and Mount Washington Wilderness areas.

A sharp increase in crowds during the past decade — and environmental damage that’s followed — prompted the agency to enact sweeping changes to the way people access 450,000 acres of Oregon’s most iconic backcountry.

“The goal is to maintain the quality of our wilderness areas and the experience they offer,” said John Allen, supervisor of Deschutes National Forest. “It’s about keeping the amount of people to a level where they’re not degrading these special places.”

Anyone camping overnight in the three wilderness areas will need a permit from a limited pool, under the new system. Day-users also will need a special permit for 30 of the most popular trails, including routes to Green Lakes Basin, Marion Lake, South Sister and Jefferson Park.

The decision marks a fundamental change to the unencumbered way most Oregonians currently hike, backpack and ride horses on public lands. It’s a system that treats hiking in a way similar to fishing or hunting, which have long been more regulated.

Learn more here…

 

In stunning loss, 83% of Santa Monica Mountains federal parkland burned in Woolsey fire

Posted by on Nov 14, 2018 @ 11:08 am in Conservation | 0 comments

In stunning loss, 83% of Santa Monica Mountains federal parkland burned in Woolsey fire

The Woolsey fire burned about 83% of national park land in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a stunning loss of a cherished open space area for Southern California.

The Santa Monica Mountains, which stretch from Hollywood Hills to Point Mugu in Ventura County, have long offered Southern Californians a respite from the city below with the range’s array of hiking trails, waterfalls and rock pools. And its sprawling ranch land has given Hollywood real-world ties to the frontier life it exhaustively depicted on screen.

The Woolsey fire destroyed more than 400 structures but also took a deep toll on landmarks of the mountain areas.

Wildfires decimated the historic park tucked inside the Santa Monica Mountains a day earlier — taking with it markers of its proud past as a backdrop for television shows and movies such as “Planet of the Apes.”

Flames consumed the set of the long-running TV series “MASH.” The same went for the Reagan Ranch, named after the former president and actor who used to own one of three parcels that comprise the 44-year-old park’s footprint along with Bob Hope and 20th Century Fox.

Cite…

 

Effect of Recreational Trails on Forest Birds: Human Presence Matters

Posted by on Nov 12, 2018 @ 9:20 am in Conservation, Hiking News | 0 comments

Effect of Recreational Trails on Forest Birds: Human Presence Matters

Recreational activities in nature have increased enormously in the last decades. This trend is raising concerns of researchers and conservationists about the potential impact of human recreation on wild animals. Humans are often perceived as potential predators by wildlife. Thus, when exposed to human presence, animals may react with important changes in their behavior and physiology, which in turn might have consequences for individual fitness and the dynamics of animal populations.

Forests are a natural environment often used for such activities as jogging, hiking, dog walking, mountain biking, or horse riding. The mere presence of people in forests can disturb wildlife. Many of these activities rely on trails, which intersect an otherwise contiguous habitat and hence impact wildlife.

The aim of this study was to separate the effect of the change in vegetation and habitat structure through trails, from the effect of human presence using these trails, on forest bird communities. Therefore the scientists compared the effects of recreational trails on birds in two forests frequently used by recreationists with that in two rarely visited forests.

They found that in the disturbed (i.e., high-recreation-level forests), the density of birds and species richness were both reduced at points close to trails when compared to points further away, whereas such an effect was not statistically discernible in the forests with a low-recreation-level.

Read full study…

 

First International Agreement Protecting Newly Opened Arctic High Seas

Posted by on Nov 9, 2018 @ 1:29 pm in Conservation | 0 comments

First International Agreement Protecting Newly Opened Arctic High Seas

The Pew Charitable Trusts today praised the signing of an international agreement that prevents unregulated fishing in the high seas of the Central Arctic Ocean for at least 16 years unless science-based measures are agreed upon and established. Delegations from nine nations and the European Union met near Greenland’s Ilulissat Ice Fjord to finalize the accord, the first proactive ecosystem-based approach to conservation in the Arctic Ocean.

Pew has worked for more than eight years with government officials, scientists, the fishing industry, and Indigenous leaders to postpone industrial fishing in the region, where diminishing Arctic ice is opening new waters to commercial activity. In 2012, over 2,000 scientists signed a letter backing a moratorium on commercial fishing pending further research on fish stocks. The moratorium received further backing in a 2015 letter from the Inuit Circumpolar Council, which followed up earlier this year with its Utqiaġvik Declaration calling for the use of Indigenous knowledge in all processes related to the fishing moratorium.

Steve Ganey, Pew’s senior director for lands and ocean programs, issued the following statement: “With this agreement in place, the Central Arctic Ocean is now the largest marine area where commercial fishing has been proactively placed off-limits in the interest of precaution.

“As new open waters emerge at the top of the world, international leaders have agreed that it would be risky and unwise to allow commercial fisheries to operate in the Arctic before scientists have established a baseline for monitoring the health of the region’s marine ecosystem. By using science-based measures to guide decision-making, the agreement will go a long way toward conserving this unique environment.”

Read full story…

 

Veterans Day Is Fee Free at Our National Parks

Posted by on Nov 9, 2018 @ 8:52 am in Conservation, Hiking News | 0 comments

Veterans Day Is Fee Free at Our National Parks

Many national parks have direct connections to the American military—there are dozens of battlefields, military parks, and historic sites that commemorate and honor the service of American veterans. In addition, every national park is part of our collective identity that defines who we are and where we came from as a nation. They are tactile reminders of the values, the ideals, and the freedoms that our veterans protect.

The majestic landscapes, natural wonders, and patriotic icons that we cherish as a society have also inspired military members through the years. The Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, the USS Arizona Memorial, and the Statue of Liberty are just a few of the national parks that have served as reminders of home to those stationed abroad. On Veterans Day, or any day, honor those who have served and sacrificed for our country with a visit to a national park.

The National Park Service invites all visitors to remember our veterans by visiting any National Park Service site for free on Veterans Day, November 11, 2018.

This Veterans Day also marks the 100th anniversary of the end of hostilities of World War I, which took effect on the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918, also known as Armistice Day.

 

Widely Used Mosquito Repellent Lethal For Salamanders

Posted by on Nov 7, 2018 @ 7:31 am in Conservation | 0 comments

Widely Used Mosquito Repellent Lethal For Salamanders

Insect repellents containing picaridin can be lethal to salamanders. So reports a new study published in Biology Letters that investigated how exposure to two common insect repellents influenced the survival of aquatic salamander and mosquito larvae.

Insect repellents are a defense against mosquito bites and mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and West Nile virus. Salamanders provide natural mosquito control. During their aquatic juvenile phase, they forage on mosquito larvae, keeping populations of these nuisance insects in check.

The paper is the first to suggest that environmentally realistic concentrations of picaridin-containing repellents in surface waters may increase the abundance of adult mosquitoes due to a decrease in predation pressure on mosquitoes at the larval stages.

The research team tested the effects of two of the most widely used insect repellents – DEET (Repel 100 Insect Repellent) and picaridin (Sawyer Premium Insect Repellent) – on larval salamanders and mosquitoes. In a lab, they exposed mosquito larvae and just-hatched spotted salamander larvae to three environmentally relevant concentrations of these chemicals, as well as a control treatment.

Mosquito larvae were not impacted by any of the treatments and matured unhindered. After four days of exposure to repellent with picaridin, salamanders in all of the treatment groups began to display signs of impaired development such as tail deformities. By day 25, 45-65% of picaridin-exposed salamander larvae died.

Read full story…

 

Red wolves can’t be arbitrarily killed, federal judge rules

Posted by on Nov 6, 2018 @ 9:22 am in Conservation | 0 comments

Red wolves can’t be arbitrarily killed, federal judge rules

  A federal district court judge has forbidden the US Fish and Wildlife Service from allowing private landowners to kill nonthreatening red wolves, ruling that the agency has violated several sections of the Endangered Species Act.

Chief US District Court Judge Terence Boyle ruled that the USFWS can no longer grant “take permits” except under extremely narrow circumstances. With fewer than 35 remaining, red wolves are nearly extinct in the wild.

Boyle also determined that USFWS had violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to conduct an environmental assessment or impact statement about the effects of the agency’s new and controversial rules to manage the red wolf population.

Those rules include the transfer of most red wolves to zoos and nature centers. The agency would corral the remaining wolves onto a federal bombing range and a nature preserve in Dare County, North Carolina, sharply reducing their habitat. Until the court decision, USFWS had proposed that if the wolves strayed from that property, they could be legally shot. Conservation biologists have publicly stated that under current and proposed management practices, the species would go extinct within six years.

In 1987, USFWS introduced a breeding pair of the rare wolves into eastern North Carolina and designated five coastal counties as their habitat. Afterward, the population peaked at more than 100 wolves in 2000 — an achievement the agency heralded as a successful reintroduction of the species into the wild.

Since then, the population has plummeted. Many of the wolves were shot legally and illegally. Meanwhile, a few disgruntled landowners swayed state and federal wildlife officials to stop managing the wolves.

Cite…

 

Come see forests and peaks, but clean up, New Zealand says

Posted by on Nov 3, 2018 @ 8:41 am in Conservation | 0 comments

Come see forests and peaks, but clean up, New Zealand says

New Zealand has a message for the visitors drawn by its deep mossy forests, bubbling mud pools and magnificent peaks: clean up after yourselves.

A new campaign called the “Tiaki Promise” is telling everybody traveling to the country to take responsibility for looking after it. The country wants visitors to pick up litter and otherwise take care of their surroundings so that unsightly garbage won’t ruin the experience for others.

Tourists flying on national carrier Air New Zealand will see a 2-minute video showcasing some of the country’s stunning scenery and telling them that everybody traveling to the country should look after it.

“Tiaki” is an indigenous Maori word meaning to protect or care for. Tourism industry and government groups are also promoting the campaign.

“New Zealand is our home. It is precious. Everyone who lives and travels here has a responsibility to look after it,” a voiceover says on the video, adding that “While traveling in New Zealand, follow the Tiaki Promise.”

Tourism has boomed in recent years. Over the past year, about 3.8 million tourists visited the nation, which has a resident population of just under 5 million. The largest numbers of tourists came from Australia, China and the United States.

Read full story…