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COVID-19 and the wild sheep decline: An interesting parallel
Chester Moore Jr. Recreation & LeisureThe impact of COVID-19 on humanity is nothing short of historic. While the death toll has not and hopefully will not reach the levels of the Spanish flu of 1918, the potential is there, and the grip it has on government, commerce, and private citizens is unprecedented. That’s why I can’t help but make parallels between COVID-19 and the near-catastrophic decline of wild sheep of the 1800s.
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Threats on tap: Why America’s water woes are even worse than you…
Dave G. Houser Waste Management & EnvironmentalUnregulated perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — chemicals stubbornly resistant to environmental breakdown and linked to serious health problems — are contaminating drinking water in communities across the country. Tests carried out by the watchdog organization Environmental Working Group have uncovered these chemicals in tap water samples from 44 sites in 31 states. The nation's drinking water problem, however, goes way beyond just PFAS contamination. There are three additional concerns affecting our most precious of resources.
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Interior Department’s proposed rule modernization values oil and…
Michelle R. Matisons Natural ResourcesThe highly politicized release of recent polar bear studies reveal at least part of Ursus maritimus' survival depends on Trump-era Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule modernization, which now considers "economic impacts" while denying climate change impacts. A seismic study of potential drilling land in Area 1002 was called off last winter because the required Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was deemed incomplete. Less than one year later, the Bureau of Land Management has released a more thorough, pro-drilling EIS.
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Study: Most Americans don’t realize how much diet impacts the planet
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalMost Americans — who, by and large, claim to be environmentally conscious — are overlooking some of the most important decisions regarding the health of the environment: What they eat. These conversations are not happening, according to a new study. The environmental impacts of individual diets seem a little too close to home for most, as Inverse reported. While some people say that "Big Oil" is responsible for most of the planet's environmental issues, the fight for protecting the earth may need to focus on factory farming practices and the foods that come from these places.
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Proposed federal budget boosts nuclear production, ignores social costs
Michelle R. Matisons Civil & GovernmentThe proposed Fiscal Year 2021 federal nuclear defense budget, unveiled on Feb. 10, includes new weapons manufacturing. This anticipates more growth while plans still ignore total costs, a concern for those immediately impacted in nuclear weapons laboratory towns like Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Trump administration’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) budget is $19.8 billion: a 20% increase from last year. But higher numbers than those should be expected as total operational, capital, and social costs loom outside current projected expenditures.
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How hospitality will become more sustainable in 2020
Bambi Majumdar Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementIt seems that hotel sustainability is going to top all hospitality trends in 2020. The industry is adopting a dual approach to become more sustainable, featuring a blend of behavioral change and implementation of relevant technologies. According to research, hotels must reduce their carbon emissions by 66% by 2030 to ensure that growth in the sector is sustainable. Many are using the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) to measure and report on their carbon footprint in a consistent way.
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Diminishing bug populations may cause ecological ‘collapse’
Dave G. Houser Waste Management & EnvironmentalWe have a major bug problem — and ironically it is the bugs, not we humans, that are threatened. The first global scientific review of insect populations published last February in the U.K. reveals that insect population declines around the world threaten to cause a "catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems." A follow-up report last November in the journal Biological Conservation concluded, "Insects around the world are rapidly declining. Their absence would have devastating consequences for life on the planet."
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As 2020 begins, news from the Arctic offers scant environmental hope
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalThe late 2019 Madrid U.N. Climate Summit didn’t offer much in the way of good news regarding international consensus on climate goals. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has also produced its annual report on the Arctic that does not bode well for the future, as a major climate date, the year 2020, is now here. There's perhaps no better litmus test for climate health than Arctic ice, which is melting at a pace that concerns more than just scientists and climate change activists.
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Good reasons to visit the Badlands
Dave G. Houser Recreation & LeisureProtected as a national park since 1978, the Badlands are definitely a good choice for visitors. The scenery is mind-boggling, wildlife abounds and there’s plenty of hiking and camping opportunities throughout the 244,000-acre preserve. Native Lakota people named this 400-square-mile maze of buttes, canyons, pinnacles and spires in South Dakota "Mako Sica" or "Bad Land." Too dry and inhospitable for settlement or development, the Badlands eventually gained the favor of conservationists who recognized the striking landscapes and paleontological riches.
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EPA changes impede environmental justice research
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalEnvironmental justice emphasizes the impacts of environmental deterioration on social groups and the communities on the front lines of climate change. As the concept mainstreams, it clashes with a possible new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy that undermines public health links to industrial pollutants, adverse weather events like hurricanes and wildfires, and other climate change factors. Meanwhile, the U.S. has begun official proceedings to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and a new medical report warns of sustained public health problems due to increased temperatures and other climate-related challenges.
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