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Hurricanes Michael, Florence leave serious recovery challenges
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalIn the weeks since Hurricanes Florence and Michael swept through the Florida Panhandle, Georgia, the Carolinas, and elsewhere, communities have started to assess damages and plan large-scale recovery efforts. This is difficult since both hurricanes have caused record levels of damage. The most recent Hurricane Michael death toll is at 45 people, while Florence caused 53 deaths. Overall damage reports are now available. Hurricane Michael caused $158 million in damaged crops, and the timber industry has endured $1.3 billion in damages.
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Insects are dying out. That’s a very bad thing
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalInsects, like them or not, are in trouble around the world. This is the word from a few small, long-term studies that are showing significant declines in invertebrate populations. Why is this significant? For several reasons, but specifically, the loss of insects and arthropods could hamper rainforests' food webs, causing plant species to go extinct without pollinators. The latest report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that the problem extends to the Americas.
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Helping your school go green
Brian Stack EducationLast month for an Education Week blog, Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching Program participant Michael Cruse, a special educator from Arlington, Virginia, talked about his travels to Israel to study different models for green schools. Cruse's biggest takeaway from his Middle East experience that he would apply to American schools was this, "Since coming back to work at my school and reflecting on how my experiences in Israel translate into my teaching, I realized that the best lessons about sustainability are actually about people. That can be in their classroom, on the playground, at home, or in the community."
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US Supreme Court will hear important public land regulation case in November
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalIn a case that has been going strong for 11 years, on Nov. 5, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear another round in an important case about state vs. federal land regulations: Sturgeon v. Frost. This case has particular significance for Alaska Native subsistence fishing, which is one reason many Alaskan Natives opposed Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the high court. This is not the first time the Court has heard this case. It dates back to 2007, when non-Native Alaskan John Sturgeon, got into an entanglement with the National Parks Service when he was hunting moose using a hovercraft on Nations River in the Yukon-Charley National Preserve.
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Can controversial coal be shipped from old military bases?
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalIt’s no secret that the current presidential administration favors dirtier forms of energy, like coal production. About one year ago, at the U.N. Global Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany, many countries expressed a commitment to end coal-generated carbon emissions by 2030. This did not include the U.S., whose top leaders remain committed to the coal industry. Now, President Trump has announced a new plan to use decommissioned U.S. military facilities for controversial coal shipments. Is this even possible?
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Trump to visit Hurricane Michael’s war zone aftermath
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalLast Wednesday is a day that will be marked in history books. Like Hurricanes Katrina, Harvey, Maria and Florence before it, another historic social and environmental disaster is upon us: Hurricane Michael. It’s the largest U.S. hurricane since 1969, touching down on the Florida panhandle and the southeastern U.S. on Oct. 10. Florida’s panhandle, including Mexico Beach and Panama City, was hit so hard by Hurricane Michael’s almost category 5 winds, with storm surges reaching 14 feet, that the media routinely compares the region to a “war zone.”
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Death rates rise, environmental challenges grow at large US pig farms
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalDeath rates for female pigs (sows) in the U.S. are rising fast and alerts are up throughout the farming industry. The mortality rate rose from 5.8 percent to 10.2 percent on farms owning more than 125 sows between 2013 and 2016, according to The Guardian. The numbers have been linked to a rise in prolapse, which can be fatal. In response, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians has created a sow prolapse working group to investigate.
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UN climate report warns of catastrophe by 2040
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalAs climate change goes, we have heard it all. Tales of rapidly melting sea ice form the backdrop of a world spinning out of control towards more catastrophes: water and food shortages, massive wildfires, flooding, and skyrocketing temperatures. All of this will affect poor and frontline communities more, of course. The plot of a new science fiction film? No. Just the latest from the freshly convened U.N. Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) last week in Incheon, South Korea.
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Replacing NAFTA: A better 3-country pact ahead?
Seth Sandronsky Civil & GovernmentCanada and the U.S. have renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which took effect Jan. 1, 1994. President Trump, who called NAFTA "the worst trade deal ever," praised its successor, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). "Promise made, promise kept," the president said on Twitter, of his campaign pledge to renegotiate NAFTA to improve trade fairness for American businesses, consumers and workers. That stance resonated with voters, especially in Rust Belt states where blue-collar employment has plummeted.
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Eliminate hidden germ hazards at your hospital
Lisa Mulcahy Healthcare AdministrationEvery hospital administrator knows that a clean, safe environment for patients is a top priority. There are great, new innovations in terms of bacteria control that many hospitals are implementing — a study from Duke University Health reports that the use of ultraviolet (UVC) light machines are on the rise, for instance. Yet, research also shows that, surprisingly, many areas in the hospital are overlooked when it comes to harboring hidden germs — and often aren't disinfected thoroughly as a result. Focus your cleaning protocol more thoroughly in the following places.
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