"Sea Otter Recovery Is Sending Ripples through the Ecosystem"
"On Pleasant Island, Alaska, wolves are feasting on sea otters. That’s surprisingly bad news for deer."
Source: Hakai, 01/26/2023
EJToday: Top Headlines
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"Dolphins Make A Splash In The Bronx River For First Time In 5 Years"
"Dolphins are cavorting in the Bronx River of all places for the first time in at least five years, delighting New Yorkers. They’re a hopeful sign that efforts to clean up the river, long plagued by pollution, are seeing some success, said city officials."
Source: HuffPost, 01/26/2023"The FDA Proposes New Targets To Limit Lead In Baby Food"
"It's not possible to remove all traces of lead from the food supply, because the heavy metal is found throughout the environment and can be absorbed by plants. So traces are found in the vegetables, fruits and grains that are used to make baby food. But as toxic metal exposure can be harmful to developing brains, the Food and Drug Administration is issuing new guidelines to reduce children's exposure to the lowest level possible."
Source: NPR, 01/25/2023‘No Miracles Needed’: Mark Jacobson On How Renewables Can Power The World
Wind, water and solar can provide plentiful and cheap power, he argues, ending the carbon emissions driving the climate crisis, slashing deadly air pollution and ensuring energy security. Carbon capture and storage, biofuels, new nuclear and other technologies are expensive wastes of time, Prof. Mark Jacobson argues.
Source: Guardian, 01/25/2023"The Sierra Club Tries to Move Past John Muir, George Floyd and #MeToo"
"After a public reckoning and the departure of its executive director, the nation’s largest environmental organization has tapped Ben Jealous as its new leader."
Source: NYTimes, 01/25/2023"NIH Biosecurity Advisers Urge Tighter Oversight Of Pathogen Research"
"Scientists advising the National Institutes of Health on Friday released a draft report urging intensified government oversight of experiments on dangerous pathogens, including broadening the definition of the kinds of pathogens that could trigger a pandemic."
Source: Washington Post, 01/25/2023"Ukraine War Moves ‘Doomsday Clock’ To 90 Seconds To Midnight"
"With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the specter of nuclear weapon use, Earth crept its closest to Armageddon, a science-oriented advocacy group said, moving its famous “Doomsday Clock” up to just 90 seconds before midnight."
Source: AP, 01/25/2023"FAO: Rising Prices, Food Insecurity Add To Ranks Of Hungry"
"Growing numbers of people in Asia lack enough to eat as food insecurity rises with higher prices and worsening poverty, according to a report released Tuesday by the Food and Agricultural Organization and other United Nations agencies."
Source: AP, 01/25/2023Ancient Seeds From Fertile Crescent Could Help Save Us From Climate Change
"The gene bank can hold as many as 120,000 varieties of plants. Many of the seeds come from crops as old as agriculture itself. They're sown by farmers in the Fertile Crescent region, where cultivation began some 11,000 years ago. Other seeds were deposited by researchers who've hiked in the past four decades through forests and mountains in the Middle East, Asia and North Africa, searching for wild relatives of wheat, legumes and other crops that are important to the human diet."
Source: NPR, 01/25/2023"PFAS Foam Replacement Challenges Nation’s Fire Departments"
"Fire departments face liability risks and potentially huge costs and uncertainties as they switch from PFAS-enabled firefighting foam, according to lawyers and groups working with them."
Source: Bloomberg Environment, 01/25/2023"4th Circuit Asked to Nix Permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline"
"Environmental groups asked the Fourth Circuit during oral arguments Tuesday to toss a key water permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would lead to even more delays for the $6.2 billion project that developers aim to resume constructing this summer."
Source: Bloomberg Environment, 01/25/2023"An Ant’s Sense Of Smell Is So Strong, It Can Sniff Out Cancer"
"The ant oncologist will see you now." "A study published this week points to the potential of someday using sharp-nosed animals to detect tumors quickly and cheaply".
Source: Washington Post, 01/25/2023"Depleted Under Trump, a ‘Traumatized’ E.P.A. Struggles With Its Mission"
"Despite an injection of funding, the agency still has not recovered from an exodus of scientists and policy experts, both insiders and critics say."
"WASHINGTON — The nation’s top environmental agency is still reeling from the exodus of more than 1,200 scientists and policy experts during the Trump administration. The chemicals chief said her staff can’t keep up with a mounting workload. The enforcement unit is prosecuting fewer polluters than at any time in the past two decades.
Source: NYTimes, 01/24/2023"Big Tech Helps Big Oil Spread Subtle Climate Denialism"
"Fossil-fuel companies’ climate messaging may have changed to fit the new century, but the goal is the same the industry has had for decades: to delay action and protect profits for as long as possible. Even in the face of an increasingly obvious climate emergency, this message still resonates with many people. Maybe that’s because the biggest social media companies help amplify it."
Source: Bloomberg, 01/24/2023Brazil Police Say Gang Leader Likely Ordered Killing of Phillips, Pereira
"Brazil's federal police said on Monday they had a "strong conviction" a gang leader known as "Colombia" ordered the brutal murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, killed in the Amazon rainforest last June."
Source: Reuters, 01/24/2023
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