Feed aggregator

US interior secretary Ryan Zinke blames environmentalists for the devastation in California and calls for an increase in logging

The US interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, has blamed environmentalists for California’s ferocious wildfires and claimed, contrary to scientific research, that climate change had “nothing to do” with them. Instead, he said the fires were worsened because of limits on logging.

“America is better than letting these radical groups control the dialogue about climate change,” Zinke told KCRA, a TV station in northern California, on Sunday. “Extreme environmentalists have shut down public access. They talk about habitat and yet they are willing to burn it up.”

Continue reading...

Senate inquiry to visit Port Augusta to investigate mistakes made after the closure of the Northern power plant

For the residents living near the site of South Australia’s demolished coal-fired power plant, the coming months could be their third straight summer of dust.

A flawed rehabilitation of an ash dam has led to potentially hazardous particles being blown across Port Augusta and its 14,000 residents for the last two years.

Continue reading...

Staff at government scientific agency will likely be seconded to help administer funds, documents show

The CSIRO was not aware a $443.8 m grant would be offered to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and staff at the agency are likely to be seconded to the charity to help administer the funds, according to documents tabled in the Senate.

The documents, tabled on Monday, show the agency “didn’t have visibility” before the government announced the grant on 29 April, with correspondence from senior staff noting the prime minister’s office appeared to be involved.

Continue reading...

70% of vessels implicated in illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing are registered in tax havens, report finds

Money channelled through secretive tax havens has been used to fuel deforestation in the Amazon and illegal fishing around the world, racking up a heavy environmental toll but leaving few ways for businesses to be held to account.

Billions of pounds worth of finance has travelled through countries internationally recognised as tax havens, and has been traced by researchers to activities that contribute to environmental destruction, such as growing soy and beef in deforested areas of the Amazon, and expanding a network of largely unregulated fishing vessels operating under “flags of convenience”.

Continue reading...

Île Saint-Louis residents demand removal of bright-red receptacles with no stall

A set of eco-friendly but completely exposed urinals that have been introduced to the streets of Paris are provoking uproar among residents.

One of the bright-red “urinoirs” installed on the Île Saint-Louis, not far from Notre Dame Cathedral and overlooking tourist boats passing on the Seine, has caused particular indignation.

Continue reading...

Trump is trying to accelerate the key contributor to California’s expanding wildfires – climate change

Last week, 18 wildfires were burning at once in California, including its largest in history, destroying over 1,100 homes and forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. The smoke made the air in the state’s Central Valley unhealthy to breathe for a record 15 consecutive days, as I can personally attest.

Fun fact: there are currently no clouds at all over NorCal. The opaque skies from #SanFrancisco to #Sacramento to #Redding to #Lake Tahoe are the exclusive product of dense #smoke from numerous large #wildfires. #CarrFire #RanchFire #DonnellFire #FergusonFire #CAfire #CAwx pic.twitter.com/feVtfkDJTT

Continue reading...

Coral Triangle could be key to conserving the world’s reefs as Indonesia corals survive worst coral bleaching event in history.

A recent scientific survey off the coast of Sulawesi Island in Indonesia suggests that some shallow water corals may be less vulnerable to global warming than previously thought.

Between 2014 and 2017, the world’s reefs endured the worst coral bleaching event in history, as the cyclical El Niño climate event combined with anthropogenic warming to cause unprecedented increases in water temperature.

Continue reading...

Foundation’s managing director appears to contradict Frydenberg’s assurance that ‘extensive due diligence’ took place

The managing director of a foundation given $443.8m for the Great Barrier Reef says she was not aware the government was conducting due diligence on the charity before it awarded them the grant.

Anna Marsden told ABC radio on Monday the government had not contacted anyone at the foundation when it was determining whether the not-for-profit could administer the grant.

Continue reading...

Researchers say endangered killer whale who lives off the coast of Seattle is back to feeding and frolicking with her pod

Researchers say an endangered killer whale thatcarried her dead calf on her head for more than two weeks has finally abandoned the calf’s body and is back to feeding and frolicking with her pod.

The Center for Whale Research in Washington state says it watched the orca, known as J35, chase a school of salmon in Haro Strait west of San Juan Island, between the US mainland and Vancouver Island, on Saturday afternoon.

Continue reading...

I recently got this in a daily devotional that I subscribe to.  I think this was an odd combination to include together.  I am not a big fan of fear scriptures...

It’s not too late-you can still go to the Farm to Table class-What To Do With All That Zucchini. It’s today from 12 noon to 2 pm. Hope to see you there. Here’s the info.

Sunday, Aug 12th—
12 noon to 2 pm

Farm to Table-What to do with all that Zucchini?
If you’re wondering what to do with all that zucchini and summer squash, then this is the class for you! We will be making delectable recipes with zucchini, from chocolate zucchini muffins and mock apple crisp to zucchini tater tots and spiralized zucchini pasta and more!  We will show you how to make the recipes and you will get to sample them as well. Yum!

Instructor: Pamela Goff
Location: 2520-B Camino Entrada (Santa Fe Area HomeBuilders Association-next to Habitat ReStore on south side) • Santa Fe
Fee: Free to members/$10 for non-members

Please sign up through Eventbrite:

 

Papers show UK environment secretary suggested owners voluntarily end controversial practice of burning heather to head off threat of compulsory ban

Michael Gove, the environment secretary, has been accused of letting the owners of large grouse moors who are alleged to be damaging the environment off the hook.

The accusation from campaigners concerns the owners’ practice of repeatedly burning heather on their moorland estates to help boost the numbers of grouse for shooting.

Continue reading...

It has been almost a year since I got enough rain at once for the arroyo to run'n'pump. My creek tanks are pretty low after all that time. Just bagged 2,900 gallons.  Video coming Monday.  68,74,69, .65",C

Roundup was ruled by a Californian jury to have caused Dewayne Johnson’s lymphoma

One of the UK’s largest DIY retailers is reviewing the sale of Roundup weedkiller products amid mounting concerns about their use, after a US jury found that the herbicide had caused a terminally ill man’s cancer.

The manufacturer of the weedkiller, Monsanto, has insisted that British consumers are safe to continue using Roundup products, which are widely sold at DIY stores and used by British farmers. But a spokesperson for Homebase said it would be reviewing its product range after the ruling in California.

Continue reading...

Proposed offshore island to protect a haunt of Sinatra and Dietrich would be its ruin, says long-time mayor

It is known affectionately as Belgium’s answer to St Tropez – a town once frequented by Frank Sinatra and Marlene Dietrich and which has inspired the pop art of Keith Haring and surrealism of René Magritte, who painted the walls of the town’s casino.

But now the chic, if slightly faded, seaside resort of Knokke-Heist is, in the words of its mayor, Count Leopold Lippens, in a “fight for its life”. The Flemish government, in an attempt to limit the damage to the Belgian coast from rising sea levels, has announced plans for an artificial island of 40 hectares (99 acres) 1.2 kilometres from the sandy beach, to act as a bulwark against the waves. Belgium has, until now, been slow to respond to climate change and its coast has suffered severe damage during recent storms.

Continue reading...

Families keen on saving money and stopping plastic waste ditch the disposables

If the idea of cloth nappies conjures images of towelling squares loosely held by a large safety pin, think again. Modern versions have come a long way and are now available in bright colours and a variety of materials, including cotton, bamboo, microfibre and hemp.

Growing consumer concern over plastic waste, and a more pragmatic desire to save money, means boom times for the reusable nappy industry.

Continue reading...

As fires continue to rage in California, smoke is causing health problems for some residents. Public health officials warn against breathing polluted air.

(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Inside the Hoh Rain Forest in Washington state, acoustics experts have attempted to preserve a location free of human-made noise. They call it One Square Inch of Silence.

(Image credit: Samir S. Patel/Atlas Obscura)