The Persian Gulf dust storm on Sept. 3. See Pakalolo's post below.
Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The most recent Spotlight can be seen here. More than
23,450 environmentally oriented diaries have been rescued for inclusion in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a diary in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
The Daily Bucket - late summer plankton—by
OceanDiver: "
September 1, 2015. Salish Sea, PNW. A soup of drifting microscopic creatures supports the wealth of life in the Salish Sea. No plankton...no orcas, salmon, birds, seastars, crabs, seals, you name it. Plankton is seasonal like everything in this latitude, and the days are getting markedly shorter now. I thought it would be fun to see what's floating around out there right now in late summer. Sunlight energy and the nutrient store from last winter are both winding down now, but the water is still a rich opaque green, a sure sign of planktonic life. I used a plankton net that filters water, sweeping it back and forth 30-40 times, and the plankton too large to go through the net collected in the bottle at the end. Looking at the samples with my digital microscope, I found the seawater in the bay is very busy right now. Here's some of what I saw. The base of the food web is PHYTOPLANKTON, single-celled photosynthesizers. The sample was packed with phytoplankton, including DIATOMS, the type that live in glass boxes of various shapes, patterns, linkages and appendages. Chain diatoms dominated this sample, especially various kinds of Chaetoceros, which all have long spines that help slow their sinking."
Chaetoceros and some Asterionella
Dust Storms Linked to Climate Change Becoming More Frequent in Iraq and Iran-Troops Inhale Toxins—by
Pakalolo: "On August 31, 2015, a massive wall of dust formed and moved across Iraq and Iran. The storm caused chaos in Tehran with 80mph winds felling tress, utility lines and shattering windows. This storm had characteristics of both the" 'shamal' - long lived and wide reaching dust storm - and 'haboob' - storm fronts that appear as walls of sand and dust." The United Sates most recently experienced a haboob in Phoenix on 8-11-15. [...]
The dust event first appeared in NASA satellite imagery along the Iraq–Syria border on August 31. By the next day, the storm took on the cyclonic shape visible in the top image above. By September 2, the dust cloud reached the Persian Gulf. [...] Much of northern Iraq is in a state of exceptional drought. Anecdotal evidence and media reports in recent years suggest that dust storms have become more common in Iraq and Iran, a result of that drought and of the human and natural destruction of wetlands in the Tigris-Euphrates watersheds."
Check out the other green posts beneath our very own orange dust storm.
Climate Chaos
Mitigate, Adapt and Suffer - The Longer We Wait The More Painful It Will Be.—by Pakalolo: "The NSIDC reported in August—The surge in surface melt extent for the Greenland Ice Sheet that began in late June continued through much of July, with melt extent through mid-month not far from two standard deviations above the average for the 1981 to 2010 reference period, and peaking above two standard deviations during the first few days of July. By the last week of the month, overall melt extent had fallen below average. [..] Paris COP21 will be our last chance to address the issue of the looming Climate Change catastrophe. The UN's report on the mitigation agenda can be found in this report -Key Elements for Success on ClimateChange Mitigation at COP21 in Paris Seeing is believing and we are out of time. This shocking video is a must see. There is no way any of this ice sheet melt and collapse can be stopped but we just may be able to slow it down if we aggressively act to end fossil fuels. Our very lives rest with the actions the world will agree to in Paris."
How to make a climate agreement out of a text full of brackets—by Mattias: "UN climate talks are moving forward, but with a pace which is far too slow. After one week of negotiations in Bonn, Germany, one can start to wonder if these talks can deliver an agreement. The text is full of brackets, and different options, and it is impressive how anyone can have an overview. How is it possible to make an agreement out such a text? Well, luckily, there might be some shortcuts. Slow pace could eventually change to high speed, if some of the key conflicts are resolved. I would suggest making an effort to solve the following issues."
Let’s Go Eco-Friendly at Home—by joannepat: "I just read that the UN is frustrated about the snail pace of the global efforts to address climate change. Me too! I’m frustrated. I’m angry. Really angry! But I’m no Obama. I’m no UN. I don’t have huge money to spend or any influence to peddle to move people or change culture. Does that mean I’m helpless? No! [...]"
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Washington Wildfire Update, and News from the Cabin—by foresterbob: "After three weeks of tense news about the northern Washington wildfires, perhaps a change of pace is in order. Readers of the fire news might be tempted to ask why anyone would want to inhabit a landscape that is prone to going up in flames. It’s easier to answer that question with pictures than words. On Thursday afternoon I had two spare hours while waiting for the Farmers Market in Tonasket to open. It had been a few years since I had driven the loop northeast to Havillah, west on Chesaw Road to Oroville, and south on US 97 back to Tonasket. Despite Montana’s claim to the term, this is big sky country, too. Clouds spread across the sky, some building up and becoming dark, threatening a bit of rain. The sun demanded equal time, and got it. I soon found myself pulling off the pavement, camera in hand."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
The Daily Bucket: Florida's Invaders--The Green Basilisk—by Lenny Flank: "The Green Basilisk is a handsome-looking lizard: both the male and female are a bright apple-green color, and the male has showy head crests and sailfins on his back, making him look like a miniature dinosaur. But this Florida invader is probably most famous for a neat trick that has earned it the nickname of 'Jesus Christ Lizard'. The basilisks, named after a monster from Greek mythology with poisonous breath that could also turn people to stone by looking at them, is a group of lizards related to the Iguanas, forming the family Corytophanidae. There are four species in one genus, all of them limited to the area of southern Mexico, Central America, and the northern part of South America. The largest of these is the Green Basilisk, Basiliscus plumifrons, also known as the Crested Basilisk or the Plumed Basilisk. A resident of Central America, it is a large lizard, averaging about 2 feet and sometimes up to 3 feet in length (though most of this is tail). The females are bright green with blue and white markings; the males are similarly colored but are larger and have showy crests along their head and back which they can erect as a territorial display."
Green Basilisk Lizard
The Daily Bucket: Marine mammals of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea—by
matching mole: "One week ago ms mole and I took the day off for a wonderful excursion. The Victoria Clipper is a passenger ferry service between Seattle and Victoria, BC that makes a daily round trip, all year round. In the summer the same company also makes a separate daily trip to the town of Friday Harbor, in the San Juan Islands. An 'add-on' to this trip is 2.5 hours of whale-watching in the San Juans. Thursday was the last forecast day of warm sunny weather for a while and so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get out of town (weekdays are also cheaper than weekends). It was great day in which we saw six (or seven depending on your taxonomy, see below) species of marine mammal. I don't think I've ever seen that many in one day before."
Tens of thousands of antelopes died over the span of 4 days and it's a mystery—by Walter Einenkel: "There have been small die-offs of Saiga antelopes over the past few years. But according to geo-ecologist Steffen Zuther, the entire Saiga herd he had traveled to Kazakhstan to monitor died within a four-day span. All 60,000 of them. This is a die-off in size and speed never seen before. NBC News: Now, the researchers have found clues as to how more than half of the country's herd, counted at 257,000 as of 2014, died so rapidly. Bacteria clearly played a role in the saigas' demise. But exactly how these normally harmless microbes could take such a toll is still a mystery, Zuther said. 'The extent of this die-off, and the speed it had, by spreading throughout the whole calving herd and killing all the animals, this has not been observed for any other species," Zuther said. "It's really unheard of.' The real cause is still a mystery."
Unraveling The Mysteries Of American River Salmon And Steelhead—by Dan Bacher: "The American River, Sacramento’s unique urban fishery, is located in a beautiful parkway that provides a refuge from the insanity of city life. It is my 'home river' and first stream I ever fished as a kid and teenager in the 1960s. In its clear waters I caught my first-ever steelhead, king salmon and legal-sized striped bass anywhere. I have spent thousands of hours since my first trip to the river nearly 50 years ago. Species I have caught, besides steelhead, salmon and stripers, include largemouth bass, bluegill, green sunfish, carp, yellow suckers, pike minnows and one lone smallmouth bass. I have experienced my best-ever steelhead fishing on this river, even though I’ve fished the Trinity, Smith, Chetco, Eel, San Lorenzo, Klamath, Feather, Sacramento and other renowned steelhead streams."
Energy
Coal, Oil, Gas & Nuclear
Arctic Reality—by Michael Brune: "Alaska has already warmed 3.1 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 60 years according to the U.S. National Climate Assessment. This year alone, wildfires in the state have burned more than 5 million acres. Ironically, this is happening in a state that is uniquely dependent on the oil and gas industries. Yet allowing those industries to extract all of Alaska's considerable fossil fuel reserves would not only destroy much of its incredible wilderness but also lead to even worse climate disruption—not just for Alaska, but for the world: 'Our results suggest that, globally, a third of oil reserves, half of gas reserves and over 80% of current coal reserves should remain unused from 2010 to 2050 in order to meet the target of 2 degrees Celsius,' Paul Ekins and Christophe McGlade wrote in the journal Nature earlier this year. 'We show that development of resources in the Arctic and any increase in unconventional oil production are incommensurate with efforts to limit average global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.' [3.6 degrees Fahrenheit] It's that simple: If we want to limit global warming then we cannot continue developing new fossil fuel resources in the Arctic. That reality is what President Obama and his administration ignored by allowing Shell Oil to proceed with drilling in the Chukchi Sea this summer. They also ignored the reality that a spill in Arctic seas would be an unprecedented environmental disaster. Or, perhaps it's fairer to say that they decided it was a risk they were willing to take."
Texas Railroad Commission says no to peer-reviewed science study linking earthquakes to oil and gas—by Walter Einenkel: "The Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) is the government agency charged with regulating Texas' Oil and Gas industry. Knowing what we know about regulations and regulators in the oil and gas industries of other states, when they say something most people look at it with a roll of the eyes. The TRC has come out and said that recent earthquake activity is not connected to fracking: An inquiry by the agency that regulates the oil and gas industry in Texas has found that oil and gas activity did not likely cause a swarm of earthquakes around the north Texas towns of Azle and Reno starting in 2013. The finding, however, flies in the face of a peer-reviewed scientific study of the quakes. This study, out of Southern Methodist University, had linked recent earthquake activity with ExxonMobile's subsidiary fracking company XTO's drilling activities."
Chernobyl Look Back—by maksinaliveros: "The Chernobyl accident which happened in 1986, one which so many people claim to be an 'accident' was the result of flawed reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained personnel. The mistake resulted to the death of two Chernobyl plant workers the night of the accident and another 28 people within few weeks because of acute radiation poisoning. Carlton Church International Movement to Abolish Nuclear Reactors and Nuclear Weapons, a non-profit organization working to seek awareness to the public on the negative effects of anything nuclear has been warning everyone and fighting to ban the use of the substance for research, technology and on other more ludicrous ideas humans have to avoid circumstances as what happened on April, 1986 in Ukraine."
Bill to Ban New Offshore Oil Drilling Held Until Next Year—by Dan Bacher: "Senator Mike McGuire vowed that he will try again next year to pass a bill to forever protect California’s coast from new offshore oil development in state waters—the California Coastal Protection Act (SB 788) —after the legislation failed twice because of intense opposition by Big Oil. The bill was unexpectedly held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on August 27 after the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and oil companies lobbied legislators to oppose the legislation. 'How many more oil spills do we have to see off the California coast before we stand up to the Big Oil lobby and take action?' McGuire asked, referring to the Santa Barbara Oil Spill of 1969 and the Refugio Oil Spill that devastated the Santa Barbara Coast again this year. 'Today’s vote is incredibly disappointing, but it’s a hurdle we will overcome in this fight to protect our coast.'"
Governor Brown under fire for firing state oil regulators—by Dan Bacher: 'While Jerry Brown cynically attempts to portray himself as a "climate leader" and "green Governor' at environmental conferences and photo opportunities across the globe, new court documents obtained by the Associated Press bolster the claims by many anti-fracking activists that the California Governor is in reality "Big Oil Brown.' In these documents, two former senior level officials in California Governor Jerry Brown’s administration reveal that they were fired on November 3, 2011, one day after warning the governor that oil drilling would imperil the state’s groundwater. In a declaration, Derek Chernow, Brown's fired acting director of the state Department of Conservation, told the Brown Administration that granting permits to oil companies for oilfield injection wells would violate safety provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, reported Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press."
The Never Ending Debate with Nuclear Reactors for the Environment—by maksinaliveros: "The United Nations Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is an important mechanism for halting production of nuclear weapons and their resulting impact to the environment. This treaty can constraint any development of nuclear weapons and can act as means to prevent further radioactive contamination to man natural habitat and water source. However, the debate seems not diminish. Some other use of nuclear elements still continues to circulate around the globe. Continual and protracted level through the creation of nuclear waste has threatened nuclear destruction on an immediate level."
Untoward pregnancy outcomes and infant mortality in Fukushima—by ypochris: "Recent studies are beginning to show a high death toll from the melt-down of three nuclear plants in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. Particularly notable is a study in which Dr Alfred Koerblein from Nuremburg, Germany, recently noticed and reported on a highly statistically significant drop of 10.1% in the numbers of live births in Fukushima Prefecture in December 2011, nine months after the accident. Radiation damage to the zygote from the high initial radiation spike following the nuclear accident can trigger early spontaneous abortions which in turn manifest as a drop of live births 9 months later."
Radiation filters? We don't need no steenking radiation filters!—by Joieau: "Short 1 of 5 panel members, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission [NRC] voted 3 to 1 in August NOT to allow public comment or to go forward with proposed rulemaking and independent expert analysis of proposed safety retrofits to all GE Mark I & II boiling water reactors in the United States. These represent a third of the US reactor fleet and are identical to the 3 plants that melted and exploded so dramatically at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in northeastern Japan in March of 2011. The retrofits were recommended following the Fukushima disaster, when the long-known weaknesses of the Mark I & II containment designs were played out in real time for all to see as reactor plant after reactor plant was utterly destroyed by massive explosions. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens were exposed to radiation and hurredly evacuated from their homes and land, much of which remains uninhabitable to this day and will remain so essentially forever. The GE containment design was determined to be inadequate for containing a serious accident in 1972 by the US AEC. It took AEC's successor NRC only 20 years to finally get around to 'requesting' that utilities voluntarily install hardened vents on their pressure suppression pools [aka 'torus'] components. These hardened vents were installed in the plants at Daiichi as well as in US plants. They too were proved entirely inadequate to contain a meltdown."
Emissions Control
Climate Leaders to Obama: Champion Zero Emissions at Paris Talks, World War II-Scale Mobilization—by The Climate Mobilization: "As President Barack Obama witnessed the dramatic effects of climate chaos in Alaska today, a distinguished group of scientists and environmental, faith, civic and cultural leaders challenged him to champion a courageous U.S. goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 at the upcoming climate talks in Paris. The challenge, issued in the form of an open letter, describes the current U.S. target of 26-28% emissions reductions by 2025 as a 'weak' goal 'that cannot be described as honest, courageous, or responsible in the face of a crisis that threatens the continued existence of humanity.' The letter also calls on the Obama administration to abandon its 'all-of-the-above' energy policy."
Renewables & Conservation
Utility Scale Solar PV Music Video? Yep!—by Allen Insight: "Want to get the fossil fuel industry out of our government? Tell your state government to mandate Solar for your local utility. The price of Solar power is falling faster than anyone expected. And every dollar invested in Solar power weakens the political power of the coal and natural gas industries. And more cheap Solar power will eventually displace much of the oil industry by making electric cars the most affordable cars to own. Goodbye oil industry Super Pacs! Adios Koch Brothers! More Solar = More Democracy. California began this transition years ago and 2015 has been a GREAT year for solar power in California. State REGULATIONS require electric utilities to get 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020. And utilities are on track to meet this goal. California now has the 3 largest Solar PV solar plants IN THE WORLD."
Kochs Fund Anti-Renewable Lecturer. Big Business Funds Research Center.—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "The Topeka Capital-Journal has a story reinforcing the link between renewable energy opposition and fossil fuel funding. In 2014, Kansas University lecturer Art Hall testified against Kansas's renewable energy standard. Hall's testimony was based on unpublished research funded by the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation (a foundation funded solely by Koch Industries). This was not Hall's first encounter with the Kochs. In fact, before moving to Kansas University's Center for Applied Economics, Hall was the chief economist for Koch Industries' public affairs group. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that after Hall left Koch Industries, the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation provided the seed funding for Hall's Center for Applied Economics at Kansas U. The Foundation gave $250,000 to get the Center off the ground in 2008 and another $100,000 in 2009. That funding was explicitly designated for a 'pipeline of reform-oriented research projects' to create 'an intellectual foundation for policy change.' In essence, a Koch operative used Koch money to set up shop in a University, thereby providing an academic cover for pro-Koch research."
Candidates, DC, State & Local Eco-Politics
Students Expose Cruz's Mythical Climate Position—by ClimateDenierRoundup: ""The Right Scoop" has a story about an interaction between Ted Cruz and a couple of student activists in New Hampshire. The students pushed Cruz to answer whether or not he cares about the lobster industry, which is threatened by climate change, and whether or not he denies the existence of climate change. One of the students even followed-up by writing a letter to the editor titled, 'Ted Cruz doesn't care about climate change hurting Seacoast.' For those interested in watching the interaction, the videos are available on YouTube, including a longer 5 minute clip and a shorter follow up. In his reply, Cruz uses the typical politician's trick of deploying economy-focused talking points instead of answering the actual question. When pressed, however, Cruz offers an impressive litany of myths in rapid succession. He also touts the conspiracy theory that those promoting climate change action are secretly aiming for 'massive government control of the economy, energy sector, and our lives.'"
Bernie not Hillary clear on pollution—by
Kochbusters: "Right now Bernie Sanders is in Burlington Iowa speaking with an urgency unmatched by any political opponent in either party, about the the need to care for the planet and leave it habitable for our children and grandchildren. His strong stance against fracking, climate change denial etc is a stark contrast to the disgusting thing I saw earlier today. This morning plastered against the tailgate panel of an obnoxiously oversized black pickup ahead of me on my commute to work I saw the most sociopathic bumper sticker in my entire life. Shocking. Insidious. Just so outright violent. It is nothing short of a heinous scream for war on planet Earth."
PA & WI-Sen: Environmental Groups Launch Huge Ad Buy Making Toomey (R) & Johnson (R) Top Targets—by poopdogcomedy: "Environmental groups were already going to spending a lot of money on taking out vulnerable Republican incumbents like Senator Mark Kirk (R. IL). Well their list is getting bigger: Environmental groups are targeting Republican Sen. Pat Toomey and several other U.S. senators in coordinated ad campaigns aimed at those who oppose a recently finalized federal carbon-emissions rule. The National Resource Defense Council Action Fund and Environmenal Defense Fund Action are spending $1 million on television and digital ads calling on Toomey to support the Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan rule, unveiled by Environmental Protection Agency last month, creates the first-ever national standards aimed at limiting carbon pollution. Pennsylvania power plants will be required to reduce their carbon emissions by nearly 35 percent by 2030."
Eco-Action & Eco Justice
Boycott Nestle. Esp.WATERS!—by pazyarte: "In California, currently suffering from a multi-year drought, Nestle pumps approximately 2 MILLION gallons of water PER DAY for its bottled water operations,much of which gets shipped out of state! The brand sold from California waters is 'Arrowhead,' In future post the scope of Nestle's water pumping and sales will be revealed. One global brand is 'PURE LIFE.' Boycott it!!"
Fighting Back Against FirstEnergy's Coal Bailout—by Mary Anne Hitt: "Over the past year, our Ohio Beyond Coal team has been fighting proposals from the state's largest utility companies to seek customer-funded bailouts of dirty and outdated coal plants. After the state utilities commission denied two previous, similar proposals from Duke and AEP, FirstEnergy's scheme is the most egregious we've seen yet, with a projected loss of $3 billion to customers. It would literally guarantee profits for the company's shareholders until 2031 while saddling the expected cost of maintaining inefficient and polluting coal plants entirely on their customers. FirstEnergy already attempted to eliminate the competition by scuttling the state’s clean energy standard, which is now suspended, but these plants still can’t compete. David Roberts of Vox summed it up well, in his excellent new post about the whole debacle: 'The company can't sell its product on a competitive market, so it's asking the state to force customers to buy it. For fifteen years.'"
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
Farmgrl Chronicles: Mushrooms, Gardening and Sauerkraut—by COMTNGRL: "Welcome to my garden... It's quite amazing in fact. My family had always had a garden while I was growing up. I definitely took it for granted. We always had fresh produce all summer and frozen and canned throughout the winter. We also had the best beef, chicken, pork, milk, eggs, butter and rabbit (which I wasn't told until a couple of years ago that we ate more rabbit than I realized). I grew up in Eastern Colorado where the closest grocery store was over 40 minutes away. Well, we did have a grocery store that was only 25 minutes away, but the selection was slim and expensive. We normally drove two hours to Denver or Colorado Springs once a month to load up on groceries. Our garden was HUGE. I mean, HUGE. After working all day in the wheat fields, my parents would come home to dig in the garden even more. Growing up, I always found the fun in playing in the garden and didn't really look at it as 'work.'"
Saturday Morning Garden Blogging, Vol. 11.28: And then, it rained...—by estreya: "Every year around Labor Day, i'm happy to send summer on its way. It's not that it wasn't fun; it was! But by the time September rolls around, the summer months have taken their toll. On the whole, it was a dry and blistering summer here in the Pacific Northwest. So brutal was the heat, so unprecedented was the lack of rain that local vintners are harvesting their wine grapes a month ahead of time. In other areas of the state, the consequences of the summer drought were nothing less than catastrophic. Wildfires were out of control with blazes so deadly that President Obama authorized federal aid for the relief efforts. Less than two weeks ago, the word SMOKE was superimposed on our local weather forecasts. Everyone and everything was praying for the clouds to roll in ... And last week, our prayers were answered. It finally started to rain. Officially speaking, 'fire season' will last for a few more weeks. But heroic fire suppression efforts, aided by the increased moisture in the air, seem to indicate that the worst of it has passed."
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
Is mass migration the new norm?—by don mikulecky: "I was beginning to study the links between the refugee situation and the effects of Global Warming and came across this article by Ellie Mae O'Hagan in The Guardian: Mass migration is no ‘crisis’: it’s the new normal as the climate changes. My coauthor and I talk about paradigm shifts in our book from the perspective of what is necessary for humanity to come to grips with what we have done to the planet. According to O'Hagan: The migration we are witnessing is not a state of exception: it is the beginning of a new paradigm – and how we choose to respond to it reflects on who we fundamentally are as a society. We must deal with the victims of this permanent crisis in a compassionate way, not just for their humanity but for our own. If you are following these events at all you know that we are already way behind in generating the necessary cognitive adjustments to them."
Miscellany
Should Non-Biodegrading Plastics Be Banned?
—by RKiddo: "About a year or two ago, I sparked up the curiosity to look into the existence or possibilities for biodegradable plastics -- and to my surprise there are numerous versions. So my question is this: why are we still using non-biodegradable plastics? Is the public so unmotivated or unmoving to care? Is the oil industry, which I'm only assuming is responsible for the production of plastics made from oil (non-biodegradable plastics), so far under the profit-making spell of oil production to provide safer alternatives?"
"Game over for the climate"—by newusername: "The federal election in Canada is underway right now, and the fate of this project (Energy East) may hang in the balance: The following video explains it perfectly. But first, if you will, remember that, if we exploit all of the energy in the tar sands, it's 'game over for the climate.' —James Hansen."