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Environment

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Environment

Members

Corey Watts John Girard Kathy Gilbeaux Maeryn Obley mdmcdonald Miles Marcotte

Email address for group

environment@m.resiliencesystem.org

Global Warming Cited as Wildfires Increase in Fragile Boreal Forest

The boreal region stretches across the Northern Hemisphere through Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. Boreal forests are increasingly affected by fire and climate change.

Sources: Natural Resources Canada; Alberta Agriculture and Forestry; U.S. Geological Survey; University of Maryland - By The New York Times

Scientists say the near-destruction of Fort McMurray last week by a wildfire is the latest indication that the vital boreal forest is at risk from climate change.

nytimes.com - by JUSTIN GILLIS and HENRY FOUNTAIN - May 10, 2016

Scientists have been warning for decades that climate change is a threat to the immense tracts of forest that ring the Northern Hemisphere, with rising temperatures, drying trees and earlier melting of snow contributing to a growing number of wildfires.

The near-destruction of a Canadian city last week by a fire that sent almost 90,000 people fleeing for their lives is grim proof that the threat to these vast stands of spruce and other resinous trees, collectively known as the boreal forest, is real. And scientists say a large-scale loss of the forest could have profound consequences for efforts to limit the damage from climate change.

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Once Parched, Florida's Everglades Finds Its Flow Again

This is one of several canals that will be filled to slow the movement of water through the Everglades, restoring an ecosystem environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas called the "river of grass."€ Greg Allen/NPR

Image: This is one of several canals that will be filled to slow the movement of water through the Everglades, restoring an ecosystem environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas called the "river of grass."€ Greg Allen/NPR

npr.org - February 19th 2016 - Greg Allen

When people talk about Florida's Everglades, they often use superlatives: It's the largest protected wilderness east of the Mississippi River, and it's the biggest subtropical wetland in North America.

But it is also the site of a joint federal-state plan that is the largest ecosystem restoration effort ever attempted — one that is beginning to pay off after decades of work.

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Social Progress Index 2015

socialprogressimperative.org

CLICK HERE - Social Progress Index 2015 (158 page .PDF report)

MEASURING NATIONAL PROGRESS – To truly advance social progress, we must learn to measure it, comprehensively and rigorously. The Social Progress Index offers a rich framework for measuring the multiple dimensions of social progress, benchmarking success, and catalyzing greater human wellbeing. The 2015 version of the Social Progress Index has improved upon the 2014 version through generous feedback from many observers and covers an expanded number of countries with 52 indicators.

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CLICK HERE - Publications

http://www.socialprogressimperative.org

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The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics

submitted by Albert Gomez

ellenmacarthurfoundation.org - January 19, 2016

Applying circular economy principles to global plastic packaging flows could transform the plastics economy and drastically reduce negative externalities such as leakage into oceans, according to this new report.

The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics provides, for the first time, a vision of a global economy in which plastics never become waste, and outlines concrete steps towards achieving the systemic shift needed.

The report was produced by the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, with analytical support from McKinsey & Company, as part of Project MainStream, a global, multi-industry initiative that aims to accelerate business-driven innovations to help scale the circular economy. It was financially supported by the MAVA Foundation.

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What Will it Take to Fix the Porter Ranch Leaking Gas Well?

                      

Southern California Gas Co. released these images of two ways it can potentially stop the Aliso Canyon gas leak by pumping fluid directly into the well or via a relief well. (Image courtesy of SoCalGas) 

dailynews.com - by Gregory J. Wilcox - December 19, 2015

The latest attempt by Southern California Gas Co. to kill its leaking well above Porter Ranch amounts to a deep shot in the dark.

All the repair crew has to do is hit a 7-inch target at the bottom of a shaft a mile and a half under Oat Mountain at the northern rim of the San Fernando Valley.

Undoubtedly, it’s a complicated situation, one industry expert said.

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Landfill Fire Threatens Nuclear Waste Site Outside St. Louis

Flares at the Bridgeton Landfill outside St. Louis burn off noxious fumes, including those generated by an underground fire that's been burning since 2010. The "fire" is really a high-temperature chemical reaction that consumes the waste below the landfill's surface. Véronique LaCapra/St. Louis Public Radio

Image: Flares at the Bridgeton Landfill outside St. Louis burn off noxious fumes, including those generated by an underground fire that's been burning since 2010. The "fire" is really a high-temperature chemical reaction that consumes the waste below the landfill's surface. Véronique LaCapra/St. Louis Public Radio

npr.org - November 3rd, 2015 - Veronique Lacapra

Imagine you are a parent, and that out of the blue, you get a letter from your child's school telling you not to worry — that they're ready to evacuate or shelter in place if an underground fire at a nearby landfill reaches radioactive waste on the same property.

That's pretty much what happened recently in suburban St. Louis.

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Danger of Methane Explosions on Yamal Peninsula, Scientists Warn

      

Scientists from the respected Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics insist the process by which a series of craters formed was caused by the melting of gas hydrates and the emission of methane. Picture: Vladimir Olenchenko/Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics

More craters expected to form due to such eruptions as permafrost melts - and they ARE caused by global warming releasing methane gas.

siberiantimes.com - by Anna Liesowska - September 22, 2015

A new expedition to one of the mysterious Siberian giant holes found in recent years has concluded that it is a warning sign of a deadly threat to northern regions as the climate warms. . . .

. . . A pingo believed to be poised to explode 'at any moment' is now being constantly monitored by a Russian space satellite in an attempt to catch the moment when the eruption occurs. . . .

. . . The scientists also warn of a dire threat to both towns and cities in the extreme north, and natural gas exploration facilities and associated pipelines.

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Welcome to Armageddon, USA: A Tour of America’s Most Toxic Town

An abandoned town.

Image: An abandoned town.

wired.com- August 30th, 2010 - Ben Paynter

Larry Roberts angles his white Mercury Grand Marquis into the empty parking lot of a tiny café, G & J’s Gorillas Cage, and cruises into a space near the front door. The restaurant’s red and white metal trim is faded and rusted, and the lightbulb-lined roadside sign has been dark for years. Hand-painted placards in the windows advertise burger baskets, corn dogs, and a couple of untruths—”Last Place in Picher!” and “Yes, We’re Open!”

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EPA Causes Massive Colorado Spill of 1 Million Gallons of Mining Waste, Turns River Orange

      

People kayak in the Animas River near Durango, Colorado, August 6, in water colored from a mine waste spill. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that a cleanup team was working with heavy equipment to secure an entrance to the Gold King Mine. Workers instead released an estimated one million gallons of mine waste into Cement Creek, which flows into the Animas River.  Jerry McBride/The Durango Herald/Press Association/AP

newsweek.com - by Zoe Schlanger - August 7, 2015

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was trying to protect the environment when it caused a major spill instead.

On Wednesday morning, the EPA said, it was using heavy machinery to investigate pollutants at the Gold King Mine when it accidentally released 1 million gallons of mining waste into a creek, local station KOB4 reports. The waste spewed from the creek into the Animas River north of Silverton, Colorado, turning the water an opaque orange color reminiscent of boxed mac and cheese.

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Google Street View cars are starting to map air pollution

Video: Video explaining the Aclima/Google Map partnership

theverge.com - July 29th, 2015 - Jacob Kastrenakes

A small number of Google Street View cars are recording more than photos of the road — they're also taking snapshots of the air quality around them. Aclima, a company that creates networks of environmental sensors, announced this week that it's been working with Google to put air quality detectors on some of its cars. The sensors allow Google's vehicles to pick up information on carbon dioxide, methane, black carbon, particulate matter, and other pollutants on a block-by-block basis.

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