In November the nation was shocked by the discovery that 14,000 gallons of jet-fuel leaked into ground water of the Hawaiian island, Oahu. The fuel was reported to have contaminated the drinking water supplied to 93,000 military and civilian residents. This spill resulted in a reported 5,000 illnesses and 3,000 families displaced due to the contaminated water supply which has yet to be deemed safe.
Read MoreNo one owns Antarctica – sort of. But climate change activists should lobby for international law to more clearly define ice structures and laws that govern them.
Read MoreThe Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (“RECA”) was passed in 1990 to provide compensation for those who were affected by or participated in nuclear weapons testing and individuals who were exposed to high levels of radiation as uranium miners. It is scheduled to sunset in July 2022, exactly 77 years after the first test of a nuclear weapon deep in the desert of New Mexico.
Read MoreThe national parks have had unprecedented visitation since the pandemic began. While outdoor recreation has become more in vogue over the past decade, the pandemic led to a steady increase in visitation. This visitation is not evenly distributed across all of the parks in the National Park System, however. In 2021, just twenty-five parks (out of 423 total) received over half of all national park visits.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever joined a grocery store co-op, you are familiar with the cooperative as an organizing structure. Co-ops have deep roots in American rural society and the populist movement of the late 19th century, which led to the development of decentralized organizations like The Grange. The Grange supported rural communities by communally organizing sales and profits of goods including wheat, wool, and tobacco, and created communal stores for their members.
Read MoreAn electricity, or electrical, grid is an interconnected network of transmission and distribution facilities that allows electricity to be delivered. Electricity can be generated through power plants, solar panels, wind turbines, and hydroelectric dams. After electricity is generated, it is then delivered through transmission and distribution power lines.
Read More“Water banking” is an emerging practice in the west as water planners work to develop concepts to protect water resources in the face of long-term drought, increasing demand, and a changing climate. In summary, water banking is a voluntary, market-based tool that could facilitate water transactions between willing sellers and buyers. Through water banking, water rights owners are able to temporarily lease their water to those who are willing to pay a premium for it.
Read MoreOn Sunday, August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana as a Category 4 Hurricane, tearing through southern Louisiana towards Baton Rouge and New Orleans with over 150mph winds. By the next day, more than one million Louisianians were without power. The storm killed 82 people across 8 states and left destruction in its wake, like on Grand Ilse, Louisiana where 40-50% of houses disappeared.
Read MoreIn early 2009, a new form of currency was introduced that would take the world by storm: the block-chain currency Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a centralized currency separate from any national government and is a fairly anonymous currency. Even the creator is unknown, with the currency tied to an enigmatic “Satoshi Nakamoto” who has yet to be identified.
Read More“A manatee was floating sideways, drifting as it stared helplessly up at her. ‘That happens when they are starving and lacking energy,’” said Monica Ross, a senior research scientist at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. This is the reality of many manatees in Florida’s waters. They’ve run out of their primary food source, seagrass, and are starving to death.
Read MoreElectronics have supercharged our lives, making it easier to stay in touch with loved ones, keep our homes clean with ease, and quickly access important blog posts – like this one. However, a crisis has emerged parallel to our increasingly electrified society, as e-waste the world’s “fastest-growing solid-waste stream.”
Read MoreThat’s right, 35% of the microplastics in the ocean are microfibers from domestic laundry. Microfibers are primary microplastics , meaning that they are created to be small in size, similar to microbeads, rather than secondary microplastics which are microplastics that have fragmented from larger plastic items due to damage and weathering (usually from food containers, disposable utensils, and fishing equipment). Microfibers are created by the polymerization of oil monomers to create plastic polymers .
Read MoreEnergy production is one of the most significant sources of greenhouse gases in America, making it a vital policy area in the transition away from a carbon-based economy. Most American residences and businesses buy their electricity from investor-owned utilities, which are generally government-sanctioned monopolies. Even as the cost of wind and solar energy plummets, many investor-owned utilities (IOUs) have been slow to make firm commitments to shift to renewables, often due to existing investments in oil and gas.
Read Morelimate change is no longer news. We have seen the effects from superstorms like Hurricane Sandy to bigger, hotter wildfires in California. Climate change is complicated, and because it occurs at a global level, those complexities need to be addressed at an international level. This effort came to fruition when the United Nations created the Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”) in 1994.
Read MoreColorado’s 2021 legislative session was extremely progressive on environmental justice and climate. Even environmental groups approved. The following are the major pieces of legislation to know about:
Read MoreOn Saturday, September 25, 2021, a mass of volunteers made their way to the Fall South Platte Stewardship Day, which The Nature Conservancy presented. This Stewardship Day involved cleanup and restoration efforts to the surrounding Globeville Landing Park and South Platte riverside, continuing a 47-year community undertaking caring for the South Platte River.
Read MoreSevere droughts and unprecedented decreases in average water flow have prompted Colorado officials to revaluate water consumption for the White and Yampa rivers. Both rivers flow into the already jeopardized Colorado River, which is experiencing historic low flow levels.
Read MoreNearly 270 million people face food shortages globally; this number has doubled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine million people die every year from hunger and hunger-related diseases. In the United States, more than one in seven children live in a household facing food insecurity and are not afforded the adequate nutrition needed to grow and develop. The impacts of food shortages are very real
Read MoreGreen spaces and green infrastructure such as parks, bike trails, and greenways are vital for livable cities. Access to high-quality outdoor green spaces has significant impacts on the health of individuals and communities alike. These areas also increase biodiversity, manage stormwater, prevent heat islands, regulate emissions, foster social connections, and encourage healthy lifestyles. Some green spaces filter air, reduce noise, replenish groundwater, and even provide food. Urban trees absorb airborne pollutants from the atmosphere and provide shaded, cooler areas that reduce heat-related risks for city residents.
Read MoreOn the surface, Antarctica seems like a desolate wasteland. Early Antarctic explorer Apsley Cherry-Garrard even described his time on the continent by writing in his memoir, “polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised.”
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