Cities from Beijing to New Delhi are getting darker, glaciers in ranges like the Himalayas are melting faster and weather systems becoming more extreme, in part, due to the combined effects of man-made Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs) and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The brown clouds, the result of burning of fossil fuels and biomass, are in some cases and regions aggravating the impacts of greenhouse gas-induced climate change, says a new report.
The Naval Research Laboratory’s Spatial Heterodyne Imager for Mesospheric Radicals has successfully observed a second northern season of polar mesospheric clouds, which are the Earth’s highest clouds. This successful observation fulfills the primary goal of the Space Test Program Satellite-1 Extended Mission.
Researchers at MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research have produced a report concerning key design issues of proposed “cap-and-trade” programs that are under consideration in the United States as a way of curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
Observations from satellites now allow scientists to monitor changes to water levels in the sea, in rivers and lakes, in ice sheets and even under the ground. As the climate changes, this information will be crucial for monitoring its effects and predicting future impacts in different regions.
Despite having written at length (some might say excessively) about the sorry fate of Yosemite’s dwindling glaciers and the Sierra snowpack, I’ve always felt as though my posts were missing something — a certain audio/visual oomph, you might say. Though I’m much too busy to visit Yosemite in person these days (I intend to do over the coming months, however), the fine folks at KQED have provided the …
Photo courtesy of Terry Mass
The critically endangered leatherback sea turtles are leaving California’s relatively safe coast for their annual Pacific migration to nesting beaches—and they could find a veritable death trap of 5 million new longline hooks waiting for them when they return. This is the plight detailed in a new report, ominously titled “Death by a Thousand Hooks,” which was released last week. The surplus in new hooks would come from a “Deadly Trio”—three new proposed swordfish fisheries slat…
The 2003 NBA Rookie of the Year Amare Stoudemire has recently turned his focus away from the court and onto Africa—he’s donated a considerable sum of money to fund well construction (a cause he has in common with TreeHugger founder Graham Hill) in Sierra Leone, and he’s personally taken a trip there to unveil the various project sites where the work is to be done. …
Cascades Park, photo courtesy of webshots
The EPA debuted a new award this year—the “Excellence in Site Reuse” honor, which is awarded for, you guessed it, the most innovative and comprehensive efforts to renovate and reuse dilapidated or formerly contaminated sites. And the first ever award goes to Tallahassee for its efforts in completely revitalizing Cascades Park—transforming an abandoned gas plant site into a world class public park….
There, but for the grace of God, go I- John Bradford
As more people ride bikes, there are more “interactions” between cyclists and motorists. We previously covered Leah’s fight over a beef pattie in Kensington Market, and more recently No Impact Man’s impact with a senator; they both walked away. However last night in Toronto, a cyclist had a loud argument with a cab driver and the next thing residents heard was a sickening crunch and…
Beachcombing becomes Filiz Ateş and Christiane Alaettinoğlu–and anyone who puts on one of their driftwood brooches, necklaces, or rings.
The two artists and friends gather materials on the beaches near their home in Alanya, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, and sell the finished products under the name Yalos Alanya, from the Greek word that locals have adopted to refer to driftwood. Their whimsical designs also include sculptures and wall decorations of fish, birds, and other animals, as well as human figures, all crafted with the same philosophy:…
