A red tide turned San Diego's coastal waters a bright shade of blue this week. The phenomenon, created by phytoplankton through a process called bioluminescence, is unpredictable. But when photographers hear a red tide is occurring, they flock to the beach to catch a glimpse. Here are some photos they captured of bioluminescence on May 29 and 30 on shorelines from Solana Beach to Torrey Pines State Beach.
Other Asian countries are also trying to find their own way to deal with plastic pollution. This is a solid idea for a way to not only reduce plastic usage, but also develop a sustainable business idea. However, it’s still unclear if this approach can be successfully deployed at a larger scale and implemented in different parts of the world. At least for this supermarket chain in Thailand, it seems to work.h/t: Perfect Homes Chiangmai
The bus wars are over and electricity has won — thanks to a big boost from China.
In fact, when it comes to electric bus purchases, China is outpacing the United States by an astounding 421,000 to 300 as of the end of 2018.
Thanks to China’s massive investment in and support for electric buses, electrics are now racing past a 50% share of new bus sales worldwide, according to a recent analysis by Bloomberg NEF (BNEF).The use of electric powered buses is growing rapidly on a global basis, except in the US. Since public transit is such a low priority, the initial cost of electric powered buses has had a significant impact on their adoption in the US. China and many other countries solve that problem by subsidizing the initial cost of the buses knowing that the over the long term these buses will cost far less to operate and maintain.
The Chinese have a 99% stranglehold on production and use of electric batteries. The United States has little chance of matching China until we have a president and Congress that understand that the urgency and inevitability of a carbon-free future means the nation that makes the biggest bets on clean technology will reap the most rewards in the years to come.
 |
| Photograph: AP |
The number of people seeking to scale Everest has exploded in recent years, driven by surges in climbers from India and China. Dozens of cut-rate climbing companies have also sprung up in the past 10 years, with some accused of cutting corners or lowering requirements for clients’ fitness and experience levels.
...climbers waiting for hours on overcrowded peaks – putting pressure on oxygen supplies – was probably responsible for five of the 21 deaths so far this season; the remainder could have been due to poor training, inexperience, hidden health issues and inadequate support from guides.
“It is mainly due to the carelessness of climbers,” said a sherpa. “The government should ensure that prospective climbers should have prior experience of climbing peaks before trying to conquer the mighty Mount Everest.”
...social media has disrupted the way we interact with the environment. With the right hashtag, anyone can view thousands of potential destinations—and choose which to visit based on aesthetics alone. A single social-media post can expose lesser-known or isolated places to the world. And that means good places can no longer hide. “They used to be local parks,” says Mairi Welman, head of communications for the District of North Vancouver, which manages two popular parks near the city. “But now we’re starting to see international visitors coming—and those parks were never designed to handle those kinds of numbers.” The influx has resulted in a host of problems, from woefully unprepared hikers getting hurt to people “using the environment as a bathroom.” And then there’s the parking: “There have literally been screaming matches and fist fights over parking spots,” she says. “It can be like a shopping mall at Christmas.”Appreciating nature should not be comparable to a shopping mall at Christmas. Nor should climbing the world's highest mountain simply be a selfie moment paid for by the lives of others.
The rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a global health emergency that could kill 10 million people by 2050, the UN said last month.
The drugs find their way into rivers and soil via human and animal waste and leaks from wastewater treatment plants and drug manufacturing facilities. “It’s quite scary and depressing. We could have large parts of the environment that have got antibiotics at levels high enough to affect resistance,” said Alistair Boxall, an environmental scientist at the University of York, who co-led the study.Researchers test sites in 72 countries and found antibiotic pollution in 65% of 711 sites tested. Over 15% of the sites demonstrated antibiotic pollution exceeding levels considered safe. Rivers in poor countries are the most saturated with antibiotics, creating a situation where those in the most economically disadvantaged areas of the world face the most serious repercussions.
After a five year moratorium, Botswana has ended its ban on trophy hunting of elephants. Botswana is considered the last haven in Africa for elephants with a population of estimated at 126,114. The decision to allow hunting to cull herds flies in the face of a consensus of conservations organizations that have raised the alarm regarding a significant and pervasive increase in poaching targeted on breeding age males. The decision to remove protections for elephants appears to be heavily driven by political considerations - does that remind you the decisions being made in the US?The narrative that Botswana’s elephant population is exploding and has exceeded the country’s carrying capacity is repeatedly used to rationalise trophy hunting and the ivory trade. Mokaila claimed, for instance, that Botswana’s elephant population was at 160 000, nearly three times the “carrying capacity” of 54 000.
But a scientific aerial survey of northern Botswana – where the country’s elephants are concentrated – conducted in 2018 disputes this. The survey estimated a national population of 126 114, indicating stability since 2014. It also revealed a sharp increase in poaching. (Credit CAT)
“The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture,” said IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson. “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”
“The Report also tells us that it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global,” he said. “Through ‘transformative change’, nature can still be conserved, restored and used sustainably – this is also key to meeting most other global goals. By transformative change, we mean a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values.”Despite the dire warning outlined in the report and the glimmer of hope held out for humanity, if we act quickly and comprehensively, the reports conclusions were largely ignored by the news media - most egregiously so in the United States. Unfortunately, the report was issued on the same day as a little boy, who became 7th in line for the completely ceremonial role as British monarch, was born. In the US, a country that tossed off the yoke of a real British monarch, the media coverage of a child who will likely grow up to be a minor celebrity was close to wall to wall.
Media Matters tracked broadcast news coverage on May 6 and found that ABC and NBC's nightly news programs failed to even mention the U.N. biodiversity report. They did, however, air two segments each on Archie. CBS was the only national broadcast network that ran a segment on the biodiversity report that night, and of course it ran one on the baby, too.
The perverse priorities of TV newscasters became even more obvious in the following days. Archie stayed in the news. Biodiversity and climate change stayed out of it.
The student movement to raise awareness of man-made climate change is well underway in Europe and Asia, even as their voting parents keep pulling the lever for right-wing gasbags and fraudsters, much as they did in the United States.Leaving a wrecked and ruined planet to our childrens doesn't seem like much of a legacy. Here's a global view of some of the 100s of demonstrations of which Americans are largely ignorant.
