Latest Articles

Guess It’s Not So Perma After All

Melting Siberian permafrost could release billions of tons of CO2 As it melts, Siberian permafrost could release up to 500 billion tons of carbon dioxide from ancient plant roots and animal bones into the atmosphere — twice what scientists had previously expected, says a new study in Science. It’s a (woolly) mammoth amount: at present, […]

Don’t Be a Menace to South Central

Urban gardeners evicted from community farm in L.A. South Central Farm, a 14-acre community garden in a sea of warehouses in urban L.A., will be bulldozed to make way for … a warehouse. The 350 low-income families who for years have been growing food on the plot this week lost their fight to save the […]

Must Not Be Any Oil There

Bush creates world’s largest marine protected area Well, slap our ass and call us Sally: George W. Bush, the prez formerly known as the earth’s worst enemy, created the largest protected marine area in the world yesterday when he designated the 1,200-mile-long Northwestern Hawaiian Islands chain and surrounding waters as a national monument. The region […]

Getting a Move On

Grist outgrows office, begs readers for help with upgrade Dear readers, we knew this day would come. We’ve finally outgrown the solitary desk that has served us well for so many years. As we look about for a larger space — perhaps one with two desks! — we’re also thinking about other ways to expand. […]

Vancouver family does it up right.

Six kids, to be exact.

The Vancouver Courier profiles the Spino family -- 2 parents and 6 kids who live in a 3-bedroom condo in downtown Vancouver. It's an interesting read, as well as a good reminder that, for some families, downtown living makes a lot of sense. Says the pater familias:

"I don't see the need for having rooms in houses that you don't use. I don't see why you have two spare bedrooms for visitors that you just use to store boxes. I don't think that's efficient. I don't think that's a responsible way to live...You don't need that space. You don't need skis in the garage or a snowmobile somewhere and stuff in the attic-all that consumerism collecting. I don't think we're occupying a lot of space here. This high-density living is good for the city. It's good for the environment. It's good for the children-it's a fantastic way to live."

Good stuff.

Catch and release program for fossil rats

According to this MSNBC story, these creatures were thought to be extinct for 11 million years. Researchers learned of their existence last year from dead specimens found in local meat markets (the food kind). They released it back into the wild after taking photos. In the old days, researchers would have shot and stuffed it. An increasing awareness of the plight of our biodiversity is catching on. Catch and release fishing is a common practice now, although there will always be people who don't give a rat's ass.

Fly in the ointment

When U.S. air traffic was grounded for three days after September 11th, meterologists got a bit of a surprise. Apparently, the lack of airplane contrails -- the high altitude trails of condensed water that form around tiny particles from engine exhaust -- had a measurable effect on the climate. (More in this document.) Apparently, contrails reflect sunlight during the day, but also trap heat at night. On net, researchers believe that contrails can have two to three times as much climate-warming power as the CO2 emitted in airplane exhaust.

Now, the L.A. Times is reporting on a study by a British research team that found that the biggest contrail impacts come from nighttime flights (when contrails reflect solar radiation back to the earth's surface) and during winter months.

"We get one-half of the climate effect from one-quarter of the year, from less than one-quarter of the air traffic," said meteorologist Nicola Stuber, who led the English research team. "If you get rid of the night flights, you can reduce the climate warming effect of the contrails."

The quick fix: a few schedule changes. A bit inconvenient, perhaps, but hardly inconceivable.

Not much going on.

Hangin' in St. Louis for my three-hour layover. No hottie musician-type sightings to report.

Move Thyself: “Kingdom of bicycles” experiencing identity crisis

So, in case you haven't heard, China's economy has been growing a wee bit. The boom has fueled growth in incomes and is largely responsible for the attendant explosive growth in auto sales and use. Huge growth. The number of cars has grown over 20 times since 1978 and is expected to balloon another five times still by 2020.

Meanwhile, bicycle ridership has fallen at roughly the same rate as auto use has grown, and city planners and officials, eager to keep the boom booming, even at great public cost, have been planning to welcome the auto's continued growth and popularity with more roads.

And though the U.S. still out-cars (and out-roads) China by a wide margin, China's rapid growth has led to bicycles literally being left by the wayside. Urban planning has turned them into seeming second-class forms of transport. (This sounds familiar, America. As Ginsberg might have said: "America, you've given cars all and now cyclists are nothing.")

But back to China. As the Guardian puts it:

Having spent the past decade pursuing a transport policy of four wheels rich, two wheels poor, the Chinese government has suddenly rediscovered the environmental and health benefits of the bicycle.

As described in the state media, apparently the government is finally trying to do something about the unhealthy shift to autos.

China's Vice Minister of Construction, Qiu Baoxing, has lashed [out] at city authorities for making it harder for cyclists to get around, saying the country should retain its title as the "kingdom of bicycles."

Hawaii Islands Win Unprecedented Protection

In the last five years, I can count on one hand the number of times environmental groups have come together to praise a new policy by President Bush -- and that one hand was probably making a fist. So for the ocean conservation community to be celebrating the president's announcement today, you know this is a VERY big deal.

George W. Bush is designating the world's largest fully protected marine reserve -- 84 million acres to be exact. A biologically rich string of islands known as the Northwestern Hawaii Islands (NWHI) will now enjoy complete federal protection from commercial fishing activities as a new National Monument. This is fantastic news for the seals, turtles, albatrosses, sharks, corals, and other marine life that call these waters home, and a strange, welcome, happy, confusing moment for conservationists everywhere. Congratulations to our colleagues who worked so hard to make this happen, including the Pew Charitable Trusts, The Ocean Conservancy, Marine Conservation Biology Institute, Environmental Defense, and especially all the groups in Hawaii. Read all about it.