Environmental Science Bulletin Board – 5 April 2021

US Dept Interior announces National Park Week will run from 17 April to 25 April with theme days including Earth Day 2021

·        https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOI/bulletins/2caa60c

·        NPW: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/national-park-week.htm

Humans want massive amounts of energy to maintain their lifestyle

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/real-reason-humans-dominant-species-002703567.html

Flash flooding in Tennessee results in 4 deaths

·        https://apnews.com/article/floods-thunderstorms-nashville-storms-weather-06b0b257e728b44a3ddecf6105596837

Feral swine a growing problem across the landscape

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/toledo-magazine-feral-swine-growing-183200408.html

Hundreds evacuated following explosion that triggered massive fire at oil refinery in West Java

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/hundreds-evacuated-huge-oil-refinery-091543831.html

Young black bears suffering encephalitis at Lake Tahoe

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/mysterious-disease-killing-young-california-bears-in-tahoe-one-symptom-fearlessness/ar-BB1f34Uu

US Army COE decides proposed Rosemont Mine in Arizona does not need Clean Water Act permit – an abdication of responsibility to protect rich streams & ecosystems

·        https://apnews.com/article/technology-arizona-army-tucson-6a5e300936ae7073600d639f9929467b

Los Angeles considering an automated $6.1B monorail as a “fix” to roads clogged with commuters

·        https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2021/03/27/its-not-elon-musks-hyperloop-but-car-clogged-la-may-build-space-age-monorail/?sh=481f079d524c

University of Michigan receives $1.6M from US DOE for water infrastructure efficiency projects

·        https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2021/03/16m-for-water-infrastructure-projects-coming-to-university-of-michigan.html

Following the right policy to rebuild electric power system in Puerto Rico – solar is not the way to go

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-electrical-engineers-collide-with-the-climate-politicians/ar-BB1f5K01

USDA has added 600 dams to the NRCS Nationwide DamWatch System

·        https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/newsroom/releases/?cid=NRCSEPRD1758622

·        DamWatch: https://www.usengineeringsolutions.com/dam-watch/

Investigating relationship between ground water quality & prairie restoration projects

·        https://www.niutoday.info/2021/03/24/digging-deep-niu-geology-professor-is-uncovering-the-secrets-of-water-quality-in-prairie-restorations/

Investigating the presence of cesium-137 (relict of atom bomb testing) in honey in the Eastern US

·        https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2021/cold-war-legacy-a-spring-break-assignment-evolves-into-investigation-of-cesium-137-in-u.s.-honey.php

Guatemalan government efforts to reduce flow of illegal immigrants

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/guatemala-declares-emergency-measures-caravan-201344008.html

New Mexico files lawsuit against US NRC over concerns for spent nuclear fuel storage facility

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/mexico-sues-us-over-proposed-182506159.html

Government funded “green” industry does not have a good track record – Fisker, Solyndra et al – throwing government money at “climate change” (i.e., “global warming”) is not effective

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/bidens-lesson-past-green-stimulus-184310682.html

Mount Rushmore closed and homes evacuated in advance of multiple wildfires in South Dakota

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/active-dangerous-scene-mount-rushmore-233027464.html

Humans learning lessons as they attempt to rehome mountain lions in California to protect bighorn sheep

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-relocates-mountain-lions-making-091538291.html

Eureka, Missouri, awaiting approval of US Army COE to build two flood walls

·        https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/eureka-to-build-flood-walls-to-protect-key-infrastructure-and-historic-buildings/

A wiser system for using water in Minnesota

·        https://www.twincities.com/2021/03/26/hugo-hailed-as-pioneer-of-stormwater-reuse-via-neighborhood-wide-irrigation-system/

Rube Goldberg scheme to “decarbonize” US buildings in the name of “global warming”

·        https://energymonitor.ai/joe-biden/heres-how-joe-biden-can-decarbonise-us-buildings

Conservation data for FY2020 available in Resources Conservation Act (RCA) Data Viewer

·        https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAFARMERS/bulletins/2ca3763

·        RCA Data Viewer: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/rca/national/technical/nra/rca/ida/

Battling to protect eh Owyhee Canyonlands of southeastern Oregon

·        https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/owyhee-canyonlands-sagebrush-climate-change-094500583.html

Human-created global water crisis is unfolding

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/growing-global-water-crisis-creates-a-new-esg-market/ar-BB1f9I6X

Tens of trillions of dollars spent fighting invasive species – from cats to rats to ants to mosquitoes…

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/snakes-rats-and-cats-the-trillion-dollar-invasive-species-problem/ar-BB1faf2t

Urban heat islands & aerosols attract and amplify storms increasing risks

·        https://stormwater.wef.org/2021/03/urban-heat-aerosols-together-attract-and-amplify-storms/

Scientific method promotes critical thinking, collaboration, transparency, and consideration of the null hypothesis while attempting to minimize human bias – science suffers when the method is not followed or when human bias (political or otherwise) is interjected

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/climate-scientist-pinpoints-what-exactly-is-lacking-in-the-scientific-method/ar-BB1favUN

Seeking feedback on Marla Bay Water Quality Improvement Project at Lake Tahoe

·        https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/nevada-agency-asks-for-feedback-on-marla-bay-water-project/

·        Grand App: https://lands.nv.gov/uploads/documents/Marla_Bay_WQIP_-_NDSL_Round_24_20210129.pdf

·        Comment: https://lands.nv.gov/news/2021-water-quality-and-erosion-control-grant-public-comment-period-now-open

What will the future hold for the Iberian wolf?  hunted or protected?

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/beware-the-return-of-the-iberian-wolf-say-farmers/ar-BB1f8ASP

Truck transporting radioactive uranium hexafluoride crashes in North Carolina - used to make fuel for nuclear power plant – container not breeched

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/truck-carrying-radioactive-uranium-compound-crashes-in-highway-in-north-carolina/ar-BB1faBOy

Sweden wisely rejects “solar geoengineering” project – “We know enough about its dangers”

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sweden-rejects-pioneering-solar-geoengineering-test/ar-BB1famKe

US has 4.4% of world population but consumes 80+% of global opioids

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/from-one-big-house-to-another-doj-must-hold-the-leaders-of-purdue-pharma-accountable/ar-BB1faX1M

APHIS uses interactive GIS maps to visualize plant protection from invasive species

·        https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/ppq-program-overview/plant-protection-today/articles/ppq-interactive-maps

Cluster of brain disease patients identified in New Brunswick, Canada – cause as yet unknown

·        https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/mysterious-brain-disorder-causes-hallucinations-212122304.html

Court rules US F&W illegally helped pay for $4M program to kill mountain lions & bears in experiment to assess declining mule deer populations in Colorado

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-us-agency-illegally-paid-212146853.html

Federal Appeals Court rejects NYC appeal to hold 5 major oil companies responsible for “global warming” due to their legal production and sale of fossil fuels

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/oil-companies-defeat-york-city-135250159.html

Jemez & Laguna pueblos file suit against US EPA to protect stream waters

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/new-mexico-tribes-sue-us-over-federal-clean-water-rule/ar-BB1fdcnK

Toxic chemical in drinking water supplies across the US

·        https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/americas-tap-water-samples-forever-chemicals

Groundwater remediation begins in the 226-square-mile San Fernando Valley in California

·        https://www.dailynews.com/2021/03/31/construction-begins-on-north-hollywood-groundwater-cleanup-projects/

Secretary Haaland enhances MMU (Missing & Murdered Unit) within Bureau of Indian Affairs

·        https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOI/bulletins/2cad534

5 steps to delivering the “geothermal decade”

·        https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/opinion/five-steps-to-delivering-the-geothermal-decade/

Aluminum continues to be one of many minerals critical to the US economy

·        https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2021/04/01/your_soda_cans_and_aluminum_foil_are_essential_to_americas_national_security_770744.html

Proposed Frenchman Mountain – Rainbow Gardens National Recreation Area

·        https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/local/resolution-seeks-to-up-federal-protection-for-public-land-east-of-las-vegas/article_03ff8ca4-937d-11eb-8826-2f02fc5ffb44.html

USDA celebrating 5M acres enrolled in conservation easements

·        https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/newsroom/releases/?cid=NRCSEPRD1760829

First advanced nuclear reactor is goal of partnership in Washington State

·        https://www.ans.org/news/article-2776/partnership-supports-siting-xe100-demo-in-washington-state/

New Orleans, Louisiana, proposes Blue & Green Corridor projects to cope with flood waters & subsidence

·        https://csengineermag.com/living-with-water-in-new-orleans/

Federal Judge dismisses environmental lawsuit against expansion of Gross Reservoir Dam

·        https://www.enr.com/articles/51518-court-wont-halt-464m-kiewit-barnard-colorado-dam-expansion

Drinking water in Cape Fear River Basin in North Carolina is contaminated with PFAS chemicals

·        https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/towns-water-contaminated-forever-chemicals-100007246.html

India which contributes 7% of emissions has audacity to demand rich nations like the US clean up “the climate mess” so they can follow “same path to prosperity” – obviously does not understand carbon cycle

·        https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/india-climate-change-094500909.html

·        https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/each-countrys-share-co2-emissions

Bear population is coming back from brink of extinction in the Pyrenees – now 64 bears

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/record-bear-litters-revives-threatened-141738468.html

Last captive Carolina parakeet died along in a cage at Cincinnati Zoo in Feb 1918 – last wild one observed in Florida in 1920 – likely range and climate niche reconstructed

·        https://theconversation.com/the-tragic-story-of-americas-only-native-parrot-now-extinct-for-over-100-years-93038

Britain begins banning chemicals deemed harmful & banned in EU

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/britain-matched-just-two-eu-123303613.html

Glacier National Park Rangers struggle to teach leave-no-trace values to “selfie generation” who desecrate the park & ignore basic safety protocols

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/glacier-struggles-teach-park-values-130100051.html

Planning new infrastructure & infrastructure repairs based on “bigoted freeway construction”

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/l-wants-bulldoze-latino-neighborhoods-194853846.html

Fuel thieves in Mexico cause damage and create potentially life-threatening situations

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/mexican-fuel-thieves-almost-blow-212448840.html

CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus COVID-19 statistics by country (click on USA to get State statistics)

·        https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

·        https://time.com/5800901/coronavirus-map/

·        interactive map s: https://geodacenter.github.io/covid/map.html

CDC covid tracker weekly review

·        https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/

What happened to influenza in the US? Or are cases presumed to be something else?

·        https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm

Canada pauses AZ vaccine for those under 55 – concern for potentially fatal blood clots – do you want to believe Fauci?

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/canada-pauses-astrazeneca-vaccine-for-under-55/ar-BB1f5Ous

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/fauci-defends-astra-zenecas-good-vaccine-as-concerns-persist-in-europe-181144480.html

Of possible scenarios, WHO report says virus most likely transmitted from bats to humans – why did we have to wait for “no firm conclusion” – report “not credible”

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/likely-covid-19-virus-origin-laid-out-by-who-but-concerns-raised-about-report/ar-BB1f7TFY

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/criticism-of-who-wuhan-report-exposes-limits-of-agency-s-power-and-influence/ar-BB1f7P2A

·        WHO Report: https://context-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/default/documents/2e611a82-8e1b-4373-96ed-b45397e97a35/note/cf813564-25b5-4c23-8c81-cfeb018f872d.

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/who-s-not-credible-coronavirus-report-angers-scientists-and-politicians-alike/ar-BB1far1n

AZ questioning if it was worth it – what scientists do & do not know about the vaccine

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/astrazeneca-vaccine-was-it-really-worth-it/ar-BB1f69Sg

·        https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00785-7 

Canada pauses AZ vaccine for those under 55 – concern for potentially fatal blood clots – do you want to believe Fauci?

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/canada-pauses-astrazeneca-vaccine-for-under-55/ar-BB1f5Ous

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/fauci-defends-astra-zenecas-good-vaccine-as-concerns-persist-in-europe-181144480.html

Like most big government programs, the “hubs” are not as efficacious as the private sector

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-admin-remakes-vaccine-strategy-033053233.html

“Big Brother” wants to issue ‘vaccine passports’ to control where you can go

·        https://www.businessinsider.com/the-biden-administration-is-developing-a-vaccine-passport-program-2021-3

Breakthrough cases identified in Washington State

·        https://www.yahoo.com/gma/over-100-fully-vaccinated-people-115339262.html

Mix-up at J&J factory ruined approximately 15 million doses of vaccine

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/johnson-johnson-halts-shipment-covid-220449581.html

Power grab policies in the name of ‘public health’ violate Constitutional rights

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pavlich-the-democrats-next-public-health-power-grab-is-coming/ar-BB1f9MiJ

Whacking Fauci for completely ignoring natural immunity – failed to seek relevant data

·        https://www.mediaite.com/news/johns-hopkins-doctor-whacks-fauci-for-pessimistic-herd-immunity-forecast-he-completely-ignores-natural-immunity/

Eviction moratorium is extended once again – policy with no authority to legislate

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-biden-administration-quietly-extended-a-disastrous-pandemic-policy/ar-BB1f7Ys7

Sunlight very effective at inactivating the virus – Rx: fresh air and sunshine

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/sunlight-inactivates-coronavirus-8-times-faster-than-predicted-we-need-to-know-why/ar-BB1feci9

Got vaccinated? Do you really still need to wear a mask?

·        https://www.yahoo.com/news/covid-19-vaccines-may-reduce-100051308.html

Behavior, mixed messaging of politicians blamed & poor health care blamed for crisis in Mexico

·        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-mexican-tragedy-country-s-crippling-covid-crisis-comes-into-sharp-focus/ar-BB1fgfDf