Predator Conservation→

From Conservation This Week:

Jan nijendik

“The world’s predators – mammals such as gray wolves, jaguars, tigers, African lions, European lynx, wolverines, and black and brown bears, along with sharks – are declining at an alarming rate. While those species are suffering for a variety of reasons, one of the main sources of mortality is human in origin. It’s a bit counterintuitive, since predators are some of the more charismatic of species. And charismatic critters are the easiest ones about which to convince people to care.

...since hunters at one time helped to conserve game species (like deer and ducks), then hunters would also help conserve predators who are designated as legal game. One program in Wisconsin was designed explicitly to increase tolerance for wolves by allowing 43 of the endangered canids to be killed each year. And yet while the program was in place, researchers found a decrease in tolerance and in increase in the desire to kill wolves. Legalizing the hunting of predators, even in a restricted way, didn’t have the intended outcome.”

In a dark place we find ourselves with regard to sharing the world with predators, and a little more knowledge lights our way.

Moving Beyond Total Annihilation→

Kate Shaw Yoshida, reporting for  Ars Technica:

“Invasive species take a toll on their surroundings. But that doesn’t mean that invaders are universally destructive. Ecosystems are dynamic, and once an invasive species arrives, it can develop intricate relationships with other organisms. Sometimes, an invader becomes an integral link in a delicate ecological web, complicating efforts to eradicate it...

In most cases, the overarching goal of conservation efforts should be a healthy and well-functioning ecosystem, rather than the complete and immediate eradication of an invader.”

Clapper Rail - USFWS

To answer power with power, the Jedi way this is not. In war, a danger there is, of losing who we are. War with new arriving species, win you will not. A different game you should play.

CO2 Levels At 400 ppm→

Environmental News Service:

“For the first time, monthly concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere topped 400 parts per million in April throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports.

This threshold is reinforces evidence that the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities are responsible for the continuing increase in heat-trapping greenhouse gases warming the planet said the WMO.”

 Curt Carnemark / World Bank)

Severely altered an atmosphere, we has. How embarrassing. How embarrassing.

Commonplace Nature, Close at Hand: Thinking about Leonard Dubkin→

Michael Bryson, writing for the Center for Humans & Nature:

“As someone who often yearns to travel and seek adventure in distant and topographically complex locales but rarely gets such opportunities, I also am drawn to Dubkin’s forthright and instructive “credo” in the book’s introduction (The Natural History of a Yard):

It seems to me that people are forever traveling great distances, and journeying to strange countries, to see things that, if they only knew it, exist beside their own doorstep. The common animals, birds and insects that are found in a little yard in the city are as fascinating to watch, and as fruitful in affording the careful observer a glimpse into some of the mysteries of nature, as are the rare and uncommon creatures of some far-off land. Whether one goes to nature for truth, or for beauty, for knowledge or for relaxation, these things can be found in a yard in the city as well as in a tropical jungle, for they exist in the common, simple, everyday things all about us, as well as in the rare and exotic. (p. 6)

Notable here is the argument that commonplace nature—the familiar (and, implicitly, unloved species)—holds as much interest and value as the charismatic species endemic to foreign locales.”

Always in motion is the yard. Blind we are, if beauty of the common animals we do not see.

Mimicking Nature: Fish Passage Around Dams→

Rebecca Kessler, writing for Yale Environment 360:

“In North America, a few nature-like fishways were completed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the approach has gradually gained popularity since, particularly in New England, the Pacific Northwest, Minnesota, and parts of Canada. Nature-like fishways — which also go by names like “roughened channels” and “stream-like fishways” — are catching on elsewhere, too, including Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. ”

Sarrancolin Dam on France's Neste River (Photo credit: FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department)

Size matters. Look at this, Judge the fish passage by hydrology, do you? 

Acid Rain's Dirty Legacy→

Brooks Miner, reporting for FiveThirtyEight:

“Acid rain was rare among environmental problems in that it had a viable solution, and these days it’s often hailed as an environmental success story. The market worked as intended, sulfur and nitrogen emissions declined and rain became less acidic. And just two weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision upholding the federal government’s authority to regulate power plants in this manner.

But what about the lakes and streams that were already so acidic? Nearly 25 years since those changes to the Clean Air Act, water bodies in the Northeast have recovered, while those further south have not.”

Flickr - Rainforest Action Network

Decrease the burden on lakes affected by past emissions, lower pollution in the present would. 

Project: Murky Waters (WisconsinWatch)→

The Capital Times and Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism collaborated on a four-part series to examine threats to the quality of the Madison area’s spectacular lakes, and ambitious new efforts that seek to improve them. 

Part 1:

WisconsinWatch

“The Yahara lakes — Mendota, Monona, Wingra, Waubesa and Kegonsa — are no clearer than they were 30 years ago, despite intensive efforts to improve them. During that time, lake scientists said, the increased heavy rainfalls that are part of climate change most likely offset gains from better land use practices, by washing giant volumes of pollution into the lakes.
“They are flatlining,” said Steve Carpenter, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who has studied the Yahara lakes since the 1970s. “There are no trends in the lakes. The lake water quality is not getting better. It’s not getting notably worse. It’s as if the interventions we’re doing are just holding the line, running in place like the red queen in Alice in Wonderland.””

— http://www.wisconsinwatch.org/2014/04/23/yahara-beach-closures-highlight-algae-bacteria-threats/

Part 2:

Mike DeVries -- The Capital Times

“According to experts, agriculture accounts for roughly 70 percent of the phosphorus runoff in watersheds across the state, with urban runoff accounting for the remaining 30 percent.
It is closer to an 80-20 split in the Yahara Watershed in Dane County, said Carpenter, who hopes to find a way for the dairy industry to thrive while protecting water quality.
The agricultural runoff that often turns Madison’s lakes unpleasant by creating algal blooms that look and smell bad, clog boat motors and close beaches is expected to only get worse.”

— http://www.wisconsinwatch.org/2014/04/30/manure-digesters-seen-as-best-hope-for-curbing-lake-pollution-but-drawbacks-remain/

Part 3:

 City of Madison Engineering Department

“A Milwaukee scientist who has found sewage migrating from old pipes through soil and into the stormwater lines that drain to lakes or streams says the problem is likely to occur in Madison and cities nationwide.

“In any urban area, this is going to be an issue,” said Sandra McLellan, professor and senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.
From 2008 to 2012, McLellan and colleagues from her laboratory analyzed more than 1,300 water samples from stormwater outfalls in six Milwaukee-area watersheds, looking for a bacterium called Bacterioides that indicates the presence of human sewage...

They found the marker in every watershed. In the Menomonee River watershed alone, more than half of the outfalls were chronically contaminated with sewage.”

— http://www.wisconsinwatch.org/2014/05/07/leaky-sewer-pipes-could-export-viruses-to-lakes/

Provided here to explain consequences on lake water quality, a lot of information is.  Hmmmmmm.

Trends in Water Transparency for Midwest Lakes

Grace Hong

From National Science Foundation Discoveries:

“Scientists engaged in a study of long-term water quality trends in Midwestern lakes found some good news: little change in water clarity in more than 3,000 lakes. Look deeper, and the research becomes something more: a chronicle of a new source of data for scientists, data from residents of towns and villages surrounding the lakes.

The results are published this week in a paper in the journal PLOS ONE. The paper co-authors analyzed almost a quarter of a million observations taken over seven decades on 3,251 lakes in eight Midwestern states.”

— http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=131238&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

Adam Hinterthuer, writing for University of Wisconsin - Madison:

“What the authors found was that, on an individual scale, some lakes were getting clearer while others were not. However, says Lottig, combining all that data together indicates that there is a slightly increasing trend in water clarity at a regional scale. “Unfortunately,” he says, “the data don’t exist to explain those patterns.” Lottig hopes efforts like the “Cross-Scale Interaction” or “CSI Limnology” project, an international team of scientists that he’s a part of, can collect global data on things like water chemistry and aquatic biology that will add context to the data generated by citizens.

Though the citizen scientist dataset limited his team’s ability to explain the patterns they observed, Lottig says it suggests that such information can play a role in shaping future research — a possibility that has some scientific organizations taking notice.”

— http://www.news.wisc.edu/22805

Remember, science's strength flows from the sample size. But beware. Controls, randomization, replication, and statistical inference. The light side are they. Once you start down this path, forever will it dominate your destiny. 

Graphene Not All Good→

Sean Nealon, writing for University of California - Riverside:

“In a first-of-its-kind study of how a material some think could transform the electronics industry moves in water, researchers at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering found graphene oxide nanoparticles are very mobile in lakes or streams and therefore likely to cause negative environmental impacts if released...

As production of these nanomaterials increase, it is important for regulators, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, to understand their potential environmental impacts, said Jacob D. Lanphere, a UC Riverside graduate student who co-authored a just-published paper about graphene oxide nanoparticles transport in ground and surface water environments.
“The situation today is similar to where we were with chemicals and pharmaceuticals 30 years ago,” Lanphere said. “We just don’t know much about what happens when these engineered nanomaterials get into the ground or water. So we have to be proactive so we have the data available to promote sustainable applications of this technology in the future.””

Do not assume anything. Clear your mind must be, if you are to discover the real issues behind this product. 

Placemaking in Indy→

Ken Benfiled, writing 'The coolest urban trail you are likely to see' in his blog:

“Something special is happening in Indianapolis, and it’s transforming neighborhoods. As I wrote in People Habitat, revitalization when done well is almost unparalleled in its ability to boost the “triple bottom line” of sustainability: a healthy environment, a healthy economy, and a healthy and equitable social fabric. The good news, of course, is that, after decades of varying degrees of disinvestment, downtowns and inner cities are coming back, albeit at different paces in different markets and sometimes in new forms that differ from the old. ”

Indyculturaltrail.org

Redevelopment is a natural part of development. Rejoice for those around you who transform our places into the beautiful. 

Placemaking in Paris→

Stephane Kirkland, writing for Project for Public Spaces: 

“As Paris enters the final days of a hard-fought Mayoral race, one thing is clear. The terms of political debate permanently shifted during the administration of outgoing Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, and a remarkable consensus has emerged over environmental concerns. When Delanoë took office 13 years ago, he vowed that automobile interests would no longer dominate the city and he would focus on improving public spaces. And he made good on his promise.

Paris is now a radically different place. Less than half of Parisian households own a car and those who do use them far less than the inhabitants of other cities. People have become attached to the quality of life that urban spaces designed as places, and not as conduits for traffic, allow. To be perceived as intending to take that away would be electoral folly for an aspiring Mayor.”

Pat Guiney

A placemaker must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. Decide you must, how to serve them best. If good for Paris, your job it is here. Already know you that which you need.

Synthetic Biology: Who Gains?→

Richard C. Lewontin, writing for the New York Book of Reviews:

“Nothing in history suggests that those who control and profit from material production can really be depended upon to devote the needed foresight, creativity, and energy to protect us from the possible negative effects of synthetic biology. In cases where there is a conflict between the immediate and the long-range consequences or between public and private good, how can that conflict be resolved? Can the state be counted on to intervene when a private motivation conflicts with public benefit, and who will intervene when the state itself threatens the safety and general welfare of its citizens?”

Harry Campbell

Reckless they are. Matters are worse. If no mistake have we've made, yet losing we are … a different game we should play. Stopped they must be; on intelligent action all depends. 

Ancient City Trees→

Andy Sturdevant, writing for MinnPost:

“There are dozens of trees listed in the Minneapolis Park Board’s registry of heritage trees, notable for size, age or cultural importance. Of all of these, there are at least two trees that are both older than anyone who has ever called themselves a Minneapolitan. The first is the remains of the Ancient Oak in Seward, which died in 2010 after approximately 333 years. The second is the Rockwood Oak in Theodore Wirth Park in North Minneapolis. It is at least 314 years old, meaning it first sprouted sometime around the turn of the 18th century. It nearly died a year after the Ancient Oak succumbed to age, in the North Minneapolis tornado, but it still lives.”

Flickr - Wendy

When three hundred years old you reach, look as good, you will not.

Canada's Research Lakes

NewsBlog at Nature:

“Fans of environmental science can now have a direct role in helping Canada’s unique Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) continue to do the research it has done for decades.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), based in Winnipeg, took over running the ELA on 1 April, after the federal government eliminated funding for the decades-old environmental research facility (see ‘Test lakes face closure’ and ‘Last minute reprieve for Canada’s research lakes’). The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba have stepped in to provide money to run the facility and conduct research for the next several years, but more cash is needed to restore research at the ELA to its former levels.

So the IISD has turned to the public. It launched an appeal on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo seeking contributions to expand research and make the ELA less dependent on government largesse.”

Click on image to learn more

The Privatization Backlash→

Molly Ball, reporting for The Atlantic:

“In states and cities across the country, lawmakers are expressing new skepticism about privatization, imposing new conditions on government contracting, and demanding more oversight. Laws to rein in contractors have been introduced in 18 states this year, and three—Maryland, Oregon, and Nebraska—have passed legislation, according to In the Public Interest, a group that advocates what it calls “responsible contracting.”...

The vogue for privatizing government began in the Reagan years, experts say, when an ascendant conservative ideology painted the public sector as a callous and sluggish bureaucracy and the private sector as inherently more innovative and efficient. The trend accelerated in the ‘90s, and today, Cohen estimates that $1 trillion of America’s $6 trillion in annual federal, state, and local government spending goes to private companies.

Yet the public impression of privatization as a panacea for the inherent inefficiency of government has been tarnished in the intervening years. From Halliburton to Healthcare.gov to private prisons and welfare systems, contracting has often proved problematic.”

Reuters

Many of the apparent truths that we cling to depend on our point of view. Truly wonderful the mind is.

About 20% of China's Agricultural Land is Polluted→

Lily Kuo, writing in Quartz:

“Almost one-fifth of China’s farmland is polluted, according to a government report released this week. Officials have acknowledged the country’s problems with water and air pollution, but the extent of soil contamination has been a closely guarded “state secret,” for fear of incriminating certain provinces or companies.

About 19.4% of China’s farmland is polluted by cadmium, nickel and arsenic, according to the seven-year study that analyzed a little over half of China’s entire land area. One-fifth of China’s total arable land is about 26 million hectares (64 million acres), the same area as the United Kingdom, by the most recent estimates.”

Reuters

Blind we are, if the negative consequences of weak environmental regulations we could not see. Always two there are, no more, no less: greed and pollution.

Lake Whatcom's Pollution Puzzle→

Ralph Schwartz, reporting for the Bellingham Herald (WA):

“City officials have been working for years to reduce the amount of phosphorus draining into Lake Whatcom. This year, officials plan to clean up their own backyard by improving stormwater treatment at Bloedel Donovan Park, which has especially high levels of phosphorus in its soil.”

Vacant Lots as Green Infrastructure→

Dave Levitan, writing for Conservation Magazine:

“If lots could be engineered to actually hold excess water instead of discharging it into the system, that’s a big deal: In Cleveland alone, there are 28,000 vacant lots. Other cities have similar issues (see: Detroit), and there is an undeniable appeal in turning what most consider an eyesore, a problem to be solved, into a solution for an apparently unrelated problem.”

Shuster WD, Dadio S, Drohan P, et al (2014). Residential demolition and its impact on vacant lot hydrology: Implications for the management of stormwater and sewer system overflows, Landscape and Urban Planning, 125 (2014) 48-56.

Flickr/habeebee

Happens to every lot sometimes this does. Use them, we must.

When Nature Speaks, Who Are You Hearing?→

iStockphoto

Adam Frank, writing for NPR:

“I walked through the network of Olmsted-designed parks that thread through Rochester. It was raining lightly but that only made the world — now slowly waking up from winter — that much lovelier. I walked up some hills. I walked down some hills. I passed through a wooded ravine. I crossed over into a 150-year-old cemetery. Then, on the crest of a drumlin lined with Civil War era headstones, it happened: I met the sacred.

I am not a poet and can not come close to evoking the character of the experience in words. It was the mist and the rainfall and the birdsong and the scent of spring to be. It was all that and something more — much more — while also being fundamentally less — empty, poised, waiting.”

Adam captures nature experiences in poetic fashion. You too can live in awe of nature. Perhaps first you must unlearn what you have learned in your studies of a deity. 

Neither Growth nor Greed Is Good→

John R. Ehrenfeld, writing on his blog:

“One of the usual arguments I get after talking about Flourishing, is that economic growth is necessary for the health or a nation and of the businesses within it, and that my way to flourishing requiring an alternative to such growth is either flawed or simply impossible. Before attempting to clarify my reasoning, let me say, categorically, that I do not claim that growth is inherently bad. I argue that the state of the world is such that continuing growth is producing unintended consequences that outweigh whatever benefits accompany it. I am not attacking the neoclassical economic models that lead to the necessity of growth on ideological grounds although there are plenty of such grounds for this tack. My view springs from a non-ideological, pragmatic, systems framework.”

Children of Men

Greed is the path to the dark side. Greed leads to exploitation. Exploitation leads to destruction. Destruction leads to suffering.