This is the 549th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) usually appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the March 1 Green Spotlight. More than 28,500 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Pakalolo writes—Jason Box: Earth’s Ice Is Melting Much Faster Than Forecast. Here’s Why That’s Worrying: “Most of us are familiar with the basics of the changing Arctic. We see dramatic videos of glaciers calving, starving Arctic wildlife, meltwater rivers falling over the towering walls of ice shelves, and disappearing via a water carved portal in the great ice streams that shatters and fractures the ice all the way down 2 miles at it’s thickest to the bedrock. Scary stuff to be sure. So alarming that Box put out a code red alert to the world in 2014, ‘If even a small fraction of Arctic sea floor carbon is released to the atmosphere, we're f'd.’ We have already observed a glimpse of that small fraction of sea floor carbon. Box warns us now that current climate models lack key processes that will reinforce warming even faster than previously expected. If the past decade of scientific inquiry is any indication, I’d say we are in for more surprises. That notion is further supported by the fact that climate models used to project future temperatures lack key processes that likely reinforce warming or the effects of warming, not regulate it. [...] As a result of some of these factors and probably some as yet unknown others, climate models have under-predicted the loss rate of snow on land by a factor of four and the loss of sea ice by a factor of two.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Hunter writes—Trump administration reverses itself, will be allowing import of elephant trophies after all: “After the Trump administration announced last year that it would be undoing an Obama administration ban on importing elephant trophies, a decision that may or may not have been grounded in Uday and Qusay Trump's compulsive need to shoot at things, public outcry was so severe that Trump was forced to reverse himself. It turns out that was only a temporary reversal. Now that the news cycle has moved on, the ban on importing the detached corpse parts of African elephants has been lifted after all. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has quietly begun allowing more trophy hunting of African elephants, despite President Donald Trump’s pledge last year to uphold a ban on importing parts of animals killed by big-game hunters. The agency issued a formal memo Thursday saying it would consider issuing permits to import elephant trophies from African nations on a ‘case-by-case’ basis, effective immediately. The new guidelines, first reported by The Hill, end U.S. bans on the import of such trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia. The immediate pretext for the decision is a court finding that although the import ban was warranted by the evidence, the Obama administration did not invite sufficient public comment before banning those imports. Rather than seek that public comment now the Ryan Zinke-led Department of the Interior has, at least as of this moment, scrapped the ban in favor of this new ‘case-by-case’ curiosity. And the agency has not made public just what criteria will be used in these ‘case-by-case’ decisions.”
HiVoter writes—Dear Leader is letting trophy hunters bring their elephant trophies like tusks back to the US again: “Did you know that our Dear Leader’s administration quietly announced on Mar. 1st that it would allow trophy hunters to bring elephant parts, including tusks back to the US? I thought we went through this several months ago! The Trump administration will allow Americans to bring tusks and other elephant body parts back to this country as trophies, in a pivot away from the support President Trump voiced last year for an Obama-era trophy ban. Yes, I didn’t hear about it either. But, sure enough, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put out a memorandum withdrawing the previous rules. ”
Mark Sumner writes—There is just one male Northern white rhino remaining—and he's sick: “Animal-focused site The Dodo is reporting that the very last male Northern white rhino on the planet is in trouble. Sudan, who is now 45 years old, is surrounded by armed guards 24 hours a day because he represents the last hope for the survival of his subspecies. … Then, at the end of 2017, the people who devote their lives for caring for Sudan noticed a sore on his leg — and they feared the worst. That first infection was treated and Sudan seemed to recover, but then a second, deeper infection set in. At 45, Sudan is an old rhino. White rhinos usually live a bit longer then their cousins the black rhinos, but that still means that life expectancy is somewhere between 40 and 50 years. It seems very unlikely at this point that Sudan will be around much longer, or that he will successfully mate with either of the two remaining female Northern white rhinos. There is still hope that Sudan’s sperm can be used to fertilize previously collected eggs, which might be carried to term by a much more numerous Southern white rhino.”
Pakalolo writes—Scientists discover previously unknown 'super colony' of penguins in Antarctica: “Finally, some good news out of Antarctica for one penguin species threatened by climate change. Biologists have been watching with dread a steady decline of what they thought was a dwindling population of the small bodied and widespread Adélie Penguins. But today, a new study led by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and published in the journal Scientific Reports, ‘announced the discovery of a previously unknown “supercolony” of more than 1,500,000 Adélie Penguins in the Danger Islands, a chain of remote, rocky islands off of the Antarctic Peninsula’s northern tip.’ The Adélie requires sea ice for the entirety of it’s life, but they only breed and raise their chicks on ice-free land. There is very little ice free land, only 1 percent of the land area on the continent is ice free. ‘Not only do the Danger Islands hold the largest population of Adélie penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula, they also appear to have not suffered the population declines found along the western side of Antarctic Peninsula that are associated with recent climate change,’ says Polito.”
Lenny Flank writes—Florida's Invaders: The Mynah: “’Florida's Invaders’ is a diary series that explores Florida's invasive non-native plants and animals. … The Mynah bird has long been popular in the pet trade because of its intelligence, its brash personality, and its remarkable ability to mimic human speech. [...] The Mynahs are members of the Sturnidae family of birds, along with the Starlings. There are two distinct genera: the “true mynahs” are in the genus Acridotheres, and the similar ‘hill mynahs’ are in Gracula. Geographically, the Mynahs range from southern Europe to Iran and across Asia through India to Java. Genetic and fossil evidence indicates that they first evolved from an African starling about 5 million years ago, as the last Ice Age began. Taxonomically, however, this entire family is a mess, and there is much debate among ornithologists over how many species there are and which genus they belong to.”
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: What Do March Snow Showers Bring? “If April showers bring May flowers, how about snow in March?”
Kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: My Favorite Bird: “It occurred to me yesterday that in all the years I’ve been a contributor here at Dawn Chorus, I have never made my namesake bird, the kestrel, the subject of a diary. I don’t know why it took me so long to think of it, but today I’m going to write about my favorite bird. I invite you to do the same. I have many favorite birds, of course. I think we all do. But the American Kestrel is at the top of my list. Why? I think they are stunningly beautiful. It’s the combination of the colors, the lines, the barring, the shape and proportionality of all of these elements, and the fact that it is our smallest falcon, that draws me to this bird in a way distinct from all the others. I also love the fact that both the male and female are colorful and attractive — no drab, second-class status for the female of this species, no siree. American Kestrels are pale when seen from below and warm, rusty brown spotted with black above, with a black band near the tip of the tail. Males have slate-blue wings; females’ wings are reddish brown. Both sexes have pairs of black vertical slashes on the sides of their pale faces—sometimes called a mustache and a sideburn, or so I’ve read.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Don't help aliens take over, stop them in their tracks: “Descriptions like The Worst, Devastative, and Fastest Growing are common currency in the realm of alien invaders. Yesterday was the end of Invasive Species Awareness Week, but the truth of those superlatives justifies the year-round need for awareness. These non-native species travel around with human help until landing where they can make a lush life. Then they live up to their hype. Once humans bring an alien organism to a new area, it isn’t considered an invasive pest unless it can establish a self-sustaining population and out-compete with for space and resources. Invasive species interfere with farming and disrupt biodiversity. The USDA estimates lost agricultural income and cleanup costs due to invasive pests at $1 billion per year. Outside of ag some disruptions merely are annoying — weeds in your yard like bur clover have spiny fruits that cling to shoelaces. Others are more serious — Scotch broom takes over forests. Aquatic species such as zebra mussels and various bait fish overrun watercourses. Invasive species are a pain in the earth.”
Walter Einenkel writes—As our Earth grows warmer, radar shows bats migrating to Texas beginning earlier: “Inside Climate News reported on Valentine’s Day about the disturbing albeit predictable changes in migratory animals patterns, as our earth grows warmer and warmer. Specifically, the millions of bats migrating annually from Texas’s Bracken bat cave, and captured on radar, has exhibited this behavior shift. ‘We're able to see there is this advancing pattern. Spring is happening earlier, winter is ending sooner,’ Stepanian said. ‘In the spring, the bugs advance up from Mexico, hitting Texas, hitting Kansas and, suddenly, the bats have something to eat.’ That may also explain why the number of Brazilian free-tailed bats now staying through the winter in Texas' Bracken Cave has swelled in recent years. Surveys in the 1950s found no bats spending the entire winter there, but in 2017, as much as 3.5 percent of the entire population—100,000 bats—remained during the winter months, Stepanian said. Scientists believe that the reason this is happening is that bats need not head all the way south of Texas to get the warmer weather they search for. Now they’re just hanging out in Texas. No one is exactly sure how this might affect things in the ecosystem of Texas or further afield, but the theories aren’t heartwarming.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - bouquet of beach rocks: “High tide means just a narrow strip of beach by the bank for walking. This particular beach gets as much wave strike as any in these inland waters, so it’s fairly steep, with an assortment of rounded cobbles piled up against the road bank. [...] While some of these beach rocks are derived from of the nearby native bedrocks such as greenstone and mudstone, most have been dropped here by the several advancing and retreating ice sheets over the past couple million years, scraping across Canada’s many geological formations (faculty.washington.edu/...). You may see igneous rocks with large or small crystals, as well as streaky or melty-looking metamorphosed rocks. Not too many sedimentary stones from what I can see here. But all these hues and patterns speak to quite a variety of minerals in these rocks.”
Dan Bacher writes—Fish managers offer mixed news on California salmon abundance, more restrictions expected: “There is no doubt there will be ocean and inland recreational fishing seasons targeting Sacramento and Klamath River fall Chinook salmon this season, but the exact length and scope of those seasons will be determined in upcoming meetings at the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) and California Fish and Game Commission. Recreational and commercial anglers attending the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Salmon Information Meeting in Santa Rosa on March 1 received mixed news regarding the status of Sacramento River fall Chinook and Klamath River fall Chinook stocks, the drivers of the California and Southern Oregon ocean salmon fisheries. The adult returns of both stocks were well below minimum escapement goals in 2017, while the projected abundance for both stocks is modest compared to historic averages. The data released on March 1 will help to craft the ocean and in river salmon seasons developed by the federal and state governments this year.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—NASA: Far northern permafrost may unleash carbon within decades. Peak transition in 40 years: “Surprisingly this gut wrenching danger of additional greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere from thawing permafrost will not be coming from the permafrost in the north that is currently thawing, but from the top of the world, such as Alaska’s north slope and northern Siberia. Permafrost in the coldest northern Arctic — formerly thought to be at least temporarily shielded from global warming by its extreme environment — will thaw enough to become a permanent source of carbon to the atmosphere in this century, with the peak transition occurring in 40 to 60 years, according to a new NASA-led study. The study calculated that as thawing continues, by the year 2300, total carbon emissions from this region will be 10 times as much as all human-produced fossil fuel emissions in 2016.”
AmericaAdapts writes—Rolling Stone’s Jeff Goodell: The Water Will Come: Rising Seas and Sinking Cities: “In episode 60 of America Adapts, Doug Parsons talks with Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone magazine about his new book, The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World.”
Unenergy writes—35°C above normal - "We don't know where to go after Tasmania": “Just over a week ago, this article appeared in one of Australia’s leading newspapers: ‘Really extreme' global weather event leaves scientists aghast. It goes without saying that as far as I can tell, nothing like this article made it to any of the Rupert Murdoch controlled publications. For at least 13 years, possibly as far back as 1992, Murdoch has turned his media empire into a home for climate denialism writ large, a platform almost singularly focused to discredit the science, scientists & those making an effort to address climate change. […] Cape Morris Jesup, the world's most northerly land-based weather station, in Greenland, touched 6 degrees late on Saturday, about 35 degrees above normal for this time of year.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—While At NASA Launch, Watts Publishes Offensive and Childish Headline: “Yesterday, WUWT’s Anthony Watts proudly visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to see the launch of the GOES-S weather satellite. He was invited by NASA to attend, as the agency is making an effort to expand its press outreach to social influencers and digital media. [...] Before posting about visiting NASA on Thursday, Watts also published a post under the headline ‘Bob Ward’s @ret_ward Retwarded thinking again.’ (The content of the post is an excerpt from a Cliscep blog that more or less calls Ward a hypocrite for writing about climate deniers being old white men while he himself is an old white man. In other words, a woman’s version of everyone’s favorite Nib comic, Mr. Gotcha.) While Watts’ headline doesn’t use the literal word, it is clearly a play on Ward’s Twitter handle being a few characters different from a word Watts once recognized as offensive. Back in 2010, Watts wrote a headline that referred to the Australian Rudd government as ‘retarded.’ After a deluge of complaints about the offensive language, Watts changed the word to ‘restrictive’.”
Xaxnar writes—My Mother In Law is a Climate Refugee: “Right now my mother in law is staying with us for several days. There’s a Nor’easter sliding up the coast again, and it’s about taking precautions. She lives in Westchester County, NY, which got hit hard by a Nor’easter last week. Elderly, with some mobility issues, being without power for several days (and there are people still out) — it’s not a good thing. That’s why we brought her up here, a bit farther north from the heaviest snow. This isn’t to make light of people fleeing extended droughts, floods, hurricanes, storm surge, tornadoes, etc. It’s to point out that a changing climate affects everyone to some degree. It hits the poor, the elderly, the disabled harder. It’s also to point out the disruptions are going to become more frequent, and push the extremes.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
GCHoward writes—Sound the Alarm: 66% of the world will have severely limited access to water in just 7 years: “In 2014, the UN issued a terrifying summary of the then-planet’s water scarcity: 20% of the global population was already experiencing potable fluid shortages. Water scarcity already affects every continent. Around 1.2 billion people, or almost one-fifth of the world's population, live in areas of physical scarcity, and 500 million people are approaching this situation. Another 1.6 billion people, or almost one quarter of the world's population, face economic water shortage (where countries lack the necessary infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers). Water scarcity is among the main problems to be faced by many societies and the World in the XXIst century. Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century, and, although there is no global water scarcity as such, an increasing number of regions are chronically short of water. Water scarcity is both a natural and a human-made phenomenon. There is enough freshwater on the planet for seven billion people but it is distributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed. In just a few years since that article was written, the projection has increased to 66% of the global population within 7 years. And our water has become even more unsustainable and polluted: a microscopic plastic-filled garbage patch the size of Mexico was discovered recently in the Pacific ocean.”
Dan Bacher writes—Frazier: new DWR director is 'too beholden to water contractors she must regulate': “While Jerry Brown has been a genius at manipulating the media to portray him as a ‘green governor’ and the state as the nation’s ‘green leader,’ the regulators have in fact been captured by the regulated in California. This is particularly true when it comes to water and environmental policies. In the latest example of regulatory capture, employment records obtained from a recent Public Records Act request by Restore the Delta reveal that Karla Nemeth, Governor Jerry Brown’s controversial choice to head the Department of Water Resources (DWR), ‘may have a conflict of interest that compromises her ability to objectively lead an agency tasked with managing the state’s massive water infrastructure on behalf of all Californians,’ according to a news release from Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay). The documents suggest Nemeth was being paid by DWR and the Natural Resources Agency earlier in the decade while an employee of the Metropolitan Water District of California of Southern California (MWD) to shape water policy in favor of building the controversial tunnels project that threatens to destroy the Delta’s ecosystems. ‘MWD has been the leading proponent for building the tunnels,’ according to Frazier.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Meteor Blades writes—Dark money provision, and scores of anti-environmental 'riders' are attached to budget legislation: “Marianne LaVelle at InsideClimate News spotlights one front in the war on the environment that Republicans are waging with some 80 riders attached to upcoming budget legislation that must be passed by March 23 if a government shutdown is to be avoided [...] Among the anti-environmental riders LaVelle points to, there are 12 designed to block enforcement of the Endangered Species Act, plus: • A provision barring implementation of Environmental Protection Agency’s ozone standard that EPA chief Scott Pruitt has tried to delay despite ‘2,300 studies that establish the threat it poses to health.’ • A provision barring implementation of the Interior Department’s ban on flaring gas and venting methane on public land. That rule has been upheld by the courts, but Secretary Ryan Zinke is in the process of rewriting it.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels
ian douglas rushlau writes—Carbon profiteers pocketed $500 Billion in subsidies since 2015. This is why the world is burning: “The warming of the planet is a man-made catastrophe. This catastrophe is continuing unabated; in fact it’s worsening, as DKos member Pakalolo’s diary this morning shows clearly. One might think it’s only common sense we should be investing public money in finding solutions to this catastrophe, rather than investing in making it worse. But apparently one would be wrong thinking this is common sense. Jocelyn Timperley, unpacking the ledgers of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) for Carbon Brief, finds that Oil, Gas and Coal companies siphoned a staggering amount of public money in the past two years: … fossil fuel support in the 76 countries covered is, in reality, likely to be closer to $500bn in 2015. When it comes addressing the climatic effects of carbon combustion, it would seem straightforward we shouldn’t be financially propping up the pillagers of the planet.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Trump Admin Intent on Picking Losers Like Coal and Nuclear: “Clean coal and nuclear power--according to some, they’re the baseload power that environmentalists should support. Unfortunately, as we learned last week, the Kemper clean coal plant was an abject failure, and and Georgia regulators are still struggling to drag the massively over budget Vogtle nuclear plant over the finish line. But failure’s never been a deterrent for the Trump administration. The Houston Chronicle’s James Osborne’s latest piece looks at the Trump administration’s proposed budget and Rick Perry’s plans for new coal plants. In light of what Joe Aldina, director of coal analytics at S&P Global Platts, tells Osborne is a ‘general skepticism’ about carbon capture, Trump and Perry are trying to shovel taxpayer money into ‘High Efficiency Low Emissions’ coal plants, the newest generation of coal plants that try and get more energy out of every lump of coal. The 2019 White House budget cuts funding for the Department of Energy’s carbon capture programs by 80%, to offset an increase in funding for these new coal plants. But as Osborne notes, these plants provide ‘nowhere near the gains scientists say are necessary to slow climate change and meet targets under international accords’.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Guardian Exposes Clean Coal’s Dirty Business Dealings: “Southern Company, the massive utility best known in this space for being one of Willie Soon’s secret funders, was once again exposed for keeping shady secrets last week. Documents obtained by The Guardian’s Sharon Kelly reveal that the plant’s owner, utility giant Southern Company, knew about significant problems with its groundbreaking Kemper clean coal plant well before it admitted to them to regulators. The Kemper plant has been held up as the exemplar of clean coal: a shining beacon of how the coal industry will survive in a carbon-constrained future. Unfortunately, it cost a fortune to build and only ended up running for five days before becoming too expensive to operate. And during its construction, as Kelly reveals, management spent years keeping vital information away from regulators. The investigation shows that for three years Kemper execs sat on information that the plant would require a 45% downtime during its first five years--which dramatically increased its costs. Skyrocketing costs, of course, make the idea that coal can and should continue to serve as a ‘baseload’ fuel laughable.”
Woodguru writes—Kemper Clean Coal Project Wastes $7.5 Billion, A Dead Monument To Taxpayer Waste And Fraud: “I caught this article on the so called Kemper clean coal plant, it is the quintessential example of government subsidized multi billion dollar energy projects that are never completed on budget or time. The article did an excellent job of laying out a timeline that shows multiple stages where it was pure fraud to continue the project, if not from the day it was started. Seven and a half billion spent, and the project gets abandoned at a partially completed stage. It’s the partially completed part that is operative, where did the money go considering that over twice the contracted amounts were spent? I understand failures due to poor workmanship, but why does the contractor get paid to redo their job? Did you catch the section that covered that when the correct gaskets and fittings were not on hand management instructed that it be done anyway? This would indicate that there was no intent to have a working plant if it was all a ruse to make it visually look good.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Pricing
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Fenceline Argument is Gateway to CPP Repeal and Replace: “While we wait for Pruitt’s EPA, and the courts, to decide what will happen with the Clean Power Plan (CPP), a trio of recent stories by InsideEPA provide a glimpse into the arguments. Pruitt’s argument against the CPP rests on the claim that by encouraging a switch from coal to gas and renewables, the CPP goes beyond what each individual plant can achieve by itself. In the jargon, it goes “beyond the fenceline” of the plant, to make changes to the larger system as opposed to pollution controls at individual plants. But in a public comment on the proposed repeal, two clean air legal experts argue that the Clean Air Act’s section 111(d) actually does allow the EPA to go beyond the ‘fencelines,’ pointing to examples of such authority and arguing that the Clean Air Act does not restrict the agency in this regard. InsideEPA reported on the comment by Berkley’s Dan Farber and Kristen Engel, and linked to a a Legal Planet blog post elaborating on it. The post pointed out that even if Pruitt’s fenceline argument limited the EPA’s authority, it still wouldn’t stand up in courts.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
Meteor Blades writes—House Democrats seek more info on outside work of two top EPA guys with shady past dealings: “Two senior aides to Environmental Protection Agency-hating EPA chief Scott Pruitt have been okayed by the agency’s ethics office to conduct a limited amount of outside consulting work despite their full-time government jobs. In a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the ethics office redacted the names of the clients. [...] According to Julie Eilperin and Brady Dennis, Konkus has little environmental experience but "personally supervises every grant the agency awards to or solicits from outside groups.’ On his on-line résumé, Konkus notes that his oversight of the grants is being done to “adhere to the policies and principles of the current administration.’ The Trump regime’s principles seem to be a word-for-word copy of the Robber Barons’ principles.”
FishOutofWater writes—A Mexican Immigrant Saved the World: “The food chain in the oceans would be starting to collapse and food crops would be beginning to burn from extreme ultraviolet radiation damage but for the brilliant mind and dogged determination of a young Mexican immigrant. Mario Molina was born into a leading family in Mexico City, the son of an attorney who went on to be Mexico’s ambassador to to Ethiopia, Australia and the Philippines. The only scientist in the family, his aunt Esther Molina, a professional chemist, encouraged his interest in chemistry and science when he was a young boy. [...] In 1973 Molina, a postdoctoral researcher working in the laboratory of F. Sherwood Rowland at the University of California, Irvine, made an unsettling discovery. He had been investigating a class of compounds called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. CFCs were used as refrigerants, aerosol sprays, and in making plastic foams. Molina wondered what happened to them once they were released into the atmosphere.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
gmoke writes—City Agriculture - March 4, 2018: Local Roots announces their container farms have achieved cost parity with traditional farming. Growing food in polar climates: Norway; Northwest Territories, Canada; Antarctica. Post disaster housing for resilience with rooftop gardens. China’s sponge city technology - urban water management systems.
Merry Light writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Ver. 14.09 - Here comes the sun, the ice is finally melting: “We have had some very mild winters for the last few years, down in the river valleys of the Grand River (n/k/a the Colorado River). It’s scary.This month the weather wants to try and make up for the lack of moisture by sending us storms every week, and then warming up and melting off the snow. I suppose it’s good, that the soil can now absorb it rather than have frozen ground and more runoff. But heck, it’s warm! I’ve got some spring bulbs starting to come up already — not too surprising with the warmth. I am looking forward to the crocus and daffodils!”
MISCELLANY
AKALib writes—One Strange Rock - a New Docu-Series from National Geographic about Life on Earth: “ ‘One Strange Rock’ is a new 10-episode series from the National Geographic Channel, premiering on Monday, March 26. It will be released in 172 countries and 43 languages. In the series, filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, host Will Smith, and an eclectic group of science-minded astronauts join forces to tell the extraordinary story of why life as we know it exists on Earth. This remarkable series is not just another visually powerful nature documentary; it provides a unique science-oriented perspective of life on Earth from the eyes and personal experiences of astronauts. The themes explored in the series include the genesis of life, death, breath, cosmic violence, human intelligence, sacrifice, and escaping Earth.”
Neeta Lind writes—Would you like to help an Indigenous Delegation to New Zealand improve our environmental laws? “Such satisfying news. I’ve been selected to be part of an Indigenous Delegation to travel to New Zealand. This is an exciting opportunity to visit my Māori brothers and sisters. I’ve had a childhood dream of visiting New Zealand some day. I will be fully funding myself on this trip but other invited Native delegates need financial assistance. Below you can read about this delegation’s goals and a little background on previous accomplishments. [...] In 2017, New Zealand’s Māori iwi (tribes) and Crown government worked together to recognize the legal and holistic ‘personhood rights’ of entire river systems, former National Parks, and other ecosystems. These agreements are groundbreaking, offering an entirely new vision for environmental protection based on Indigenous cosmology. Movement Rights has unique access to bring a high-level Indigenous and Rights of Nature fact-finding delegation to Aotearoa (New Zealand’s north island) in April/May 2018 to understand their victory, and showcase how it can be translated globally as a strategy for climate resilience and biodiversity.”
Lenny Flank writes—Hidden History: Ghosts of the Ice Age: “The last Ice Age came to an end roughly 15,000 years ago. But today we can still see ghostly remnants of extinct Ice Age ecosystems, preserved in living plants. [...] It’s not easy being a plant. In particular, being immobile and fixed in one spot presents two obvious difficulties: since you can’t run away from enemies, you need to find some passive way to defend yourself, and since your young can’t move, you need to find a way to scatter your seeds so your offspring can disperse into new areas. Modern plants have solved these problems by using an arsenal of chemicals and thorns to make it harder to eat them, and by producing seeds inside fruits—which attract animals (especially birds and mammals) to eat them and carry them away, later depositing the undigested seed somewhere else (along with a helpful plop of fertilizer). In many cases, these strategies have become so specialized that particular plant species have become utterly dependent upon just a handful of animal species for their propagation—a process called ‘co-evolution.’ In Ice Age times, plants faced the same problems, and solved them in the same way. But as the ‘megafauna’ of giant North American mammals went extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, many plants were left without their animal partners. Most of those plants also went extinct, unable to survive without the biological allies they had co-evolved with. But a few survived until today—and they give us a glimpse at ancient ecological relationships that are now long dead.”
Mark Sumner writes—Nominee to head USGS might be most qualified selection since Trump took office—but there's a problem: “Considering the general caliber of Donald Trump’s appointments, selecting James Reilly to run the U.S. Geological Survey seems like a stunning moment of competence. Reilly isn’t just a former astronaut, he’s also a petroleum geologist with a Ph.D. in geology and experience as both a research scientist and an exploration geologist. He also logged more than 800 hours in space on three separate missions. That he’s also worked on the board of for-profit universities and most of his exploration work involved oil and gas is only the sort of thing someone might expect in finding a candidate acceptable to Trump. So … surprisingly good call. But the agency Reilly has been tapped to run happens to be a part of the Department of the Interior, meaning that Reilly’s new boss is Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. And Zinke seems to feel like the best use of the USGS, like everything else, is to squeeze it for a personal advantage—to the extent that one of the scientists at the USGS felt compelled to leave.”