Green Cities
EDN Week in Review: Environmental News for the Week of July 22
July 28, 2018
Acting on Climate
This week saw more devastating wildfires, from Greece to California, and scorching heat waves across the globe (Johnny Simon, Quartz).Cities are turning to nature and other innovative ways to deal with extreme heat (Brad Plumer, The New York Times). It’s the 30th Anniversary of TV’s “Shark Week” and warmer waters as a result of climate change are pushing sharks toward new shores. (Victoria Albert, The Daily Beast)Yosemite fire: Flames threaten park’s giant sequoia trees https://t.co/G4EtRHQ0KX #FergusonFire pic.twitter.com/Rrxw3MlD5Z
— Paul Rogers (@PaulRogersSJMN) July 27, 2018
.#SharkWeek comes to a close this weekend. But residents of northeastern states like New York—long considered a relatively shark-free zone—might not have to wait until July 2019 to see more, as warmer waters are pushing the animals further north https://t.co/LcoZWIucRB
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 28, 2018
Ending Plastic Pollution
Disney is the latest big business to announce it is eliminating plastic straws and stirrers as part of an effort to reduce single-use plastic use and waste.We’re making a global commitment to minimize single-use plastic waste by eliminating plastic straws, stirrers and polystyrene cups, reducing plastic shopping bags, and cutting in-room plastics by 80%: https://t.co/pd0AGZeCUs pic.twitter.com/X2DP40spRe
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) July 26, 2018
Protecting the Environment and Species
The Endangered Species Act is under attack. with the Interior Department proposing rollbacks that will weaken protections for species. The Trump Administration ignored reports of the benefits of American national monuments (Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post)The inadvertently released documents show that department officials dismissed some evidence that contradicted the administration’s push to revise national monument designations, which are made under the 1906 American Antiquities Act. Estimates of increased tourism revenue, analyses showing that existing restrictions had not hurt fishing operators and agency reports finding that less vandalism occurred as a result of monument designations were all set aside…. More…How many species are being wiped out and how big are the implications? (Graham Lawton, New Scientist)
“Insects are in massive decline and have been for some time,” he says. “It’s quite a clear picture and a depressing one. By any measure that you choose, biodiversity of insects is declining.” I ask him what that means. “It means something is very, desperately wrong with our world….” More…The border wall proposed by Trump to separate America from Mexico will threaten biodiversity, say thousands of scientists. (Kyla Mandel, Think Progress)
