On February 17th at 1PM EST, author Darrin Nordahl will discuss his book, Public Produce, and how abundant public spaces, from parks to parking lots, are ideally suited for food production.
Orrin Pilkey and Rob Young, authors of The Rising Sea, have a new piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer that tracks sea level rise around North America:
Polls indicate that an alarming number of Americans have doubts about global warming, even to the point of suspecting that scientists are lying about the data. Meanwhile, much of the bluster about climate change centers on whether it has been colder this year than last.
But instead of relying on short-term thermometer readings, we should be listening to Mother Earth. Let's take a trip around the northern half of the Western Hemisphere to see the real-world evidence that our planet is getting warmer.
Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan, scientist at the University of Arizona Southwest Center and founder of the Renewing America's Food Traditions (RAFT) alliance, was honored Thursday in Moscow with the Vavilov Medal for his innovative work on documenting and conserving food biodiversity. The Medal was presented at his Vavilov Memorial Lecture on the Origins, Dispersal and Conservation of Domesticated Plants and Animals that has been hosted by the Vavilov Genetics Institute since 1987. It is the longest-running honor for excellence in documenting and conserving agricultural biodiversity. Nabhan is only the second foreign scientist to receive this honor in Moscow.
H. Bruce Franklin on "The Devastation of the Marine Environment"
The Most Important Fish in the Sea author, H. Bruce Franklin, was interviewed in a January article of TIME Magazine that discusses the overfishing of menhaden populations for oil supplements. Read the full article here.
Peter Gleick Calls for Water to Haiti
I urge people to make donations to whatever organizations they trust to deliver help. I've donated to the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, but there are many more.
In any disaster like this, after search, rescue, and immediate medical care, clean and safe water becomes a critical need. Without it, water-related diseases rapidly become a serious health threat for the survivors. [...] In previous work I've done on basic human needs, I've identified 50 liters per person per day as a minimum for drinking, sanitation, cooking, and cleaning. In a disaster of this magnitude, even a fraction of that amount would be a blessing. Emergency water supplies can be provided in many ways, but there is no consistent approach or technology. [...] I'm sure there are many more good suggestions and ideas out there. Let's hear them. This is one of the things Americans do really well. We step up in whatever ways we can.
In a world of blogs, cable news and talk radio, scientists are poorly equipped to communicate their knowledge and, especially, to respond when science comes under attack. ... If the global-warming battle has any rival in its intensity, its nastiness and its risk to scientists if they do not talk to the public, it is the long-standing conflict over the teaching of evolution. Science's opponents in this fight are highly organized, and they constantly nitpick evolutionary science to cast the field into disrepute. ... A spate of recent books, from Randy Olson's Don't Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style to Cornelia Dean's Am I Making Myself Clear?: A Scientist's Guide to Talking to the Public, seem like perfect assigned reading.
David Blockstein, NCSE Scientist, on CTV Canada AM
David Blockstein, co-author of The Climate Solutions Consensus, will appear on CTV Friday, December 18 at 7:05AM EST to provide commentary on the final day of the Copenhagen COP15 Climate Conference.
The entire Atlantic coastal ecosystem relies [on] a big-headed, smelly, foot-long member of the herring family called menhaden, which a recent book identifies in its title as "The Most Important Fish in the Sea." [...] Quite simply, menhaden keep the water clean. The muddy brown color of the Long Island Sound and the growing dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay are the direct result of inadequate water filtration — a job that was once carried out by menhaden. [...] President Obama and the Congressional leadership have repeatedly stressed their commitment to wresting the wealth of the nation from the hands of a few. A demonstration of this commitment would be to ban the fishing of menhaden in federal waters. The Virginia Legislature could enact a similar moratorium in the Chesapeake Bay (the largest menhaden nursery in the world).
The menhaden is a small fish that in its multitudes plays such a big role in our economy and environment that its fate shouldn’t be effectively controlled by a single company and its bottles of fish oil supplements. If our government is serious about standing up for the little guy, it should start by giving a little, but crucial, fish a fair deal.
Elizabeth Grossman's Chasing Molecules headline's Booklist Online's Top-10 list of "significant and intriguing books" by a "stellar group of science writers."
Army Corps of Engineers Responsible for Damage from Katrina
In a groundbreaking decision Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers' mismanagement of an enormous shipping channel was directly responsible for flood damage to homes and businesses in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The decision favored three homeowners and a business owner who now stand to receive $700,000 in damages from the U.S. government. At the heart of the case is the mismanaged shipping channel called the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, or "Mister Go." Called the "hurricane highway" by locals, Mister Go was built by the army corps with the strong support of political and economic interests and against the warnings of scientists and conservationists.
If you're looking for great deals on green building books, this is the place to start. USGBC members get discounts of up to 40% on book club titles, which cover the latest trends in the blossoming field of green building.
Poisoned for Pennies Author Frank Ackermann andIgnitionContributor Eban Goodstein Have Op-Ed in The Washington Post
Learn from Frank Ackermann and Eban Goodstein how we can save the planet in their October 23 article in The Washington Post. We need to greatly reduce our overall carbon emissions and it "turns out that 450 ppm is so 2005." Read the full article.
Public Produce Author Darrin Nordahl on The Diane Rehm Show
Don't miss Darrin Nordahl's take on how urban agriculture can feed the hungry, help build communities, and promote entrepreneurship Wednesday, October 21 at 11AM EST.
Scientists and environmentalists often have trouble catching the public's attention. Randy Olson goes on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" to explain why scientists need to pair their substance with some style.
Island Press Editor Elinor Ostrom Wins Nobel Prize
Elinor Ostrom, editor of Protecting the Commons, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science for her research on common spaces. She shares this year's prize with Oliver Williamson.
Roberts is Professor of Marine Conservation at the University of York in England. He is a prolific author and researcher, and has advised the US, British, and Caribbean governments on the creation of marine reserves. He authored The Unnatural History of the Sea for Island Press in 2007.
