This month, a week dedicated to the health of pollinators will be marked by a festival and native plant sale, organized by ADK Action. Birds, butterflies, bees and various bugs contribute to the Adirondacks’ unique ecosystem with the help of native plants. Climate change is contributing to the decline of pollinators with habitat loss and seasonal shifts, but humans can easily lend a hand. Contributor Holly Riddle wrote about some of the solutions recently.
“We have more drastic temperature fluctuations in a given season,” said Sawyer Bailey, ADK Action’s executive director. “We have more extreme weather events. That makes it difficult for creatures that have a very narrow band of conditions that they can live in, migrate in, and generally move and feed and forage in, to survive.”
But, Riddle writes, the Adirondack region is uniquely poised to help the future of pollinators because of its intact ecosystems.
It’s a new era of transparency and technology for the state, Gwen Craig writes, and its accounting of a $4.2 billion environmental bond act voters passed in November 2022. A state website launched recently allows the public to see where that money is going and what funding remains available.
The previous environmental bond act, which voters passed in 1996, had no one-stop accounting for the $1.75 billion, the Explorer found. In fact $81 million of the 1996 Clean Water Clean Air Bond Act has yet to be disbursed as of March 31, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
“A study from researchers at the National Energy Technology Laboratory shows the wastewater produced by Pennsylvania’s unconventional wells could contain enough lithium to meet 38 to 40 percent of current domestic consumption.”
“Mangroves, like salt marshes, create habitats for wildlife and fish, improve water quality, reduce storm damage and erosion, and even support economic growth through tourism. “Scientists don’t know exactly how the transition from salt marsh to mangrove will occur,” Gaskin added. “Therefore, we lack an understanding of how these ecosystem services may change.”
“As a photographer, I began to research some of the images people were making. This was before Instagram, so I was looking at Flickr and such, and the images were mostly polar bears and glaciers. What I felt was lacking was a visceral sense of how people were affected by climate change.”
“Asked if fossil fuel companies “should be held legally accountable for their contributions to climate change”, 62% of voters said yes, suggesting majority support for the existing civil lawsuits against oil companies.”
How to help birds and bees
This month, a week dedicated to the health of pollinators will be marked by a festival and native plant sale, organized by ADK Action. Birds, butterflies, bees and various bugs contribute to the Adirondacks’ unique ecosystem with the help of native plants. Climate change is contributing to the decline of pollinators with habitat loss and seasonal shifts, but humans can easily lend a hand. Contributor Holly Riddle wrote about some of the solutions recently.
“We have more drastic temperature fluctuations in a given season,” said Sawyer Bailey, ADK Action’s executive director. “We have more extreme weather events. That makes it difficult for creatures that have a very narrow band of conditions that they can live in, migrate in, and generally move and feed and forage in, to survive.”
But, Riddle writes, the Adirondack region is uniquely poised to help the future of pollinators because of its intact ecosystems.
Read more here.
Interactive map shows projects funded by bond act
It’s a new era of transparency and technology for the state, Gwen Craig writes, and its accounting of a $4.2 billion environmental bond act voters passed in November 2022. A state website launched recently allows the public to see where that money is going and what funding remains available.
The previous environmental bond act, which voters passed in 1996, had no one-stop accounting for the $1.75 billion, the Explorer found. In fact $81 million of the 1996 Clean Water Clean Air Bond Act has yet to be disbursed as of March 31, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Read the story here.
Here are some stories I’m following:
Inside Climate News: Pennsylvania’s Fracking Wastewater Contains a ‘Shocking’ Amount of the Critical Clean Energy Mineral Lithium
“A study from researchers at the National Energy Technology Laboratory shows the wastewater produced by Pennsylvania’s unconventional wells could contain enough lithium to meet 38 to 40 percent of current domestic consumption.”
Savannah Morning News: ‘There are mangroves in Georgia!’ Climate change lures tropical trees to state’s coast
“Mangroves, like salt marshes, create habitats for wildlife and fish, improve water quality, reduce storm damage and erosion, and even support economic growth through tourism. “Scientists don’t know exactly how the transition from salt marsh to mangrove will occur,” Gaskin added. “Therefore, we lack an understanding of how these ecosystem services may change.”
The New Yorker: Images of Climate Change That Cannot Be Missed
“As a photographer, I began to research some of the images people were making. This was before Instagram, so I was looking at Flickr and such, and the images were mostly polar bears and glaciers. What I felt was lacking was a visceral sense of how people were affected by climate change.”
The Guardian: Majority of US voters support climate litigation against big oil, poll shows
“Asked if fossil fuel companies “should be held legally accountable for their contributions to climate change”, 62% of voters said yes, suggesting majority support for the existing civil lawsuits against oil companies.”
Photo at top: Pexels photo.